Plan for teaching Taj Mahal rules

(Based on "The Finer Points of Teaching Rules" by Mario Lanza)


Set up the board and components.


One-Liner. (Less than a minute.) "We will be visiting the provinces of India, and at each province we will be competing for two things: goods and palaces. The more goods you have, the higher your score will be. And the more connections between palaces, the higher your score will be."


Overview. (1 to 3 minutes.)

• Core Rules & Mechanics. Bid in a circle for 6 things. Stop anytime. Take what you have the most of.
• Scoring. Leaders => palaces => score connected provinces (example). Elephants => goods => score cumulatively (example). Game-end scoring: white cards, majority-colour cards (example).
  
• Chronology. Visit province 1. Bid in a circle for the six things. Visit province 2. Bid in a circle for the six things. etc.
  
• Game end. After visiting province 12. Final scoring.
  

Details

• Coloured or Coloured + White (wild). Same colour.
• On stop: Score connected provinces. Score goods cumulatively. Take 2 face-ups.
• If stop immediately: Take top card + 2 face-ups.
• Exchange leaders for special cards
• Crown
  
• Agra: +4
• Bonus tiles
• Special cards: meanings; how they return to your hand.
  

Exceptions.

• 
  

Tips (1 or 2 minutes.)

• Elephants are important (cumulative scoring) (show)
• Connections are important (show)
• Concentrate on 1 or 2 colours when picking up cards (show)
• Don't overspend -- save for the future (show)