Castle Builder Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • Assemble the castle
• Turn Order
  • Draw 2 tiles
  • Build a tile
• Placement Rules
• Numbers and Building
• Pay to Change Numbers
• Moving the Baron
• Optional Rules
• Coin Effects

Components

• 1 Rule Book
• 126 Tiles — for building the castles.
• 36 Coins — you need 7 coins to win the game. These coins have effects on the other side.
• 4 Barons — these move around on the market board to show your progress.
• 4 Foundations — this is the start of your castle.
• 1 Market Board — with a market for coins and tiles, a path for your barons, and a splendid castle to make it all pretty.
• 4 Tile holders — before your first game, these need to be assembled. See instructions on the component.

Setup

1. Form a Tile Pile by mixing all tiles face down.

2. Form a Coin Pile by mixing all coins face down.

3. Place the Market Board and assemble the castle (see below).

4. Add 3 random tiles, face up, to the market, and also add 3 random coins with the effect side up.

   Rule: The market should always be full; whenever a tile or coin is taken from the market it is refilled immediately.

5. Each player takes a Foundation, a Baron, and a Tile Holder. All players randomly draw 3 tiles and place them in their holder.

6. Choose starting player. Each player places their Baron on their space on the market board path (number 1-4). Note: the barons move clockwise, so the starting player will start in last place.

Assemble the castle

1. Fold up the 2 towers on the sides (outer fold line).
2. Attach the wall to the 2 knobs on the side towers.
3. Fold up the castle until its knobs snap into place against the wall.

Turn Order

Starting with the first player, players take turns in clockwise order. The game continues until a player has gained 7 coins and wins the game.

On your turn you have only 2 options: Either draw 2 tiles or build a tile.

Draw 2 tiles

Draw 2 random tiles from the Tile Pile, and place them in your Tile Holder. You cannot draw tiles from the market.

Rule: The Tile Holder can have a maximum of 7 tiles. If you draw more tiles, you must immediately choose and discard until you have 7 tiles.

Rule: Discarded tiles are placed face up in a Discard Pile. If all tiles in the Tile Pile run out, shuffle all discarded tiles back into a new Tile Pile.

Build a tile

1. Choose 1 tile from your Tile Holder or from the Market.
2. Build the tile on your castle, following the placement rules below.
3. Move your baron forward on the path to gain coins and other bonuses.

Placement Rules

• All tiles must match the pattern on the top and bottom of each tile; you may not place stone directly on top of air (or empty space), and you may not place air directly on top of stone. See examples.
• Tiles with the side wall symbol may only be placed on a floor where you have already built other tiles; you may not start a new floor with these tiles.

Examples of placing side walls (note that the sky cannot have a stone pattern underneath):

• The top side wall cannot be placed there because it cannot be placed higher than the other tiles.
• The other side wall has air that does not match the stone on the 3-tile below, so this is not allowed.
• The 5-tile cannot be placed here, because it doesn't match the sky underneath.
• Note that the 14-tile is allowed beside the 5-tile; the sides don't have to match.

Numbers and Building

When placing a tile, its number must be the sum of the numbers it is placed on.

• Some tiles have 2 numbers; the bottom number must be matched when placing the tile itself, while the top number counts for building on top of this tile later.
• Any number may be built on the foundation.
• The foundation has a door. The door isn't considered part of the foundation but counts as a 2-tile on top of it.
• The princess tile can be built anywhere (as long as you match the air/stone pattern on the tiles involved).
• The side wall tile cannot be built on a new level in the castle. There must be at least 1 other tile on the same level.

Example: Jacob's castle has a 4-tile and a 3-tile. He can place a 7-tile on top. (4+3=7)

Example: In this example you have a 10-tile and a 14-tile at the bottom. Added together, the tile on top must be a massive 24-tile!

Example: The princess is perfect! She can be placed anywhere, ignoring the numbers beneath.

