Journey of the Emperor

In Journey of the Emperor, players are attempting to create the best experience for the emperor during the Qingming Festival. The Emperor wishes to leave the castle and see unique sights worthy of his stature during his walk along the river. The organizer that can provide him with the most desirable experience will be the winner. The game utilizes the “Qing Court Version” of the classic Chinese work of art “Along the River at the Qingming Festival” to provide the extraordinary backdrop to this simple but challenging card game.

Each round players will select a card representing a part of the festival and place it in a path in front of them. The full layout of cards, from the castle on the left to the coast on the right, with the festival in between, is considered a journey. Players will organize multiple journeys during a game. The goal is to figure out the best sequence to play your cards in order to score the most points and be declared the best festival organizer.

A game can take between 6 to 16 turns depending on the number of players, and points are awarded for each journey depending on the Castle and Coast cards played. Each scoring card seeks out varying combinations of the Celestial animals. In addition each player has hidden goals involving lanterns and scoring-end combinations.