Overall

You only have nine turns to win, so every decision matters. Your goal is to find chains that let you get more than one meeple on the board at a time. Don't always place your die in the highest value slot so you can keep resources for future chains.

Never run out of Seals, as they a common currency for placing Gardeners, Courtiers, and Warriors.

It's fine to choose the Well in early turns to gain resources. Personal Domain actions give you the most, especially if one ends with performing a black action (after swapping out your starting card).

Using "Outside the Castle" actions should only be a last resort, for when you need to perform a specific action.

The best way to gain combo chains is by using right-side Gardeners and blue Warrior tokens. Courtiers will not earn you any combo chains.

Look at the gardens and training ground to see which resources are going to be hard to get. The lowest training ground may provide something extremely beneficial.

Later in the game you can get a lot of resources in one turn using a Personal Domain action.

You need balance across all three tracks (Gardener, Warrior, Courtier).

Dice Usage

When choosing a die to take, remember that taking from the left side invokes your Lantern bonuses, which you need throughout the game.

Don't use a die just to gain resources, unless you need a lot for a massive combo chain.

Don't leave a high die on the left side for your opponent(s) to take.

Starting Pair

For the Lantern card, Pearl is the most important, because you will need that throughout the game to move Courtiers around. Iron is second best, since you can place Warriors for the end game. Rice is not valuable as a recurrent resource. Rice should be gained as a lump sum.

For starting resources, choose the most Rice you can, then Pearls. Remember that Seals are as good as money, and you will need them to do any actions in the bottom floor.

Gardeners

Get Gardeners out early to get the most benefit from their bonuses. That means gaining Rice as a resource early too.

When placing Gardeners, keep a few things in mind: The dice need to stay on the bridge for the bonus to activate, so don't put the Gardener somewhere with a die someone is going to take. Gardeners on the left side provide resources. Gardeners on the right side provide more points, but are less likely to activate in later rounds.

In the late game, if you have a surplus of Rice, don't be afraid to place a Gardener on the right-side for the points, even if you don't have the money to pay for the action.

Courtiers

There's no easier way to win than to get Courtiers into the castle and the higher the better. There's also benefit to getting them out early too, as they increase your Lantern bonus. But they are the most expensive, so don't go bankrupt.

Focus on Courtier actions and Pearls in rounds 2 and 3.

Spending 2 Pearls to get more Courtiers in the castle is better than spending 5 to get one Courtier higher.

Warriors

These are not important to get out in the beginning, unless they chain into a Gardener or Courtier action. Their gains are random and they mostly count towards endgame scoring. Remember, they only score if you have Courtiers in the castle.

Points

The best way to get points are either 1) Concentrating solely on Courtiers 2) Combining Warriors and Courtiers for synergy or 3) well-placed Gardeners