2004 BGG rank #15334

Chinagold

2 players 30 min Ages 8+ 2.3/5 complexity 5.5/10 rating

About this game

The game contains a topographic board, 91 gold-markers and three two-sided 'dice'. Both players search for gold, one in the mountains, and the other in the rivers. Every prospecting area is at the same moment part of a mountain and part of a river. If all gold is found in a prospecting area of a mountain or a river, the mountain or river player can protect the find. Thus the player that finds the gold first can block the other from the find.

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Dice Rolling Abstract Strategy

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Setup

1. Prepare the 91 Prospecting Area Markers: before the first game, affix a gold sticker to one side of each marker so every marker has a gold side and a blank side.\n2. Place the game board. If using the two-part edition, layer the leatherette mountains board beneath the transparent rivers film so that every Prospecting Area is part of both a mountain and a river.\n3. Place one Prospecting Area Marker gold-side face-down on each of the 91 Prospecting Areas.\n4. Players decide who digs in the mountains and who pans in the rivers.\n5. All three small discs (0/1, 0/2, 1/2) are placed in play.\n6. The most gold-greedy player (or the player agreed upon) goes first.

Turn flow

On each turn a player:\n1. ROLL – Throw all currently active small discs and sum the face-up values. If a disc lands on its edge, use its higher number.\n2. ACT – Either (a) turn a number of Prospecting Area Markers face-up equal to the sum rolled, following the straight-line adjacency rule, OR (b) turn exactly one previously face-up marker face-down (hide one nugget), regardless of the roll.\n3. CLAIM (Gold Transport) – If the marker just turned face-up was the last unflipped marker in any of the active player's areas (mountain or river), claim all gold in that area. If the same flip also completed an opponent's area, the opponent may immediately claim that area too.\n4. CHECK DISC REDUCTION – After each action, check whether the small disc reduction thresholds have been crossed and adjust the active disc set accordingly.\n5. END TURN – The opponent then takes their turn in the same way.

Scoring and victory

Most gold collected wins. Players count all gold claimed from completed mountain or river areas throughout the game. The player with the higher total wins. Scoring sources: Claiming a completed mountain area (mountain player only), Claiming a completed river area (river player only)

Source: Rulebook

Rules to know

The most useful rules for getting a first game right.

Setup

One player is the mountain digger; the other is the river panner.

Before the game begins, players decide which role each takes: one player searches for gold in the mountains (brown plane areas on the board) and the other pans for gold in the rivers (blue line areas on the board). Each player can only claim gold from their own type of area (mountain or river).

Setup

All 91 Prospecting Area Markers are placed gold-side face-down at game start.

Before the first game, a gold sticker is affixed to one side of each of the 91 Prospecting Area Markers. At setup, one marker is placed face-down (gold side hidden) on each of the 91 Prospecting Areas on the board.

General

Every Prospecting Area belongs to exactly one mountain AND exactly one river simultaneously.

The game board contains 17 mountains and 17 rivers, which are mirror-images of each other. Each of the 91 Prospecting Areas lies at the intersection of one mountain and one river. This means flipping a marker in any area can simultaneously progress both a mountain area and a river area toward completion, and the first player to complete an area blocks the other from claiming it.

Turn structure

At the start of a turn, roll all active small discs and sum the visible values.

The active player throws all currently active small discs. The values showing face-up on each disc are summed to produce the turn's action number. If any disc lands standing on its thin edge rather than lying flat, the higher of that disc's two printed values counts. The three discs have values 0/1, 0/2, and 1/2.

Turn structure

A player may flip a number of markers face-up equal to the dice sum, in a straight unbroken line.

After rolling, the player may turn face-up a number of Prospecting Area Markers equal to the rolled sum. All markers turned face-up in a single action must be contiguous (side by side) in a straight line, with no gaps and no already face-up markers between them. The player chooses which eligible straight line of the correct length to flip.

Turn structure

Instead of flipping markers face-up, a player may flip exactly one face-up marker face-down.

As an alternative to flipping markers face-up, the active player may choose to turn exactly one currently face-up Prospecting Area Marker back face-down (hiding the nugget again). This costs the entire action—the player cannot also flip markers face-up on the same turn. This option is available regardless of the dice result and can be used strategically to disrupt an opponent's near-complete area.

Resource production

When the last marker in a player's area is flipped face-up, that player claims all gold in the area.

When the last unflipped Prospecting Area Marker in one of the active player's areas (mountain or river) is turned face-up on their turn, all gold markers in that area are immediately claimed by the active player. A player can only claim areas of their own type (mountains or rivers). If the same flip simultaneously completes an area belonging to the opponent, the opponent may also claim their completed area immediately afterward.

