Camelot: The Build Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Objective
• The Game Pieces
• Set Up
• Game Rules
• Examples of Tiles, Tile Placement and Scoring
  • 1. Types of Tile
  • 2. Tile Placement and Scoring
  • 3. Examples of Play
  • The Endgame
• Solo Rules
• Strategy

Game Objective

Camelot - The Build is a game for 1 to 5 players and is played by laying tiles onto the castle plan area of the game board so scoring points both from laying new tiles and from tiles already on the board. The player with the most points wins the game.

The Game Pieces

The box contains: Game board, 80 Game tiles, 5 Scoring counters, Rule book, Tile bag.

Set Up

Lay out the game board. The centre of the board is a plan of Camelot with curtain wall, four corner towers, gatehouse, four small halls and the great hall.

Turn all the tiles face up. The red number on some tiles is their score value.

Take the ten tiles scoring three points and over and the six garden tiles and put them to one side. Put the rest of the tiles in the bag.

For a three player game take five tiles from the bag and pre-lay them on the board (according to Game Rules for Laying Tiles). For a four player game pre-lay four tiles. For a one, two or five player game no pre-laying of tiles is necessary. No points are scored during the pre-lay.

Turn the high score tiles face down and give each player two at random and one garden tile. Place the remaining high score and garden tiles into the bag with the other tiles, give it a shake and each player draws seven more tiles to make up to a full hand of ten. A player may keep up to three tiles face down; the remaining tiles must be face up at all times.

Each player selects a scoring counter, places it in the bag (or any other container) and one is drawn at random. This player starts and play passes clockwise. Place all scoring counters on the '0' box of the score track on the board edge.

You are now ready to play!

Game Rules

1. Turns: A player in his turn may place up to three tiles onto the plan. At the end of his turn a player draws tiles from the bag to make up to ten, until the tiles are exhausted. A player may keep up to three tiles face down, the remaining tiles must be face up. The game ends when all the squares on the plan have been covered with tiles and Camelot is complete.

2. Laying Tiles: Tiles may be laid on any square on the plan provided any black castle walls on the plan match those on the tile. If there are no black walls on a tile it may be laid on any plan square with no black walls. (Exception: The two fireplace tiles may only be laid in the middle of the Great Hall). Tiles may be laid singly, in pairs or 3 tile patterns - see below.

3. Scoring: Players score points as follows:

   • The points value of each tile he lays during his turn.
   • The points value of existing tiles that his new tiles touch edge to edge. A tile can only be counted once per turn.
   • If a player lays three tiles in a row, column or L shape, then the total score for that turn is doubled.
   • When a garden tile is laid it scores points from any tile it touches edge to edge and corner to corner. Garden tiles only score corner to corner in the turn they are first laid.
   • The score from the very last tile laid by each player at the end of the game is doubled and scores against that player.

Examples of Tiles, Tile Placement and Scoring

1. Types of Tile

1. This blank tile can go on any square without a wall section. It scores zero when it is laid but will score the value of any tile it touches edge to edge that is already on the board at the start of the player's turn.
2. This wall blank tile has a castle wall section so must be laid on a straight castle wall square. It scores as above.
3. This tile (bathhouse) has a castle wall section so must be laid on a straight castle wall square. It scores 1 point when laid and the value of any tile it touches edge to edge that is already on the board at the start of the player's turn.
4. This tile (Excalibur) has wall from the great hall in the centre of Camelot. It can be laid in one of six positions in the Great Hall. It scores 5 points when laid and the value of any tile it touches edge to edge that is already on the board at the start of the player's turn.
5. This is a garden tile. This tile can go on any square without a wall section (except in the centre of the great hall!). It scores 1 point when laid and the value of any tile it touches edge to edge and corner to corner that is already on the board at the start of the player's turn.
6. This is a small hall tile and can be placed on any of the eight small hall squares. It scores 2 points when laid and the value of any tile it touches edge to edge that is already on the board at the start of the player's turn.

