CASTELL



OBJECT OF CASTELL: The object of Castell is to have the highest score at the end of ten rounds. 

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 4 players 

MATERIALS: 1 Game Board, 4 Player Boards, 1 Skill Wheel, 150 Castellers, 4 Player Pawns, 28 Special Action Tokens, 30 Size Tokens, 8 Board Skill Tiles, 20 Player Skill Tiles, 4 Player Aids, 14 Festive Location Tiles, 32 Local Performance Tiles, 40 Prize Tokens, 4 Score Markers, 1 Round Marker, 1 First Player Marker, 1 Cloth Bag

TYPE OF GAME: Strategic Card Game

AUDIENCE: 12+


OVERVIEW OF CASTELL

Castell is a tradition in Catalonia where people build human towers. As you travel across regions, attempt to build the best human towers, building skills along the way. Be strategic in your skills and which performances you choose to complete.

The game continues for ten rounds. Will you be able to build the best team that quickly? It is time to play and see!

SETUP

Setup of the Board

To begin setup, place all Castellers into the cloth bag and shake the bag to randomize the them. After shaking them, place a designated number of Castellers on the board’s seven regions. For four players place five Castellers per region, three players need four Castellers, and two players need three Castellers. 

Place the skill wheel on the right half of the game board, with the All Regions side face up. Advanced gamers may use the No Regions side of the game if they prefer. Place the wheel so that the orientation of the Advanced Regions is facing north.

Next, sort the festival location tiles into two types, depending on their backs. Shuffle all of the “I” tiles face down and then place one face up on each “I” space on the board’s festival calendar. Repeat the same steps with the “II” cards, placing them on the “II” spaces on the festival calendar. To finish the festival calendar, shuffle the size tokens and deal one, facing up, to each space below a festival location tile.

Finally, to complete setup of the board, you must schedule the local performances. This includes shuffling the local performance tiles and deal two facing up to each row of the local performance area. These are found on the left edge of the board. The eighteen unused tiles may be returned to the game box.

Setup of the Players

Each player must be given a player board and a player aid. They must also be given one player pawn, one score marker, seven special action tokens, and five player skill tiles in the color of their choosing. The special action tokens are placed on the icon of the player board. All score markers are placed on the star space of the board’s score track. Each player will then draw seven Castellers from the bag.

The round marker is then placed on the one space of the board’s round track. The first player marker is given to whoever has recently visited Catalonia. The game is now ready to begin!

GAMEPLAY

The player with the first player marker begins the game and gameplay will continue clockwise around the board. There are four different actions you may take in any random order. Actions may only be completed one time per turn. 

You may decide to move your pawn to a different region adjacent to your current region. Any region that is touching another region or connected by a dotted line is considered to be adjacent to the previous region. The first move, you will add your pawn to the gameboard in whatever region of your choosing.

You may choose to recruit up to two Castellers from the region where your pawn is. This moves them into your player area. Training is the third option which allows you to increase the rank of one of your skills. The skill wheel will show you which skills are available to you at that time. In a normal game, you may choose the skill in the slot of your pawn’s current region or the skill in the All Regions slot, but in an advanced game, you may only choose from your pawn’s region.

Finally, you may complete a special action, but to do so, you must have one special action token available to you. If you choose this action you must do one of three things. You must recruit one Casteller from your pawn’s region. You could move your pawn to another region, or you may build a tower that meets the requirements of one of the local performance tiles in your pawn’s region.

After completing a special action, be sure to place the special action token onto the local performance area of the board. Place it in a space that matches with your pawn’s region.

Building Towers

There are three rules that must be followed when building towers. Each level of your tower must be made of Castellers that are all the same size. Each level that is being built on top of another level must be composed of Castellers of a smaller size than the last. The most Castellers you can have on a level is three. Keep in mind, you have the ability to tear down towers in order to build new ones for other events.

Skills

The skill’s position on the board’s skill track determines the skill’s current rank. The rank of a skill indicates how many times it may be used in a single tower. When you practice a skill, the rank of any of your current skills may increase by one. When a special skill is chosen, a special action must be immediately taken, but a special action token does not have to be placed.

Balance: This skill allows you to build a level in your tower that consists of the same number of Castellers in it that are found in the level immediately below it.

Base: The Base skill allows you to have a level in your tower that contains an unlimited amount of Castellers. All levels found above it must adhere to the width restriction.

Mix: This skill allows you to have Castellers in the same level that are different sizes. The size difference cannot be extreme and may only vary by one number.

Strength: The strength skill allows you to have one level in your tower that supports a level of Castellers that are one size larger than normal. 

Width: The width skill increases the entire tower’s width restriction by one. 

Local Performances

Local performances are put on in the region indicated by which row the tile occupied. There are two different types of local performances. One is tower shapes, and one is skill exhibitions.

When completing tower shapes, you must build a tower that is the exact shape as the one pictured. You may use your Castellers and skills.

To complete skill exhibitions you must build a tower that meets two requirements. These requirements are found on the local performance tile. The tower must have as many levels as the point value of the card, and the tower must use all the skills that are indicated on the card. 

After completing the local performance, collect the local performance tile and move it to your player area. Also, gather all special tokens that are in that region of the board, placing them in the corresponding region of your board. 

Festivals

At the end of rounds three through ten, festivals occur. You must meet three requirements before competing in a festival. Your pawn must be in the same region as the festival, your tower has to contain Castellers that match the size tokens for the festival, and your tower must have four levels.

In order to calculate your tower score, give yourself one point for every level that your tower has and one point for each Casteller that matches a size token for the festival. If this is your best tower score, move your score marker to indicate that score. 

After all tower scores have been calculated for the festival, prize tokens are awarded. Use the prize chart to determine how many tokens will be distributed. 

There are size tokens available at each festival. The player who has the most Castellers that match the size token claims the size token. It immediately goes onto your player board in the corresponding region.

END OF GAME

At the end of the tenth round, the game comes to an end and scoring begins. Each player will evaluate five categories separately. Your best tower score will be evaluated, this is marked by the location of your score marker on the score track. 

Next, your region variety bonus is calculated. Depending on how many regions you have earned things in, you earn more points. One region earns you zero points, two earns you one point, three earns you three points, four earns you five points, five earns you seven points, six earns you ten points, and seven earns you fourteen points. 

Thirdly, the earned prizes are calculated. Each trophy you have won is worth five points, each metal is worth three points, and each ribbon is worth one point. Size tokens are then scored, with two points being earned for each unique size token you have and one point for each token of the same size.

Finally, calculate your earned points from the local performances. Add up the number of points listed on the local performance tiles that you have claimed. One point is scored for each special action token that was collected when putting on local performances. 

After all of the points have been added together, the winner is decided. The player with the most points at the end of scoring is the winner!

Nakoa Davis
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