Manu was picking up his games for the German order and had time for a game, so we played Caylus, since he’s getting it in the order and hadn’t played it yet. It was just the two of us, but as we all know, Caylus is a particularly excellent two-player game.
The game was superb! In the end, Manu won 139-136, mere three-point margin. I had blasted past him on the score track when I built my castle for 25 points, but he caught up with me and went past me. His final round was brilliant, bringing in over 30 points (two monuments, three favours).
Some curiosities in this match: neither mason or architect were built, yet we built a bunch of stone buildings and a total of six monuments (all basic buildings were replaced by shiny blue monuments, it looked quite fabulous). We both maxed out on building favour track, of course. That was kind of funny. We also spent lots of efforts in the castle to reap in the points.
The game was close, but I wonder if Manu hadn’t made some of his beginner mistakes — most notably not taking advantage of castle favours. On many turns he built two slots like I did, after me, thus skipping the favour. Still he squeezed a victory! Well, I always have an excuse if I lose to Manu in building games — he’s an architect, after all…
I was left wondering what happens if one player runs out of houses. I don’t think that can happen with more players, but with two it’s certainly a possibility. We skipped it this time by not placing houses on the monuments (where they are unnecessary after all), but I wonder if there’s a rule about it. The rulebook doesn’t say anything. I’d say the houses shouldn’t be limited.
Caylus is pretty high on my list of multiplayer games that work really well with just two players. The game is different, but very, very good.
5 responses to “Amazing game of Caylus”
I am glad you enjoy Caylus as a 2-player game. As for your question, the houses are not limited indeed. If you run out of them, you can use another color or remove houses in sections of the castle which has been scored already.
William
What else is high on your list of multiplayer games that work really well with just two players?
William,
Thanks for the answer. I thought so, since running out of houses is very unlikely with more players.
Iain,
Answer to your question became long enough so I posted it as a separate entry.
I doubt I would ever try Caylus as two-player, since I never have the opportunity to play a game with two. I am wondering how long that game took? If it was well beyond an hour, I know I’ll never get to play it as a two player.
I didn’t time the game, but I do know we listened through The Sham Mirrors by Arcturus (that’s 43 minutes) and then some, so it was probably around hour, maybe little more. So yeah, it isn’t a short game even with two.