The game is set in the 3rd century BC. The Chinese Empire is threatened from the North, and so the Emperor orders the construction of a great protective wall. The princes from the Northern part of the country are tasked with organizing the construction. The Emperor, who would like to keep the building costs as low as possible, has decreed that in the interest of China, no money will be awarded the builders - they will have to be satisfied with prestige and honour. The princes immediately set upon the task.
This game is from Reiner Knizia, and lets each player take on the role of a Northern Chinese prince. His task: the construction of a massive wall. His reward: Honour everlasting! To gain the honour, though, requires some sweat. The requirements are the same for each player. Each player has a set of cards in his colour: seven wall cards (worth 1 point), three gate cards (worth 2 points) and one watchtower card (worth 3 points). Additionally, each player gets nine more cards of varying point value which may also allow special actions to be carried out.
At the start of the game, each player shuffles his deck of 20 cards and places it face-down in front of himself. He then draws five cards from the deck. Now, depending on the number of players, 2 to 4 pairs of prestige tiles (with values from 2 to 7) are set out as the starts of card rows (each of which counts as a building phase).
On a player's turn, he first checks to see if he has a point majority in any of the card rows. Then, he carries out two additional actions. He has the choice of either drawing another card from the deck or adding cards to one of the rows. The added cards must all be identical. It is then the next player's turn.
If, when checking point totals, a player sees that he does have a majority, then he takes the higher-valued prestige tile and puts it onto one of his cards in that row. That prestige comes at a price: As long as the second prestige tile isn't claimed, the value of the prestige is subtracted from that players total for that row. Once the second tile is claimed (which can be by the same player), then both winning players set the tiles they won aside. Two new prestige tiles are revealed and the prestige for that row replenished.
The fight for prestige is also influenced by cards with special actions. For example, if a 'noble' card is played, then the values of all cards in that row are reduced by 1. A 'dragon' card can be played onto another player's card, neutralizing it. 'Knights' are worth 2 points, and, equally valuable, do not cost an action. 'Warriors' are strong in groups. A single 'Warrior' is only worth 1 point, but the next one is worth 2, and so on.
The game ends as soon as one player has played his last card. Afterwards, each player gets one last turn. The player with the most prestige at the end of the game wins.
