16 players

Shing Quon Tu

Game family: reach
Origin: China

Overview

Shing Quon Tu is a Chinese promotion game played during the seventeenth century. In it, players navigate the Chinese bureaucracy by throwing dice and following the instructions on the spaces. The dice throws are determined by the number of dice with the same number, rather than the numerical values shown.

Source rules (English)

98 spaces on the board. Six six-sided dice. One piece per player. Pieces are initially placed on the board based on the values of the throws of the dice. The throws are as follows: Space one: two 1s; Space 2: two 2s; Space 3: two 3s; Space 4: two 4s Space 5: two 5s; Space 6: two 6s; Space 7: five of any number; Space 8: six of any number; Space 9: three 1s; Space 10; three 2s; Space 11; three 3s; Space 12; three 4s; Space 13; three 5s; Space 14; three 6s; Space 16; four 1s; Space 17; four 2s; Space 18; four 3s; Space 19; four 4s; Space 20: four 5s; Space 21: four 6s. From here, the players move to prescribed spaces based on the throw they make, based on the instructions for the space they are currently on. There are three throws which result in a move: Te ('Influence'; double 4s), Cung ('Pair'; double 2, 3, 5, or 6) or Chang ('Failure'; double 1). The players use the throws as many times as allowed (e.g., six 5s = three Cung, allowing the player to move Cung from each successive square). Throws which do not produce a result where the player can move result in a pass. Throws of Te generally advance the player along the board. A throw of Te moves the player to the next consecutively numbered space, with the following exceptions: 1-3 to 37; 4-6 to 38; 7 to 73; 8 to 72; 9 to 52; 10 to 51; 11 to 50; 12 to 49; 13 to 48; 14 to 47; 15 to 55; 16-21 to 23; 27 to 56; 30 to 32; 35 to 67; 36 to 66; 46 to 89; 47 to 59; 48 to 74; 49 to 71; 50 to 47; 51 to 50; 52 to 51; 59 to 71; 60 to 62; 61 to 47; 62 to 61; 63 to 65; 64 to 69; 65 to 64; 66 to 60; 67 to 70; 68 to 86; 69 to 84; 70 to 68; 71 to 74; 72 to 90; 73 to 92; 75 to 93; 81 to 31; 82 to 91; 83-88 to the previous consecutively numbered square; 89 to 91; 90 to 92; 91 to 93; 92 to 94; 94 to 97; 95 to 98; 96 to 95. Throws of Cung move players from: 1, 2, and 3 to 76; 8 to 60; 9 to 23; 15 to 53; 16-21 to 22; 27 to 25; 37 to 36; 41 to 30; 42 to 31; 47 to 54; 48 to 65; 49 to 54; 69 to 88. Throws of Chang move the player to space 28 from spaces 54-59, or to space 29 from spaces 30-35 and 68. Players must throw Te to leave spaces 28 or 29, and return to the space they previously occupied. The player who throws Te while in space 97 or 98 first moves to the palace and wins.