SGS Online: Registration Guide

If you are not familiar with the Chinese Language, finding your way around the all-Chinese SGS website can be a nightmare! In this short post, I'll guide you through how to register for your SGS Online account. With this account, you can then play SGS Online or the new SGS iPhone app. By the way... you can access the SGS Online website at http://sanguosha.com. Ready? Here we go!! When you first arrive at the SGS Online website, you should be...

SGS iPhone Quick Guide

Hello! Hope all of you have been enjoying you Xmas holidays! :D An anonymous reader left a comment on my previous "iPhone for SGS" post and requested some help with the application. So, here's a quick start guide to get you up and running with the game. Note: This guide is not as thorough as I would like it to be, such as I did not cover the Menu buttons and various other details. The reason for this is (believe it or not) I don't have an iPhone,...

Stratagem 3: Outsourcing Murder 借刀杀人 (jiè dāo shā rén)

Literal Translation: To kill with a borrowed knife Tactical Classification: Leverage Historical Basis (Wikipedia): Various sources. There are numerous examples of this in Chinese history. Wikipedia does not quote any specific examples...

Stratagem 2: Take a Hostage 围魏救赵

Literal Translation: Besiege the Kingdom of Wei so as to rescue the Kingdom of Zhao Tactical Classification: Distraction Historical Basis (Wikipedia): The origin of this proverb is from the Warring States Period 战国时代 (435 - 221 BC). The Kingdom of Wei 魏国 attacked the Kingdom of Zhao 赵国 and laid siege to its capital Han Dan 邯郸. Zhao turned to the Kingdom of Qí 齐国 for help, but the Qí general Sun Bin 孙膑 determined it would be unwise to meet...

SGS iPhone App Released!

Dear readers, You know this game is popular when its released on the iPhone. SanGuoSha goes onto iPhones!! Check out this post on the Apple iTunes store...

Translation Cards ON SALE NOW!!!!

Finally! The translation cards created for your playing reference! Introducing the beta trial version of the SGS English translation cards for characters. All 8 characters (Front side) of the Woods Pack plus the 2 Demi-God characters. A sample of the reverse side of one of the cards. ...

Introducing: SGS 36 Stratagems Series

Dear readers, Recently I've been reading the Historical Chinese "textbook" known as the 36 Stratagems (三十六计). It is a marvelous collection of tactics accumulated over 3000 years. Ever since I started playing SGS I have become quite a fan of Chinese history. The book I'm reading. It is a modern day abridged version of 三十六计, complete with present day corporate world examples. As I read the tactics, it suddenly dawned on me that some of these strategies...

Stratagem 1: The Open Feint 瞒天过海 (mán tiān guò hǎi)

Decepticons: The literal versions of "The Open Feint" Literal Translation:  Deceiving the heavens to cross the ocean Tactical Classification:  Deception Historical Basis (Wikipedia): This stratagem references an episode in 643 AD, when Emperor Tang Tai Zong 唐太宗, baulked from crossing the sea to a campaign against Goguryeo (present day North Korea). His general Xue Ren Gui 薛仁贵 thought of a stratagem to get...

New Category: "Unofficial 民间"

Dear readers, I have created a new category of cards labelled as "Unofficial 民间". This new category will contain as many unofficial cards as i know about. These will include - Demon Characters 鬼牌 - Wraith Characters 妖牌 - Other unofficial characters that fall under Shu/Wei/Wu/Heroes - Special Roles such as the "Soul 魂牌" - Playing cards such as "+2 Elephant" and other strange stuff. Yes this will probably keep me busy for a while... but your readership has kept me going! So, thank you! Have fun! and...

Demon Zhū Gě Liàng 鬼诸葛亮

Translated Description: "The Loyal Spirit at Wu Zhang Hills 五丈原忠魂 (wǔ zhàng yuán zhōng hún)" (Note: Zhu Ge Liang died at Wu Zhang Hills before he could fulfill the wishes of the late Liu Bei 刘备) (Double note: This description is probably the HARDEST to figure out. Seriously! Look at the simplified chinese characters listed above versus what is actually written on the right column of the card. Ridiculous!!) Why is he a Demon: Oh come on!!! How...

So... what can I get you?

