After graduating from Settles of Catan to The Stone Age to Puerto Rico, I decided to buy this game and give it a try. Apparently the mechanics were similar to Puerto Rico (that I find fantastic) so I thought this would be right up my alley. And it is, after playing a couple of rounds, you understand the flow and the patterns but when figuring it out, it takes a couple of tries to get everything right (we kept forgetting to actually build the castle). The different buildings you can build are tiles that you can buy but the tricky thing is remembering what's available as there is a lot of options. This is probably the most difficult aspect. The game would have benefited from a cheat sheet like you have in Puerto Rico where there is an overview of what you can buy. Caylus takes more effort to know but when you do it is very rewarding and fun. I played it the first time with 3 friends: one didn't care for it, one liked it enough to play it again and the third one got even more into it than I did. I don't have a ton of board game experience but I recommend this to people who have played a couple, don't like the luckfactor that comes with dice and prefer building and strategizing.
Some games are so rich, so complex and so varied, that it takes every bit of mental energy you have to make it to the end. And while Caylus is certainly demanding (there are a fair amount of rules to cover), it is also one of the most rewarding games I've ever played.
The concept is that each player is a master builder who is working to build a castle for the King of France in the thirteenth century. Along the way, they will build buildings, collect resources, and court royal favors for some much-needed boosts along the way. The buildings get built along a road, which serves to plot the progress of the game as well as to add to the theme.
Caylus is not a game for casual gamers who like light, simple games that play quickly. Caylus is for those who are willing to give it all they have for 2-3 hours while the game unfolds like a tapestry before them. Open-minded gamers usually love it, but everyone else starts to lose steam after an hour and a half. It's either an acquired taste, or one that appeals to those who are open to trying something radically new. And in my opinion, it doesn't get much better than this.
THE BREAKDOWN
Decisions: 5/5. It doesn't get much richer than this. Each turn you will either be making a lot of guestimations, or else performing mental gymnastics to keep track of what's going to be coming in and what's going out. If you're like me, you will love this level of tactical depth, provided that you don't overthink the game or cling to tightly to your plans. There's always something you can do if you look closely enough!
Artwork: 4/5. Visually, this game is classic Euro all the way. The resources are wooden cubes, the workers are colored cylinders, the tiles are cute little buildings, and the board looks like a painted canvas, which is a nice touch.
Replayability: 5/5. How is it possible that a game with an almost identical setup can vary so much from game to game? I don't know, but depending on what buildings people build, the game can go in one of a thousand different directions. Talk about exquisite game design!
Awesomeness: 5/5. This one is a legend, a game for all time. Each time it comes out of the box I get excited, like it's Christmas morning. So fun!
Bottom line: If you don't like long games, give it a miss. But if you are willing to put in the time, you won't find many better games out there.
5つ星のうち5.0A Fantastic Euro Worker Placement Game (with Screwage!)
2016年4月29日に英国でレビュー済み
Amazonで購入
Caylus is a 2-5 player worker placement euro game set in France in 1289. Despite the number of other worker placement games that have been published since its first release in 2005, it remains one of my favourite worker placement games of all time. It takes a couple of hours to play and I always want to play it again - just to try out a different strategy. One of the reasons I like the game is because there is a permanent risk of screwage from other players and this risk needs to be actively managed. The rules are simple and the strategy is deep. It is also a no luck game - there are no dice and there is no random set up.
The game is played by players placing their workers in village locations and buildings, some pre-printed on the board and some bought by players and placed on the board. Each building has an associated action. However, there are also game mechanics that stop some of the most recently placed buildings being triggered - if you put your worker on one of these buildings it will not be used. The buildings provide resources, allow new buildings to be built and so the game and number of available actions develops. In addition there is a castle building action that multiple players can use and this creates an opportunity to earn bonus points. The pace of the game can also be influenced by players - it can be sped up or slowed down and so this also creates some tension in the game play as there may not be enough turns to achieve what you have set out to do. Stopping some buildings being activated and speeding up the game are the two key areas of screwage that could impact your game. Small mistakes early on in the game will be picked up by other players and you will be brutally punished!
If you like worker placement games and are happy to play a more aggressive worker placement game (than e.g. Agricola) then I strongly recommend buying and playing Caylus. I'm not sure anything has been published quite like it since! If you don't like 'take that' moments then I suggest steering clear of this game as it really isn't much fun if you're trying to play nicely against aggressive opponents.
Estrategico y muy interactivo. Estrategias son varias pero podria ser todavia un poco mas. No es mejor juego de la mesa que he jugado, pero digamos en el puesto 6.
Questo è un colosso del suo genere. Da avere nella propria collezione. Per giocatori alle prime armi può risultare leggermente complicato alla spiegazione, ma una volta effettuato il primo turno vi assicuro che le meccaniche si comprendono appieno. Il gioco è avvincente e non c'è alea. Una buona strategia di piazzamento lavoratori, recupero risorse e costruzione vi porteranno alla vittoria. Se invece sbagliate la strategia, ve la potete prendere solo con voi stessi. Veramente un bel gioco. Gira bene anche se si gioca solo in 2. L'unica cosa su cui porre attenzione è che richiede del tempo, specialmente con i giocatori fortemente pensatori.