My First Castle Panic is an even more kid-friendly take on the co-op tower defence board game

Castle Panic is getting a new kids’ version that makes the simple co-op game even easier and faster to play.

My First Castle Panic drops the recommend age of players from 10 and over to four-plus, packing in a simplified version of the tower defence gameplay into just 20 minutes – a third of the original’s hour-long running time.

As in Castle Panic, up to four people (reduced from the original game’s six) are working together to hold back approaching monsters from their stronghold.

Instead of the castle sitting in the middle of the board that can be approached from all sides, this time it’s at the end of a path that the monsters move along in a set route, making it easier to defend.

The steps are each marked with a colour and shape, the entire game having been redesigned to eliminate the need for younger players to be able to read – something that publisher Fireside Games admitted had made it hard for some children to play the original.

Players play defender cards from their hand that match the steps to capture monsters, aiming to put all the attackers in the dungeon before the castle is destroyed to win. Everyone wins or loses together – there’s no victory points declaring the best ‘Master Slayer’, as in the first game.

My First Castle Panic will be out on March 6th 2019, with next year also marking the 10th anniversary of Castle Panic.