Dear readers, I've been getting some questions lately about selling Unofficial Cards (such as the Demon Cards) as well as purchasing the Demi-God cards separately. I know it's tough getting the entire collection of Demi-Gods since there can be only 1 (or sometimes none!) per expansion pack. Well i guess i might as well do a market survey! Do tell me what you would like to purchase from the SGS BlogShop in future. The poll is on the left column....

Demon Lǚ Bù 鬼吕布

Translated Description: "The Wraith of the White Gate 白门恶鬼 (bái mén è guǐ)" Why is he a Demon: The white gate was where Lu Bu ultimately might his death under the hands of Cao Cao 曹操. In all fairness, Demi-God Lu Bu is awesome enough and there really is no need for this watered-down version. I guess in this case he is demoted from Godly status down to a scary, but not lethal, ghost. It does not help that he looks like a purple cockroach dressed...

Demon Huà Xióng 鬼华雄

Translated Description: "The bitter soul over the cup of warm wine 温酒之恨 (wēn jiǔ zhī hèn)" (Note: Hua Xiong was killed by Guan Yu 关羽 so quickly that before Guan Yu's wine turned cool, he returned with Hua Xiong's head.) Why he is a Demon: On one hand, Hua Xiong is an almost insignificant character in the entire story. You know he is not important by the speed at which he was killed by Guan Yu, no different from those nameless wrestlers who get...

Demon Guān Yǔ 鬼关羽

Translated description: "The Malice of Mai Cheng 麦城之恨 （"mài chéng zhī hèn") (Note: The city of Mai Cheng was the location where Guan Yu was ultimately captured and executed) Why is he a Demon: It seems redundant to create yet another supernatural version of Guan Yu. Afterall, it would seem that Demi-God Guan Yu is already overkill. Yes, it does seem unnecessary and unjustified, but what the hell!! The more the merrier, right? Based on the abilities...

Changes to BlogShop! regions

Dear readers, Some changes have been made to the regions available in the BlogShop. Instead of specific countries, prices are now based on Zones around the world. There is little change in the price of the products as it has already been taken into account. The reason for the change is to streamline the postage fees. Since the post-office groups the countries into Zones, I might as well follow suit. The only difference in prices in the Zones are due to the postage anyways. You would also notice that currency has been unified into Singapore Dollar....

3vs3 Character Selection Guide (Drafting)

Dear readers,It brings me great pleasure to present the first contributed article on SGS English! This article is a very thorough piece of work, written by OMGLOL.Enjoy!!RickyPS: If you would also like to contribute an article to this blog, please contact me at sg.rockstar@gmail.com- By OMGLOL @ Server 6, Sanguosha Online(Please direct all questions to SGS Forum: 3v3 Drafting Guide)Overview:Drafting is a very important aspect of 3vs3, many games are won and lost by the draft alone. You will have a pretty good idea how the game is going to turn...

50,000 Page Views!!

Dear readers, I am still finding it hard to believe that this small little blog I started for a tiny little game would garner viewership. Thus i am thrilled to learn that there have been a total of 50,000 page views since this blog started 4 months ago!! Yes of course it's no big deal. Any cam-whorish female with huge boobs and a deep cleavage garners this many readers within 5 minutes... such as Miss Virginluvtoxic (She better thank me for...

Auxiliary Rules Part 3: 3 vs 3 (Tournament Mode)

Welcome! In this post, I shall be talking about Tournament-specific rules that are specially meant for 3vs3 format. Note that these rules are taken from the official Yoka site at http://www.yokagames.com/?action-viewnews-itemid-153. I have taken the liberty to simplify and clarify the contents, so what you will read here is not a simple direct-translate. To apply these rules, you first need to familiarize yourself with the 3vs3 format of gameplay....

The World's First SGS English Forum!!

It seemed like the only logical thing to do, but i'm surprised nobody has started one. So i might as well do so! Introducing... ... the San Guo Sha English Forum!!! Alrighty then!! Now everyone has a chance to chit-chat, ask questions, answer questions, boast, vent, yada-yada... to the rest of the SGS International community. Feel free to blast whatever questions you might want to ask in that forum. To access the forum, click on the "Forum"...

