Objective of the Game

Welcome to the court of the White Heron! In *The White Castle*, you'll step into the shoes of a minor clan leader in 1761 Japan, vying for influence within the magnificent Himeji Castle. Your goal is to strategically place your family members—**Warriors**, **Gardeners**, and **Courtiers**—into various roles, from political advisors to humble landscape workers, to curry favor with the powerful Sakai clan. The player who best manages their **resources** and family placements will earn the most **Clan Points** by the end of the game, securing their clan's future and claiming victory!

Preparation (Setup)

Let's get this castle ready for some action! Here’s how to set up your game of *The White Castle*:

1. Main Board Placement: Place the **main board** where everyone can easily reach it.
2. Castle Cards:
   • If playing with 2 players, remove **Steward** and **Diplomat cards** marked with a ♦.
   • Shuffle the **Steward** (ochre) and **Diplomat** (indigo) decks separately.
   • Place 1 card face up in each space of their corresponding levels on the board.
   • Place the remaining decks in their designated spaces on the main board.
   • Important: If all cards in the castle show the exact same dark-background action, reshuffle those decks and repeat this step.
3. Daimyo Card: Draw 1 **Daimyo card** (grey deck) and place it on the last level. Return the rest to the box.
4. Die Tiles:
   • Mix all **Die tiles** face up (showing dice icons).
   • Randomly take one of each color and place them in the 3 spaces marked ♦.
   • Fill the remaining rooms by randomly placing tiles in numerical order. Each room must have at least 2 different die colors.
   • For positions 6 to 10, if all tiles in a room would be the same color, place the last tile in the next available space.
   • Place tiles in the **Well** with the dice side face down.
5. Round Marker: Place the **Round marker** on the first space of its track.
6. Common Reserve: Create a common reserve of **coins**, **Daimyo Seals**, and the four **+40/+80 Clan Point tiles** to one side of the board.
7. Bridges & Dice:
   • Place the 3 **Bridges** in their river spaces.
   • Take 3/4/5 **dice** of each color for 2/3/4 players, respectively. Return extra dice to the box.
   • Roll all dice of each color and place them on their respective **Bridges** in ascending order from left to right (lowest on the left, highest on the right).
8. Garden Cards:
   • Shuffle the 2 **Garden card** decks separately.
   • Randomly draw 1 **Plant Garden card** and 1 **Stone Garden card** and place them below each **Bridge**. Return the rest to the box.
9. Training Yards: Place 4 randomly selected **Yard tiles** in their corresponding spaces on the board, indicated side up. Return the rest to the box.
10. Player Domains: Each player takes:
    • 1 **personal Domain board**.
    • 15 **Clan members** (5 **Courtiers**, 5 **Gardeners**, 5 **Warriors**), placing them in their appropriate spaces.
    • 3 **Resource cubes** (for **Food**, **Iron**, and **Mother-of-Pearl**), placing them on the 0 space for each resource.
    • Their **Fan token** next to the **Clan Points track**.
11. Turn Order:
    • Place each player's **Influence marker** on top of the **Heron** next to the **Passage of Time track** in random order.
    • Place the **Heron tokens** on the **Turn Order track** in the same order (bottom of the stack plays last, top plays first).
12. Starting Cards:
    • Draw and place face up as many **Starting Resource cards** (orange deck) as players + 1.
    • Place a random **Starting Action card** (yellow deck) below each **Starting Resource card** to form pairs.
    • In reverse turn order, each player chooses 1 pair: The **Action card** goes on their **Player's Domain board**, and they gain the **Resource** from their **Starting Resource card**, placing it below their **Domain board** in the **Lantern Area**. If the **Resource card** grants a **Decree card**, take it and place it in your **Lantern Area** with the **Resource card**.

The Turn of Play

A game of *The White Castle* unfolds over 3 rounds, with each player taking 3 turns per round. The player at the top of the **Turn Order track** goes first.

