Castle Evermore - IQ-Spiele GmbH

Playing Instruction English
Castle Evermore
For 1-4 players
from 4-99 years
Snow keeps falling and the snowflakes form a heap of snow which is gradually
transformed into a wonderful castle – Castle Evermore. The old snow king is getting
impatient; he can hardly wait for his snow castle to be finished. Pay attention to the
different sizes of the snow castle as it grows! You can pinch cards from your opponents
by skilfully laying cards “in between”. The tension lasts until the end of the game, until it
becomes clear who has won!
The meaning of the word “in between” and the ability to recognize something as being
between two other sizes is important for working with numbers, quantities and sizes.
This game helps to lay the foundation for learning arithmetic and mathematics in a
playful way.
Material:
- 31 cards (numbered from 0-30 on the back)
- 1 invitation card
First of all a little theory:
Many children have problems with arithmetic and mathematics. They miscount and
miscalculate and find it difficult to say whether their result is realistic or not. They often
have no understanding or feeling for the magnitude of the numbers. Children must be
familiar with the number line and be able to orientate themselves on it, in order to be
able to recognize how large or small a number or a size is in relation to other numbers
or sizes. Being able to put numbers in the correct order, i.e. recognize that a number
belongs in between two others is the basic knowledge needed for all calculating
processes. The foundation for arithmetic and mathematics is laid by comparing
dimensions in play. This game allows children aged 4 years and upward to recognize
numbers up to 30, put them in ascending order and find the neighbouring numbers.
Plenty of interaction between the players helps to consolidate the learning process.
The game:
For years on end something mysterious happens every year on a snowy winter night:
snow is falling and the snowflakes keep falling thicker and faster and the pile of snow
slowly turns into a wonderful castle – Castle Evermore. The snow piles up higher and
higher, gradually covering objects up. Can you recognize the different sizes of the
growing castle? If you’re lucky, the old snow king might invite you into his snow castle!
Castle Evermore is a different size on each card. If the castle size on one of your own
cards fits between two of your opponent’s cards, you are allowed to pinch his cards.
Whoever has the most cards in a row without any gaps lying in front of him at the end of
the game is the winner.
Game preparation:
The 31 cards are shuffled thoroughly and laid in the middle of the table with the picture
facing up. The invitation cards are removed, and given to the winner at the end of the
round.
How to play:
The game is played in turns: The youngest player starts. He draws 3 cards from the pile
and lays them in ascending order in a row in front of him so that everyone can see them

Playing Instruction English
(as near the middle of the table as possible). Castle Evermore gets bigger from
card to card – small, medium, large (Fig. 1).
The following general rules apply for the entire game:
The player whose turn it is adds cards to his hand from the draw pile until he has 3
cards (hand cards). The cards are held so that all players can see them – then it is
exciting for them too! He can now decide between two alternatives: pinch 2 cards from
an opponent or lay out his own 3 cards in front of him.
Pinching cards:
Provided one of your own 3 hand cards fits between two cards in an opponent’s row of
3 (between small and medium or between medium and large), then this is checked by
laying the matching hand card at the corresponding position beside the opponent’s
cards (Fig. 2). First of all, the card left over from the row of 3 (large or small) is
discarded in the middle of the table with the number face up (Fig. 3). The player may
now lay the three remaining cards in front of him. First he takes the lowest, then the
middle (his own) and then the top card and lays them as a row of 3 in ascending order
in front of him (Fig. 4-6).
If you have managed to pinch one or two cards showing the snow king, it’s your turn
again (take 1 card, so that you again have 3 cards in your hand).
Laying 3 cards:
If a player cannot or does not want to pinch another player’s cards, he must lay his 3
cards in a row of 3 in ascending order in front of him.
General rules:
- You may only lay rows of 3 (in ascending order) in front of you.
- Multiple rows of 3 are laid beside each other on the right or left.
- You may not change your own rows of 3.
- You may have at most 3 cards in your hand.
- It is not allowed to look at the numbers on the back during the game.
- When the pile in the middle is finished, the discard pile is turned over and used as a
new pile, etc.
- If there are no more cards left in the pile/discard pile and you have less than 3 cards in
your hand, you can only pinch cards. If it is not possible to pinch cards, it is the next
player’s turn.
End of the game:
The game continues until play is no longer possible (neither discarding nor pinching).
Then all hand cards are placed aside. The youngest player (and then all players in
turns) turns the cards in his row of 3 over, one after another and from small to large.
Only if a row of 3 has no gaps (i.e. the numbers follow on consecutively and the snow
track runs through all 3 cards), then you have three of a kind. The player with the most
sets of three of a kind gets the invitation card and is the snow king’s guest in Castle
Evermore. He may keep the card for the next game, until a new winner is found. If two
players both have the same number of three of a kind sets, the player’s heights are
compared: the smaller player wins.
Alternative game versions:
- For one single player or all players: The aim is to arrange all cards in a row on the
floor in ascending order without any gaps. The cards are turned over in order to be
checked.
- Older children can generally also play with the card backs – also the game version

Playing Instruction English
described above.
- Fewer cards may be used when playing with small children (e.g. up to 20
cards).
- The game can be played with even or uneven cards for special practicing
purposes. This has then to be taken into account when checking three of a kind (there
are steps of two between the cards, and the snow track is interrupted.
Fig. 1:
Game preparation and start
Fig 2:
Checking before pinching cards
Fig. 3:
The left over card is discarded

Playing Instruction English
Fig. 4:
First take the lowest…
Fig. 5:
… then the middle…
Fig. 6:
… and then the top card.
And because a snow king was pinched, you’re allowed another turn!