Zong Shi

About this board game

Zong Shi is a worker-placement and resource-management board game for 3–5 players, with an approximate play time of 90 minutes. Set in a large medieval Chinese town, it challenges talented artisans and their apprentices to earn recognition as the Zong Shi, the Grand Master craftsman.

Players compete by impressing the townspeople through completed projects. You might specialize in a particular material, enlarge your workshop, create many smaller projects, or pursue fewer but greater masterworks. The game combines worker placement, project completion, material management, and special action cards.

At setup, the board receives project cards representing eight project types, each with a special power, while three masterwork projects are displayed. Players also prepare two markets, exchange tiles in the pawn shop, Scrolls of Fortune, and material tiles before drafting initial scrolls and materials.

Each round, players take one action with their master and one with their apprentice. Available choices include:

• Beginning a project by paying its material cost and placing the master on the time track.
• Going to the market, temple, or pawn shop.
• Paying a respectful visit to a townsperson to gain that person’s special action.
• Passing until the next phase.

Players at the market select materials in turn, advance masters working on projects, and refill the market for the next round. Temple visits provide Scrolls, while pawn shop exchanges can trade one material for another. You may hold no more than five materials, making each acquisition and exchange significant.

When a player completes a sixth project, the current round and one additional full round are played. Scoring considers completed and incomplete projects, visited townspeople, exchange tiles, six completed projects, unused Scrolls, and remaining materials. In Zong Shi, careful timing and resource choices determine which artisan claims the highest score.