Gùgōng

Each player starts with a hand of gift cards, a supply of servants, and places their envoy token at the bottom of the Palace of Heavenly Purity track. The game board is set up with various action spaces, including the Intrigue area, the Great Wall, the Traveling and Adventure area, the Jade Palace, and the Grand Canal. Decree cards are randomized and placed, and Destiny Dice are rolled to determine the target numbers for gift card exchanges.

The primary objective in Gùgōng is to accumulate the most victory points by the end of the game. Players achieve this by strategically playing gift cards to perform actions, gaining resources, advancing on various tracks, and collecting jade. A critical condition for winning is to ensure your envoy token reaches the top of the Palace of Heavenly Purity track; failure to do so results in zero victory points, regardless of other scores.

During a player's turn, they must play a gift card from their hand onto an action space on the board, replacing an existing gift card. If the played card's value is higher than the replaced card's value, the player performs both the action on their played card and the action of the space freely. If the played card's value is not higher, the player has three choices: pay two servants to perform the action, discard a card from their hand to perform the action, or forgo the action. The replaced card is then added to the player's discard pile, which becomes their new hand for the next round. Players continue taking turns until everyone has passed, signaling the end of the day phase.

Victory points are accumulated throughout the game by performing various actions, such as placing workers on the Great Wall, advancing on the Palace of Heavenly Purity track, and collecting jade. At the end of each night phase, players gain servants based on matching their collected gift cards to the Destiny Dice. The player with the most matches also gains three victory points and moves their envoy up one space on the Palace track. A final scoring phase occurs after four rounds, where additional points are awarded for positions on the Great Wall, completed decrees, and collected jade, with jade scoring incrementally (1 point for one jade, up to 15 points for five jade).

The game concludes after four full rounds. Following the final night phase, a comprehensive final scoring takes place. Players score points for their positions on the Great Wall, any active decrees that provide end-game points, their final position on the Palace of Heavenly Purity track, and the amount of jade they have collected. The player with the highest total victory points is declared the winner. The Intrigue track serves as the tie-breaker for all scoring aspects.