Kilt Castle
Kilt Castle Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Game
Players jointly build the ancestral seat of their Scottish clan: KILT CASTLE.
You let building cards go around the gameboard and, in doing so, try to secure the best building sites for yourself. You insidiously provide opportunities to the other players to overbuild each other's pieces. As the towers grow, the building costs increase.
Your objective is to own an area of your own towers – towers visible from above and as large as possible – every time the ducats of your clan are distributed among the players. If you drive up your income and – just as Scottish customs have it – spend little, you'll have the most money in the end and win the game.
Game Materials
- 1 gameboard
- 10 building cards (4 single-color cards and 6 double-color cards)
- 64 floors (16 each in 4 colors)
- 8 "2 crests" labels
- 12 "1 crest" labels — Before the first game, stick the crests in the appropriate color on five floors of each color.
- 59 coins: 20 x 1 ducat, 14 x 2 ducats, 12 x 5 ducats, 8 x 10 ducats, 5 x 20 ducats
- 15 ducat bags (5 cards each with values of 30, 40, or 50 ducats)
- 2 roofs
- 1 master builder seal (two sides: seal and ducats)
Set-up
Choose one color and take:
- all 16 floors of your color. In the two-player game, each player chooses two colors and takes the 32 floors of these colors.
- 10 ducats (in any denomination)
Sort the ducat bag cards according to their value (30, 40, 50 ducats) and put them – along with the remaining coins – a little distance away from the gameboard. These money supplies form the bank. This is where you can also change money anytime.
In the three-player game, you play without the 16 floors of the unchosen color. And also remove from the game the 4 building cards on which this color is represented.
Place the 2 roofs next to the gameboard.
Beginning the Game
First, you line up the 4 single-color building cards face up at the edge of the gameboard where 4 cards are depicted.
In the three-player game, you line up the 3 single-color building cards face up where 3 cards are depicted.
After that, you shuffle the double-color building cards. Then, in the rows that follow, lay out – face up, in clockwise direction – as many cards as there are depicted at the edge of the gameboard. Each color may be present no more than twice per card row!
Note: The player who is about to lay out cards has to make clear before laying out each card face up which of the two (short) card sides he wants to be oriented towards the gameboard (random set-up).
Course of the Game
You get the master builder seal and open the game if the single card, i.e. the one that lies just by itself, shows your color on the side that is facing away from the gameboard. After that, the game proceeds in clockwise order.
In illustrations 1a and 1b, the card in dark gray and red (with the ram and the boar) has been laid out as a single card. The color red on this card is facing away from the gameboard. Consequently, the player with the red player color begins the game.
Your game turn consists of these two actions:
- You relocate a building card.
- In doing so, you might trigger a ducat day (revenue) for all players.
- Each player whose color is shown on the relocated card builds a floor.
- If, prior to that, you have triggered a ducat day, players receive money from the bank after building.
After that, you pass the master builder seal (with the seal side facing up) to your left neighbor; he now has his turn.
1. Relocate a Building Card
You relocate a building card of your choice at the edge of the gameboard by moving it at least one space forward in a clockwise direction. (Your own player color doesn't need to be represented on this card. You don't need to move a card that is on top of its card row.)
Note: There may be gaps (empty spaces), even multiple ones right next to each other.
Illus. 2: No card may be relocated "backwards" (i.e., in a counter-clockwise direction).
In relocating a card, you must observe these 3 rules:
I. If you place a card in the front position so that it lies in a row just by itself, there has to be (at least) one card in the neighboring space.
II. Each card row may consist of no more than 4 cards. Consequently, you may not add a fifth card to a row that already consists of 4 cards. In the three-player game, each card row may consist of a maximum of 3 cards.
III. There may never be more than 5 card rows (empty spaces in between don't count as card rows). Consequently, you may not relocate any card in such a way that a sixth card row would be generated. In the three-player game, there may be a maximum of 4 card rows.
Double-color Cards: Turn When Relocating
If you relocate a double-color card, you have to turn it as you relocate it: the card side (color) that has been oriented towards the gameboard before relocation has to face away from the board after relocation.
Empty Row? Designate a Ducat Day!
