The White Castle
白鹭城
Just nine turns all game: take a die from a bridge and send your clan into Himeji Castle's gardens, training yards and keep.
- 1–4 players
- about 80 min
- Some thinking
- Strategy
- History
The goal
Have the most clan points after three rounds.
How it plays
- 1The game lasts 3 rounds, and each player gets only 3 turns per round.
- 2At the start of a round the dice are rolled and laid on the three bridges from lowest to highest. On your turn take a die from either end of a bridge, never from the middle.
- 3Place it on an action space and compare it with the number there: if your die is higher you gain the difference in coins, if it is lower you pay the difference.
- 4Taking the lowest die, at the left end of a bridge, also triggers your lantern reward.
- 5Then carry out that space's actions, mostly sending out three kinds of clan member: gardeners to the gardens for food, warriors to the training yards for iron, and courtiers through the gates for coins and then up the castle with mother-of-pearl.
How you win
After the third round, score: courtiers by the level they reached, warriors by how many of your courtiers are in the castle, gardeners by their garden cards, plus a little for leftover coins and resources. The highest total wins.
First time?
- You get nine actions in total. Make each one set off a chain.
- Keep two or three coins, or you will be stuck needing high dice.
- Your lantern reward grows as you play, so low dice are better than they look.
Watch how to play
In EnglishOpen on YouTube