Fireside Games Castle Panic (1st Ed.) - The Wizards Tower

Con el juego base a veces se siente que no tienes opciones para defenderte y está expansión ayuda en mejorar eso al agregar más cartas especiales y el mazo del mago.Recomiendo está expansión.

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.

I'm giving this 5 stars, but there is a consideration I've found that you should consider when deciding to get this expansion.The expansion on its own merits is great. It adds so many different levels of depth to an already fantastic game. The cards are well made and interesting, the new game mechanics are well thought out and make sense, everything bolts right on to the original game seamlessly to make it an even more fun. If you like Castle Panic, I think its safe to assume you are going to like Wizard's Tower too....butHOLY COW does it make the game so much longer! My 9 year old and I play Castle Panic after dinner some evenings as something fun to do before he goes up to bed. That is NOT an option when using the expansion. I thought maybe the first time we played was a fluke because we were learning the new rules, but after several evenings of being LOUDLY berated for keeping the kid up waaaaayyyyyyyyy past his bedtime because we started playing at 7 and were still going at 10 I have to concede that the expansion just needs that much more time.If you usually play with more than 2 people the game should go quicker than what I've experienced and if the players are generally older than 12 or so they should be able to keep their focus, just be aware, if game length is a consideration and the base Castle Panic game is about right in that regard, this expansion requires significantly more time to play.

Buen juego