Gamehelpyinziming

Objective

Amass the greatest wealth during the Ming Dynasty. By extracting resources, producing goods, and engaging in domestic and international trade, you earn victory points. The player with the most points at the end of the final Administration phase wins.

Card Reference

• Industry Cards: Placed on the player board to establish production sites for rice, tea, silk, or porcelain.
• Order Cards: Specify specific combinations of goods that must be delivered for victory points and bonuses.
• Privilege Cards: Grant permanent advantages or additional scoring opportunities at the end of the game.
• Event Cards: Change game rules or market prices on a round-by-round basis.

Gameplay

The game is played over 6 rounds (years), each divided into four phases:

1. Preparation: The board is refilled, events are revealed, and players receive income based on their investments.
2. Action Phase: Players take turns placing their Overseers on action spaces.
   • Production: Activate your industries to create raw materials or process them into refined goods.
   • Build: Construct new buildings or improve existing infrastructure on your board.
   • Market: Sell goods to local markets for immediate cash or deliver them to ships for overseas trade.
   • Grand Canal: Move ships along the canal to unlock trading bonuses.
3. Administration:
   • Taxes: Pay the required taxes to the Emperor.
   • Maintenance: Pay the costs for your buildings and provide for your workers.
4. Round End: The turn order is adjusted for the next round.

Key Mechanisms

• Overseers & Peasants: Overseers control the actions, while Peasants must be deployed as labor in factories or on fields.
• Supply Chains: Raw materials (like mulberry leaves) often need to be refined through multiple steps into final products (like silk garments) to become more valuable.
• Silver (Yinzi): The primary currency. Silver is scarce and must be constantly reinvested to keep production running.

Scoring

Final scoring occurs at the end of the game:

• Victory Points: All point tokens collected during the game.
• Prestige: Points for milestones reached on progress tracks.
• Wealth: Remaining cash and goods are converted into points at a fixed exchange rate.
• Bonuses: Conditions fulfilled on Privilege cards.