When you have become acquainted with the action cards, you may want to add additional challenges to the game. The master version does just that, adding the following rules to the basic game:

Initial Placement Of The Castles

Instead of placing the starting castles on the spaces shown on the board, the players choose the starting positions.

Beginning with the youngest player and continuing in clockwise order, each player takes a tower block and places it on an empty space on the board until all 8 starting castles have been placed. Each new castle must have at least 2 empty spaces between it and any other castle.

This distance is measured by moving orthogonally, not diagonally. The example in the margin shows a possible arrangement of 8 starting castles.

Action Cards

Each player begins the game with the set of 10 action cards matching his color in his hand.

Thus, each player has an identical set of action cards to use from the beginning of the game.

In this version there is no common action card deck and the purchase of an action card is no longer a possible action.

The Master Cards

Shuffle the 8 master cards, draw one and place it face up next to the board. This card describes an optional scoring opportunity for the players.

Each player decides whether he wants to attempt to fulfill the requirements on the card for the points offered or to ignore it.

Some of the cards affect scoring at each phase and others only at the end.

Players need not announce their intent, but are awarded the extra points if the requirement is met. The descriptions of the cards are the requirements; the figures on the cards are examples only.

Turn Order

After the first round, the starting player is the player with the most points. If the players are still tied at the starting space, turn order is unchanged. Thus, when a player uses APs to move his scoring marker, he may change his turn order. Play is always clockwise around the table.

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