Learn The White Castle
Learn the game in 5 short steps. Everything links to the full rules.
Welcome to The White Castle
Japan, 1761. Small clans compete for favour at Himeji Castle, home of the White Heron. You send your family into the castle as Courtiers, into the training yards as Warriors and into the gardens as Gardeners.
Only nine turns in three rounds: each turn you take a die from a bridge and use it. The most Clan Points at the end wins.
1–4 players (solo against a rival clan), about an hour. Ready to set up? Open the setup checklist — it adapts to your player count.
The boards
- Three Bridges (left) hold the coral, black and white dice; Gardens lie beside them.
- The Castle — the Stewards’ and Diplomats’ rooms take dice; the Daimyo’s room only Courtiers.
- Training Yards, the Well and Outside the Walls are more places for dice.
- Tracks for turn order, the Passage of Time, rounds and Clan Points.
Your Domain board holds your Resources, Seals, clan members and your own three die spaces. The full tour.
A turn
- Take a die from either end of any Bridge. The left end, by the lantern, also gives your
Lantern Reward. - Place it on a free action space. Higher than the value it covers: gain the difference in coins. Lower: pay it.
- Do the action(s) of that space, in any order.
When only 3 dice are left on the Bridges, the round ends. The full turn.
Your clan
Courtiers pay coins to enter the Gate and Mother-of-Pearl to climb the
Castle; each climb also swaps your Action card and grows your Lantern.
Warriors pay Iron to enter a Training Yard.
Gardeners pay Food for a Garden card, and act again at the end of rounds 1 and 2
if their Bridge still has a die.
Winning
After round 3, add to the points scored during the game:
- Courtiers: 1 at the Gate, 3, 6 or 10 by floor;
- Warriors: their Yard values × your Courtiers inside the Castle;
- Gardeners: the points on their card;
- the Passage of Time, coins and Seals (1 per 5) and leftover Resources.
Most Clan Points wins; ties go to the higher turn order. Keep Teach the Game open while you explain it, and the FAQ for questions.