Rio Grande Games Ming Dynasty Owner's Manual
who wishes to retain power must be willing to share it.
A tactical game of power in China for 2 – 4 players, aged 12 and up
By the mid-14th century, the Chinese people had succeeded in freeing themselves from Mongolian domination.
With Tai-tsu’s accession to the throne as emperor, a new and independent China emerged. In this game, each
player takes on the role of an imperial prince who, with the aid of his royal family members, attempts to acquire
more and more wealth and influence for the Chinese people of the Ming Dynasty.
Contents
1 game board
124 family members (31 each in 4 colors)
4 princes (1 each in 4 colors)
16 return cards (4 each in 4 colors)
108 province tiles (18 each in 6 colors)
54 movement cards
18 dragon cards (jokers)
6 50/100 tiles
1 round marker
1 start player figure
4 game summaries
Preparation
Place the game board in the middle of the table.
Shuffle the movement cards, and turn up a movement card next to each of the province spaces to form a face up
display. Place the remaining movement cards nearby in a face down supply stack.
Place the dragon cards in a face up supply stack next to the board.
Sort the province tiles by color and place them next to the board as a general supply.
Set the round marker on space “1” of the round track.
Each player chooses 1 of the 4 colors and takes the following pieces in that color:
- 1 prince
- all 31 family members
- 4 return cards
- 1 dragon card, which he takes into his hand, and
- 1 rule summary
Each player places 1 of his family members on the “0” space of the scoring track. The remaining 30 make up each
player’s personal supply, which he places in front of him (his play area).
The players choose a starting player, who takes the starting player figure and begins the game.
The starting player places his prince in the district of his choosing and takes a province tile of the matching color.
The other players do the same, in clockwise order, placing their princes in a district that no other player has chosen
and taking a corresponding province tile.
round indicator with round marker
family members
dragon cards
movement
car
d
display
return cards
start player
figure
province tiles
prince
movement card
supply
The game board has 6 provinces in different colors. Each province is divided into 3 districts. In the center of each province is a city
and each district has a monastery. Each province is assigned a corresponding province space at the edge of the game board.
discards
50/100 tiles
front
and
back
sides
6 province
spaces (one color
matching each
province)
summary
scoring track