Castles of Mad King Ludwig : Secrets

Board Game Geek Reviews

1. Clivelaw

   Very good extension to an already good game. Adds the possibility of restricting oneself to get more bonuses by building moats around one's castle, and enhances the decision-making process by adding secret passageways and swans to build up combinations of rooms.

2. 6.5 out of 10

   bigmac33070

   The big expansion for COMKL adds 4 modules, 2 of which must be played together. Those would be the Swans and the extra rooms. Either 1 or 2 swans are on each of the new rooms. When one comes out, add a random Swan token to the room. The swans come in 5 colors. Get the swans when you purchase the room. Swans can either be discarded for money during the game or saved for VP at the end of the game depending on sets of different colors you have. This is by far the best thing about the expansion and I would likely even teach this to new people. There are also the Moats. Each player starts with a Barbican, which is essentially the starting piece from the base game with a Moat. Moats can be added for $5000 when you buy a room. The moats will eventually make a square around your castle if you get the additional 3. This limits the size of the castle and forces a tighter build. Also, when moats are placed, they give 3 VP and a VP for each of most of the kinds of rooms in your castle. I could take it or leave it with this one. Meh.... Last and least are the Secret Passages. Each player gets the same 3 passage pieces. They can be connected to 2 rooms that are not already connected at any time. This will double the adjoining room scoring when placed. I didn't like these at all. I wasn't sure how the raised pieces went on the rooms. I am guessing you would mostly use these if you are using the moats. So overall, pretty average. The new rooms with the Swans are good but the other 2 pieces are decidedly mediocre, IMO.

3. 7 out of 10

   Corsairs

   Moats: Feels like a downgrade from the borders of "Suburbia." Those were unique. These are all identical. Plus, they devalue the bonus cards rewarding you for really big rooms since you'll have less space to play with. Secret Passageways: I like them in concept, but placing them will be highly conditional. A fine addition, but not essential. New King's Favors: Who cares? The base game provided more than enough. New Rooms + Swans: This is what makes the expansion for me. The rooms themselves are fine. The swans add a new dimension to setting market prices. Now you have to weigh the value of those swans to other players. That extra consideration makes the Master Builder role more fun.