Chang Cheng
Chang Cheng Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 Game Boards (double sided)
- 1 Scoring Track
- 24 Action Cards in 4 colors (red, green, blue and violet)
- 15 Reputation Counters (Chinese)
- 15 Threat Counters (Mongols)
- 56 Single Wall-Blocks in 4 colors (red, green, blue and violet)
- 4 Double Wall-Blocks in 4 colors (red, green, blue and violet)
- 4 Tower-Blocks in 4 colors (red, green, blue and violet)
- 1 "China" Card
- 3 Emperor cards
- 4 Scoring Pawns in 4 colors (red, green, blue and violet)
- 4 Event Cards
- 1 Rulebook
Setup
- Choose 2 of the 4 game boards and place them on the table, joined along their short side.
- Place the "China" Card outside the boards, on the same side as the Chinese Provinces.
- Randomly select 6 Threat Counters and place one face down on each of 6 Mongol Regions.
- Randomly select 6 Reputation Counters and place one face up on each of 6 Chinese Provinces.
- Place the scoring track beside the map, visible to all players.
- Each player picks a color and takes the 6 Action Cards, 14 Single Wall-blocks, 1 Double-block and 1 Tower-block of that color, then places a pawn on space "0" of the scoring track.
- The oldest player goes first; play proceeds clockwise from there.
Note: the game always starts with 2 game boards. Additional boards are added later according to the number of players (see Expansion of the Map).
Goal of the Game
Each player builds sections of the Great Wall to protect the Chinese Provinces, competing with the others to protect the richest ones before the Mongol attack arrives.
Protecting a province earns Reputation Points. At the same time, players must watch the threat building in the Mongol Territories, since at the end of the game it can cost them points already earned.
Once the Great Wall is complete and the Mongol attack has been resolved, the player with the highest score wins.
Completed and Uncompleted Provinces
A Chinese Province is completed once every wall square inside it is covered by a wall-block. It is uncompleted while any wall square inside it remains empty.
Game Turn
Each player has 14 Single Walls, 1 Double Wall, 1 Tower and 6 Action Cards to use in protecting the Chinese Provinces.
On a turn, a player:
- Performs exactly one of the following actions:
- places 2 Single Wall-blocks in two different Chinese Provinces;
- places 2 Action Cards in two different Chinese Provinces;
- places 1 Action Card and 1 Single Wall-block in the same Chinese Province;
- places the Double Wall-block;
- places the Tower-block.
- Checks whether a province was just completed. If so, that province is scored immediately and Reputation Points are awarded (see Completing a Province).
- Checks how many Emperor Cards are on the board, adding a new game board if needed (see Expansion of the Map).
Play proceeds clockwise.
Exception: on the very first turn of the game, the first player places only 1 Single Wall-block.
Description of the Actions
Placing 2 Single Wall-blocks — The player places two of their own Single Wall-blocks on two empty wall squares belonging to two different Chinese Provinces.
Placing 2 Action Cards — The player places two of their own cards face down in two different uncompleted Chinese Provinces.
Placing 1 Action Card and 1 Single Wall-block — The player places one of their own cards face down in an uncompleted Chinese Province, then places one of their own Single Wall-blocks on an empty square in that same province. The Action Card must always be played before the Wall-Block.
Placing the Double Wall-block — The player places their Double Wall-block across two contiguous empty wall squares. The two squares may belong to two different provinces.
Attention:
- Playing the Double Wall immediately awards the player one Reputation Point for each different Chinese Province and Mongol Region the Double Wall-block touches.
- When a province is scored, the Double Wall-block counts as 2 adjacent Single Wall-Blocks.
- The Double Wall-block cannot be destroyed.
Placing a Tower-block — The player places their Tower-block on any empty wall square. A Tower can never be placed adjacent to another Tower.
Attention:
- When a Tower is placed and it has one or two empty adjacent squares, one of those squares is reserved for a Single Wall-block belonging to the player who placed the Tower.
- The Tower protects its owner from the Mongol Threat in its region (see Mongol Regions and Final Scoring).
