The Bridges of Shangri-La Game Rules

Hey there! Ready to dive into the fascinating world of The Bridges of Shangri-La? Let me guide you through the game rules so you can start playing right away. This game is all about connecting bridges and exploring the mythical land of Shangri-La, where tranquility and adventure await.

First, let’s talk about the goal of the game. Your mission is to connect all the bridges on the island, bringing harmony to the land. Sounds exciting, right? But don’t be fooled, it’s not as easy as it seems. You need to plan your moves carefully and strategize to overcome the challenges that lie ahead.

So, how does it work? The game board consists of different islands with bridges connecting them. Each island has a specific number of bridges, and your task is to connect all these bridges without any crossings. That’s the tricky part. You want to create a perfect path that links all the islands without any disruptions. It’s like solving a complex puzzle!

To make things even more interesting, there are some rules you need to follow. You can only connect bridges in a straight line and never diagonally. Additionally, the number of bridges connected to an island must match the number indicated on the island. For example, if an island has a “2” on it, you must connect exactly two bridges to that island.

But wait, there’s more! Some islands have special symbols on them, like circles or squares. These symbols come with their own rules. For circles, you must connect exactly two bridges to the island, similar to the number rule we discussed. As for squares, you can connect any number of bridges to the island, as long as they don’t exceed the maximum number specified on the square.

As you progress in the game, the challenges will become more complex. The number of islands and bridges will increase, making it harder to find the perfect solution. But don’t worry, Shangri-La will reward your efforts with beautiful landscapes and a sense of accomplishment.

Remember, the key to success in The Bridges of Shangri-La is to think strategically and plan your moves carefully. Take your time to analyze the board and find the best way to connect all the bridges. With practice, you’ll become a master of this enchanting game.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab your board and pieces, and let the adventure begin. Discover the magical world of Shangri-La and become the master bridge builder you were meant to be. Have fun and enjoy the journey!

Once upon a time, the villages of Shangri-La were home to the smartest people in the world. They were known for their wisdom and knowledge. But one day, something strange happened – all the wise people disappeared, except for one – the Invisible Bridge Blaster. This news shocked the mountain people living in the nearby valleys. They knew they had to do something to make sure their own culture would continue in Shangri-La.

What’s in the Game?

• A game board
• 23 wooden bridges
• 168 master tiles, which come in 4 colors and have 6 x 7 master symbols
• 12 Stones of the Wise Men
• Instructions

The Game Board

Let’s Play the Game

So, here’s how it all begins. We each pick seven Masters in our own color and put them in the different villages of Shangri-La. Now, as we play, new Masters will join the game and they’ll need Students to learn from them.

When the time is right, the Students will leave their Masters’ village and cross a bridge into another village. But here’s the twist – if the village they came from is stronger than the new one, the Student might end up with a new Master, or even become one himself if there’s no other Master in his field!

Every time a Student takes this journey, the bridge they cross will be destroyed. And here’s the deal, the player who has the most Masters of their color in the villages of Shangri-La at the end of the game… wins!

Ready, Set, Go!

In the middle of the table, there’s a game board. It shows a mountain area with 13 villages connected by paths. Each path connects two villages and has a break in the middle. Every village has a group of 7 Master symbols.

To the right of the game board, there’s a village with red walls. But in a 3-player game, we don’t use this village. At the start of the game, we mark it with a “Stone of the Wise Men”.

Now let’s talk about the wooden bridges. We need to place one of the 23 wooden bridges on each of the broken paths. But in a 3-player game, we only use 20 wooden bridges because the red village is not in play.

Welcome to the world of Master Tiles- Take a moment before starting the game to pop out the tiles from the tile sheet. Each player will need to choose a color and take all the tiles of that color. Within each color, there are 6 sets of 7 different symbols. To make things easier during the game, I suggest organizing your tiles into groups based on their symbols.

The Stones of the Wise Men- Now, let’s set up the game board. There are 12 colored glass stones called the “Stones of the Wise Men” that should be placed near the edge of the game board. If you’re playing with three players, you can place one of these stones on the unused red village.

Alright, now we can dive into the game itself. Each player represents a different clan of people from the mystical mountains of Shangri-La. Let me introduce you to the four peoples:

• Ro-Tarya – represented by the color Red
• Ba-Lao – represented by the color Blue
• Gyl-Den – represented by the color Yellow
• Li-Lamas – represented by the color Violet

In the mystical land of Shangri-La, the wise mountain folk possess incredible knowledge in seven unique disciplines. These disciplines include the Rainmaker, Priest, Yeti-whisperer, Astrologer, Dragonbreeder, Healer, and Firekeeper.

