Japanese Castle
Japanese Castle Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What does a Japanese Castle consist of?
Building a Japanese Castle you will use cards of walls – Heki. There are four types of Heki, they differ in images and numbers depicted on them. Heki with numbers from 1 to 4 have the same size that's why in most of cases it doesn't matter which card to use. Only in a few variations of the game numbers will matter and only in this case you will have to be careful which Heki it would be better to take.
You will also have big cards – Gamen which have number 0 on them. They are twice bigger than Heki and you can use them for building both walls and floors.
We will normally use special cards Yanegae as floors in your castle. There are two types of Yanegae – big and small ones. Yanegae have special recurving – Simegu. You should recurve them in advance before the game starts.
Heki-walls will lean on Simegu and bear a load of new floors. Small Yanegae have three pillars (Simegu), but as a rule only two of three (outside ones) are used. Using them the simplest construction can be built – a V-shape hut of two Heki. Such a castle consisting of three cards is called Karigoya.
Big Yanegae have a lot of Simegu, and you can set the Heki-walls the way you like. In most cases they are big Yanegae cards which are used in the game.
How to build a Japanese Castle
The base of each castle should be the construction Antei which made of two big Yanegae and four Heki. One Yanegae is the basis of the construction, another Yanegae is its roof. You set Heki two by two in the form of V-shape huts which lean on Simegu with their bases. Karigoya are set perpendicularly to each other.
Antei can be raised one upon other, so the upper Yanegae of one Antei becomes the base of the following Antei. Heki of the following floor must be set in an alternate way to the previous one. Such formation of the Heki-walls guarantees steadiness and the balance of the construction.
You may not follow the Antei rule while building huge constructions. You may set Yanegae and Heki the way you like according to your ideas.
Variety of games
Siote
2-4 players. Each player gets 4 big Yanegae, 1 small Yanegae and 18 Heki.
Task: construct a 4 level building of Antei. The upper level must be completed with Karigoya consisting of the small Yanegae on which you should set two last Heki. If one or two players have great experience in constructing Japanese Castles, they should build 5 levels of Antei taking additional cards.
The winner is the player who finishes the building first.
Nanatsu
2-3 players. Each player gets 6 big Yanegae, 1 small Yanegae and 26 Heki.
Task: construct a 6 level building of Antei. The upper level must be completed with Karigoya.
The winner is the player who finishes the building first.
Issyo
Two teams of two players each. Each team gets 7 big Yanegae, 1 small Yanegae and 30 Heki.
Task: construct a 7 level building of Antei. The upper level must be completed with Karigoya.
The winner is the team which finishes the building first.
Kentikussi
2 players. Each player gets 9 big Yanegae, 7 small Yanegae, 6 Gamen and 50 Heki.
Task: construct a 9 level building of Antei. The upper level must be completed with Karigoya. Also, the castle must be supported from flanks with three levels of Karigoya set on small Yanegae. They should be connected to the central levels of Antei with Gamen set horizontally.
The winner is the player who finishes the castle first. The image of the castle built according to the Kentikussi rules is shown on the back side of the game box.
Hakkobu
2-4 players. Each player gets 4 big Yanegae, 1 small Yanegae and 18 Heki.
The players sit round the table. Each player must construct one level of Antei then take the constructions into his/her hands carefully trying not to break Antei and stand up from the table. After that the players move round the table clockwise. Each player schould take the seat of the neighbor on his/her left and put his/her construction on the table.
Those who managed to do it build one more upper level of Antei and again carry the renewed construction. If the castle falls down during the building or carrying, the player quits the game. The players go on building new upper levels and carrying their castles, moving around the table, leaving the game one by one in case of breaking their castles. The last player remaining with the undamaged castle is considered to be a winner.
Namatsu
2-4 players. Each player gets 6 big Yanegae, 6 small Yanegae, 4 Gamen and 34 Heki. If there are four players, each player gets 4 big Yanegae, 4 small Yanegae, 3 Gamen and 25 Heki.
