Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
The goal of the game is to carry out the Emperor's orders by building various sections of the Great Wall. The player whose contribution to a section's construction is the most significant receives a token marking the Emperor's favor. The player with the most points at the end of the game is declared the winner.
Components
- 1 Rulebook
- 100 Wall Cards (5 sets of 20 cards)
- 36 Tokens (2 of value 1, 6 of value 2, 7 of value 3, 7 of value 4, 8 of value 5, 4 of value 7, 2 of value 8)
Setup
Sort all the wall cards into 5 stacks, so that each stack has 20 cards of one color. Each player takes one set of 20 wall cards of a single color. In a four-player game, 1 set is not used; in a three-player game, 2 sets are not used; in a two-player game, 3 sets are not used. Each player shuffles their own wall cards and places them face down in front of themselves. This is each player's deck (play deck).
Each player draws 5 wall cards from their deck and takes them into their hand. These wall cards form the player's starting hand (initial hand).
Each wall card depicts a piece of the Great Wall that must be built.
Turn all 36 tokens face down and shuffle them carefully. This is the token pool. Draw pairs of tokens (4 pairs in a four- or five-player game, 3 pairs in a three-player game, 2 pairs in a two-player game), turn them face up, and place them in the center of the table, leaving room to their right for several wall cards to be laid out.
Note: In a two-player game, if both tokens in a pair have the same value, return that pair to the box and draw a new pair. This rule also applies when you draw a new pair during a two-player game.
Gameplay
Choose the player who goes first. Play proceeds clockwise; players take turns until either:
- One player declares the last round, or
- The last token has been claimed. (See "Winning the Game" at the end of these rules.)
Turn Structure
On your turn you must perform the following three actions:
First action — You must total the current score (progress) in each wall section.
Second action — You must either:
- Place one wall card, or identical wall cards as a group, or
- Draw one wall card from your deck and take it into your hand.
Third action — Repeat the second action described above (again choosing either to play one or more wall cards or to draw one wall card).
Exception: in addition to these three actions, you may take one extra free action by playing a Cavalry wall card. See the "Wall Cards" section below for a fuller description of the wall cards.
Turn Actions in Detail
Here is how the turn's actions are carried out:
First Action: Scoring Check
At the start of your turn, you must total the score in each wall section.
Each of your wall cards in a given section adds its points to that section's total (see "Wall Cards" below for each card's points and full description). Total each player's points in the section and compare them.
If you have more (greater) points — strictly more, not equal — than the other players in that same wall section, you must claim a token under the following rules.
If both tokens of that wall section are still available: if you have the most points in the current section, choose either token and place it face up on one of your wall cards in that section.
If only one token remains (because the other token has already been placed on a wall card in that section): take the remaining token and place it face down in front of yourself. The owner of the other token in that section removes their token from their wall card and places it face down in front of themselves. Then all wall cards in that wall section are collected and discarded to the box. Finally, if tokens remain in the token pool, draw a new pair and place it face up in the vacated spot.
You may win both tokens of a single wall section. However, once you have claimed one token of a wall section, your total points for that section are reduced by the value of the token you claimed. This makes claiming a second token in the same section harder, but not impossible.
Important: if no other player places a card in a wall section where you have already claimed the first token, you may claim the second token on your next turn even while holding "negative" points there.
Second Action: Play Cards or Draw a Card
Either play wall cards or draw a new card from your deck.
Place any wall card, or a group of identical wall cards, from your hand onto the table next to one of the token pairs. If wall cards are already there, add your cards to the right of the ones already laid out.
Note: either before or after the second action, you may play a Cavalry card.
Third Action
Repeat the second action.
Wall Cards
Each deck contains 20 wall cards of 7 different kinds. All players hold an identical set of cards, but luck, timing, and tactics make every player's game different and competitive.
All kinds of wall cards add points to the current score of the wall section. Card values range from 0 to 3. In addition, some wall cards have special abilities. Here are the kinds of wall cards:
Walls (7 of 20)
Each Wall is worth 1 point.
Special ability: none.
Gates (3 of 20)
Each Gate is worth 2 points.
Special ability: none.
Watchtower (1 of 20)
Each Watchtower is worth 3 points.
Special ability: none.
Infantry (5 of 20)
The first Infantry card placed in a wall section is worth 1 point. The second Infantry is worth 2 points. The third Infantry is worth 3 points, and so on. So, in total, one Infantry is worth 1 point, two Infantry are worth 3 points, three Infantry are worth 6 points, four are worth 10, and five are worth 15. Infantry cards do not need to be adjacent to each other to gain this bonus.
Special ability: none.
Cavalry (2 of 20)
Each Cavalry card is worth 2 points.
Special ability: playing a Cavalry card does not use up an action. However, the card cannot be played on your turn after the third action.
Noble (1 of 20)
The Noble is worth 1 point.
Special ability: after the Noble is placed, all wall cards in that section are worth 1 point each, regardless of their color or printed value.
Dragon (1 of 20)
The Dragon is worth 1 point.
Special ability: the Dragon card may be placed as an ordinary card, or on top of another wall card that has no token on it, in any wall section. Once the Dragon is placed, the card beneath it scores no points and loses its special abilities, if it had any.
Winning the Game
When a player has used their entire deck and played every card from their hand, they announce "Guanzhou!" or "This is the last round!" All other players then take one more turn each.
When it comes around again to the turn of the player who declared the last round — the one with no cards left — no one may place any more cards. However, the game continues for scoring purposes, since players may still claim tokens.
Important: the game may also end automatically when the token pool runs out. In that case, the game ends immediately, players take no further turns, and no further scoring takes place.
Finally, each player totals the value of the tokens lying face down in front of them. The player with the highest total wins.
Note: tokens still resting on wall cards do not count toward a player's total score.