If you happen to find yourself in this magical realm, you too can harness the power of these disciplines. You will have the opportunity to choose six Masters from each of the seven disciplines. With these skilled individuals by your side, you will be equipped to navigate the challenges that await you.

Welcome to Master Placement

Let’s get started with the game! You and the other players need to place your Master tiles on the board. Each player has 7 Master tiles of their color, one for each of the 7 different Master types.

We’ll take turns placing our tiles on the villages, starting with me and going clockwise. But there are some rules we need to follow:

• You can only place your Master tile on a village that has the matching symbol.
• In each village, there can’t be more than 2 tiles of the same color.
• In each village, there can’t be more than 3 tiles in total. However, in a 3-player game, you can only have 1 tile of the same color in each village and no more than 2 tiles in total.

Remember, these rules only apply during the placement phase. And don’t forget, the 7 different Masters need to belong to different disciplines.

Once the phase is finished, you should have 5 Master tiles of each type in your supply.

Getting ready for the first game

Figuring out the best way to place your initial Masters may not be obvious when you play your first game. But don’t worry, there are suggested starting positions for 3- and 4-player games on the reverse sides of the Rules Summary sheets.

By your second game, you can rely on good strategy and planning for the placement phase instead.

Game Play

The Starting Player is the one who last reached the peak of Mount Everest using only blue and white checkered stilts made of Mammoth tree wood. If there’s a tie, the wisest player among you will start the game.

On your turn, you must choose one of the following three actions:

Place a master tile

Recruit students

Let’s start your students’ journey!

1. Put down a master tile

When you choose this action, you’ll grab a Master tile from your collection and put it on any empty spot that has the same symbol in a village where there is already at least one other Master of the same color.

• It’s my turn as player Yellow. I’m going to put one Dragonbreeder on the empty “Dragonbreeder” space.
• Next up is player Red. He wants to put one of his Rainmakers in this village, but he can’t because there’s already a yellow Rainmaker there. Instead, Red decides to place a Yeti-whisperer on the open symbol space in the village.

2. Recruit Students

With this action, you can bring more tiles onto the board. I can choose any 2 tiles from my supply and place them on top of 2 Masters with matching symbols in any village on the board.

These placed tiles are called “Students”. A Master can only have one Student at a time. I can put the 2 Students in the same village or in two different villages.

Hey there! Let’s talk about a cool game called Master the Masters. In this game, you play as a student who wants to learn from a Master. But here’s the thing: some Masters can only take one student. So if you have one of those Masters, don’t worry! You can still choose the action to become their student. The catch is that you can only place one student on the board. It’s a simple rule, but it adds an interesting twist to the game.

An important part of Shangri-La revolves around recruiting these special individuals called “Students.” It’s a big decision to determine the right time and place to bring them into the game.

• Let’s say Player Yellow decides to bring two Students into Village A. Yellow places a Rainmaker tile on top of their existing yellow Rainmaker tile, and a Yeti-whisperer on top of their Master Yeti-whisperer. Yellow’s turn is now over.
• Next, it’s Blue’s turn, and they have also chosen to recruit Students. Blue places a Healer as a Student in Village A, on top of their Master Healer, and a Firekeeper on top of their Master Firekeeper in Village B.
• Meanwhile, Players Red and Violet have opted for different actions during this particular example.

3. The Journey of the Students

The “Journey of the Students” plays a crucial role in the competition of Shangri-La.

Hey there! I want to talk to you about something important: the “Journey of the Students.” It’s a special game that lets you expand your clan into new villages. Exciting, right?

So, where can you go on a Journey? Well, a Journey takes place on a path between two villages. You can only go from one village to a neighboring village. Keep that in mind!

Now, who can start a Journey? Only players who have at least one Student in the village where the Journey begins. You need some Students to get the ball rolling!

Who’s Coming on the Journey? – When I send the Students in a village on a Journey, I send everyone in the village on the Journey – even the Students belonging to my opponents. The Masters of these Students stay put. I get to choose which unbroken path the Students will take, leading to one of the nearby villages.

When Does a Bridge Break? – As soon as the “Journey of the Students” happens, the bridge that was crossed breaks. We remove the bridge from the board and take it out of the game. No more Journeys can be made across this path for the rest of the game.

When Is a “Stone of the Wise Men” Placed? – If all the paths extending from a village are broken, a Stone is placed on that village. When a Stone is in place, nothing else can happen in that village.

When I leave a village and travel to another,

I may encounter one of two scenarios:

Scenario 1

The village I leave is more powerful than the village I enter.

Please note: A village’s “strength” is determined by the total number of tiles (both Masters and Students) owned by all players in the village, including opponents.

Usually, I choose to journey from a stronger village to a weaker one. This way, I can replace rival Masters with my Students in the new village.

