The White Castle - Matcha

Expand The White Castle with a new board and more actions! Matcha incorporates many components that will add variability to your games: a new bridge with its own dice, new spaces where you can gain influence (the tea house) and obtain resources (the pond overlook), new clan members (the geishas), and an extra resource, the chasen. You will also have an extra turn to try to gain the maximum number of influence points.

Designed by Sheila Santos and Israel Cendrero (the duo known as Llama Dice, authors of The Red Cathedral) with evocative artwork by Joan Guardiet, The White Castle: Matcha is the first expansion for The White Castle. This expansion includes a central board extension, 1 green bridge, 5 green dice, 16 coins, 26 tiles, 4 player boards, 20 geisha figures, and 39 cards.

As in the base game, the players' objective is to accumulate the maximum number of influence points by placing clan members in different parts of the castle. With this expansion, a fourth group of pawns is added to your personal domain: the geishas, who will be placed in the new tea house spaces.

The tea ceremony is at the heart of Japanese culture, embodying the fundamental concepts of hospitality, respect, and Zen philosophy. It is believed that tea, imported from China at the beginning of the 12th century, helped the health of the Buddhist monks who consumed it. Over the years, the tea ceremony evolved to offer samurai a space of calm, away from the battlefield. Master Sen no Rikyu was instrumental in turning the tea ceremony into a display of status and, later, into a space for cultural, religious, and political negotiation in Japan. Thus, the ritual of the tea ceremony is not just about hospitality, but also about respect and political intrigue.

Throughout the game, having your clan members well-placed in the Chashitsu (tea house) will allow you to gain greater influence in the Himeji court. And that is not all, as you will also have an additional action in each round. Consequently, the actions available throughout the game increase from 9 to 12. Are you ready to return to Himeji Castle and master the subtleties of the tea ceremony?

*Inside the box of The White Castle: Matcha, you will find a small envelope with five cards. Use them to replace their counterparts found in the general card pack. They were printed with a small graphical error, which we detected and were able to resolve in time! We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you enjoy this great expansion.