Taj Mahal

To set up Taj Mahal, place the game board in the center of the table with each player's score marker on zero. Give each player their set of palaces and score marker. Sort advisor tokens by type and place them near the board along with the four prestige cards, crown piece, and face-down bonus tokens on diamond-shaped city spaces. Place the Taj Mahal token in Agra. Shuffle influence cards, deal six to each player as a face-down deck, and give the first player marker to the youngest player. This prepares the board for twelve province visits of court influence and political strategy.

The main objective of Taj Mahal is to gain the most victory points by successfully influencing the Grand Mogul's court and expanding your influence across the provinces of India. Players must strategically manage their influence cards, place palaces in open cities, collect valuable advisor tokens, and claim bonuses to maximize their scoring potential throughout the twelve rounds of the game.

During a turn, players take actions in clockwise order by choosing to either influence the court or withdraw. To influence the court, play one card or two cards (where the second must be white) in front of you, matching previous colors. If you cannot or choose not to play, you withdraw, compare your played symbols for majorities against opponents, claim available tokens, resolve their effects, return prestige cards, and draw replacement cards for the next round.

Scoring happens dynamically when resolving majorities during withdrawals and at the final end-game tally. Players earn points for majority symbols during withdrawals, claiming province tokens, acquiring advisor sets, and collecting bonus tiles. At the end, players score points for each white card in hand plus bonus points for holding the most cards of a specific color, with ties broken by total cards in hand.

The game concludes after all twelve province visits are completed. Following the twelfth visit's resolution, players proceed to final scoring. Points are tallied for remaining white cards, the color majority in hand, and any remaining end-game conditions. The player with the highest total score wins, with tied players sharing victory if they also tie in total cards held in hand.