There’s a Castles of Mad King Ludwig sequel on the way

Ted Alspach’s widely-loved 2014 tile-layer Castles of Mad King Ludwig is getting a brand new follow-up – and, this time, the crazy royal is looking to build a palace.

The Palace of Mad King Ludwig is a standalone sequel to the acclaimed title and features a similar theme, in that players are working together to construct a fancy abode for the titular ruler while also trying to individually contribute the most impressive aspects to the building – earning them the most points and subsequent victory.

However, according to ICv2, Palace does swap out some of Castles’ mechanics: most notably, gone is the auction system where a rotating master builder sets prices for remaining rooms.

In news sure to please ornithologists, there will be swan tokens that double as both currency to purchase new rooms and victory points.

Around the palace runs a moat which automatically extends each round, acting as an environmental timer for the game’s remaining length. Play time seems to be a little shorter than Castles – apparently coming in closer to an hour than Castles’ 90 minute length.

Publisher Bezier Games previously teased the announcement on Twitter, revealing sections of Palace’s artwork – which, yes, does feature swans.

The Palace of Mad King Ludwig will be out this October – probably launching at Essen Spiel.