Look at how awesome looking this castle is! Although you cannot tell from the picture, the plastic is not at all flimsy. It is very rugged and has held up well to all of the abuses of Kaz and his pals. We have not had any pieces break off or get bent in the months that we've been playing with it--believe us, that is a pretty impressive accomplishment.
Here is a view of the castle from the back. This is the side that we most often play from.
While the castle can be set up to be pretty impressive in size, it is also very easy to store since it folds up so well. It has an amazingly small footprint!
It doesn't really matter that the castle didn't come with figures, because Kaz likes to put his cars on it most of all. He loves to stick cars on the lookout tower or make them park in the king's quarters.
As if the castle weren't cool enough with its many nooks and crannies, it goes to the next level with its many movable parts.
These are the front doors to the castle that can open and close.
This is an interior door that can collapse into the floor.
Look how well that door tucks away!
There are also 6 special feet-controlled actions that can be performed. (1) Notice the red disc in the picture above. When you place a figure in the footprints of the red disc and twist the figure, you "unlock" an action. Although we're missing the figures to do this, it works just as well to use our fingers to turn the discs. In the picture above, you can open and close the sliding green door when twisting the disc.
(2) Turning the red disc next to the moat releases the drawbridge to be lowered over the moat. (3) There is also a red disc behind the black grating above the drawbridge that raises and lowers the grating. If you make the grating go up and down, you can make it look like the castle is talking!
(4) The red disc in this picture fans out the blue spiral staircase. As a kid, I always loved the idea of hidden passageways and this one definitely rates high in that regard. When I make the staircase appear or disappear, it makes me feel like I'm inside Clue, a childhood movie that I liked most of all because of the cool hidden passageways.
(5) The red disc by the king's throne unlocks another secret means of escape. If you turn it, the wall behind the chair turns so that the king disappears. This one reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. One moment, you find yourself in the midst of danger...
And the next moment? You've disappeared behind the wall to safety!
(6) The last feet-controlled action is perhaps the one Kaz has the most fun with, perhaps because it is the most dramatic...or perhaps because it is the most sadistic. See this figure just chilling on top of the castle?
The yellow disc got turned and now the poor guy has found that the floor has disappeared beneath him! Down, down, down he goes!
The guy falls several stories, ending up quite bruised and broken up in prison.
If you have any fear of heights, just take a look at the drop and you'll have some sympathy for the poor guys (or more likely cars) that Kaz finds delight in sending down this chute.
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