Last updated on January 4th, 2026 at 04:52 pm
Castles of Mad King Ludwig – Strategy Game Review
Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a Strategy/Board game from Bezier Games, Inc., first launched in 24th May 2016.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 355+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Castles of Mad King Ludwig Stand Out
"Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a great port of a really cool castle building board game." TouchArcade
"A diverting tile-laying game. Excellent series of puzzles and tough AI." PocketGamer
Ted Alspach's castle-building board game comes alive on iOS! The winner of the prestigious Mensa Mind Games award tasks players with building extravagant castles for King Ludwig of Bavaria. Castles are constructed one room at a time, with a different player each round setting the prices for the others, resulting in a competitive, engaging game where building is as much fun as winning!
Choose your strategy carefully as you compete against your friends or AI (computer) opponents. Or take on the Campaign, and travel to 15 real-life castle sites, each with up to 3 unique Crown Goals, providing hours of fun and challenge.
• Two to Four Player Pass-and-Play/Computer Matches
• Campaign Mode with Levels based on Real Castle Sites
• Training Tower Levels teach Game Basics
• Help System with Illustrated Rules, Tips, and Tile Reference
• 75 Different Room Tiles
• Game Center Achievements
• Orchestral Soundtrack
• Share Your Castle on Twitter, Facebook, and more
This Strategy game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Castles of Mad King Ludwig is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 31st March 2021
Recent improvements include:
Castles 2.0 adds new content from the Castles of Mad King Ludwig Collector's Edition board game, including a new icon, opening, main menu (with direct access to Help), and the option to use brand new room tile artwork. This release also improves compatibility with newer devices and resolves some minor issues.
Download & Availability
Castles of Mad King Ludwig is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Castles of Mad King Ludwig on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Id love to see an update; especially if it gives you more options. Would pay a few bucks for it.
We bought this so we could play it with another person next to us (not online) but Im unable to launch anything other than ourselves versus the AI. Several reviews say its pass-and-play. Whats up.
Greetings from Feb 2023 – Castles of Mad King Ludwig features fantastic game play! We were rusty on the rules after not playing for a few years and the tutorial was very helpful! Get ready to have fun! Well worth $8.
Great virtual version of an excellent board game. We love this for solo play, especially when Im doing chores or other things (as turns can take awhile when playing against 3 AIs). Im a daily player as we find it both interesting and relaxing. The developers are missing great opportunities for paid expansions. Happy to have the new tiles, but would love to have additional tiles from the new collectors edition) which could be released in 2-3 paid expansions). Additional ideas: 1) ability to customize the number of starting tiles in options/settings when you want to play a longer game (this is our #2 wish after new tile sets), 2) achievements, 3) AI opponents who differ in play style, 4) free play mode where you can just design a castle for fun. TLDR: Keep up the good work, Bezier, but add more to the game.
We love this game, have for years and our family just recently got out deluxe edition board game with twice as many rooms, secret passages, moats and swans. We really hope you guys are planning a major update of the app with all of these new game options being available.
This is an excellent implementation of the physical board game and Ive enjoyed many hours playing it. However, we have noticed two instances of mislabeled tiles; one being the Secret Lair (it shows a bonus of 2 points for each Hallway when it should show 2 points for each Utility Room) and the other being the Kings Favor tile for Activity Room Size (its missing the icon indicating total area size). Other than that, and the AI often making suboptimal tile placements, the game is an awesome way to kill 20-30 minutes.
This game works well in the digital medium, the campaign is well designed to give you puzzles/challenges.
This is our hands down favorite board game and the app does it total justice! Love it.
We love love love the new tiles and opening artwork. Please keep developing this app because it can still be better (multiplayer, more bonus card variations, new music?) but we are very glad to have seen/played this update.
Love the game, BUT. UPDATES PLEASE.
Campaign mode is worth playing. Lots of entertainment and it is challenging. We were hoping it had an online element.
