Gamehelpazure

How to Play

The start player goes first. Players then take alternating turns. On your turn, do the following in order:

1. Place a stone
2. Gather boons
3. Check Auspicious Beasts

1. place a stone

Place a stone into any empty space in the realm. Each space has a card cost:

• The color of the domain (board) tells you the color of qi needed.
• The number of boon symbols in the space tells you the amount of cards needed.

Pay the card cost from your hand. Return them to the matching face-up deck. Then, place one of your stones onto the space.

If you cannot place a stone on your turn, you lose the game immediately.

Bonds

The card cost can be reduced by bonds provided by your other stones. Each of your stones that is horizontally or vertically in line with the space provides one bond, which is equivalent to one card in whatever color is needed, unless blocked by a mountain. Bonds are not blocked by player stones.

Through bonds, the card cost of a space can be reduced to zero. This means you can sometimes place a stone without paying any cards. The card cost of a space cannot be reduced below zero.

2. gather boons

The symbols in each space represent the boons you receive when you place a stone in it:

Card (Qi)

Take a matching card from the face-up decks (not the hidden deck) and add it to your hand. There is no limit to the number of cards you can have in hand.

Point (Wisdom)

Move your score marker one step forward on the wisdom track. Both players’ markers can occupy the same space on the track.

3. check auspicious beasts

Each Auspicious Beast will favor whichever player has the most stones guarding its mountain (the rules for how a stone guards a mountain is different for each mountain).

The first player to play two stones that guard a Beast’s mountain immediately gains the favor of the Beast. Take the Beast and place it on your side of the realm.

If at any time the opposing player has more stones than you guarding the Beast’s mountain, they take it from you. They gain its favor, and you lose the favor. If you are tied with the same number of stones, whoever has the favor keeps it.

The favor of a Beast can switch between the players more than once. A Beast remains with the player who has it unless it is taken by the opponent. A Beast never returns to its mountain. On each turn, take care to consider all the mountains since a single stone can guard more than one.

The Azure Dragon

The Azure mountain is guarded by all stones horizontally and vertically in line with it, unless blocked by another mountain. When you gain the favor of the Azure Dragon, take the Dragon and gain three points. If you lose the favor, lose three points.

The White Tiger

The White mountain is guarded by all stones horizontally and vertically in line with it, unless blocked by another mountain. When you gain the favor of the White Tiger, take the Tiger and gain two points. If you lose the favor, lose two points.

The Black Tortoise

The Black mountain is guarded by all stones on serpent spaces in all domains.

When you gain the favor of the Black Tortoise, take the Tortoise and place one of your own common stones, taken from your supply, onto the Black mountain.

The stone on the Black mountain provides a bond to all spaces that are horizontally or vertically in line with it, unless blocked by a mountain. The stone will also guard the Azure and White mountains if one or both are aligned horizontally or vertically, unless blocked by another mountain. The stone on the Black mountain does not guard the Black mountain.

If you lose the favor, remove your stone from the Black mountain and return it to your supply. Your opponent replaces it with one of their common stones. This can cause the favor of the Azure Dragon or the White Tiger to switch between the players.

The Vermillion Bird

The Vermillion mountain is guarded by all stones in the Vermillion domain (board). When you gain the favor of the Vermillion Bird, take the Bird and draw two cards from the hidden deck. If you lose the favor, return any two cards from your hand to the face-up decks. If you have only one card in hand, return it. If you have no cards, do nothing. In either of these cases, there is no further penalty.

Winning the game

The first player to move their stone to the end of the wisdom track (25) wins the game. Or, you win the game immediately if your opponent cannot place a stone on their turn.