You can download the complete rules as PDF from here
The players act as Daimyos and send their Samurai through the palace. In case a Samurai reaches the room of his Daimyo (his color), he is rewarded and can move forward his pagoda accordingly.
The player having been closest to Japan most recently, will be the starting player. The other players follow clockwise. The player at turn chooses one or more Samurai from a room and moves them forward. The Samurai always move clockwise through the palace, arrows indicate the way to go.
All Samurai chosen move the same range: They start from one room and end up together in another room. It is for the player to decide how many Samurai he chooses, however, he has to consider the following rules:
- The player has to move at least one of his own Samurai.
- In case there are Samurai of other players in the room, he has to also move at least 1 of these. Whether he moves more than 2 figures – one of his and one of another player – is up to him.
- A room with 1 or 2 Samurai may be cleared. If there are more than 2 Samurai, the room may not be emptied, at least 1 Samurai must stay behind. How many and which Samurai stay behind – his own and/or from other players – is the player’s decision. If a Samurai reaches a room in his color – the move has to end there, only passing is not sufficient –, the player receives the upper displayed Shogun card.
The chosen Samurai are moved forward, whereas the number of chosen figures indicates the range of the movement. Has the player chosen 3 Samurai, he has to move them 3 rooms further; 5 figures he has to move 5 rooms.
If a pagoda reaches the goal (20 points), the current round is finished, so all players have been active for the same times. Now all hidden Shogun cards are turned over. The player with the most points wins the game.