If the relocation causes a card-less row to be formed, this triggers a ducat day. To designate this, turn the master builder seal so that the ducat side is facing up.
The ducat day is carried out only when the building action is over – see "The Ducat Day" section below.
2. Build a Floor
The just-relocated card determines:
- WHO builds, and
- WHERE the floor can be built
You have the obligation to build! Only if you are not able to build because of a lack of affordable building sites are you exempt from this.
Who Builds?
Each player whose color is shown on the relocated card builds. He puts any one of his floors (with or without crests) on the gameboard. Once a floor has been placed, it will never be removed or relocated.
If a double-color card has been relocated, players build in the following order:
- first, the player whose card color is now oriented towards the edge of the gameboard;
- then, the player whose card color is now facing away from the edge of the gameboard.
(Therefore, don't forget to turn double-color cards during relocation!)
Where Can the Tower be Built?
You may build only on the spaces of the row to which the just-relocated card is connected. You can freely choose between two possibilities:
- Build on the first empty space for free
- Overbuild
1. Build on the first empty space for free (as seen from the direction of the relocated card)
Illus. 6a: The first space of this row is empty. Provided player RED does not want to overbuild, he has to build on this (first) space.
Illus. 6b: In this row, several spaces have been built on. Provided player RED does not want to overbuild, he has to build on the empty space that is closest to the relocated card.
2. Overbuild
When you are going to overbuild, you put one of your own floors on top of any already-existing tower (of the row to which the card is connected). To do so, you have to pay. You count all overbuilt floors and give the corresponding number of ducats to the player whose floor was on top before the overbuilding. If this is one of your own floors, you don't pay anything. When it comes to the price, it doesn't matter whether floors with (or without) a crest are incorporated and/or overbuilt.
Each part of a building (space) belongs to the player whose floor is on top. Since Player Orange has overbuilt three floors, for example, he has to pay 3 ducats to Player Red, whose floor was on top before.
The Roofs
In case two players build on an identical space on the same game turn, the second player immediately must put a roof on his just-placed floor. For this purpose, he uses an unused roof (i.e., one that has not yet been sitting on a tower). Only if both roofs have already been sitting on towers does the player relocate one roof of his choice (and puts it on the just-placed floor). Roofs may never be overbuilt.
A part of a building (space) with a roof on top belongs to all players.
The Ducat Day
Whenever an empty card row is formed from the relocation (of a card), a ducat day takes place as soon as the building action is over. This is when ducats are paid from the bank to the players.
To this end, each player first determines his most valuable building area.
You determine your most valuable building area as follows:
- Towers of your own color that are connected horizontally or vertically form a building area. Adjacent roofs are included. A single, unconnected tower by itself is considered a building area, too.
- You earn 1 ducat per tower, crest and roof of your most valuable building area.
- You get nothing for any other building areas (even if they have the same value).
- If none of your floors is sitting on top and there is no roof on the gameboard, you go away empty-handed.
Illus. 8: Player Dark Gray owns two building areas (A+B). He gets money only for the most valuable of both areas (A): 5 ducats (2 towers + 3 crests). Accordingly, the other players get these amounts: Orange: 1 ducat (for 1 roof); Red: 1 ducat (for 1 tower or 1 roof); Light gray: 7 ducats (for 4 towers + 2 roofs + 1 crest).
In the two-player game, you get money for the building areas in your two colors. For each color, it is the most valuable building area that counts.
After that, you turn the master builder seal back to its seal side.
End of the Game
As soon as one player has built his last tower, no more game turns take place. What follows is:
- one more ducat day – but only if there was one triggered by the last game turn.
- the remuneration of all players at the end of the game.
The Final Remuneration
Each player earns 1 ducat per tower and crest on top of a tower.
The Winner
The player who now owns the most ducats will be acclaimed the new family head of the clan of Kilt Castle. In case of a tie, the tied player who has built the most floors wins. There can be more than one new family head.
Credits
- Author: Günter Burkhardt
- Illustrations: Dennis Lohausen
- English translation: Sybille & Bruce Whitehill, "Word for Wort"
- Composition & layout: Stephanie Geßler
- © 2016 Zoch Verlag