- When a province is scored, the Tower counts as a Single Wall-Block.
- The Tower cannot be destroyed.
After placing a Tower, a Double Wall-block, or a Single Wall-block, the player may secretly look at the value of the Threat Counter in the Mongol region bordering the wall-block just played.
Value of a Chinese Province
A Chinese Province's value equals 1 Reputation Point per wall-block inside it (regardless of color, counting any Tower and Double Wall-blocks), possibly modified by Action Cards, plus the value of the Reputation Counter placed in that province. Broken walls are not counted.
Completing a Province
Once every wall square of a Chinese Province is occupied by wall-blocks (counting Towers and Double Wall-blocks), the province is completed. Play halts immediately while the players work out its value and who scores.
Scoring order:
- Reveal the province's Action Cards and resolve their effects in priority order (see Action Cards).
- The player (or players) holding the majority of blocks in the province (counting Towers and Double Wall-blocks) gains Reputation Points equal to the province's value. If two or more players tie for the majority, each of them scores the full value — the points are not divided.
- Place an Emperor Card on the completed province, leaving the Reputation Counter face up on it.
Attention: when a province is completed mid-action, play halts immediately for scoring before the turn continues. For example, if a player is placing 2 Single Wall-Blocks and the first one completes a province, that province is scored before the second Wall-Block is placed. Play resumes afterward.
Expansion of the Map
When a province is completed, an Emperor Card is placed on it. The player who places the third Emperor Card adds a new Game Board during their turn, choosing to join it on the left or right along the short side of the existing boards. The 3 Emperor Cards are then removed and set beside the board. From that point on, all players may place wall-blocks and Action Cards on the new board's squares as well.
With two or three players, only one additional board is ever added. With four players, a fourth board may be added after the third board has gone in and another 3 Emperor Cards have been placed.
Action Cards
Each player holds the same set of 6 Action Cards. Each card shows a number of dots indicating its resolution priority, a symbol summarizing its effect(s), and an illustration.
When a province is completed, the Action Cards placed in it are revealed. Any cards sharing the same priority (number of dots) cancel each other out and are discarded without effect. The remaining cards resolve in ascending priority order (priority 1 first, then 2, and so on). Scoring happens once all card effects have been applied; afterward, all used cards are removed from the game.
Attention:
- Some cards offer a choice of two effects; the player who played the card decides which to apply when it is revealed.
- On their own turn, a player may check which Action Cards they have already placed in other provinces.
Warrior (priority 1) — Cancels another Action Card played in the same province (the cancelled card is eliminated from the game, even if it belongs to the same player as the Warrior). When the Warrior resolves, another card must always be removed if one is available.
Traitor (priority 2) — Choose one effect: (A) turn one wall-block in the province into a "broken wall" (lay the block on its side); or (B) remove from the game the Threat Counter of a Mongol province bordering the Chinese Province where this card was played.
Attention:
- Broken Walls do not count toward majority or toward a province's value.
- Double Walls and Towers cannot be turned into broken walls.
Flood (priority 3) — Choose one effect: (A) the province is worth +2 Reputation Points; or (B) the province is worth -2 Reputation Points.
Builder (priority 4) — Choose one effect: (A) the province is worth +2 Reputation Points; or (B) this card counts as an extra wall-block when determining majority.
Master Builder (priority 5) — Counts as two extra wall-blocks when determining majority.
Mandarin (priority 6) — Swap any Single Wall-block in this province with any other Single Wall-block in play, regardless of owner. Double Walls, Towers, and broken walls cannot be swapped. If the swap changes the majority in a province that has already been scored, that province is not scored again.
End of Game
The game ends at the end of the turn in which every wall square on every board is occupied. The Mongol attack is then resolved, deducting points for the Mongol regions (see Mongol Regions and Final Scoring). After that negative scoring, the game is over and the player with the highest Reputation Point total wins. If two or more players are tied, they all win.
Attention: near the end of the game, before the Great Wall is fully built, a player may find they cannot perform a full action because they lack the pieces, cards, or open squares needed. A player must always attempt one of the actions described above, even if it is disadvantageous, performing it partially if a full action is impossible. If no action, even partial, can be performed, the player skips their turn.
