The White Castle
84 questions players ask about The White Castle, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-29.
84 questions players ask about The White Castle, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-29.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Take everything the card shows. The English text says "the Resource" in the singular, but the German and Spanish rules use the plural and players confirm the whole set (resources, coins, seals) is taken. An icon with no number is one resource of your choice.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
One resource of your choice, not all of them. If the icon shows a number, you may take that many, in any combination. The icon works the same at setup as in play, and the rulebook's appendix defines it.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. The banner only repeats the card's back so nobody has to flip it; you gain only what you take from the card.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
No. There are more starting cards than players, for variety; the unused ones go back in the box.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
A Decree card is an extra lantern card. If the starting resource card you picked shows one, take that Decree card and place it face down in your Lantern Area with the starting card; otherwise it goes back in the box.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Only the Steward and Diplomat cards marked with a diamond in the lower-left corner go back in the box. The diamond-marked die-tile spaces in the castle are still used at two players. The removal balances the spread of actions.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Redo it only if all cards on the two lower floors show the same action type (castle, gardener or warrior); two different action types are enough. Daimyo cost does not matter, and this check applies only during setup, not when a Courtier refills a card.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Put one tile of each color at random on the three diamond-marked spaces, then fill the remaining spaces in numerical order so that each room has at least two colors. A tile that would make a room single-colored goes in the next numbered space instead.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Yes. Each Training Yard tile has two sides, and setup tells you which side faces up for each yard. The sides give different rewards, so use the one indicated.
Yes. The bridge spaces are printed on the board, so the game works without the 3D pieces.
Yes. Per the promo setup text, they replace the base tiles that give a resource of your choice. Adding them instead of replacing is a house variant.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
It is the score marker on the Clan Points track.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
You start with a card showing one main action. When a Courtier ends on floor 1 or 2, the card from that room replaces it, the old card is turned face down into your Lantern row, and you then take one light-background action from the new card.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
The yellow side gives one of the three stone garden benefits, and the blue side triggers one plant garden action with a 2-coin discount. The red 2 is a discount, not income.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Take the die, place it and pay or receive the coin difference, then gain the Lantern reward if the die came from the left end of the bridge, then carry out the space's action. Lantern coins therefore cannot pay for the placement.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Only a die taken from the left end of a bridge, the lower-value side. A die from the right end does not.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
It simply stays at whichever end of the bridge it occupies. Each time a die is taken, the neighbor slides over into the empty end spot without changing value, so the last die is a left-end die (Lantern) or a right-end die depending on which end it ends up on. You cannot choose its side.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Yes. If you cannot pay the difference you cannot place the die there. The Well is the fallback because it always counts as value 1.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes, as long as you can pay the coin difference at placement.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes. Once placement is legal (matching color, cost paid) you may skip the action, or do only the parts you can afford. If you cannot pay, you simply forfeit it.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Only in 3-4 player games, only on main-board spaces, and only one die per die. Stacking never happens in 1-2 player games, and never on your personal board. The Well takes any number of dice around it instead of stacking.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
No. If a room has no action for that die color, dice of that color cannot be placed there. The solo rival is the exception.
No. Only the die you physically place pays or gains the difference. Triggered Well or personal domain actions exchange no coins, and costs printed on the action still apply.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
The Well always counts as 1, so a higher die earns you the difference and a die of 1 costs nothing. Coins come only from physically placing a die there; reaching the Well through another action gives its tile rewards and a Daimyo Seal but no coins.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes to both. The actions of a space can be done in any order, and a started action's chain finishes before the next one begins. Seals gained from the first can pay for the second.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
The card you originally activated. The actions are locked in when the die is placed, even if that card leaves the castle.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
One action only, from any card, and it does not count as placing a die. A Die tile is not a die for this purpose.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
No. The designer's errata blocks the loops: the starting card placing a warrior cannot be triggered from the iron row, the courtier card cannot be triggered from the pearl row, and the gardener card cannot be triggered from the food row.
Yes. The Daimyo payment only lets you use the cheaper die; coin or pearl costs on the action still apply.