If I enter a village and find an empty spot that matches my discipline, like an empty Rainmaker spot for a Student Rainmaker, I simply place my Student in that spot. At that moment, my Student becomes a Master.

Imagine you’re on a journey, exploring different villages and encountering various symbols. As a Student, I enter a village and discover that the matching symbol space is already taken by a Master tile of my color, let’s say red. In this situation, I get to stand on top of the Master tile, but I remain a Student. Pretty cool, right?

Now, let’s say I enter another village where the symbol space is already occupied by both a Master and a Student of my color. In this case, I don’t get to stay on the board. I have to leave and go back to my owner’s supply. It’s a little disappointing, but that’s the rule.

Lastly, imagine I come across a village where my matching symbol space is already taken by tiles belonging to another player. Let’s say I’m a red Student Rainmaker, and I encounter a Rainmaker of a different color. Well, in this situation, I get to remove the opposing tile(s) from the board and place them back in their owner’s supply. It’s a bit like a friendly rivalry, don’t you think?

When you remove tiles from the board in this way, don’t worry, you haven’t lost them forever. You can still play them back onto the board in future turns.

Here’s another situation to consider:

Now let’s say the village you travel to is weaker than the one you came from.

If you journey to a village and find an empty space that matches your discipline, for example, if a Rainmaker Student arrives at an empty Rainmaker space, you simply place the Student in that space. Congratulations, you’ve become a Master! This is similar to the first situation we talked about.

However, if you journey to a village and find a space that is already occupied by a tile of your own color or an opposing color, things are different. In this case, you have to remove the Student from the board and put it back in your supply.

It’s not very common for a player to choose to move from a weaker village to a stronger one. If someone decides to take this path, they must have a well-thought-out strategy in mind.

When two villages have equal strength, we determine which one is stronger based on the number of Master tiles it has (excluding Students). If there’s still a tie, then we consider the destination village to be the stronger one.

Here’s an example of “The Journey of the Students”:

Situation 1

The village I’m moving from is stronger than the village I’m moving to.

So, here’s the deal: in Village B, there are a total of 5 tiles that have the Master and Student combination. On the other hand, in Village A, there are 8 of these tiles. So, when you look at the numbers, it’s pretty clear that Village A is the stronger of the two.

Now, let me paint a picture for you. Player Red is the one we’re focusing on here. They’ve got 2 Masters and 2 Students in Village A, and they decide to take the action called “Journey of the Students”. And guess what? They’ve chosen Village B as the destination for their students from Village A.

• So, Red kicks things off by taking the Student tile from their red Master Dragonbreeder in Village A and putting it on the open Dragonbreeder spot in Village B. Now, let’s talk about the Rainmakers. Unfortunately for the yellow Master and Student in Village B, both of them are getting bumped out by Red’s Student Rainmaker from Village A. But here’s the twist: since Village A is stronger, those Rainmaker tiles from Village B go back to the supply, leaving an empty spot. And guess who fills that spot? Yep, Red’s Rainmaker, who becomes a Master in the process!

In Violet’s journey, there’s a Student Healer in Village A, while Blue has a Master Healer in Village B. Since Village A is considered stronger, Blue’s Healer will be replaced by Violet’s Student, who will then become a Master.

Yellow and Blue don’t move any tiles to Village B because they only have Masters in Village A, not Students. It’s important to note that only Students are allowed to Journey, Masters cannot.

To conclude the Journey, once the Students have traveled from Village A to B, the connecting bridge breaks and is removed from the game.

Now, let’s talk about Situation 2. In this case, the village they traveled from is weaker than the village they traveled to.

In total, there are 9 combined Master and Student tiles in Village B. Village A, on the other hand, only has a total of 7 tiles.

Even though Village A might seem weaker in comparison, I’ve made a clever move by choosing the “Journey of the Students” from Village A to B.

I think to myself, “Instead of waiting for Village B to come knocking on Village A’s door and take out two of my Masters, I’ll take charge and prevent that from happening.”

And just like that, I take my only Student from Village A, the Healer, and move them to the vacant Healer space in Village B, where they become a Master.

Unfortunately for the Red Student Rainmaker, this isn’t good news for him because now he’s left with a filled Rainmaker space and must be taken off the board.

The Game Comes to an End

The game reaches its conclusion when the twelfth and final Stone of the Wise Men is placed on the board. As a result, one of the villages will be left without a Stone.

Okay, let’s see who won the game! Count up all your Master tiles on the board. The person with the most Masters is the winner. If there’s a tie, we’ll break it by counting how many villages each tied player has occupied.

Remember, we only count the Masters, not the Students.

For example: Let’s say Player Red and Player Blue both have 17 Master tiles on the board. But Player Red has Masters in 7 different villages, while Blue only has Masters in 6 villages. In this situation, Red will be the winner.