Castle Keep Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Object
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Build Onto Your Own Castle
  • Attack an Opponent's Castle
  • Pass Your Turn
• Game Notes
• Winning the Game
• For Advanced Play
• Alternate Game Versions
  • Two-Player Takeover
  • Empire
  • King of the Castle (for two players)
  • Siege Solitaire
• A Word From Gamewright

Contents

• 36 Tower tiles
• 36 Wall tiles
• 18 Keep tiles

Tower and wall tiles come in three colors (red, yellow and blue) and three shapes (curvy, zigzag and straight). Keeps simply come in three colors.

Shape	Tower	Wall	Keep
Curvy	Tower tile	Wall tile	Keep tile
Zigzag	Tower tile	Wall tile	Keep tile
Straight	Tower tile	Wall tile	Keep tile

Object

Be the first to construct a castle using tower, wall and keep tiles, or bring your opponents' castles to rubble. The first player to build a 3 x 3 tile castle or entirely destroy an opponent's castle wins the game.

Setup

Thoroughly shuffle all of the tiles and deal four face down to each player. (Look at your tiles but keep them secret from opponents.) Stack the rest in two face down draw piles in the center of the playing area. Any tiles discarded during the game are stacked face up next to the draw piles.

How to Play

The person to the left of the dealer goes first and play continues clockwise.

On each turn:

1. Draw two tiles from either face down pile.
2. Either build onto your own castle or attack an opponent's castle or pass your turn.
3. At the end of your turn, discard down to four tiles, if necessary.

If the draw piles ever run out of tiles, shuffle the discard pile to make new draw piles.

Build Onto Your Own Castle

Place as many tiles from your hand as you wish, following these rules:

• The first tile placed in your castle must either be a wall or a tower.
• After the first tile is placed in the castle, any new walls or towers must be placed adjacent to existing walls or towers by matching either the color or shape (or both color and shape) of the existing adjacent tile.
• Towers are placed at the corners, walls are placed on the sides and a keep is placed in the center of a 3 x 3 grid (three tiles across by three tiles down).
• A keep must match the color of any other tile currently in the castle.

(Illustration: a wall tile is placed next to a yellow square-shaped tower; labels read "Yellow or Square Wall" and "Red or Round Wall".)

Attack an Opponent's Castle

Once all the players have at least two tiles in their castle grids, you may use your turn to attack an opponent's castle instead of building onto your own. You may attack in one of two ways:

1. Play a wall tile that exactly matches (in shape and color) an opponent's wall tile. Place the matching tile on top of your opponent's tile, then remove the pair to the discard pile. If the wall is part of a connected line of same-colored walls or towers, the entire group of same-colored tiles is destroyed and removed from play.
2. Destroy an opponent's keep by playing either:
   • two exact matching keep tiles on top of your opponent's keep if there are wall or tower tiles in the castle or,
   • one exact matching keep tile if your opponent's keep is the last tile left in the castle.

Pass Your Turn

If you choose neither to build nor to attack, simply discard down to four tiles and play passes to the left. Strategy note: Choose carefully which tiles to keep and which to discard.

Game Notes

• You may only attack one opponent per turn.
• If you choose to attack, you must still discard down to four tiles at the end of your turn.
• If you end your turn with four or fewer tiles in your hand, do not discard. (Remember to draw two tiles on your next turn.)
• If the keep is the only tile left in your castle after an attack, the first wall or tower tile that you play must match the keep's color.

Winning the Game

The first player to build a complete 3 x 3 castle or entirely destroy an opponent's castle wins.

Note: The last wall or tower tile played into your castle only has to match on one side.

(Illustration: a completed castle, with the last tile played indicated.)

For Advanced Play

Once you master the basic rules, add one or more of these variants for a more challenging game:

1. You may destroy opponents' tower tiles in addition to walls. Like with destroying walls, the tower tile must match identically.
2. At the beginning of your turn, you may draw your first tile from the top of the discard pile. The second tile must still be drawn from one of the face down piles.
3. The last tower or wall tile placed into your castle must match on both sides, not just one.

Alternate Game Versions

Test your "fortress fortitude" by trying these other ways of playing. The above rules apply in addition to the following rules, unless noted.

Two-Player Takeover

If you make a successful attack in a two-player game, you may use the destroyed tile(s) in your own castle on subsequent turns instead of discarding the destroyed tiles.

Empire

All players build two castles. Win by finishing both of your castles or by destroying all your opponents' castles. Players may interchange tiles between their two castles during their respective turns.

King of the Castle (for two players)

Both players build onto a single castle during their respective turns. As in the regular game, players may use their tiles to destroy matching tiles. The first player to complete the castle wins.

Siege Solitaire

This is a one-player game. Deal yourself four tiles. Then turn over another tile from the draw pile to start your castle. (The "wall or tower first" rule does not apply, so a keep may be placed first.) Draw one tile at the beginning of every turn, then play tiles from your hand as in the standard game, discarding down to four. At the end of each turn, turn over two tiles from the draw piles. If either matches ANY tile currently in your castle (including the keep), matching tiles are destroyed along with any adjacent same-colored walls or towers. (If a tile matches more than one tile in your castle, choose which tile to destroy.) Win if you are able to build a complete castle before the draw piles are exhausted. Lose if at any time your castle has no tiles, or if your castle is unfinished when the draw piles are exhausted.

A Word From Gamewright

Transport yourself to a time when protecting your possessions meant defending your keep, the most secure part of the castle. Keeps were often called "great towers" because of their imposing structure - walls over 10 feet thick and 75 feet high. They served various functions, from last resort strongholds during battle to sites of castle dungeons. While there are few remaining keeps still standing today, you can get a small taste of what it was like to build and defend a castle in this game that is simple to learn, yet full of strategy and challenge for all ages.