A Player's Turn

On your turn, you'll perform these steps:

1. Choose a Die: Select 1 **die** from either of the 2 ends of any **Bridge**. Dice in the middle of a bridge are not available.
   • If you take a die from the center, the closest die to the newly vacant spot slides into it.
2. Place the Die: Place the chosen **die** in any space on the **main board** or your **Domain board** that shows a die icon. This die will cover another value (either printed or another die).
   • If your placed die's value is *greater*, gain the difference in **coins**.
   • If your placed die's value is *less*, pay the difference in **coins**.
   • If the values are the *same*, no coins are gained or paid.
   • Stacking Dice: Only a single die can be stacked on top of another, and only on spaces of the **main board**. In 1- or 2-player games, no dice can be stacked.
3. Gain Lantern Reward (Optional): If you chose the die from the *left* side of the Bridge, you gain the **Lantern Reward** from your personal domain.
4. Perform Actions: Carry out the action(s) for the space where you placed the die, in any order you choose.

Understanding Actions & Areas

You'll be placing dice in different areas, each with unique actions:

The Castle

The heart of Himeji Castle! Dice can be placed in any of the 5 rooms (3 on the Stewards' floor, 2 on the Diplomats' floor).

• Actions here are determined by the color of the die you place. You perform actions shown on the card next to the **Die tile(s)** matching your die.
• On the Stewards' floor, you can perform up to 2 actions on the same card if your die color appears twice in that room.
• If no actions are available for a die color, you can't place that color die in that room.

Outside the Walls

These 2 spaces are flexible—any color die can be placed here. When you place a die **Outside the Walls**, you can perform 1 of the 2 actions indicated by that space. The game's three main actions are available here: **Gardener**, **Courtier**, and **Warrior**.

The Well

A mysterious spot! The value of this space is always 1, and there's no limit to the number of dice that can be placed here.

• If you place a die with a value greater than 1, you gain the difference in **coins** (beyond the 1 value), plus the benefits indicated on the 2 tiles in the Well.
• You always gain 1 **Daimyo Seal** when placing a die here.

The Personal Domains

Your clan's private council! Each die color is assigned to a specific line on your **Domain board**:

• Coral die: **Courtier's** line.
• Black die: **Gardener's** line.
• White die: **Warrior's** line.

When placing a die here, follow these steps:

1. Gain Visible Rewards: Collect any **Resources**, **Daimyo Seals**, **coins**, and/or **Lantern Rewards** shown in the line where you placed the die.
2. Gain Action Card Reward: Perform the action shown on the card corresponding to that line.

Sending Clan Members to Himeji

These are the core actions you'll take to gain influence:

• Warrior: Take the leftmost **Warrior** from your domain and assign it to any **Training Yard**. Pay the **Iron** cost for that yard. Then, perform the action(s) indicated on that **Yard tile**.
• Gardener: Take the leftmost **Gardener** from your domain and assign it to a **Garden card** that doesn't already have one of your Gardeners. Pay the **Food** cost for that card. Then, perform the indicated action on the card.
• Courtier: You can perform up to 2 different actions (one or both, once each):
  1. Request an audience: Take the leftmost **Courtier** from your domain and place it in the **Gates of the Castle** space by paying 2 **coins**.
  2. Social Climbing: Take one of your **Courtiers** already in the Castle (not at the Gate) and pay 2 or 5 **Mother-of-Pearl** to move up 1 or 2 levels.
     • Courtiers at the Gate can move to any first-floor room.
     • First-floor Courtiers can move to any second-floor room.
     • Second-floor Courtiers can move to the Daimyo's room (third floor).
     If your Courtier ends on the first or second floor:
     • Move the **Action card** from your **Domain board** to your **Lantern Area** (face down, slightly offset).
     • Take the card from the room your Courtier reached and place it on your **Domain board**.
     • Perform one of the light-background actions on that new card.
     • Replace the card on the main board from its deck (if possible).
     If your Courtier ends on the third floor (Daimyo's room):
     • Gain the **Lantern Reward**.
     • Place the **Courtier** in an available position on the **Daimyo's favor card** and gain the benefit. If no spaces are left, the Courtier simply stays there.

