Components

• 36 Tower tiles
• 36 Wall tiles
• 18 Keep tiles

Tower and wall tiles come in three colors (red, yellow and blue) and three shapes (curvy, zigzag and straight). Keeps simply come in three colors.

Object of the Game

Be the first to construct a castle using tower, wall and keep tiles, or bring your opponents' castles to rubble. The first player to buiia 33x3 tile castle or entirely destroy an opponent's castle wins the game.

Setup

Thoroughly shuffle all of the tiles and deal four face down to each player. (Look at your tiles but keep them secret from opponents). Stack the rest in two face down draw piles in the center of the playing area.

Any tiles discarded during the game are stacked face up next to the draw piles.

Game Play

The person to the left of the dealer goes first and play continues clockwise.

On each turn:

1. Draw two tiles from either face down pile.
2. Either build onto your own castle or attack an opponent's castle or pass your turn.
3. At the end of your turn, discard down to four tiles, if necessary.

If the draw piles ever run out of tiles, shuffle the discard pile to make new draw piles.

Build onto your own Castle

Place as many tiles from your hand as you wish, following these rules:

• The first tile placed in your castle must either be a wall or a tower.

• After the first tile is placed in the castle, any new walls or towers must be placed adjacent to existing walls or towers by matching either the color or shape (or both color and shape) of the existing adjacent tile.

  
  
  

• Towers are placed at the corners, walls are placed on the sides and a keep is placed in the center of a 3 x 3 grid (three tiles across by three tiles down).

• A keep must match the color of any other tile currently in the castle.

Attack an Opponent's Castle

Once all the players have at least two tiles in their castle grids, you may use your turn to attack an opponent's castle instead of building onto your own. You may attack in one of two ways:

1. Play a wall tile that exactly matches (in shape and color) an opponent's wall tile. Place the matching tile on top of your opponent's tile, then remove the pair to the discard pile.

   If the wall is part of a connected line of same-colored walls or towers, the entire group of same-colored tiles is destroyed and removed from play.

   
   
   

2. Destroy an opponent's keep by playing either:

   

   • two exact matching keep tiles on top of your opponent's keep if there are wall or tower tiles in the castle or,

   • one exact matching keep tile if your opponent's keep is tne last tile left in the castle.

Pass Your Turn

If you choose neither to build nor to attack, simply discard down to four tiles and play passes to the left. Strategy note: Choose carefully which tiles to keep and which to discard.

Notes

• You may only attack one opponent per turn.

• If you choose to attack, you must still discard down to four tiles at the end of your turn.

• If you end your turn with four or fewer tiles in your hand, do not discard. (Remember to draw two tiles on your next turn).

• If the keep is the only tile left in your castle after an attack, the first wall or tower tile that you play must match the keep's color.

End of the Game

The first player to build a complete 3x3 castle or entirely destroy an opponent's castle wins.

Note: The last wall or tower tile played into your castle only has to match on one side.

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