Pai sho rules

2-4 players

Equipment:

For both players:

6 jasmine tiles                  3 knotweed tiles

6 lily tiles                         3 boat tiles

6 white jade tiles               3 wheel tiles

6 rose tiles                       3 rock tiles

6 chrysanthemum tiles       3 white dragon tiles

6 rhodendron tiles             3 white lotus tiles

One game board total

Sitting:

Two players sit across from one another. The drawn tip closest to you is called “the Home Port”. The tip closest to your opponent is called “the Foreign Port”. The other two tips are call “East” and “West” Ports. The “Sides” are divided by the line in the center. If playing with more than two players, each player sits at a port and the Home, Foreign, East, and West ports are relative to where they sit.

Harmonies and Disharmonies:

Flower                             Harmony                        Disharmony                   Neutral

Jasmine                      Lily, Rhodendron                    Rose                 Jade, Chrysanthemum

Lily                              Jade, Jasmine                Chrysanthemum           Rose, Rhodendron

Jade                              Rose, Lily                       Rhodendron          Chrysanthemum, Jasmine

Rose                       Chrysanthemum, Jade               Jasmine                 Rhodendron, Lily

Chrysanthemum          Rhodendron, Rose                   Lily                      Jasmine, Jade

Rhodendron           Jasmine, Chrysanthemum             Jade                       Lily, Rose

To make a harmony, two tiles must be next to each other, unless one or more neutral tiles connects them. The disharmonies work the same. A player receives one point for making a harmony and loses a point for each disharmony. A player doubles those points received or lost by having a white tile in the white space and the red tile in red space.

Starting and moving pieces:

Flower tiles:

Jasmine: starts in the Home Port and moves 3 spaces at a time in a straight line

Lily: starts in the East or West Port and moves in an “L” shape, 2 spaces in one direction and 2 in another

White Jade: starts in the center of the board and moves 5 spaces in a straight line

Rose: starts on the Foreign Tip and moves 3 spaces in a straight line

Chrysanthemum: starts in the center of the board, and moves 5 spaces in a straight line

Knotweed: starts anywhere, but cannot be moved and kills all tiles at 90 or 180 degrees of it within one space.

Boat: starts anywhere and pushes any piece that can be moved 5 spaces in one direction as long as there is an open space behind it. By itself, it can travel over enemy pieces. There can be a max. distance of 1 intersection between the boat and the tile(s) being pushed. Cannot push the White Jade or the Rhodendron

Wheel: starts in a yellow space and moves unlimited spaces, turns all pieces around it one turn clockwise or counter-clockwise

White Dragon: starts on the enemy’s side of the board, moves six space at a time, is in harmony with lily and rose

White Lotus: starts on your side of the board and moves 2 spaces at a time, the player with less tiles in the Pot has a “blooming” lotus and it is harmony with all flower tiles

Dragon and Lotus rules: Any tile can capture the special tiles and vice-versa, but only the captured tile is taken out. Dragon and Lotus tiles can take out non-flower tiles without being taken out themselves.

Removing pieces and the Pot:

To remove a piece, a player’s tile must land on it’s opposite flower tile. If a tile cannot capture the tile it lands on, it cannot move there. When a piece is captured or killed( as with the knotweed), the piece goes in the Pot. If a flower is pushed or turned into its opposite color space, it is returned to the owner to use again. You cannot capture a piece if the piece used to capture is not already on the board. Any tile can be used to capture the non-flower tiles and vice-versa, but to do so both tiles must be taken out.

Making a move:

   To move you can:

Place a tile on the board

use a tile’s ability

pass your turn

forfeit the game.

You cannot start a piece if it’s starting position is occupied by another piece. You must wait a turn before using a tile’s ability. When moving pieces, you may move less than the allowed space. Tiles can end their turn on an intersection of the colors. Yellow spaces are neutral spaces all tiles are allowed here.

Ending the game:

To end the game, gain the most points, or harmonies, up to a pre-set amount( the average is 25), create a consistent chain of harmonies around the center of the board, or take out the enemy’s pieces until they have only three harmonious tiles left. Any player can forfeit the game. At the end of the game, the player with the least amount of tiles in the Pot gets extra points( usually 25), so if you play by “most points win”, the loser can end up winning because of the extra points. At the end of the game any piece within 3 spaces counts as a point. Any wheels on the board at the end of the game are minus one point.