Important Concepts

• Daimyo Seals: These represent the Regent's favor. You can store up to 5. Use them to move past **Checkpoints** on the **Passage of Time track** or for certain actions. You can also exchange 2 **Daimyo Seals** for 1 **Resource** of your choice, or 1 **Daimyo Seal** for 1 **coin**, as many times as you wish.
• Lantern Rewards: When you activate a **Lantern icon**, you receive the benefits of all visible icons in your **Lantern Area**, in any order. More cards in this area mean more rewards!
• Passage of Time Track: This track shows your clan's influence. Move your **Influence marker** forward when gaining influence. If you land on another player's token, stack yours on top. To move past **Checkpoints** (dividing seasons), you must pay 1, 2, or 3 **Daimyo Seals**. Your position here also grants end-game points.

End of the Round

A round concludes when only 3 **dice** remain in total on all **Bridges**.

1. New Order of Turns: The player whose **Influence marker** is farthest along the **Passage of Time track** goes first next round. In case of a tie, the player whose token is on top goes first. Adjust the **Heron tokens** accordingly.
2. Gardens Activation (Rounds 1 & 2 only): If a **Bridge** still has at least 1 die on it, **Gardeners** are activated. Players use each action on **Garden cards** where they have Gardeners once each, in any order they prefer.
3. Prepare for Next Round (Rounds 1 & 2 only):
   1. Collect all dice of each color, roll them, and place them back on the **Bridges** in ascending order (left to right), just like setup.
   2. Move the **Round marker** forward 1 space.

After the third round, skip steps 2 and 3 and proceed directly to **End of the Game**.

End of Game and Scoring

The game concludes at the end of the third round, after establishing the new turn order. It's time to tally up those **Clan Points**!

1. Score Remaining Resources:
   1. For every 5 **coins** and/or **Daimyo Seals** you have, gain 1 **Clan Point** (rounded down).
   2. For each **Resource** (Food, Iron, Mother-of-Pearl) you have between 3 and 6 units remaining, gain 1 **Clan Point**. If you have 7 units of a **Resource**, gain 2 **Clan Points**.
2. Score the Passage of Time:
   1. If your **Influence marker** reached the second season, gain 3 **Clan Points**.
   2. If it reached the third season, gain 6 **Clan Points**.
   3. If it reached the fourth season, gain the score indicated on the space your token occupies (between 10 and 15 **Clan Points**).
3. Score Clan Members:
   1. In the Castle: Each **Courtier** in the Castle grants **Clan Points** based on their location:
      • 1 **Clan Point** at the Gate.
      • 3 **Clan Points** on the first floor (Stewards).
      • 6 **Clan Points** on the second floor (Diplomats).
      • 10 **Clan Points** on the third floor (Daimyo).
   2. In the Training Yards: Multiply the total value of your **Warriors** in a **Training Yard** by the number of **Courtiers** you have *inside* the Castle (not at the Gate). Each Warrior's value is indicated in the Yard they occupy.
   3. In the Gardens: Each **Gardener** grants **Clan Points** equal to the number shown on the card they are on.

The player with the most **Clan Points** wins! In case of a tie, the player higher in the final turn order wins.

Tips for Winning

New to the castle? Here are a few pointers to help you on your path to influence:

1. Resource Management is Key: Pay close attention to your **Food**, **Iron**, and **Mother-of-Pearl**. Each clan member action has a specific resource cost, and running out can stall your plans. Remember you can exchange **Daimyo Seals** for resources in a pinch!
2. Balance Your Clan Members: Don't put all your eggs in one basket! Spreading your **Warriors**, **Gardeners**, and **Courtiers** across different areas can maximize your end-game scoring opportunities. For example, **Warriors** score better with more **Courtiers** in the castle, so consider that synergy.
3. Don't Underestimate Lantern Rewards: Activating the **Lantern icon** can provide a consistent stream of benefits throughout the game. Strategically acquiring more cards for your **Lantern Area** through **Social Climbing** can significantly boost your income and influence over time.