Up to two things, each once and in either order: place one Courtier at the Gate (2 coins) and climb one Courtier 1 or 2 levels (2 or 5 pearls). You may do only one part, and the climbing Courtier need not be the one just placed.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
No. The climb must be done all at once with a single Courtier, and one Courtier action allows only one climb and one Gate placement.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes. The two parts of the Courtier action are independent, so you can pay to climb a Courtier already in the castle without placing a new one.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Only the card in the room where the Courtier ends its move; rooms passed through do not count. Any room on a floor can reach any room on the next floor.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
No. You carry out only one of the card's light-background actions. If it has a Lantern, the card you just added to the Lantern row counts.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
You still carry out one light-background action from the card in that room, but you do not take the card, refill the room, or move your personal card to the Lantern row.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
When a Courtier arrives in the Daimyo room, you gain the Lantern reward first, then place the Courtier on a free favor space for its benefit. A Courtier already there does not retrigger on later Lantern actions.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
No. Any number of Courtiers, of any color or clan, can share a room, floor or the Gate. Only the three reward spaces on the top floor are limited, first come, first served.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
No. Any player can place the matching die in a floor-1 or floor-2 room and take its action.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Yes. On the Stewards' floor up to two actions of that die color on the same card can be done in any order, finishing one before the next.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
The scroll-style actions on the Steward and Diplomat cards on floors 1 and 2. The Daimyo's top-floor card has none. If a card has two of them you pick one, and the castle-scroll icon lets you use one from any card.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Use the two Outside the Walls spaces. They accept any die color and each offers a choice of 2 of the 3 principal actions (Gardener, Courtier, Warrior), and both include the Courtier action.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Yes. The one-per-color limit applies to Gardeners on garden cards, not to Courtiers in rooms.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes: 1 coin on a first-floor card and 1 VP on a second-floor card. It is visible to everyone.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
First gain the visible rewards on that row, then perform the action of the card at the end of that row. A coral die goes to the Courtier row, black to Gardeners, white to Warriors. No Gardener, Courtier or Warrior is placed unless the card's action says so.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes. You may pick any row, even one already holding a die, and you gain its visible rewards and the end-of-row action as if you had placed a die there.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes, at most twice: once by placing a die on it and once through a Personal Domain icon. The icon cannot retrigger a line that the icon already triggered this turn, which is the designer's fix for the warrior loop.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. They only place the piece and give the main-board benefit. The row rewards and end-of-row action come only from a Personal Domain action.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
The leftmost piece of the matching type in its row. Courtier actions use Courtiers only, and so on.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
No. Stacking applies only on the main board, and never at 1-2 players.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes. Placement and action are separate: you may pay the food, place the Gardener and not carry out the action. You still score the Gardener at game end.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
No. Each clan may have only one Gardener per garden card, though other clans can also have theirs there. Placed Gardeners cannot be moved.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Yes. Placement costs food, and the action then has its normal costs, such as iron for a Warrior action. A Gardener spot uses only the card it is attached to.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Any number of Warriors from all clans may share a yard, each costing the yard's iron. Once placed, a Warrior never moves to another yard.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. You choose one castle space with a white die icon and perform one action.
No. It gives the row's rewards and card action. Deploying a Warrior needs a die on a space with a deployment icon.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
You gain Influence from crane icons, and must pay the checkpoint's seals when the move would carry you past it. If you do not or cannot pay, the marker stops and you do not enter the next season. Seals cannot be paid ahead of time.
A reading of the rulebook's stacking wording; one player disagrees and there is no official ruling.
Nothing moves. The rulebook puts your marker on top of a stack only when you land on an occupied space by moving forward, so staying put on the last space does not put you on top.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Five at most on your personal domain. At any time you may swap 2 seals for 1 resource of your choice, or 1 seal for 1 coin, as often as you like.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
No. Only the end of rounds 1 and 2 has the Gardens step. After round 3 you update turn order and go straight to final scoring. Turn order matters for the tiebreak.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
No. It acts once when placed, and the Gardens step uses only Gardeners already in place when it began, each once.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
No. A Gardener activates if the bridge above its garden has at least one die on either side, and each Gardener acts only once per round end.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
No food again; it was paid at placement. Any coin or other cost printed on the action itself still applies, and you take the action only if you can pay.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
The player furthest along the Passage of Time track goes first, a tie going to the token on top. Turn order is updated before Gardens and is not changed by Influence gained during them. Order is the herons' track, not clockwise.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Following the new turn order, with each player using their own Gardeners once each in whatever order they like.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Each resource is scored separately on its track: 1 point for 3 to 6 units, 2 points for 7, nothing for 0 to 2. They are checked once at game end.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
Add coins and seals together and divide by 5, rounding down, for that many Clan Points.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
No. The designer says coins are unlimited.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
No. Gate Courtiers score 1 point each, but only Courtiers inside the castle count for multiplying Warrior value.
The rulebook text states this, and forum players agree.
The player higher in the final turn order wins, meaning the Influence marker that is ahead or on top, so being first beats second.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. It gains only the coin difference when its die exceeds the space value, and takes no space reward and pays nothing. Its actions come only from its cards.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes, the pip difference above 1 as a player would. It does not take the seal or tile rewards.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
It gains Clan Points equal to the current round number for each action on its card that it cannot take.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
It moves its lowest Courtier as far as it can, up to the stated levels; with none to move it skips and scores the round number.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Only one Gardener, on the lowest-valued eligible garden without its Gardener; the player chooses among ties. The English plural was an error.
It exchanges coins for points at each end of round, including round 3, and keeps any unexchanged surplus. Nothing is scored from leftover coins afterwards. As first in turn order it exchanges 3 coins per point and as second 5.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
The player decides. Rolling a die for randomness is an optional house method.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
Reveal bot cards until one shows a die you can place, put the die there (on the Well if occupied), then perform the actions of the last revealed cards. Each impossible action scores the round number.
Several experienced players agree; no official ruling.
No. Only Gardeners whose bridge still has a die count.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
The card you originally chose. Perform the curtain action first, then add that card to your Lantern Area.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes. The entrance is part of the Path of Tea, and a Geisha landing on a space gets only that final space's bonus, like a Courtier. A Geisha at the pond cannot go further.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes. The two steps of a Geisha action can be done in either order.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
Yes, for all effects including the bot's scoring, and one placed at round end activates only once.
The designer answered this directly on BGG.
No. The any-resource action covers only Food, Iron and Mother-of-Pearl, and a personal domain icon triggers only the three original rows, not the Geisha row.
Yes. It resolves each effect independently as far as possible and still gains the round's points.