Castle Nightingale

About this board game

Castle Nightingale is a two-player cat-and-mouse board game that plays in about 45 minutes. Three ninjas infiltrate a mysterious castle, seeking to steal five relics before the samurai captures all three thieves.

The castle is built from four double-sided floor boards surrounding an inaccessible garden. Each board contains colored areas and two secret passage spaces, creating a compact but challenging maze for the ninja player to navigate. Eight vases hide six relics, and every movement can bring the thieves closer to victory—or expose them to danger.

Each turn, both players secretly choose one of three action cards from their hands. The samurai also selects a nightingale tile that was not used on the previous turn. The ninja then resolves their action and moves across the floor, leaving a footstep token on every space visited.

If a ninja steps onto a colored space matching the samurai’s hidden nightingale tile, that ninja is revealed. Otherwise, the ninja can use any of their footsteps as a starting space on the following turn, making careful route planning essential. The samurai moves more quickly by treating each colored area as a single space.

• Ninjas: Steal five relics before all three thieves are captured.
• Samurai: Track and capture the three intruders.
• Equipment: Use specialized one-shot items, gaining more through certain cards.
• Cards: Cycle through ten cards as the pursuit unfolds.

A recovered vase can be taken back by the samurai if they close the final secret passage or land on the ninja’s space—provided that ninja was revealed that turn. With hidden information, secret passages, colored spaces, and limited-use equipment, Castle Nightingale turns every move into a calculated gamble.