I got this game years ago as one of the first to my family's collection. I had been to the real life Sanssouci castle in Potsdam, Germany a few years before so I was just intrigued by this game. I like it very much for a casual game time. There is actually a reason that the pavilions and statues, etc all look different. In the real gardens of Sanssouci you won't find 2 things the same, "sans souci" means "without worries", and that was the intend behind the castle. It was a pleasure castle build for king Friedrich II and has been referred to as the Prussian Versailles. If you ever get the chance I absolutely recommend a visit to Sanssouci in spring or early summer though I heard that the Christmas decorations in December are stunning too.
This doesn't seem like an update on the Ravensburger. The boards, tiles, score track, and cards all look better in the original. It's been a while since I played it, but I don't even think there was any kind of rules tweak to this one. I don't remember a pigs expansion in the Ravensburger, but I doubt I'd care. It's a great game, I'm glad I've got the Ravensburger.
This is an “oldie but goody”. I have the original printing, but haven’t played it in ages - need to bring it back out. Glad to see it is back in print again for new people to enjoy.
Does anyone know when this is going to be released? I’m confused as to whether it’s already out or not. Seems like maybe only review copies so far? Anyway, love Kiesling and excited to check it out!
Looks good and fun! Color-wise though it's annoying the entire score track is the same color without at least highlighting the round numbers. Also the background for blue cards looks just like the grey one in the video.
This game is awesome. I have the original copy not this new looking one. Must say my copies card, tile images and board image look better than this new one. Great game for the whole family and gamers. Get it!
I can't get beyond how NOT Sanssouci this is. Yeah, nothing in board games is usually that correct. You're certainly not recreating "Mad" King Ludwig's castles when you play that game. But my problem is that Sanssouci is different from pretty much every palace out there. Its garden area was terraced, so you could only reach each terrace via the central staircase or the from the sides. The terraces were also vineyards, not all these stereotypical French garden things this game uses. When tiles are laid, remove the central staircase and it looks like every palace EXCEPT the one it's named after! If this were called Versailles or Fontainebleau or pretty much any other Schloss in Park Sanssouci, it would make more sense than this. (Sanssouci does have French gardens like this below some of its detached buildings, but they are not what's shown on the box cover.) My main issue is just that Sanssouci's uniqueness lends itself to more thematic gameplay, which was completely ignored. Why? It's not like this game is rewriting game mechanisms, so why not work WITH the theme? "Enlightened" guests - certainly not Nobles, who were dealt with at other palaces - would have walked along the terraces, not up and down them (except at the sides and middle). And what's this with pigs? Friedrich II is famous for his Italian greyhounds, which are all buried right next to his beloved palace... and Friedrich is buried next to them. These starting points could have been tweaked for better gameplay, of course, but it makes no sense to choose Sanssouci and then ignore what makes it Sanssouci. There are palaces all over Europe but only a handful stand above the others. This is one of them.
Yea, the pig thing is weird. Did any French nobility have pigs as pets (or have them trotting in their gardens, lol)? I'm not a French history expert but it sounds odd.
With limited space, I have a hard time justifying owning this over the lastest Azul. Same author, same theme, much better components and art on Azul. And I personally prefer the mechanism on Azul as well. It might be a great game, but it will be compared to the more recent Kiesling game.
![“อาร์ต พศุตม์” เกือบเอี่ยวทุกคดีดัง เอ๊ะไว้ก่อน ไม่มีอะไรได้มาง่ายๆ | แฉ 16 ต.ค. 67 [2/3] | GMM25](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0Gx-0-kUBv8/mqdefault.jpg)
I got this game years ago as one of the first to my family's collection. I had been to the real life Sanssouci castle in Potsdam, Germany a few years before so I was just intrigued by this game. I like it very much for a casual game time.
There is actually a reason that the pavilions and statues, etc all look different. In the real gardens of Sanssouci you won't find 2 things the same, "sans souci" means "without worries", and that was the intend behind the castle. It was a pleasure castle build for king Friedrich II and has been referred to as the Prussian Versailles. If you ever get the chance I absolutely recommend a visit to Sanssouci in spring or early summer though I heard that the Christmas decorations in December are stunning too.
This doesn't seem like an update on the Ravensburger. The boards, tiles, score track, and cards all look better in the original. It's been a while since I played it, but I don't even think there was any kind of rules tweak to this one. I don't remember a pigs expansion in the Ravensburger, but I doubt I'd care. It's a great game, I'm glad I've got the Ravensburger.
Yeah this version looks like hot garbage. I like the original art.
I have the original Ravensburger edition. We've played it a few times, but it just wasn't a big hit. It's been sitting on the shelf for a long time.
This is an “oldie but goody”. I have the original printing, but haven’t played it in ages - need to bring it back out. Glad to see it is back in print again for new people to enjoy.
Thanks for the review! We hope that you liked it! 🙂
Does anyone know when this is going to be released? I’m confused as to whether it’s already out or not. Seems like maybe only review copies so far? Anyway, love Kiesling and excited to check it out!
There's a kickstarter campaign going on right now
Always wanted to try the original release but never got around to it for some reason. This one is gorgeous 😍
I passed on this 10 years ago
Looks good and fun!
Color-wise though it's annoying the entire score track is the same color without at least highlighting the round numbers. Also the background for blue cards looks just like the grey one in the video.
I recall years ago Rahdo really liked this one.
It's too bad the tiles/cards/board don't have the vibrancy of color used on the cover.
Glad they reprinted.
This game is awesome. I have the original copy not this new looking one. Must say my copies card, tile images and board image look better than this new one. Great game for the whole family and gamers. Get it!
the art on the cards is horrendous it makes the game look old which was the opposite of the intention of editing a reprint of an old game.
The pieces should have been carved out of frosted glass. Or 3D printer. Or acrylic at least!
I can't get beyond how NOT Sanssouci this is. Yeah, nothing in board games is usually that correct. You're certainly not recreating "Mad" King Ludwig's castles when you play that game. But my problem is that Sanssouci is different from pretty much every palace out there. Its garden area was terraced, so you could only reach each terrace via the central staircase or the from the sides. The terraces were also vineyards, not all these stereotypical French garden things this game uses. When tiles are laid, remove the central staircase and it looks like every palace EXCEPT the one it's named after! If this were called Versailles or Fontainebleau or pretty much any other Schloss in Park Sanssouci, it would make more sense than this. (Sanssouci does have French gardens like this below some of its detached buildings, but they are not what's shown on the box cover.)
My main issue is just that Sanssouci's uniqueness lends itself to more thematic gameplay, which was completely ignored. Why? It's not like this game is rewriting game mechanisms, so why not work WITH the theme? "Enlightened" guests - certainly not Nobles, who were dealt with at other palaces - would have walked along the terraces, not up and down them (except at the sides and middle). And what's this with pigs? Friedrich II is famous for his Italian greyhounds, which are all buried right next to his beloved palace... and Friedrich is buried next to them. These starting points could have been tweaked for better gameplay, of course, but it makes no sense to choose Sanssouci and then ignore what makes it Sanssouci. There are palaces all over Europe but only a handful stand above the others. This is one of them.
Yea, the pig thing is weird. Did any French nobility have pigs as pets (or have them trotting in their gardens, lol)? I'm not a French history expert but it sounds odd.
Thanks for the detailed explanation.
With limited space, I have a hard time justifying owning this over the lastest Azul. Same author, same theme, much better components and art on Azul. And I personally prefer the mechanism on Azul as well. It might be a great game, but it will be compared to the more recent Kiesling game.