Takamatsu (GER/ENG)

Takamatsu
Samurais in the Shogun Palace by Martin Schlegel for 2-5 players ages 10 and up

Description:

Excitement in the capital: Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu plans to award the fiefdom ("han") of Takamatsu in a contest. The rival daimyos (lords) direct their samurai through the palace according to simple rules and quickly realize that they can also use the other daimyos' samurai for their own benefit. This creates an exciting battle of both sides – and many surprises...

Takamatsu is a game of conflict and cooperation. Players try to place their samurai in their own rooms (or not!). The palace consists of two circular paths that merge at one point and then separate again. Players have 5-7 samurai, who are divided between two color-coded rooms at the beginning of the game, and a series of scoring cards—some face down—lie next to the game board.

On a turn, you choose a room that contains at least one of your samurai, then move a number of samurai in that room clockwise from that room. If the room contains only one samurai, you can move it one space; if it contains two, you can move it either two spaces or just one—but if an opposing samurai is present, then you must move both exactly two spaces. If a room contains three or more samurai, you must leave at least one behind (while still taking at least one opposing samurai with you, if any). If a samurai ends its move in a room of the same color, the samurai's daimyo receives the top scoring card, with multiple scoring possible in a turn. For each face-up scoring card received, the player immediately adjusts their scoring marker, which might move them back on the track. Sometimes they may want to escort another samurai to their destination rather than bring them to your place.

When a player reaches 20 points, the players end the round, then count their hidden scoring cards, if any. The player with the most points wins! (With two players, each Daimyo controls two colors of samurai and must move an opposing samurai if possible.) After a pagoda reaches the 20-point threshold, the players add their two scores to determine a winner.

Further information:

• Information at Mücke Spiele(GER)
• Boardgamegeek(CLOSELY)