Example: Daniel builds a side wall on top of the 6-tile. The side wall tile allows him to place it on top of any number. It was placed with air over air, and it was not placed above all other tiles.

Example: Any numbers are allowed on the first level, even a side wall. Even roofs are allowed. However, the side wall is not allowed since it doesn't match the stone pattern on the foundation.

Pay to Change Numbers

When you build a tile (either from your tile holder or the market) you may change its number up or down by discarding tiles from your tile holder. For each tile discarded, you may adjust the number 1 step. Once the tile is built, it regains its printed value.

Example: Nico wants to build the 11/1 tile, but the place demands a number of 12 (10+2=12). The number is almost right, just 1 step off. Nico discards 1 tile from his tile holder to place the tile.

Example: Later, Nico wants to build the lady tile, but the place demands a number of 11 (2+9=11). Nico discards 2 tiles from his tile holder to place the tile.

Moving the Baron

When a tile is placed, your Baron moves along the market board path based on how high up in the castle it was placed, and the number of rubies on the placed tile:

• The bottom level gives NO steps. Not even the rubies count. No steps!
• The second level gives 2 steps + 1 step per ruby.
• The third level gives 3 steps + 1 step per ruby.
• The fourth level gives 4 steps + 1 step per ruby.
• And so on...

Example: When Nico builds the angry noble tile he moves his Baron 3 steps: 2 because it's the second level +1 for the ruby. Next turn he places the lady and moves 4 steps: 3 for the level +1 for the ruby.

• When moving, count all areas on the path (including occupied areas). However, there can only be one Baron on each area, so if the last step takes you to an area with another baron, you must "glide" to the next empty area.
• If you end up on an area with a ruby, move your Baron 1 more step.
• If you end up on an area with a tile symbol, take a tile from the Tile Pile.
• After your movement, if you reached or passed a Coin, select one of the three coins from the market. Resolve its effect (see below), then flip the coin and keep it in front of you.

Example: Martha (green player) places a tile on the 3rd level giving her 3 steps to move. She moves her Baron 3 steps and lands on the red player. She then glides over all the three other barons and ends up on the ruby, giving her one more step. Note that she didn't get the extra tile because she didn't stop there.

Optional Rules

• Reach the Sky: Play to 9 coins instead of 7.
• Royal Strategy: Before starting the game, give 1 prince and 1 princess to each player. They are placed beside the tile holder and cannot be stolen, discarded or affected by opponents. During the game the owner may build them as if they were on the tile holder.
• Peaceful Times: The coins with a red tile icon (Catapult, Thief and Bitter Lady) will take 1 tile from the market to your tile holder, instead of their normal coin effects.

Coin Effects

When you take a coin from the market, immediately refill the market and then perform the effect of the coin - even if the effect doesn't benefit you! Keep the coin in front of you with the coin side up. If you now have 7 coins, the game ends immediately, even if players have not played the same amount of turns.

• Ruby: Move your Baron 1 extra step (this may result in further bonuses).
• Highest Tower: The player(s) with the highest castle (count your levels) gains 2 tiles.
• Thief: Randomly take 1 tile from 1 opponent's tile holder and place it in your own tile holder.
• Most Persons: The player(s) with the most persons (at least 1!) gains 2 tiles.
• Bitter Lady: Randomly draw and discard 1 tile from each opponent's tile holder.
• Most Windows: The player(s) with the most windows (at least 1!) gains 2 tiles.
• Mill: Discard the tiles on the market. After refilling with new tiles, select 1 of the new tiles to take to your tile holder.
• Most Roofs: The player(s) with the most roofs (at least 1!) gains 2 tiles. All tiles with any variant of red roof count.
• Crumble: Discard 1 tile in your castle that has no other tiles built on top of it. Don't move your Baron for this.
• Monk: The player(s) who have the fewest coins (before this coin!) gains 3 tiles.
• Catapult: Discard 1 tile in an opponent's castle that has no other tiles built on top of it. The opponent doesn't move his/her Baron for this.