CREDIT: STEVE PETRUCELLI
With the new board game Castle Panic, players can work together in order to escape the monsters and protect the castle.

NEW WESTMINISTER (CUP) – The push and pull of war-themed strategy games such as Axis and Allies or Risk have been thrilling gamers for years by allowing them to flex their strategic muscles.

But what if the game is just about you hunkered down, trying to survive wave after wave of bloodthirsty marauders, just hoping to see the next sunrise?

Castle Panic is a cooperative strategy game for one to six players designed by Justin De Witt and published by Fireside Games in 2009.

Players work together to distribute the forces they have in order to prevent a horde of fantasy creatures from completely leveling their castle. The players win if they manage to get through all the monsters with part of their castle still standing.

I love cooperative games—this one more than most.

Although there is a winner at the end of the game, determined by which player personally takes out the most monsters, the drive of the game is focused on survival.

The games centers around strategizing with your fellow players just so you can keep the walls up. This makes it a great game for older kids and players who don’t react very well to competition.

The one downside to this game is that it is too easy. Unlike other solo games such as Pandemic or Forbidden Island, Castle Panic leans more towards the players winning.

In order to combat the aforementioned weakness to the game, players can usher their focus more on the competitive side by trying to kill more monsters. This is a personal choice by the players, but a choice I suggest to make the game a little more challenging.

Castle Panic is a fun game that I would recommend to most casual groups. Though, if the group is full of strategy-driven individuals craving a challenge, I suggest making another selection.