Do you like Ghosts? Do you like satisfying contraptions? Do you like a game that brings all ages together in a fun and unique way? If you answered any of those with yes, then this game is absolutely for you. Ghost Castle is a simple yet ingenuitive board game, the goal of the game is to escape the Ghost Castle. Seems simple enough? It is, until you add in the swinging axe, moving painting, and steel ball knocking people down the stairs.
Gameplay
Ghost Castle isn’t a very complex game in any respect. On your turn you roll a dice and you move an amount accordingly. If the dice rolls on the ghost, you push the button on the ghost, at the top of the castle, which randomly activates a trap. If a player gets knocked over by one of the traps, they go back to the last checkpoint. While there isn’t much strategy involved in this at all, the traps being set off are exciting and sometimes move differently each time. It is perfect for younger players that want to join in with the family game, but can’t quite play something more complicated yet. There are some choices you make that influence the game, like what path you take, if you go the long and safe route or the short but dangerous path. The end of the paths is the door of the Castle, which you have to roll the exact amount to get out, this gives some time for other players to catch up and evens the playing field, creating a tense ending to the game.
Ghost Castle doesn’t have a lot of replayability to it due to the simple nature of the game. The gameplay is, as stated before, very simple which doesn’t lead to varying strategies, or any strategies at all. You can play Ghost Castle a lot with new players due to the fun nature of the traps but after a while you will get bored of the repetitive nature of it. This style of gameplay is very similar to lots of other games where you mainly just roll a dice and move on, but Ghost Castle definitely makes it the most interesting because of the board, not only the traps but the whole castle is 3d and has different levels to it that you have to traverse.
As you can imagine there isn’t a lot of player interaction in Ghost Castle, other players can set off traps that kill you but other than that you are basically playing your own game. While this definitely could take away from the game, I don’t think there could be a version of it with more player interaction whilst still keeping the essence of what Ghost Castle really is.
Design
The artwork in Ghost Castle is really good, it all fits together in a coherent art style without ever feeling stagnant or boring. Throughout the board there are loads of hidden drawings to find that you wouldn’t notice until playing it. The board looks, but also feels like an actual booby trapped castle. Each of the characters are well thought through and very unique, with their own personality woven into the cardboard on which they stand. The unity of the art style really brings the game to life and immerses you like no other game. When you see your character get hit by an axe, or knocked over by a huge steel ball you really feel as if it was you getting devastated by the attack, not just some cardboard cut out.
The design of the components is phenomenal. The box is the board, after assembling a few parts and attaching them to the sprawled out box you have finished the castle. There isn’t anything left laying around while you play because everything, including the box is being utilised efficiently and masterfully. Most of it is made out of cardboard, with select plastic bits used to hold the whole thing together. The Ghost on the top holds a steel ball which drops when pressed, to activate a trap. There are four of these traps: An axe which swings down and hits a seesaw which can catapult players into the air, a stair trap where the ball rolls down knocking everyone down, a hole underneath the bookcase where the ball shoots out, and
finally a painting that swings open, hitting people on one side but leaving a short cut on the other.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for a game to play often, and you like to delve deep into complex strategy games, then you are not the target demographic for this game. Ghost Castle is designed to be played occasionally, at events where people aren’t necessarily used to playing board games, or you are playing with young children. That is where Ghost Castle shines and if that is how you are likely to play it, then it is absolutely a good buy for you.
