Cost:	$34.95
Company Site:	www.sjgames.com
Players:	2 (3-4 with a second set)
Contents:	108 detailed castle pieces, 28 cards, Rules sheets in several languages

Castellan is a strategic capture the square type game. Although you can create more than just a square. The idea is to play your pieces and close your “courtyards” using walls and towers to get the most points. This game is fun and requires enough strategy for adults but can be easy enough for a 3 year old to play!

Yes…I taught my 3 year old Diva to play Castellan and it is her new favorite game ever. My son is 5 and can play normally though adults go a little easy on strategy with him. My husband and I have played tic tac toe and that lines game where you capture the squares by drawing lines…a lot of the time we end in a stalemate. We might be a tad competitive. Luckily this game helps eliminate the stalemate although you can tie.

Now that they have explained it, let me confuse you! I mean…let me explain the regular way and a modified version to play with younger kids. My daughter and I play a little differently and it takes a lot longer so if playing with the younger crowd make sure you bring your patience. Although I should mention the pieces and the box first because I love organized boxes.

The box is that sturdy cardboard box that you can’t tear easily like you could a puzzle box…those things rip at the drop of a hat. It has compartments for the Walls, the Towers, Cards and the Keeps to make it easier to grab parts. The pieces themselves are plastic and light. The Towers to the Walls are mostly easy to connect but you might have to struggle a bit with few. Other than that they are fantastic. Ok…now I can explain how to play.

Objective:

To have the most points at the end of the game.

Pieces:

Each box comes with 26 Long Wall pieces, 30 Short Walls and 32 Towers. The Towers are the roundish ones. There are two colors per box. One box has Green and Yellow and the other has Blue and Red. Each color has 10 keeps and 14 cards.

Setup:

Make sure you have enough room to build. The instructions recommend an area that is 16 inches by 16 inches but it can grow longer in one direction so you might have to adjust. Have each person playing pick a color. If you are playing with 2 you will only need one set but if you want to play with 3-4 people you will need another Castellan box of the opposite color. Once each Player has all their keeps of the color they chose they also take the cards of that color and divide them into the Wall deck and Tower deck. Shuffle each and then draw two from each deck. These are your starting cards. Now let’s learn what to do with them.

Play:

Roll a die or somehow decide who goes first. Each Player on their turn will Play Cards, Build (or Add to) the Castle, Claim any courtyards if you can, then Discard any cards you used and Draw 1 new card.

You have to play at least ONE card but you can play as many cards as you want (or have in your hand). Be careful not to play all of them at once. That big build is nice, but it might hurt you later. Once you have chosen lay your card or cards face up and collect all the pieces on the card. If your card has a picture of a card on it then draw one more card at the end of your turn.

Building doesn’t always mean capturing…or claiming courtyards but you do have to build every turn. The card you play determines the pieces you get and you HAVE to play those pieces so again, choose wisely. The first Player HAS to connect the pieces played on the very first turn. Anytime after that that very first turn if you absolutely cannot play a piece (or pieces) you have to give it (or them) to another Player and they use it on their next turn! Again…choose wisely. You could end up handing your opponent a piece they need to claim a courtyard. Trust me…I know.

There is a building rule to be aware of. You cannot place a Wall in a spot where a Tower cannot be added. All corners MUST be right angles and Walls CANNOT be attached to other Walls. Castellan is based on a time when building Castles was commonplace and Chivalry was very much a must for any Knight. This means that if a Player forgets to claim a courtyard or doesn’t take all their pieces the other Player must let them know and give them a chance to fix it. VERY good sportsmanship lesson!

To claim a courtyard you have to play the final piece needed to enclose an area. This can be a square, a rectangle, an L shape or any kind of shape but it has to completely close the area. Then you place one of your color Keeps inside. If you make a really big courtyard with other Towers inside that can divide the original you will get to add more Keeps. Only the Player who claimed a courtyard can divide it. Once per game you can choose to double stack the Keeps but you have to do it WHEN you claim a courtyard not later.

Scoring:

When one Player runs out of cards completely every one else draws their remaining cards and take one final turn playing what they can. Running out of cards means no cards left at all. Not in your draw pile or in your hand. The Wall and Tower pieces should all be able to be played. There exactly enough Wall and Tower pieces to match the pictures of them on the cards.

