The White Castle Game

The white heron flies over the Himeji sky while the Daimio, from the topof the castle, watches his servants move. Gardeners tend the pond, where thekoi carp live, warriors stand guard on the walls, and courtiers crowd thegates, pining for an audience that brings them closer to the innermost circlesof the court. When night falls, the lanterns are lit and the workers return totheir clan. In The White Castle, players will control one of these clans inorder to score more victory points than the rest. To do so, they must amassinfluence in the court, manage resources boldly and place their workers in theright place at the right time. The authors are Sheila Santos and IsraelCendrero, the duo known as Llama Dice who also designed the successful The RedCathedral with Devir. In this case, we leave the Moscow of Ivan the Terriblebehind to explore the most imposing fortress in modern Japan, Himeji Castle,where the banner of the Sakai clan flies under the orders of Daimio SakaiTadakiyo. The White Castle is a Euro type game with mechanics of resourcemanagement, worker placement and dice placement to carry out actions. Duringthe game, over three rounds, players will send members of their clan to tendthe gardens, defend the castle or progress up the social ladder of thenobility. At the end of the game, these will award players victory points in avariety of ways. The central panel shows Himeji Castle in all its splendor,divided into several zones. The largest is inside the castle, with the Room ofthe Thousand Carpets, where the courtiers must ascend socially until theyreach the circle closest to the Daimio to enjoy his favour. There is also thepond and the gardens, patiently tended by the gardeners where everyone canrelax and contemplate its beauty without restriction. Another important areais the wall and the outside of the castle, where the warriors patrol and standguard. Finally, we find the area of the three bridges, where the three typesof dice that can be used to carry out actions are accumulated, and thepersonal domain of each player, where they will keep track of their resourcesand where they will keep their reserve of workers. With accessible rules and avery beautiful setting, The White Castle is a very versatile game that willfit in with different gaming groups. As is traditional with Llama Dice titles,its sleek and simple design belies a great deal of strategic depth within thegrasp of players.