Auxiliary Rules Part 2: 3 vs 3 (Leisure play)

*Please note that a major revision has been made to the "Sequence of Turns" section. My apologies for any inconveniences caused! Welcome! One of the most exciting evolutions of this game is known as the "3 vs 3" format of play. Technically speaking, there is only one version of the 3vs3 rules, but i'm choosing to split it into the "Leisure" version (playing with friends) and the "Tournament" version. In this post, i shall be describing the Leisure...

Layout of Expansion Packs Pages Updated

To my sheer horror, I realized that my compilation pages for the Expansion packs (left column, scroll down) were not at all organized!! I have now sorted out the arrangements and can sleep in peace now~ (can't stand disorderly stuff!) Coming up next, a write-up about the Tournament Format San Guo Sha known as the "3 VS 3" format. Be forewarned, this 3vs3 format is not a game for newbies and beginners! Expert players may probably enjoy this a fair bit... though that is also a sure sign that you have spent waaaaaay too many hours playing this game. Till...

The New BlogShop! (Version 2)

Finally, the new BlogShop is open! The changes featured in this updated version include: - Region-specific prices to factor in the differences in postage fees. - Prices in local currency - Updated product information - Easier Browsing Screenshot of BlogShop Version 2 Now with this BlogShop, Singaporean buyers enjoy huge savings due to proximity! There is even a self-collect option to save you even more money on postage! Happy shoppin...

BlogShop: Version 2 in progress!

A big thank you to the buyers and shoppers at my BlogShop! I must say that it is taking off faster than I expected! I'm constantly improving the BlogShop so as to make it as user-friendly as i know how, therefore I hope to release the new BlogShop within the next few days. Once again, thanks my valued shopper...

Seeking Contributors for Blog expansion!!

Dear readers, Thank you for your readership these past few months! As I strive to improve this blog further, I plan to increase the FAQ content in the hope of answering every ambiguity in this card game. To do that, I need your help. With the sheer volume of characters and cards in this game, the only way I can efficiently update all the FAQ section of every character and card is to gather a team of willing and voluntary contributors. Below are a list of contributor tasks that I am looking to gather: 1. Blog HTML designer - create a user-friendly...

Singaporean Buyers: Special Rates!!

I am in the process of refining the BlogShop further. My fellow Singaporean readers, please do Email me directly at sg.rockstar@gmail.com for now for your purchases as we can arrange to meet up for the transaction. This way you enjoy far greater savings on mailing!! Have fun and...

Blog Shop is Up!!

 I've got the first phase of the BlogShop up and running. In the first phase, the products will be the simple SGS game packs and Expansion packs. I will delivery them worldwide, so order away for Xmas! My BlogShop can be found in the upper right header bar, beside "Demi-God Characters". In phase 2 to come by the end of this week, I shall put up my Translation Cards on the shop. As mentioned in my comment, the translation cards will cost less...

NEW! English character Translation Cards for Woods Expansion Pack

The first set of cards are finally ready! These cards are made of PCV and will last you nearly forever. They are approximately the size of your credit card (and just as tough) and will fit nicely into a business card holder or album for neat storage. Front side of the card depicts the avatar of the character for easy recognition, especially for those who don't know any chinese characters. Rear side of the card shows "Allegiance, Health, Character...

Back from behind the Great Firewall

OMG... 2 full weeks in China made me realise how cut-off I am from blogger!! Despite receiving Email notifications about comments posted within these 2 days, i could do nothing but helplessly wait for the days to count down as the Great Firewall blocked my every attempt to access Blogger and post or comment. CURSES!!! On the flip side, I now have the working model of the Character translation card. I'll put up the pictures shortly! Also, my blogshop will be opening soon. You will be able to purchase SanGuoSha (Original Pack) and all the existing...

Preview: SGS English Plugin

Here's a preview of the improved Translation Plugin. It's going to be a card format printed on both sides that serves as a reference. The size is going to be identical to the character card size, so it will fit nicely with your other cards in the box.  Front Back Feedback welcom...

Disaster!!

It's one thing to translate every card from Chinese to English, but it's quite another to want to squeeze all the long english words into 2cm x 4cm space and still be legible. In a disastrous last minute crash-out, I found to my heart-wrenching horror that my english-plugins contain words that are too damn small to be readable! NOOOOOOOO!!!!! After all those hours of work!!!!!! ROAR~~!!!!!! No matter!! I shall find a way around it! I am determined...

