Zamek Base Game

Main Page > The Castle > Zamek Base Game

↑

General info and comments

Zamek was published in 2020 in Polish by Nasza Ksiegarnia. It is a complete reworking of The Castle with new artwork and some feature changes.

Two families compete for control of the castle within which the game takes place. By adding tiles, you create a network of roads, meadows, houses and pigsties, over which you try to take control. Heralds, monks, squires and farmers will help you take control of the castle's buildings and earn points. You will also receive points for two items that must be present in every good castle: shrines and stocks. At the end of the game, the person with the most points takes over the castle and puts his rival in the stocks.

Contents

• 10 castle wall pieces

• 60 castle tiles

Tile features:
A. House B. Shrine/Chapel C. Pigsty D. Road	E. Stocks F. Meadow G. Fountain

• 18 wall tokens (two of each tile pictured)

• 14 followers in 2 colours, and 2 family houses in 2 colours

• A sticker so you can sign your copy of the game!

Design Changes

The following are the main feature changes between The Castle and Zamek.

• The square (feature that separated a road into 3 distinct roads) is a fountain ("fontanna").
• The fountain (feature makes roads score 2x per tile, and looks like a well) is a stocks ("dyby").
• The Tower has been redrawn as a pigsty ("chlew").
• The Court is renamed as a meadow ("łąka").
• The Market, located in a Court, has been replaced by a Shrine or Chapel ("kapliczka").
• The 2 keep pieces have been replaced by family houses using a "gate" meeple ("dom").

Objective of the game

Two families compete for control of the castle within which the game takes place. By adding tiles you create a network of roads, meadows, houses and pigsties, over which you try to gain control. You have to make clever use of your followers - heralds, monks, squires and farmers - they will help you take control of the castle's objects and earn points.

You'll also receive points for two items that must be present in every decent castle: shrines and stocks. At the end of the game, the person with the most points takes over the castle and puts his rival in the stocks.

Preparing the game

Recommended Starting Setup

(A) Arrange the wall tiles as shown. The wall forms a scoring track (from 0 to 99). It is the border of the playing area. Note that several tiles on the wall have starting spaces.

(B) Place the 18 special tokens face down on the table and shuffle them. Then place 1 token on each defense tower (except those with spaces 0 and 1). Put the unused tokens back in the box (without peeking).

(C) Place 60 tiles on the table face down and shuffle them. Then make several piles of them and place them outside the castle walls.

(D) Take 1 family house and 6 followers of the chosen color and place them in front of you.

(E) Each player places 1 follower on the zero space of the scoring track.

Playing the game

The game is started by the person who was last in the stocks (or the older player). On his turn, a player may take 3 actions in the following order:

1. Adding a tile
2. Placing a follower into the castle
3. Scoring points

1. Adding a Tile

The player takes 1 tile from any stack and places it within the walls according to the following rules:

• The first tile added in the game must be adjacent to one of the starting spaces. These spaces are treated as tiles.

One of the Starting Spaces

• Each subsequent tile must be adjacent to at least one side of any of the starting spaces or to another tile.
• A road must be connected to another piece of road – both the one on the tiles and the starting spaces. Note! The exception is the wall. The road on the tile can be in contact with the bricks of the wall.

• Houses, pigsties and meadows can be added to each other in any way you like.

• You can add anything to the wall: a road, a house, a pigsty and a meadow.

• Tiles should be placed with their whole sides together. They can be rotated in any direction.

• If a player doesn't have the possibility to add a tile, he shows it to his rival, puts the tile back in the box and takes a new one from the stack. He then adds it according to the rules described above within the castle walls.

2. Placing a Follower into the Castle

On the just-placed tile the player may (but is not required to) place one follower from his or her supply. If the player doesn't have any more followers in his supply, he skips this action. When placing a follower in the castle, the player may place the follower on one of the areas on the currently placed tile: the house, the pigsty, the road or the meadow. Depending on where the follower is placed, it will have a different function.

Squire A follower sent to a house. If there are unconnected houses on a tile, choose one of them and place a squire on it.
Farmer A follower sent to a pigsty. If there are unconnected pigsties on a tile, choose one of them and place a farmer on it.
Herald A follower sent to a road. If there are parts of the road not connected to each other on a tile, choose one of them and place a herald on it. Note that stocks do not interrupt the road (it goes around them). The fountain, on the other hand, breaks the road (separate fragments of the road are created).
Monk A follower sent to a meadow. If there are unconnected meadows on the tile, choose one of them and put a monk on it.