As of today (5/21/21) there is a bug that was reported on 4/8 with the new set of tiles released in the last update. Until that is updated our below review is still accurate but… Play with the classic tiles for now Good iOS version of one of our favorite board games. Now we can play and not bug our family. The minor differences are so minor you don't notice it. We wish there was a little bit of customization available, ,faster animations, faster ai, and vary the number of cards (we.e. Allow house rules like a lot of people do that allow larger castles). We don't play any game online, so we cannot comment on they part.
This game is good but would be so much better if you could play with all the features of the deluxe edition.
There does not appear to be a way to message app support. The 500 Basement room (Secret Lair) scoring 2 for each corridor room seems to score for Utility rooms instead (or maybe its a misprint ). Also the Kings Favor for Activity room size doesnt have the area size image.
This is a great game BUT the whole reason we got it was to play with family online. Not possible.
We love this game and feel the overall graphics and all that were done beautifully. However, there is a bug where the game occasionally tells us there are no more bonus cards available when we're only on turn two or so which means there absolutely should be bonus cards! This happens while we're doing campaigns. Restarting the level is the only way to fix it and it's super annoying.
Good game, adequate implementation for tablets, but UI and text are absolutely too small to play on a phone. Stick to a tablet.
This app is great except for one huge issue, it does not have online multiplayer. When we got the app we immediately told our board game group to buy it, we already had a couple other board game apps and we were kinda surprised we didnt know about this one sooner. We bought this without checking if it had online multiplayer cause it never occurred to us that it wouldnt, after we found out fortunately our friends hand not bought it yet. If this does get online multiplayer we know at least 4 people that will definitely buy it. The pass and play is a nice feature but in most situations if we are together in person we will just play the physical board game. The main point for our group of getting the board game apps is that we can play online. Its really unfortunate because we love this game and functionality wise this app is better than some of the other board game apps we have but its essentially useless without online multiplayer.
We hope everyone shows their support through some good reviews, because there are so many iOS board game ports that are no longer available, even when purchased, because the developers stopped supporting new updates.
Im a huge fan of Castles and Suburbia. We hope the game creators will make these playable in small groups online. We used to play these games irl with our roommates but now were scattered on the wind and we cant visit each other and play due to the risk (we cant even play risk!) Creators, we would love to be able to play with distant friends.
Worth every penny! We have the tabletop game too, which we love, but this one is so quick to play without all the setup and cleanup that its a constant go to. We wish we could give it more stars.
Great app adaptation of a terrific board game. We had the app first and it prompted us to buy the tabletop version to play with our family. A bit of a learning curve but worth it.
Im obsessed with this game. Fantastic solo mode.
Fun little strategy game. We like playing the campaign to relaxI wish there were more levels.
This game is a new obsession for us. Havent gotten the board game but Im am planning on it soon.
A faithful version of an outstanding board game. We have also seen the bugs the others have reported, but they are minor compared to other games. The campaign mode adds so much to the replay value of this game.
We're quite impressed by the quality of the game.
Castles lets you build actual rooms in castles rather than portions of buildings and roads. We like the spacial arrangement and clear scoring system. Campaign mode is so much fun, and no game is the same. Amazing app.
This app stays as true to the board game and definitely holds one's interest with the various challenges. Well done.
Playing single player is super fun and makes you better at the game proper.
Love the campaign mode and objectives. Love this board game but a fun game to play on our phone too when killing time or just for leisure. Minor Requests: 1. Would love to speed up computer play, esp. Room completion actions. 2. We'd like to be able to see our objectives and what not while a computer player's turn. Thanks for the good work, fun and well made.
So happy this is an app to play. Love the board game.
In spite of the fairly minimalist graphics this game is ridiculously fun to play and is a great puzzler.
We love playing this board game, so we are thrilled that it is available on our iPad now. We would like to see the expansion on this app now.
The original board game was already great, and this iOS implementation adds a handy tutorial and a single-player campaign with clever and varied objectives.
