The White Castle Matcha Expansion

Expand Your Clan. Master the Tea Ceremony. Gain More Influence.

Take your strategy in The White Castle to a new level with The White Castle: Matcha, the first expansion for the acclaimed dice-placement and worker-placement strategy game.

Important: This is an expansion and requires The White Castle Board Game to play.

🍵 How to Play

The White Castle: Matcha keeps the core dice-placement system of the original game while adding a fourth bridge, green dice, and a new area devoted to the tea ceremony.

1. Set Up the Matcha Expansion

Add the new central board extension below the main board and place the green bridge and green dice. Use the new personal player boards included with Matcha and add the new Geishas and Chasen resource to each player's supply.

2. Take Your Turns

The game is still played over 3 rounds, but Matcha gives each player 4 turns per round instead of 3. This creates additional opportunities to develop your clan and build powerful combinations.

3. Introduce the Geishas

Matcha adds a fourth type of clan member: Geishas.

When you perform the Geisha action, you can:

• Pay 2 coins to place a Geisha at the entrance of the Tea Garden.
• Spend 2 Chasen to move a Geisha 1 step along the Path of Tea.
• Spend 5 Chasen to move a Geisha 2 steps.
• Choose whether to send Geishas toward the Pond Overlook or the Tea House.

4. Explore the Tea Garden

As Geishas travel along the Path of Tea, they can reach different destinations with unique benefits.

At the Pond Overlook, players can collect rewards from the Water Lily tiles or use the available Ceremony action.

At the Outskirts of Himeji, new Flower Arrangement and Calligraphy cards provide additional actions and rewards.

5. Enter the Tea House

Geishas that progress toward the Tea House can occupy one of its three rooms and activate the corresponding Ceremony tile.

Where you place your Geishas matters because their final positions can generate additional Clan Points based on your other clan members.

6. Manage Chasen

Chasen is the expansion's new resource and is primarily used to move Geishas along the Path of Tea.

You can also spend 2 Daimyo Seals at any time to gain a resource of your choice or a Chasen, giving you additional flexibility when planning your turns.

7. Build Powerful Combinations

The additional green dice and new action spaces allow you to combine Matcha actions with the original game's Courtiers, Warriors, Gardeners, resources and Daimyo Seals.

Careful planning can turn a single turn into a powerful chain of actions and scoring opportunities.

8. Score Your Clan

After the third round, players score their remaining resources, clan members and Geishas.

Geishas can earn points depending on their position in the Tea Garden, while Geishas placed in the Tea House can increase the scoring potential of your other clan members.

The player with the most Clan Points wins.