Auxiliary Rules Part 1: One Versus One game

Welcome to the new mini-series on Auxiliary Rules! In this series, there will be a mix of official rules and some unorthodox suggestions. For those of you who are getting sick of the usual game style, here are a few interesting variations to this already very complex game. So, are you ready? Here we go into Part ...

Launching soon!!! A few more days!!

Hi everyone, there have been a lack of posts recently because i have been busying myself with an original SGS-English product for the card game! I'm incredibly excited about it and i cannot wait to show it to all you readers and make it available! It would take me a few more days of work, but trust me... ITS GOING TO BE WORTH IT!! In the meantime, i'll do my best to put up the alternative rules and FAQ disambiguations. :) Have fun and...

SGS in Australia: The Perth Mystery

A big Hello to the readers from Australia!  Something has been puzzling me since i began tracking readership. Australian readers are the 4th most active in reading this blog (behind USA, Singapore and Canada), and to my surprise, the location of these readers are exclusively from the Eastern half of Australia! There's Sydney with the highest readership and Melbourne at second... but not a single reader from Perth?! Isn't that where the highest...

Guān Yǔ 关羽

Translated description: "Bearded Gentleman 美髯公 (měi rán gōng)" Who is he: He is a god. No kidding. The legend of Guan Yu and his strong sense of chivalry and brotherhood has transcended two millenia and is still widely revered today in Chinese culture. Mention his deity name "Guan Gong 关公" and most elder chinese would relate to you legendary stories of Guan Yu's strong sense fairness, justice and brotherhood. The 2nd eldest among the three sworn...

Zhào Yún 赵云

Translated description: "The young general 少年将军 (shào nián jiāng jūn)" Who is he: The hunk in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Yun is portrayed like the Antonio Banderas of ancient China, complete with sword wielding abilities equal to Zorro (or probably better?). Always the general of Shu Han 蜀汉 that appears to save the day when their need is crucial, Zhao Yun is arguably one of the most well-liked characters in the entire story. If you expect...

Game Rules Part 7: Reincarnation 转世

Welcome to Part 7! In this section, i'm going to talk about one of my favorite auxiliary rules known as the Reincarnation Rule. Simply put, it allows a player to remain in the game despite being killed and after his or her role card has been exposed. The original logic of this rule was to minimize the amount of waiting time for the dead players before the next round starts, especially when there are more than 7 players in the round. Quite...

Thinking of buying the ROTK full story in English?

I must admit, I knew NOTHING about the Romance of Three Kingdoms story before I played SanGuoSha. Although my Dad is a Chinese history buff who constantly promoted the story to me, I always felt those were for the graying population like him. Then came along SGS and my world change...

The Gods are seated + Errata for Flip Character Cards

I'm happy to report that the Demi-Gods are up, which means that all the official characters are up on this blog! WOO HOO!! Now for an update on every character to include the FAQs and other stuff i missed out. That would REALLY fatten up the content here. Also, look out for the alternate rules to the game that i shall be putting up soon. One important thing, i realized that the Flip Character Card rules i put up are incorrect. My initial research plus original plays were inline with what i wrote, but within the past 2 weeks there have been...

Demi-God Zhōu Yú 神周瑜

Translated description: "The God of Fire at Red Cliffs 赤壁的火神 (chì bì dè huǒ shén)" Why is he a Demi-God: People familiar with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story would know that Zhu Ge Liang 诸葛亮 and Zhou Yu were both instrumental in defeating Cao Cao 曹操 at the Red Cliffs. However the historians that distilled out the "Romance" from the story found that Zhou Yu was the main architect of the victory, while Zhu Ge Liang had far less involvement....

Demi-God Zhū Gě Liàng 神诸葛亮

Translated description: "The Sorcerer at the Red Cliffs 赤壁的妖术师 (chì bì dè yāo shù shī)" Why is he a Demi-God: In an act of mischief, Zhu Ge Liang decides to fool Zhou Yu 周瑜 into thinking he has the ability to control the weather. At an elaborately set up altar, Zhu Ge Liang performs a mysterious rite that he says will help change the wind direction, which was necessary in order for their fire strategy to work against the ships of Cao Cao 曹操. True...