Task: to construct a building as solid as possible.
The players sit round the table. Each player must construct a castle not less than three levels. Then the players start shaking the table all together trying to destroy castles which belong to their competitors.
The winner is the player whose castle kept its balance and resisted or whose castle was destroyed last.
Idzzi
2-3 players. Each player gets 6 big Yanegae, 6 small Yanegae, 4 Gamen. All Heki-cards are divided into four decks according the numbers depicted on them and put in the center of the table.
The players sit round the table and construct castles the way they like. Heki cards with number 1 can be used only on the first level, 2 – only on the second one, 3 – only on the third one and 4 – only on the fourth and higher levels. The game finishes as soon as Heki cards with the number 4 are over. Heki cards with numbers 3 and 4 used during the building give 1 winning point each. The player with the highest score is considered to be a winner.
If a player's castle falls down during the process of building, the player must return all used Heki cards into the decks in the center of the table and only after that he/she can begin to restore his/her castle.
The players must build their castles in such a way that all Heki cards giving points looked like independent vertical elements of the construction. They can't lie on the floors or on each other forming the same element. As soon as the game is over you may destroy the castle to count all Heki cards giving winning points.
Saiten
2-3 players. Each player gets 6 big Yanegae, 6 small Yanegae, 4 Gamen. All Heki cards are divided into four decks according the numbers depicted on them and put in the center of the table.
The players sit round the table and construct castles the way they like. However, they can't take a Heki card with a bigger number until all Heki cards with smaller numbers are used. For example you can't take Heki cards with number 2 till all Heki cards with number 1 are over and Heki cards with number 3 can't be used till all Heki cards with number 2 are over too. The game finishes as soon as all Heki cards with number 4 are over.
Each player gets winning points only for those Heki cards which were used in the building on the two upper levels. Count the sum of all numbers depicted on the Heki cards used in the building on the two upper levels and multiply the sum by the quantity of the levels of the castle. The player with the highest score is considered to be a winner.
If a player's castle falls down during the process of building, the player collects all his/her Heki cards and uses them to restore the construction. Only after he/she has used all his/her Heki cards he/she can take the new ones from the decks in the center of the table.
The players must build their castles in such a way that all Heki cards giving points looked like independent vertical elements of the construction. They can't lie on the floors or on each other forming the same element.
Yakata
1 player or a team of several players. The player (the team) gets 18 big Yanegae, 18 small Yanegae, 12 Gamen and 102 Heki.
The task: construct a castle as tall as possible.
Keudzyou
2 players or 2 teams of 2 players each (in this case two sets of the game are required). Each player (or each team) gets 18 big Yanegae, 18 small Yanegae, 12 Gamen and 102 Heki.
The task: construct a castle using all the cards.
The player (the team) who finishes the building first is considered to be a winner.
Kitzune
1-4 players. Separate 6 small Yanegae and all Heki cards with number 4. Shuffle the rest of the Heki cards and put them into the pile in the center of the table. Heki cards may lie at random on each other in several layers, which is more preferable.
Then make six common Karigoya of chosen Yanegae and Heki cards and set them on the Heki cards scattered on the table. The task is to drag all Heki cards scattered on the table without damaging/destroying any of the Karigoya.
You should be very careful as no Karigoya must fall down. The first player drags one card, then the next clockwise player does the same and so on.
The players collect the cards they dragged. If a player accidentally ruins one of the Karigoya while trying to drag a Heki card, he/she must take the both Heki cards of the fallen Karigoya instead of the Heki card which he/she intended to take. He/she puts those cards (Heki cards of the fallen Karigoya) separately and in the end of the game they will be considered as fine cards. The Yanegae which was the base for the destroyed Karigoya is also taken away from the table.
The game is over when all Heki cards are on hands or the last Karigoya falls down. The players count the points by adding the numbers depicted on the Heki cards and deducting fine points (4 points for each Heki card from Karigoya which fell down through their fault). The player with the most points is considered to be a winner.