Fireside Games Castle Panic: The Wizard'S Tower - Board Games for Families - Board Games for Kids 7 and Up,Multicolor

Expansions are sometimes hit and miss, but Wizards Tower is a definite hit with our family. It does exactly what an expansion should do--rejuvenate a game you've played for some time and enhance its enjoyment. Wizards Tower completely succeeds.Pros:1) A small thing but a nice touch--everything that comes in the expansion fits easily into the original game's box. We just transferred it all over and recycled the expansion box-no need to take up more space2) Monster variety. The game adds more monsters, more cards, more boss monsters. Even better, the new monsters add a lot of variety in that they have varying abilities and vulnerabilities. Some can be struck only by archers, some more faster, and so on. The "special monsters" are even better. The Hydra, for instance, adds news monsters (imps) onto the board for every hit point of damage you inflict on it. The dragon breathes fire at your defenses, the necromancer raises killed monsters, etc.3) card variety. The more difficult monsters are balanced out by the addition of some new Castle cars but especially by the addition of a Wizards Deck--each card in it allowing you to perform a spell that can do some damage (often across a range of monsters based on arc, color, spacing, etc.) or push monsters back. And it really is a nice balance, the spells aren't so uber powerful that they over-compensate for the tougher monsters4) requires more thought. Because the monsters are harder and because some can only be hit by certain cards or move faster or do ranged damage, you really have to plan further ahead in this one as well as react faster on the fly. The Wizard cards help a lot, but you can't simply stock up on them as there are several ways in which you can lose them by being forced to discard them (the Basilisk monster, for instance, requires all players to discard down to two cards). This is something you really have to plan around.You also have to plan around defending that Wizard Tower because once it goes, so does the ability to gain more Wizard cards.5) the way the game can turn quickly. With the addition of imps, one-point relatively weak creatures, the game can really flip itself as imps sometimes appear based on a roll of a die. So you might end up placing a single imp on the board--no biggie, or you might end up placing six on the board (ruh roh). The addition of goblin cavalry, who move two spaces at a time, can also turn the game quickly. As can the ranged attacks. There's really a greater feeling of instability which adds to the richness of game playWe've always enjoyed Castle Panic with our originally nine-now-ten-year-old. We like the cooperative aspect, the planning aspect, and the fantasy aspect. All of us agree that the expansion has made an enjoyable game even more enjoyable. A definite recommendation for fans of the game and if your'e buying the game for the first time or as a gift, I'd say pick it up at the same time and save it until you've played the original a few times. But not too many as the game really is better with the expansion, no matter that it's pretty good on its own.Cons:we haven't come up with any yet

Cambia totalmente la dificultad y la forma de jugar Castle Panic. Agrega elementos muy interesantes, como los enemigos alternativos, y los hechizos, pero por desgracia vuelve el juego tan difícil que es casi imposible ganarlo.

This expansion for Castle Panic does require the original game to play, as expected. It can take a little bit to get the setup done the first time as there is a lot of finding, counting and setting aside of different pieces before you can begin, but we found using labeled ziploc bags to store pieces in makes it much easier next time you play. The game mechanic is the same, but wizards towers adds some really epic good cards for you to use that at first you may think are way too strong and will make the game too easy. It's about then that you realize the monsters added are really epic is a bad way to balance out the wizard cards. The result is that this game often ends up feeling like you are swinging on a pedulum. Sometimes you are doing so well everyone will be giddy and excited and you're almost clearing the board. Other times you will be completely swamped by so many bad monsters your group may feel utterly depressed and want to quit (but don't, just remember this game swings!). If you're playing with small children or others that have no patience when a game situation looks dire I would suggest sticking with just the original game. But our family absolutely loves the crazy wild swings this expansion pack can bring to the feel of this game and we never play without the expansion anymore.... it comes highly recommended by us! My thirteen year old declared the game far more exciting when played with the expansion pack, and my mother also requests the expansion when we play, so it's good for a wide variety of ages. One word of advice is to keep the expansion guide book handy, we do occasionally have to look up some rule nuance again, there is a lot of new stuff to remember.

Buen juego

I bought Castle Panic for its simplicity and it delivered. I have two boys (9 and 7) and they both love playing it and it is something they enjoy so much, the boring games like Monopoly and Sorry are a thing of the past.However, we never once lost the game. It got intense in a few spots, but it wasn't all that tough.Well, this expansion has made it tough. And that is a good thing. Sometimes too easy is stale or boring. And this game added mechanics such as imps, flying creatures, creatures immune to archer ring but slayed instantly in the knight ring.The megaboss monsters are fantastic.My only gripe is that they added player cards (which are all great), but now there are so many purple cards, when you play a one or two player game, you rarely draw the ring cards that do the actual hitting. If you expand to a 4 or 5 player game, it plays quite wonderfully and is well balanced.They have suggestions to take out specific monster chips for the expansion play, but we've found that if we are in those 1-2 player games, we add them all back in. We also use all 6 mega monsters. We do the whole kitchen sink. By adding the chips they asked you to take out, it does make the game a little easier because those monster chips aren't as deadly as the others and it gives you a greater chance of having draws which are manageable. But we feel that having all six megabosses balances it out.But THAT is the beauty of this game. You play it however you want and make it whatever you want. My youngest child struggles with the expansion as it is more complicated (more special rules) than the original. But that struggle lasted only 1-2 games. Now he is a master at castle panic.Forget about having dinner together, the kids never want to talk about their day anyways. Play a boardgame like Castle Panic...you will be chatting and gabbing so much, they won't even realize they missed out on their video game time.