When sending a monk to a meadow, lay him down. It will lie there until the end of the game (it will not return to the player's supply). Followers sent to roads, houses and pigsties are placed on them. They will stay there until the area they are standing on is finished (then they return to the player's follower supply).

Example:
A player adds a tile with a pigsty, two meadows and a road. On one of these areas he can place a follower. If he chose one of the two meadows, he would have to lay a follower there. If he chose either the pigsty or the road, he would have to place a follower there.

If a player has no followers in his supply, he does not send a follower to the castle on his turn. However, when a follower returns to the player's supply during the game, the player may use it again.

Fight for control of the areas

An added tile enlarges a road, house, pigsty or meadow. If there is already a follower (of any player), the player cannot send his follower to that area.

Remember, it doesn't matter how many tiles away a follower who is already in an area is - he controls the entire area and no player can add another follower there.

	Example A: The player has added a tile with a pigsty, a road and two meadows. He may send a follower to 1 of the areas indicated by the green arrow. No one controls these areas.
	Example B: In this situation, the player cannot send a follower to the road because it is already controlled.
	Example C: In this situation, the player cannot send a follower to the large meadow because it is already controlled.
	Example D: In this situation, the player cannot send a follower to the smaller meadow because it is already controlled.

Connecting Controlled Areas

An added tile may cause player-controlled areas to merge. If this happens, the player cannot send his followers to the connected area, and followers in the merged areas remain in their positions.

---

Example:
The player has added a tile with a pigsty, a road and a meadow.

• The player has connected 2 roads controlled by the white player and the black player. Heralds standing on the road remain in their places, and the player may not place a herald on the added tile.
• The player has connected 2 meadows controlled by the white player. Monks lying on the meadow remain in their places, and the player cannot place a monk on the added tile.
• The player has also enlarged the pigsty, which is not controlled by anyone.

So the player can send his farmer there.

3. Scoring Points

If the added tile has completed building a road, house or pigsty, the points scored are counted. The completion of the construction means that the area is closed and cannot be extended any further. You mark the points scored by moving your followers on the score track.

Remember that the points for completed areas apply to the road, house and pigsty, but not to the meadow! Meadow points are awarded at the end of the game (which is why monks lie in meadows waiting for the game to end).

Points for a completed area are scored by the player with more followers in that area. In the event of a tie, no player scores points.

Remember, it doesn't matter which player adds the tile causing a road, house or pigsty to be completed. Points are scored by the player with more followers in the enclosed area.

If both players have scored points for completed areas after the tile was added, the first player to score points is the player whose turn it is. This is important when removing tokens from the track (this will be explained later).

A Completed Road

A player with more heralds on a complete road scores 1 point for each tile on that road.

Example: The white player has added a tile to the starting space and placed a herald on the road. In doing so, he has created a very short, completed road that he controls. He scores 1 point for each tile on this road, which gives him 2 points (the starting space is treated as a tile). The player moves his follower on the score track by 2 spaces, then the herald returns to the player's supply.

If there are stocks next to a completed road, the player receives not 1, but 2 points for each tile making up that road. More than one stock does not give any additional points! Just one stock is enough to score 2 points per road tile.

Example: The white player added a tile (and placed a monk on the meadow). The road is finished. There is 1 white herald on it, so the white player controls the road. There are stocks next to the road, so the player scores 2 points for each tile on the road: 5 tiles × 2 points = 10 points. The player moves his follower on the score track by 10 spaces. The white herald returns to the player. The black herald is not taken into account, because he stands on a different road (the fountain separates the two roads).

A Completed Pigsty

A player with more farmers on a completed pigsty scores 2 points for each tile that makes up that pigsty.

Example: The white player added a tile connecting the 2 small pigsties controlled by him to the pigsties previously controlled by the black farmer. This creates 1 large completed pigsty controlled by the white player. He scores 2 points for each tile forming the pigsty: 6 tiles × 2 points = 12 points (the starting space with the pigsty is treated as a tile). The player moves his follower on the score track by 12 spaces. The farmers return to the players.

A Completed House

The player who has more squires on a completed house scores 1 point for each tile that makes up that house.

Family House markers

After scoring points for the first completed house, it becomes the family house. The player places his follower symbolizing the family house on it.

Each time a player scores a larger house (consisting of more tiles), he moves the family house there.

At the end of the game, the family house is the largest house for which a player has earned points.

