2024Matthew O'Malley, Ben Rosset
- Videos
- 101
- Creators
- 66
1 - 4 players30 - 45 minMedium weight

2025Matthew O'Malley, Ben Rosset
Mainly reviews and how-to-play. Between Two Castles: Essential Edition is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 3 reviews, 3 how-to-play guides, 2 recorded sessions, and 3 unboxings.
From BoardGameGeek
Between Two Castles Essential Edition is a competitive drafting, tile-placement game for 1-8 players designed by Ben Rosset and Matthew O'Malley. It plays in about 45-60 minutes. The Essential Edition combines the original game and the Secrets & Soirees expansion into one box. The king demands a castle! You are a world-renowned master builder who has been asked by the king to help design his castles. Projects of such significance require the expertise of more than one person, so for each assignment you are paired with another master builder to execute your grandiose plans. Will your planning and partnership skills be enough to design the most impressive castles in the world? Between Two Castles is a competitive tile-drafting game in which each tile is a room in a castle. You work together with the player on your left to design one castle, and with the player on your right on another castle. On each turn you select two tiles from your hand, reveal them, then work with your partners to place them. At the end of the game, each castle is scored. Your personal final score is the lower of the scores of the two castles you helped design, and the player with the highest final score wins the game. To win, you have to share your attention between two castles. -description from the publisher Includes the following in the box: Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Saxophone Room Promo Tile Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Dice Tower Room Promo Tile Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Bonus Card Promo Pack #1
Learn to play
Review
Between Two Castles: Essential Edition has 11 videos from 7 creators: 3 reviews, 3 how-to-play guides, 2 playthroughs and 3 unboxings. They date from 2025 to March 2026.
To learn the rules, start with "Between Two Castles: Essential Edition - 2 Player How to Play" by Merry Married Meeples, which runs 16 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Between Two Castles Essential Edition - Introvert Solo Mode - My Learning Game | DaniCha" by DaniCha. To see it played, watch "Between Two Castles: Essential Edition - First Time Solo Game Playthrough - Introvert Variant" by The Brosey Game Company, one of 2 playthroughs.
If you like it, try Fromage, The Search for Planet X, The Game Makers and Excursions, also by Ben Rosset.
2024Matthew O'Malley, Ben Rosset
1 - 4 players30 - 45 minMedium weight
2020Matthew O'Malley, Ben Rosset
1 - 4 players60 - 75 minMedium weight
2026Ben Rosset
1 - 6 players60 - 90 minMedium weight
From BoardGameGeek:
Between Two Castles Essential Edition is a competitive drafting, tile-placement game for 1-8 players designed by Ben Rosset and Matthew O'Malley. It plays in about 45-60 minutes. The Essential Edition combines the original game and the Secrets & Soirees expansion into one box. The king demands a castle! You are a world-renowned master builder who has been asked by the king to help design his castles. Projects of such significance require the expertise of more than one person, so for each assignment you are paired with another master builder to execute your grandiose plans. Will your planning and partnership skills be enough to design the most impressive castles in the world? Between Two Castles is a competitive tile-drafting game in which each tile is a room in a castle. You work together with the player on your left to design one castle, and with the player on your right on another castle. On each turn you select two tiles from your hand, reveal them, then work with your partners to place them. At the end of the game, each castle is scored. Your personal final score is the lower of the scores of the two castles you helped design, and the player with the highest final score wins the game. To win, you have to share your attention between two castles. -description from the publisher Includes the following in the box: Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Saxophone Room Promo Tile Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Dice Tower Room Promo Tile Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig: Bonus Card Promo Pack #1
Designers
Matthew O'Malley, Ben Rosset
Artists
Laura Bevon, Agnieszka Dabrowiecka, Bartłomiej Kordowski
Publisher
Stonemaier Games
Mechanics