2. Tile Placement and Scoring

Squares on the board plan are labelled with letters:

1. Tile 1 can be placed in any square labelled 'A'.
2. Tiles 2 & 3 can go into any square labelled 'B'.
3. Tile 4 from above can go in any square labelled 'C'.
4. The garden tile can be placed in any square labelled 'A'.
5. The fireplace tiles can only go in the squares labelled 'D'.

These three-tile patterns double the turn score. Above, from 1 to 2 points; in the middle from 5 to 10 points; and on the right from 1 to 2 points (in addition to the points score of any tiles they lay along side, touching edge to edge - see below). Tiles laid on their own or as a pair in a turn only score their tile value (in addition to the points score of any tiles they lay along side edge to edge - see below).

3. Examples of Play

Here we have a clerk and the Holy Grail tiles in the small halls and a blank. The previous player scored 16 points for this: 5 + 3 doubled because of a three-tile pattern to 16.

The next player holds the following tiles: a wall blank and a blacksmith - which must be placed on the curtain wall, and a blank. His best score is shown on the next page.

The scoring is as follows: The blank, because it touches the existing Holy Grail tile edge to edge, scores 5 points. The blacksmith tile scores 1 point. 6 points so far. Because the tiles laid make a three-tile pattern the score is doubled to 12.

The next player has the following tiles (shown in the illustration). What is his best score in this situation? The new tiles laid are outlined in red.

The garden tile scores its own 1 point as it is laid. Then, because it scores from tiles it touches on both corners and sides, it scores 3 from the clerk and 5 from the Holy Grail making 9 so far.

The wall blank touching the blacksmith edge to edge scores 1 point. Total so far 10.

Because these three tiles form a three-tile pattern the score is doubled to 20.

Note that both the wall blank and the garden tile touch the existing blacksmith tile edge to edge, but a tile may only be counted once per turn.

The Endgame

A player has two tiles remaining; a wall blank and a blank. One of these must be his last tile which, if it scores, is doubled and deducted from his score. So... The blank goes in position 3 and scores + 6 points. If he were to put the wall blank in position 2, it would score -2. So he lays it in position 1, where it scores zero!

Solo Rules

No pre-lay or pre-deal is required. Play and draw as for the multi-player games. Keep a record of your high scores.

Strategy

With only three easy rules Camelot - The Build (CtB) may at first reading appear to be too simple to support interesting strategic options. However, our experience in playing this game hundreds of times in design is that it is as subtle as you like to make it. Here are a few points to bear in mind:

With the pre-deal of two high scoring tiles and a garden, every player starts with at least one high score guaranteed. But when to play it and how high to aim? Play too early and you may not have enough existing tiles to score off. Leave it too late and you may well struggle to lay a three-tile pattern. This is a tough call. From our playtest logs, I see that scores of 20 - 30 points are as good as it gets, so if you see an opportunity in that order for your high score/garden combo then you have to have a pretty good reason not to go with it.

Blank tiles seem boring but they are a key play for the CtB champ. Consider: Blanks let you score without laying out your own high score tiles. Blanks allow you to 'dead zone' areas of the board thus restricting other players' options. Blanks allow you to bridge high score zones. Blanks can be used to take out key squares where a garden tile from another player would get a high score. Still think blanks are boring?

Holding back high score tiles certainly restricts other players' scoring options, but this must be balanced against your own need to keep your scoring counter on the move. It is sometimes possible to lay tiles that will set up a big score for you next turn, or mess up a big score for another player. The CtB champ looks for and capitalizes on these opportunities and pounces on tactical miscalculations (aka mistakes) from other players.

As Camelot gets built there will be squares where only one tile can be laid; for instance the last corner tower or the last small hall tile. If you hold that tile, don't be in a hurry to play it. It's a cert. Maximise your other scores first. And, er... don't make that your last tile either.

As the game draws to a close look at what other players hold, plan a zero or low negative finish from your last tile laid if you can.

You do not have to lay three tiles every turn! Don't be afraid to only lay one or two tiles if that's your best option. It happens.