Mongol Regions and Final Scoring
Each Mongol Region's Threat Counter represents the strength of the attack coming from that region. At game end, losses from the Mongol attack are calculated as follows:
- Reveal the Threat Counters one region at a time.
- For each Mongol Region, count the wall-blocks (including Double Walls and Towers) placed in it. The player with the majority of blocks in that region loses Reputation Points equal to the Threat Counter's value.
Attention:
- If two or more players tie for the majority in a Mongol Region, each of them loses the points shown on that Threat Counter.
- A Tower protects its owner from losing points in the region where it is placed.
Examples
Completing a Province — Red plays 2 Single Wall-blocks in two different provinces; the first one completes a province, so play halts immediately (before the second block is placed) to score it. No Action Cards affect this province. Counting blocks: Red has 2, Blue has 1, Violet has 1 — Red holds the majority and scores. The province's value is 6 (4 wall-blocks + a Reputation Counter of 2), so Red gains 6 Reputation Points and advances 6 spaces on the scoring track.
A second example shows a province completed by playing an Action Card plus a Single Wall-block, where the province already held 3 Action Cards (Blue, Green, Red). The cards resolve in priority order: Traitor (Green, priority 2) breaks one Red wall; Flood (Blue, priority 3) adds +2 to the province's value; Builder (Red, priority 4) adds a virtual Single Wall for Red. After resolution, Red has 2 walls (1 real + 1 virtual) and Green has 2 walls, tying for the majority, while Blue has 1. The province's value is 9 (4 counted walls + 2 from Flood + a Reputation Counter of 3), so both Red and Green gain 9 Reputation Points.
Scoring the Mongol Regions — Once the wall is complete, all Threat Counters are revealed and each region is scored in turn. In one region with a Threat Counter of -2, Violet holds the majority (2 walls versus 1 each for Green and Blue) and loses 2 points. In a second region with a Threat Counter of -4, Blue holds the majority but is protected by a Tower there, so no points are lost. In a third region with a Threat Counter of -3, Red and Green tie for the majority and each loses 3 points.
Optional Rules for 2 Players
Set up the game as described in Setup, and place the 12 Single Wall-blocks of a third, neutral color near the boards.
After their normal action, each player may optionally place 1 neutral Single Wall-block, subject to these restrictions:
- If the player placed two Action Cards or two Single Wall-blocks, the neutral block must go into one of those same two provinces, not a third.
- If the player placed a card and a Wall-block in the same province, the neutral block cannot go into that province.
- If the player placed a Tower or Double Wall-block in a province, the neutral block cannot go into that province.
Exception: on the very first turn of the game, the first player places only 1 Single Wall-block of their own color (no neutral block).
Optional Rules
Event Cards
Event Cards add extra ways to score Reputation Points and open new strategies. There are 4 Event Cards; at the start of the game players may choose, or randomly draw, up to 2 of them. Chosen cards are placed face up on the table, visible to everyone, and the game otherwise follows all the rules above. Except for the Observers Card, Event Card effects are applied at the end of the game, after the Mongol Regions have been scored.
(A) Diplomacy Card — The player with at least one wall-block in the most provinces at game end gains 4 Reputation Points. Ties all score the 4 points.
(B) Dominance Card — At game end, each player finds their own longest uninterrupted sequence of wall-blocks (counting Towers and Double Walls as 2 single wall-blocks) and gains 1 Reputation Point per wall square in that sequence. Broken walls cannot be part of a sequence.
(C) Imperial Reward Card — Each player gains 2 Reputation Points for every Action Card they never played.
(D) Observers Card — Whenever a Great Wall square is occupied, the Threat Counter of the neighboring Mongol Region is revealed and stays visible for the rest of the game.
Note: when optional rules are in use, players apply the Event Card effects after the Mongol Region scoring.
Credits
Chang Cheng was designed by Walter Obert, with illustrations by Giuseppe Rava, and published by TENKIGAMES.