Special

If one flip completes both a mountain and a river area, both players may claim their respective area.

Because every Prospecting Area belongs to both a mountain and a river, a single flipped marker could be the last marker needed to complete a mountain area AND the last marker needed to complete a river area simultaneously. In this case, the active player claims their own completed area first, and then the opponent may claim their completed area. Both claims are resolved before the next turn begins.

Strategy briefing

Blocking via shared areas

Because every Prospecting Area belongs to both a mountain and a river, flipping the last marker in a nearly-complete opponent's area—even when it advances your own area—denies them that gold. Prioritize flipping in areas where your opponent is close to completing, especially if your own area in that zone is already claimed.

Strategic hiding

The option to flip one marker face-down is a powerful disruptive tool: it can reset an opponent's nearly-complete area, forcing them to re-flip that marker. Use it when the opponent is one flip away from claiming a high-value area. Be aware that hiding can also restore disc reduction thresholds, potentially giving both players more powerful rolls.

Managing disc reductions

Disc reductions lower the maximum number of markers you can flip per turn, slowing the game and reducing options. Try to maintain long straight lines of unflipped markers in your own areas to delay thresholds. Conversely, you can accelerate disc reduction against a trailing opponent by exhausting long lines quickly, locking both players into smaller flips.

Line positioning and flexibility

A line of 5 unflipped markers gives you two valid choices for a 4-flip action; a line of 4 gives two choices for a 3-flip action. Preserving such lines gives you flexibility to choose which sub-segment to flip, allowing you to complete your own area while avoiding completing the opponent's area in the same move.

Simultaneous completion exploitation

When your flip will complete your own area, check whether it also completes an opponent's area. If it does, both of you benefit—but you still get your gold. If you can achieve the same result without completing the opponent's area, consider doing so. The simultaneous completion rule cannot be avoided once you make the flip.

Common questions and edge cases

The river player flips the last marker in a mountain area. Does the mountain player lose out on that area's gold?

Yes. Because every Prospecting Area belongs to both a mountain and a river, the river player's flip completes the mountain area. However, only the mountain player can claim mountain gold. Under the Gold Transport rule, if that flip also happened to complete a river area, the river player would claim it. If the flip completes only a mountain area (not a river area the river player needed), the mountain player claims that mountain area—but if the mountain area was already completed by a prior flip, it would have already been claimed. The key point: the first player to flip the last marker in any area determines who gets credit, but each player can only claim their own type of area.

The board has reached the 'only 0/1 and 1/2 discs active' threshold, but a player hides a marker, creating a new line of 5. Do discs get added back?

Yes. The disc reduction rules explicitly state that if hiding a marker creates new valid lines of unflipped markers that exceed the current threshold, the appropriate disc(s) must be retrieved from the box and returned to active play. In this case, the 0/2 disc would be retrieved and all three discs would again be active.

A player rolls the discs and gets a result of 3, but wants to hide a marker instead. Can they?

Yes. Hiding exactly one marker face-down is always an alternative to flipping markers face-up. The player simply forgoes using the rolled sum and instead turns one face-up marker back face-down. The two options are mutually exclusive for a single turn—you cannot both hide and flip markers on the same turn.

A single flip completes a mountain area and a river area at the same time. Who claims what?

Both players get to claim their respective areas. The active player claims their completed area first (mountain if they are the mountain player, river if they are the river player), and then the opponent claims their completed area. Both claims are resolved before the next turn.

When exactly is the disc reduction threshold evaluated—before or after a player's action?

The threshold is checked after the player's action (flip or hide) is completed. If the action results in a board state where the longest available straight line of unflipped markers falls at or below a threshold (at most one line of 5, 4, or 3), the corresponding disc change takes effect immediately, starting with the opponent's next roll.

A disc lands standing on its edge. Which value counts?

The higher of the disc's two printed values counts. For example, if the 0/2 disc stands on edge, it counts as 2.

All discs have been removed. Can a player still choose to hide a marker instead of flipping 1 or 2?

The rules state that once all discs are removed, players choose between flipping a single marker or two neighboring markers. The hide option (flipping face-down) is described as an alternative 'instead of turning the thrown number face up,' which presupposes a dice roll. Once no dice are in play, the rulebook does not explicitly address hiding; the free choice of 1 or 2 flips replaces the entire dice-driven turn structure. Players should treat the 1-or-2-flip choice as the only available action at this stage.