Demi-God Lǚ Méng 神吕蒙

Translated description: "The Minister with Divine Enlightenment 圣光之国士 (shèng guāng zhī guó shì)" Why is he a Demi-God: I wish I had an answer to this question that I am whole-heartedly convinced with. Unfortunately, I do not. "Divine Enlightenment" is an exaggeration of Lu Meng's studious discipline, where he turns from a military brute into a learned minister. His remarkable improvements are due to his own hard work and there was nothing divine...

Demi-God Lǚ Bù 神吕布

Translated description: "The Way of the Asura 修罗之道 (xiū luó zhī dào)" (Asuras are mythical Demi-Gods in Buddhist mythology that are wrathful, prideful, arrogant, and love to fight. Click here for Asuras Wiki.) Why is he a Demi-God: Let's list out a couple adjectives to describe Lu Bu - 1. Arrogant (Striking his halberd with an arrow to win a truce between Yuan Shu 袁术 and Liu Bei 刘备) 2. Wrathful (Killing Dong Zhuo 董卓 over Diao Chan 貂蝉) 3. Loves...

Demi-God Guān Yǔ 神关羽

Translated description: "The Return of the Ultimate Ghost 鬼神再临 (gǔi shén zài lín)" Why is he a Demi-God: There is no ghost quite like the ghost of Guan Yu in the Romance of Three Kingdoms story. No doubt he is not the only supernatural character to re-appear after death (Yu Ji 于吉 also came back to haunt Sun Ce 孙策), but the ghost of Guan Yu did more than spook the mortals. No, that would belittle him! The ghost of Guan Yu possessed his killer,...

Demi-God Cáo Cāo 神曹操

Translated description: "A Hero that transcends time 超世之英杰 (chāo shì zhī yīng jié)" Why is he a Demi-God: Nearly every Chinese in the world would have heard of his name. It is not just his achievements that are spectacular, his use of military tactics and his overall leadership ability is legendary. The description is no exaggeration; Cao Cao truly is a hero that has transcended time.  That fact that we are playing a card game that is built-upon...

Out of the Woods!! + Demi-Gods VS Demons 神鬼大战

Alright!! Woods Expansion done!! Now only 6 more characters left before i'm done with all the official characters... THE 6 DEMI-GODS ARE UP NEXT!! MUAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! ... Anyways yesterday was another marathon session of SGS and we decided to go crazy with the super characters again. This time, on top of the 6 Demi-Gods, we mixed up 4 of the unofficial Demon cards into play: They are...

Jiǎ Xǔ 贾诩

Translated description: "Cold-blooded Advocate for Murder 冷酷的毒士 (lěng kù dè dú shì)" Wikipedia link: Jia Xu Wiki Who is he: His description portrays him as a mass-murderer, and history seems to back that up. After the death of Dong Zhuo 董卓, Jia Xu adviced Li Jue 李催 to take advantage of the chaos in Chang An 长安 and grab the Imperial power for himself. This would prove to be the biggest black mark on Jia Xu's life as Li Jue and Guo Si 郭汜 went on...

From which country are you reading this blog?

Many thanks to the readers of this blog for visiting, commenting, correcting my mistakes, and spreading the word. When I started this blog, I expected my target audience to be confined to the tiny red dot called Singapore. I really did not expect the worldwide audience that now reads this blog. Here are the top countries that visit this blog as compiled by Blogger Stats. Are you surprised to find your country's ranking on this list? So from...

Xú Huǎng 徐晃

Translated description: "Reminiscence of Zhou Ya Fu 周亚夫之风 (zhōu yǎ fū zhī fēng)" (Zhou Ya Fu was a general during the Han Dynasty that died about 60 years before the start of the Three Kingdoms era. He is regarded as the epitome of military discipline and integrity.) Wikipedia link: Xu Huang Wiki Who is he: One of the 5 most important generals to Cao Cao 曹操, Xu Huang is a man of righteousness. He first came to Cao Cao's attention as a general...

Dǒng Zhuó 董卓

Translated description: "Demon King 魔王 (mó wáng)" Wikipedia link: Dong Zhuo Wiki Who is he: Despite the unpopularity of Cao Cao 曹操 or Si Ma Yi 司马懿, people give due credit to their accomplishments. Dong Zhuo, on the other hand, is unpopular to the point of hatred. He was a general with a bad name before he answered the call to rid the Emperor of the corrupt officials. In the ensuing chaos, the young Emperor and his half-brother was separated from...