White Castle is sooo good. It's in my top 10 and will probably remain there for a long time. It's a big box game in a small box. Easy set up, quick to play. Crunchy. Every decision matters. You have really great combo turns towards the end of the game. And the whole board is just pretty to look at on top of all this. Amazing game. I can't wait for the Matcha expansion.

The lantern benefit being tied to the lower die value was a fantastic mechanism. I also appreciated the evolving actions/rewards on your mat tied to the courtiers moving up the castle, especially given their immediate benefit (light colored banner) when you acquire the card. And of course that increases your lantern benefit as well! A lot of strong interaction between areas in this game. For only having 9 actions, you're able to generate a lot of reward. Still not sure if I feel I "accomplished" as much as I do after a game of Red Cathedral, but I look forward to exploring this one more.

This is a top 9 game for me. I'd say that the Lantern is its most distinctive feature.

I absolutely love this game. Along with the lantern and dice selection, the other mechanism I love is the passage of time that not only determines order of play for the following rounds (which is HUGE in this game to have the first turn) but can also get you victory points. The only complaint I have about this game is the box is too small for everything they cram in it. I get the publisher wants big games in a small box but one of my bridges broke because it got crushed in the box. There's literally no space in this box and it's so frustrating.

I really liked that same mechanism. Also just the dice drafting/payment system. Thought it created some really interesting choices.

Limited use and multiple use of dice has been such a main study at the moment. Can also create such a difference with Random input based on selection for the turn and your dice you use. Not sure if you have played Merchants of the Dark Road from Elf Creek Games? They have a Dice system with the 7 Dice and Illuminated Die. The combination of bumping the Die for the rounds, use of the Illuminated Die to also activate a 2nd location and 3rd location for free is so nice! But the way the game uses the 7 Dice as the round Track to end the game after 13 rounds is just so smart!

Wait…where are the burgers?