Example: The white player has added a tile causing the house to be completed. It contains 3 squires: 2 white and 1 black, so the white player controls this house. He scores 1 point for each tile making up the house: 5 tiles × 1 point = 5 points. The player moves his follower on the score track by 5 spaces. The squires return to the players. This is the largest house for which a white player has scored points so far, so the house becomes his family house.

Remember that once points have been awarded for a completed road, house or pigsty the followers standing on them return to their respective players. These followers can be sent back to the castle later in the game in any role: as heralds, farmers, squires or monks.

Gaining Special Tokens

The special tokens are placed on the defense towers on the castle wall (on the scoring track). Each tower covers 2 tiles on the scoring track (e.g. spaces 56 and 57). If a follower stops on one of those spaces, the player takes the special token and puts it in front of him (face up). However, if the follower passes the token space, the player does not gain a special token.

---

Example:
To get the special token the white player must score 3 or 4 points. His follower will then stop on space 56 or 57. If he scores more and passes these spaces, he cannot take this token.

• A player may use an acquired special token on his next turn or later in the game. He may not use it immediately after capturing it.
• A player may have any number of special tokens.
• A player may use any number of special tokens during his turn.
• The used special tokens should be put back in the box.

A description of the special tokens can be found at the end of the instructions.

Player's turn ends

After the player has added the tile, placed a follower in the castle, and scored points, the player's turn ends. His opponent takes his turn.

End of game

The game ends when all the tiles in the stacks have been used.

• Put the special tokens left on the score track back in the box.
• Then the players score points for meadows and family houses (according to the rules below) – they add them to the points scored during the game.

The player with the most points scored is the winner. In case of a tie, the players share the victory.

Unfinished roads, houses and pigsties do not give points, unless the player uses the appropriate special tokens. Note! We have included a description of the special tokens and scoring rules at the end of this page.

Points for Meadows

• Consider any meadow that has at least 1 monk in it - regardless of whether the meadow is completed or not.

• A player with more monks in a meadow scores 3 points for each shrine in that meadow. He moves his follower on the score track by the appropriate number of spaces. In case of a tie, no player scores points.

Example: The large meadow A contains monks of both players: 1 white monk and 2 black monks. This meadow is therefore controlled by the black player. He scores 15 points: 3 points for each of the 5 shrines in this meadow. Note that one of the scoring shrines is located on the starting space (on the score track). Meadow B is controlled by the white player. He scores 3 points (for 1 shrine in that area). Meadow C is controlled by the black player, but there is no shrine on it. The player does not score points for this meadow.

When counting the points for meadows, you can use the special tokens - they will give you extra points. Note! We have included a description of the special tokens and scoring rules at the end of this page.

Points for the Family House

• At the end of the game, there are always at least 16 empty spaces (without tiles) left within the castle walls. You count how many spaces the largest empty area occupies.
• Then you check which player has the larger family house (i.e., how many tiles the house on which the family house stands is made of).
• The player who has the larger family house scores as many points as the largest empty area. A player moves his/her pawn on the on the track by the appropriate number of spaces. In case of a tie, no player scores points.

---

Example:
In this case, the largest empty area has 5 tiles. The player with the larger family house therefore scores 5 points.

When counting up the points for a Family House, you can use the special tokens - they will give you extra points. Note! We have included a description of the special tokens and scoring rules at the end of this page.

Description of wall tokens

DURING THE GAME :		AT THE END OF THE GAME :
1	You use a token at the end of your turn. Play one more turn.	4	You use the token when counting the points for meadows. Select 1 of the meadows you control. For each shrine in this meadow you score 4 points instead of 3.
2	You use a token after completing a house. For each tile that make up the house you score 2 points instead of 1.	5	You use the token when counting the points for the House. You add 2 tiles to the size of your House (e.g. a House with 5 tiles is treated as if it was built with 7 tiles). This gives your House a chance to be bigger than your opponent's headquarters.
3	You use the token when you complete a pigsty. For each tile that makes up this pigsty you score 4 points instead of 2.	6	You score 5 points. Move your pawn on the track by 5 spaces.
		7	You choose 1 of the unfinished houses. For each tile that makes up this house you gain 1 point.
		8	You choose 1 of the unfinished pigsties. For each tile that makes up this pigsty you score 2 points.
		9	You select 1 of the unfinished roads. For each tile on this road you score 1 point.

Total Wall Tiles: 18

 ×2

 ×2

 ×2

 ×2

 ×2

 ×2

 ×2

 ×2

 ×2

Tile Distribution

Total Regular Tiles: 60

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

 ×1

Credits

Illustration: Roman Kucharski

Footnotes

For Icons explanation and licensing please visit Icons page.