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Android App Review #5: Castles of Mad King Ludwig

For the review of the tabletop version, see here:

Review #9: Castles of Mad King Ludwig

Price: $8.99 CAD

Rating: 9.5*

 Castles of Mad King Ludwig is an amazing game, one of my favorites, but it is a tile placement game with pieces that vary in shape significantly and also have a lot of interactions. Would it be possible to pull off in an app? How well would the setting of prices by the master builder be pulled off? I was about to be very impressed.


There are several different play options available. As with all good digital implementations, there is a progression tutorial to help teach players the controls and how to play. There is then a local match that can be played against other players on the same device or against AI. Finally, once you complete the tutorial it is replaced with a campaign mode.


The app implements the gameplay of this seemingly complex spacial game very well. For placing the tiles, it is very easy to see how things will line up, move tiles around, and rotate them. The harder part to implement is the auction. Because you can only see one castle layout at a time, to try to determine what other players might need requires a lot of scrolling between the different players, regardless if it is against AI or local. This can make it more difficult to set auction prices, as if it already wasn't enough when trying to think of it from a strategic perspective. On the other hand, the game updates in real-time who the leaders are for the King's Favors, which is very useful.

The campaign is a lot of fun and probably the best part about the app. In the campaign, you will be playing a series of games in which the rules and goal for the game will vary slightly. For example, the goals for the first game requires you to reach at least 30 points and have a castle size of at least 3500 square feet. In terms of rules, this game does not include bonus cards, limits your play area, and gives you special starting tiles. Some games will have you playing solo while others will have a full complement of opponents. Finally, depending on how well you are able to play you can score anywhere from one to three crowns for completing the level. As long as you are able to score one crown, you are able to move onto the next level.


The biggest downside is the lack of online play for those who desire to play real opponents but not on the same device. It's not a big deal for me, but still it seems to be a feature that most modern apps would have. As such, I docked half a point for this feature I would not use. In the end though, this is a fantastic app with endless replay value for me and although it does not replace the real game, its perfect for solo or travel play.

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