China is an abstracted game of political influence in China. Players use cards to place pieces (Houses or Emissaries) into the nine regions on the board. When all house spaces in a region are filled (or at the end of the game), players score for majorities of houses in that region. At game end, players then score for having majorities of emissaries in two adjacent regions. Players also score for having four or more houses in an uninterrupted sequence along one of the roads on the board.
China is based on the award-winning game Web of power by master game designer Michael Schacht. China differs from Web of power in that there is no "half-time" scoring of regions as there is in the earlier game; there are four face-up cards to draw from instead of just two; and all adjacent regions have Emissary scoring opportunities, whereas in Web of power , some adjacent regions did not.
A special variant with fortifications is included.
Aside from these differences, the two games are essentially the same.
3 - 5 players
45 minutes
Ages 12 +
Read Tom Vassell's review here