Now it may seem like the person with the most Keeps in play will win but the winner is determined by how many points they have. Points are based on how many Towers are around claimed courtyards. Double Keeps are worth double points so hopefully you played that wisely.

Each tower counts for EVERY courtyard it is surrounding which means it can count for you AND other Players as well. They suggest that you turn Keep’s on their side instead of removing them when you start scoring. This is because if there is a tie in points you would determine who has the most Keeps and that person is the winner. Now if you tie there then it is an official tie.

Playing with 3-4 Players is the same except that game play passes to the starting Player’s left and if you cannot use a piece (or pieces) you would pass to the Player on the left. Otherwise the game is the same except it is harder to plan ahead.

So that is how you play normally and kids around age 5-6 can play this way. You might have to adjust to an open hand play at first but they will get it. I will now show you how I survived…err..played with my 3 year old daughter. You can adjust to any level from the way I am about to show you to the normal way by adding in or removing rules and steps. Remember that this game has some small pieces so if your child puts things in their mouth you might want to wait. If not then onward!

Objective for a 3ish year old:

To complete the castle and play all your pieces. You can eventually have the most Keeps.

Pieces:

Each box comes with 26 Long Wall pieces, 30 Short Walls and 32 Towers. The Towers are the roundish ones. There are two colors per box. One box has Green and Yellow and the other has Blue and Red. Each color has 10 keeps and 14 cards.

Setup:

Again, make sure you have enough room to build. Have each person playing pick a color. If you are playing with 2 you will only need one set but if you want to play with 3-4 people you will need another Castellan box of the opposite color. Once each Player has all their keeps of the color they chose they also take the cards of that color and divide them into the Wall deck and Tower deck. Shuffle each and then draw one from the Tower deck. This should give you at least 1 Tower and a couple walls to build with for a start.

Play:

Youngest Player goes first. Each Player on their turn will Play their ONE card, Build (or Add to) the Castle, Claim any courtyards if you can, then Discard the 1 card you used and Draw 1 new card. If you draw a card that tells you to Draw another card you do it immediately and then play it.

Normally I wouldn’t change the rules quite so much but in this case it is easier to teach them to draw the card and play the pieces instead of WHEN to the draw the card. As they get the hang of it you will adjust the amount of cards they start with and then how many they can play. After that you can amend that rule easily enough.

Building doesn’t always mean capturing…or claiming courtyards but you do have to build every turn. You should be able to play every piece but if that doesn’t happen you have two options. You could teach your child to pass the pieces but if that might be a problem (kids are sort of possessive) you can have them hold it until next time.

To claim a courtyard you still have to play the final piece needed to enclose an area. This can be a square, a rectangle, an L shape or any kind of shape but it has to completely close the area. Then you place one of your color Keeps inside. If you make a really big courtyard with other Towers inside that can divide the original you will get to add more Keeps. Only the Player who claimed a courtyard can divide it. This might be a bit hard to explain but do not adjust that part. Either leave out the dividing for a bit or teach them that only the person who claims it can add to that courtyard.

Kids of any age will pick up on the completion of a courtyard and that it is theirs really fast. REALLY fast…it is the rest of the rules they choose to delay remembering.

Scoring:

When one Player runs out of cards completely every one else draws their remaining cards and take one final turn playing what they can. Running out of cards means no cards left at all. Not in your draw pile or in your hand. The Wall and Tower pieces should all be able to be played. There exactly enough Wall and Tower pieces to match the pictures of them on the cards.

Do not worry about scoring at this age. If you need a winner then the person with the most Keeps wins. It is easier to adjust to the proper way of scoring from there. I would recommend playing one on one with this age group or no more than two little ones and you. Start with one on one though if you can mostly for your own sanity…this version takes a bit but it is worth it.

Castellan has quickly become my daughter’s favorite game and one that we love to play when we only have time for a quick game of something. Of course we play on game nights as well. You can adjust for kids as young as 3 or 4 and it is still amazingly fun for adults. I love that it is quick and comes in a small box. We can take over to friends houses and on trips without taking up much space. Very convenient. I only wish they would make another box with 2 more colors for an even bigger game!

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson