44 questions players ask about Castle Combo, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-29.
Stated directly in the rulebook's setup.
You start with 15 gold and 2 keys each. Everything else stays in a shared supply within reach of all players.
The rulebook limits the key step to one key and one of two actions.
Only one key per turn, in step 1. You use it either to move the messenger to the other row (castle or village) or to discard and refresh the three cards in the messenger's current row, not both.
Follows from the rulebook's wording of the key step.
No. In the base game a key refreshes only the row the messenger is currently in. To refresh the other row you would first have to spend a key to move the messenger, and you only get one key per turn.
The rulebook says discarded cards are public.
Yes. Discarded cards are public information, so anyone may look through the discard piles at any time.
Two players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. There is no hidden information in Castle Combo, so everyone may see and count each other's gold and keys.
The rulebook says so explicitly.
No. A card taken face down ignores its printed information, including the messenger icon, so the messenger stays where it is.
Reasoned by community players; the rulebook does not address positions.
Order within a display does not matter. Put the new card in the empty space; you choose among the three cards anyway whenever you buy or discard.
A single community reply.
The display of three face-up cards you buy from, not your own tableau.
The rulebook lets you flip a card you take from the display.
No. You take one of the three face-up cards in the messenger's row and place it face down in your tableau.
The rulebook says you may always take a card face down.
Yes. Taking a card face down is always allowed. You pay nothing and gain 6 gold and 2 keys.
The rulebook says you take one of the three cards in the messenger's location.
Yes. You always choose from the row where the messenger is. To take a card from the other row, spend a key first to move the messenger.
The rulebook ends the game when every tableau has 9 cards.
Only up to a point. A face-down card still fills one of your nine tableau spaces, and there is no pass or discard action, so you can take at most nine face-down cards and the game ends after nine turns each.
The rulebook says to place the card immediately.
No. You place a card in your tableau immediately when you take it, and its ability then resolves.
The rulebook describes discounts as permanent and not applying to the card itself.
Yes. Discounts are permanent and apply to all your later purchases, but a discount card does not discount its own purchase. Discounts cannot take a cost below 0.
The rulebook defines neighbors as the players left and right.
A neighbor is a player: you choose the player directly to your left or right. In a four-player game the player opposite is never a neighbor.
A publisher account explained the Steward on BoardGameGeek.
When played, you put gold from the general supply onto two purse cards in your tableau until they are full. The gold does not come from your own stash.
A publisher account ruled this on BoardGameGeek.
No. You choose any two purse cards in your tableau. The Steward may choose itself, but it is not required to.
Yes. The Italian text differs from the English, French and Dutch cards, which all say to fill two purse cards. Players report newer Italian copies were corrected.
Several players agree; no official ruling.
No. The Banker has no purse, so you cannot put gold on it. It scores 1 point per gold on the other cards in your tableau, and leftover gold in your supply does not count.
A publisher account confirmed this on BoardGameGeek.
Yes. The Woodcutter gives 1 gold for each occupied tableau space, and a face-down card occupies a space. The Beggar's per-full-space coin works the same way.
Players agree; no clear official ruling.
Those of one neighbor, the player sitting to your left or right. You gain 1 key for each silver banner (castle card) in that player's tableau.
A single reply, consistent with the rulebook's own-tableau principle.
No. It counts only cards in your own tableau; the neighbor effects are separate lines.
A single reply citing the icon aid.
One key for each card that has two shields, as the double-sided icon aid shows.
The rulebook says a card takes itself into account when its ability resolves.
Yes. The card counts itself, so keys are gained for each shield type missing from your tableau.
A single reply.
Gain 1 key for every Faith symbol on one of your neighbors' cards.
A single reply.
Keys equal to the cost of the village card you discard, since both are marked X.
The rulebook describes end-game purse filling.
Only two ways: a card effect such as the Steward places gold from the general supply, and at game end you place leftover gold from your own supply onto purse cards, up to each purse's capacity.
A publisher account confirmed this on BoardGameGeek.
No. Gold on purse cards is fixed there and is never spent.
The rulebook says gold not on purses is kept for ties.
No. Only leftover gold not stored on purses breaks ties; purse gold has already become points.
The rulebook says face-down cards are worth no points.
No. A face-down card has no printed information: it is not castle or village, has no shields, and scores nothing, but it still fills a space. The Carpenter is the exception: it scores when you have a face-down card.
Players agree; no official ruling.
A flat 8 points if you have at least one card face down, not 8 per card.
The rulebook describes sets of 3 identical shields wherever they are.
Yes. It scores for every set of three identical shields anywhere in your tableau, across all shield types: each set must match internally, but different sets can be different types.
Two reports agree; no official ruling.
No. It scores 6 points if it sits in your left column at game end; colors do not matter.
Single-thread replies; no official ruling.
No. A shield on the Jester's own card counts once.
Several replies agree.
4 points per card in your tableau with any discount ability, including castle-only or village-only discounts.
A publisher account explained locks on BoardGameGeek.
A key on a lock marks an unused ability. Remove it to trigger the ability, once per turn at most. A key still on the card at game end goes to your key pool and scores.
A publisher account answered this.
No. A key on a lock is not in your key pool; it can only be removed to trigger that ability.
A publisher account answered this.
Yes. The key placed on the lock comes from the supply, not your own keys.
A publisher account described the timing.
Once per turn: before the key step, between key and buy, or at the end of your turn after the refill. It does not require spending a key.
Several replies agree.
Yes. A lock ability is independent of the messenger, so one lock plus a key action is allowed, but only one lock per turn.
A publisher account answered this.
The adjacent card's own position. The effect activates, it does not copy.
A publisher account confirmed.
Yes. The market refills to three at end of turn; a missing refill on BGA was a bug.
A single reply.
No. The lock ability alone discards the row.
Those of one neighbor, a player directly to your left or right, not an adjacent card in your own tableau. You gain coins based on the castle cards in that player's tableau.