The CoMKL App is an absolutely fantastic representation of the tabletop game. Not only that, but the Campaign Mode makes it even better. For those not in the know, CoMKL is a modern tabletop game where players purchase various tiles to slowly expand their growing castle. Each tile has different points awarded to them upon first placement, as well as additional points/rewards – or in some cases, negative points) for completing a room (all doors attached to other doors). The app is nearly flawless. We will say "nearly", because there is one minor bug, and that's when points are awarded for re-scoring a downstairs room. Both the points on the upper left-hand side of the tile and the center icon should be restored when taking this option. (This was confirmed by the publisher on a forum on BGG.) However, it's a very rare occurrence that this is the player's best option. Still, we hope it's corrected in a future update. One of the best parts of the app is the Campaign. You have various objectives to complete for each level, and you slowly unlock additional, more challenging levels as you go through it. The available pieces are still randomized for each campaign city, so it's not a simple memorize-this-pattern-to-win campaign. It's very, very well done. Hopefully the app will continue to receive attention. There is no online play (though the AI is quite good), and it would also be great to have the Secrets Expansion included as an IAP. Even with these minor issues, the app is well deserving of 4.5 stars (we rounded it up), and can be enjoyed by anybody who enjoys the tabletop game, or takes the time to learn how to play it well. For the latter, we're [nearly] 40 years old, and it IS worth learning how to play! TL;DR – Just buy the app. It's well worth it.
Needs multiplayer and a short cut to see the bonus you get for completing a room. Be nice to have the expansion. Or a help with scoring the board game we have at home.
We have the board game and this makes set up so fast for solo, we wouldn't go back to the card board version! Controls are intuitive, the tutorial mission are helpful, and the replay ability so far is very good for quick games vs AI or campaign mode with various challenging ways to score and get full achievements. Great board game made better with the app.
A couple of minor bugs, but a very interesting and challenging board game. We haven't played the tabletop version and we're not sure we want to, given the complexity of scoring. For us, an excellent solitaire.
Good tutorial and campaign mode.
We casually played the board game 2x a year visiting relatives and loved it. Bought the app on the flight home last time and have been so impressed!! Not only does it bring all the elements of the puzzle/strategy that make this game so fun, but the campaign mode functions as a tutorial. Working through the different challenges forces you to think the way that you need to think to be a master. Well done. So worth the money. One note… When playing, you can't tell how many bonus cards are left in the pile. Also, sometimes it gets a little glitchy and if you replay a level, when you start again it will say there's no bonus cards yet, and you haven't even started the game.
Love the board game, and love the app. The app plays smoothly, and we've picked up a few tactics from playing against AIs that we think will help playing against humans. If you like board game apps, drop the cash on this app. If you like board games, drop the cash on this game.
If you enjoyed the board game you will love this version. It goes beyond the board game to provide endless fun.
First things first… Only 90mb, doesn't need internet to run, there's nothing more you have to purchase, and there are no annoying ads! The AI is brilliant. We are a board gamer and this truly does bring the full experience of a board game and fits it inside our cellphone. We love this game.
We haven't played the board game, but we love the app. It's a bit tough on the iPhone because the screen is so small, but still very enjoyable.
We love this ap. We have enjoyed the board game version and the ap offers so many cool challenges.
If you've played the board game you'll know what to expect. How ever, the app does have a campaign mode that presents unique challenges not found in the tabletop incarnation. It's worth the price and we hope the developer continues to build upon the campaign idea in future updates.
You can just play and it counts.
Would be perfect if it had online multiplayer.
We enjoy playing the table top version of this game. The app makes playing easier (since it deals with all the rooms for you) and the campaigns are a nice addition.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 2.0
- Size: 90.67 MB
- iOS: 8.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: [Bezier Games, Inc.]()
Last updated: 31st March 2021 | Genre: Strategy, Board | Developer: Bezier Games, Inc.