CastleDanger
    How to Play


Castle Danger Website

Matt Worden Games


Technical Support
      Message Board
      E-mail

 

Version 1.3: 20-July-2002

How to Play Castle Danger
Follow this illustrated guide on how the game is played. Jump to the end of the page for strategy tips. Feel free to post any comments, questions, or your own strategy tips on the message board.

The Game Board
The game board (shown below) consists of a 9-by-7 grid of squares. The middle column on the board is an impassible river. The Blue player's pieces will all be located on the left half of the board, and the Red player's pieces will all be located on the right half. The two wedge-shaped items in the middle outer squares (one blue, one red) are called "Portals" ... this is where new pieces will be introduced to the game.

The Pieces
The following pieces are used in the game:

The King is the piece that needs to be protected throughout the game. Each player gets only one of these, and when it is hit by a cannonball, the game is over.

Wizards add moves for the player to use each turn. A player starts with 3 moves/turn, and gets an additional 3 moves/turn for every Wizard they have on the board.

Builders can add and remove Walls from the board. Since cannonballs cannot pass over Walls, Builders can be used to build up protection for the King (and the other pieces too).

Cannons fire cannonballs at the opponent. Wherever the cannonball lands, Fire is added to the game board, replacing whatever piece had been there. Cannonballs can fly over any piece on the board, except for Walls. The game is over when a King gets hit by a cannonball.

Walls are added to (and removed from) the game board by Builders. Walls provide protection from cannonballs.

Fire is left behind wherever a cannonball hits. The Fire lasts through just the opponent's turn, then disappears. Pieces cannot move onto a square that holds Fire.

Starting a Game
A new game can be started by clicking on the "Game" menu, then clicking on the "New" option. At the start of a game, each player has their King, 1 Wizard, and 2 Walls arranged like this:

The Blue player starts, and the two players alternate turns until the game is over.

A Turn, Part 1 -- Adding a New Piece
At the start of a turn, if the player's Portal square is unoccupied, they will be given a choice of adding a new piece to the game. The "Turn Status" dialogue box will give that option, as well as information about the player's current status (number of pieces & available moves):

If a new piece is chosen, it will be added to the board on that player's Portal square.

A Turn, Part 2 -- Using Moves
At the start of a turn, a player will be given 3 moves, plus 3 additional moves for every Wizard they have on the board. (If a new Wizard was just added through the Portal, they will not add moves until the following turn.) These moves can be used up in the following ways:

Moving Pieces Around will use up 1 move for every square that a piece is moved. Pieces are moved by selecting them (click on them with the mouse, or press the "Tab" key to cycle through the available pieces) and pressing the corresponding "Arrow" keys to move them to an adjacent, open square on their half of the board.

Building or Removing Walls can be accomplished by selecting a Builder piece, positioning them next to the square where a new Wall should be added (or an existing Wall should be removed), then holding the "Ctrl" key and pressing the corresponding Arrow key. Each Wall added or removed will use up 1 move. (Walls cannot be build on the sand.)


Firing Cannons is the fun part of the game, but also the most costly. To fire a Cannon, select the Cannon to fire, position it wherever you wish to fire from, and press one of the number keys from "1" to "8". (This only works with the numbers on the main part of the keyboard -- not the number pad.) The Cannon will fire, and the cannonball will fly the number of squares indicated by the number pressed. Pressing "1" will make the cannonball land one square away; pressing "5" will make the cannonball land five square away; etc.


Wherever a cannonball lands, it replaces whatever piece is there with fire. The Fire remains through the opponent's turn, occupying that square. The only squares that won't hold Fire are those in the middle column ("water"), and those that contain a Portal ("magic").

Ending the Turn Early
There are times when a player will not need all of their moves. In order to end a turn early, click on the "Turn" menu, then on the "End Turn" option.

Dead King = Game Over
A game is over whenever a King is hit by a cannonball, as is about to happen here:

Strategy & Tips

  • Wizards=Moves ... You can never have too many moves ... In fact, you tend to need just 1 or 2 more than you have in order to complete your plans. While adding Wizards helps with this (by increasing the number of moves available each turn) they can clutter up your half of the board and get in the way of Cannons and Kings ... keep a careful balance.
  • Builders & Walls ... Walls keep your King (and other pieces) safe. Builders help put those Walls in place (and replace the ones that have gotten hit). Builders can also help pieces that have become trapped by Walls and other pieces. However, they seem to only be useful during the early part of the game, before each side has a number of Wizards, and the cannonballs start flying.
  • Multiple Cannons ... Since it makes good sense to hide a King behind a Wall or two, it also makes good sense to have several Cannons to fire -- the first couple to knock down Walls, and a final one to do-in the King. However, keep in mind that the Cannons are only useful if there are enough moves to move them into position and fire them (see Wizards=Moves above).
  • Targets ... Obviously, you're going to want to get to the opponent's King as fast as possible. However, you can cause your opponent drastic problems by destroying other units as well. Hitting their Wizards will reduce the number of moves they have; hitting their Cannons will reduce their offensive power; and, hitting their Walls may cause them to burn their moves by using Builders to rebuild those Walls ... but that might be difficult for them if you hit their Builders ... In other words, keep your target options open.
  • Fire as an Obstacle ... Sometimes the fire that cannon shots leave behind can be useful as an obstacle. It can be used to block off the opponent's escape and/or attack paths.

For more strategy discussion, check out the Message Board ...