I just keep binging Chateau

 I’d been looking at Chateau for a couple years but I didn’t actually pull the trigger until PnP Arcade announced it was was shutting down business. (I bought a lot of files when that happened)

I had initially assumed it was a resource management game but quickly found out that it was a fill-in-the-grid game. Which is a game genre I enjoy but, particularly at this point, a game has to do more than fill in boxes.

In case you don’t want to read the rest of the blog, Chateau has several design choices that made it a really bingeable game for me. I have really been enjoying it and it has been hitting the table a lot.

I am not going to go through the rules and play in detail because it’s roll dice, consult a chart and draw the matching shape on the grid. Instead, I am going to go though the design elements that I think really make the game rock. 

First and foremost, the game has twenty different maps, all based on real castles. And each one comes has a different special power that, in some way, lets you break the rules. More than that, the game is set up for  asymmetrical play. In a multi-player game, everyone can have a different castle.

This is the single biggest reason I binge Chateau. Each castle is a different enough experience that each one is worth playing. A solitaire session for me is multiple maps. And it also adds a lot of value to multi-player game.

Second, interaction. Now, almost all of games of these types are multi-player solitaires. Part of the setup is drawing a five-square shape on the player-to-the-left’s map. When one’s are rolled, you fill in a square on the player-to-the-left’s map. For this genre, that’s war game level interaction.

(For solitaire play, there are rules to make those actions as inconvenient as possible lol)

Another element I appreciated is that for the four-and-five-sized shapes, you can only use each one once. And, while you do, you get the full assortment of four sided Tetris shapes, you only get five pentominoes. And you don’t get many of the more useful ones either lol Definitely adds a scarcity element to the game.

One thing I’m meh about is that your score is how many turns it takes to fill your castle. Lower score is better. It’s not terrible, but it doesn’t really make me sing. Quite frankly, it speaks well of the rest of the game that I don’t really mind this.

The same week I learned Chateau, I also learned Junk Drawer online. Now, if (or when) I had a physical copy of Junk Drawer, I’d pick it over Chateau to play with the kiddo. On the other hand, I’d pick Chateau for a more ‘gamer’ audience. 

The game comes in low art (which is what I’ve printed out) and much prettier full color art. If (or when) I had a regular group, I’d think about making a laminated full color set. At that point, it would have the same production values as a published Roll and Write. And sometimes, that’s what it takes to get it on the table.

I think the need for budget gaming just keeps getting greater. Chateau, between having low construction requirements and offering solid (if short) gameplay, I think fits the bill very well. (Maybe I should revisit that topic yet again) I enjoy Chateau and I think it has a role in many collections.