Castle Blast

Castle Blast - A game bent on destruction.

The king's treasure has been stolen. The princess has been kidnapped. A dragon guards them both inside the castle. Your job is to take down the dragon and rescue the princess and the treasure. Even though Mindware is one of my favorite game manufacturers, I had never heard of Castle Blast before I stumbled onto it a couple of days ago.

The pieces are all wood. When the pieces are assembled on the game board they will represent a castle with the princess, treasure and dragon inside. The game board measures 7" square. The cord on the wrecking ball is about 10" long. The ball is solid and about 1.5" in diameter.

Object:
Be the first to collect one treasure token, one princess token and one dragon token by knocking those blocks off the board.

Set up:
Build the castle on the game board as shown in the instructions. If you lose the instructions it is also pictured on the back of the box. Place the tokens nearby.

Play:
Players take turns. Roll the die and that will tell you how many times you can take a swing with the wrecking ball. The object is to aim at the princess, treasure and/or dragon blocks. A block must be completely cleared from the board on your turn to collect the corresponding token.

You can position the wrecking ball and/or game board any way you like. Pull back on the ball so that the string is taut. Simply let the ball go, do not throw it. Catch it when it returns or it will count as more than one swing. If you clear one of the three target pieces as you play, collect the corresponding token. Even if you clear one of the three pieces off the board, if you have more swings coming you will keep playing. If your swing totally misses hitting any pieces, it still counts as a swing. As pieces are cleared from the board, you can move them out of the way. Keep taking turns until all three of the target pieces have been cleared from the board, collecting token(s) for any of the three that you clear. If no one has collected all three tokens, set the board up and play again. Keep going until someone has all three tokens and wins the game.

NOTE: As the game continues into multiple rounds, if you clear a piece that you have already earned a token for, that token must be returned and you must earn it again. 

Four other ways to play:

• Master Builder - Play using the rules as above, but build the castle in your own layout.
• Block Collector -  Clear as many blocks off the game board as you can on each turn. When all blocks have been cleared, players add their score and the highest score wins. The princess, dragon and treasure blocks are two points each and every other block is worth one point.
• Marksman - Clear only one block at a time from the board. As long as you clear only one block per swing, keep playing until you fail, keeping all the blocks you clear this way. When all blocks have been cleared, score and determine the winner the same as in Block Collector.
• Royal Solitaire - Play alone to sharpen your skills. Try these:
• Track your lowest number of swings to clear the princess, treasure and castle blocks.
• Track your lowest number of swings to clear all the blocks from the board.
• Try to clear the whole board, one block at a time. On any turn that you clear more than one block, the game is over. Set up and try again.

Try this:

• Set up the blocks in your own design and play with the wrecking ball before actually playing a game to get the feel of it.
• Knock the three target pieces off in a particular order. If you clear one before its time, return it to its original location.
• Work on visual discrimination, spatial relations, eye-hand coordination, aim, manual dexterity, executive functioning skills, process skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation 

In the box: game board, wrecking board, 3 character blocks, 26 castle blocks, 12 tokens, 1 die

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.