Goryō Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Objective
• Setup
  • The Samurai
  • The Goryō
• Game Boards Information
• Definitions
• Gameplay
  • A. Goryō's Turn
  • B. Samurai's Turn
    • Investigate
• Powers of the Goryō
  • C. Discovery Turn
• Ofuda: Exorcism Through Kami
• Round Ending
• Game Ending
• Strategy Tips
• Advanced Mode
• Frequently Asked Questions and Forgotten Rules
• Game Flow
  • End of the Game

Components

• 1 Palace Board
• 1 Garden Board
• 1 Samurai Player Board
• 1 Goryō Player Board
• 5 Broken Object Pieces
• 3 Spirit Tokens - 2-sided (front: Goryō, back: nos. I, II & III)
• 1 Erasable Marker Pen
• 8 Object Tiles - 2-sided (front: Intact, back: Broken)
• Object Tokens - 2-sided (front: Object, back: Sealed Object)
• 1 Mark of the Goryō
• 5 Pawns (4 Samurai, 1 Goryō)
• 6 Paw-print Tokens - 2-sided (front: green, back: red)
• 1 Gong Mallet
• 7 Goryō Action Cubes (4 white: Move, 1 purple: Target, 1 grey: Sprint, 1 green: False Trail)
• 6 Samurai Action Cubes (black)
• 1 Bag
• 1 Goryō Player Screen
• 20 Seals

Game Objective

In the game, one player will play the Goryō, and the other will play the Samurai.

To exact her revenge and win the game, the Goryō must break 5 precious objects in the different rooms of the palace. Before she succeeds, the Samurai must either capture the Goryō's spirit 3 times or understand what type of object she is bound to, in order to exorcise her spirit and banish it from the world of the living forever.

Setup

1. Place the Palace Board and the Garden Board in the centre of the table.
2. Place the 8 Object Tiles in their appropriate spaces on the Garden Board, with the Intact side (marked by a dark blue border) facing upwards.
3. Place 4 Broken Object Pieces on the Game Round Counter Spaces of the Garden Board (leaving the leftover piece to the side for the moment).
4. Place the 8 Object Tokens into the bag. Place the bag next to the Palace and Garden boards.
5. Choose who will take on the role of the Goryō, and who will take on that of the Samurai.

The Samurai

6. Place the Samurai Player Board in front of you. Take the 6 Samurai Action Cubes (black), 6 Paw-print Tokens, and 20 Seals, and keep them next to you.
7. Place the Gong Mallet on the 1st Gong Space around the arc of gongs on your board, next to the symbol, and the 3 Spirit Tokens, with the Goryō face up, in their appropriate spaces. Finally, place the 4 Samurai Pawns on the central spaces of each room on the Palace Board.

The Goryō

8. Take the Goryō Player Screen and place it in front of you.
9. Take the Goryō Player Board, erasable marker pen, 7 Goryō Action Cubes (white, purple, green, and grey), and Mark of the Goryō, and hide them all behind the Goryō Player Screen. The Goryō Player Board should be oriented in exactly the same way as the Palace Board.
10. Draw 1 Object Token from the bag, look at it without showing it to the Samurai, and place it under the Mark of the Goryō, behind the Goryō Player Screen. This will be your Bound Object (see "Definitions" below).
11. Draw 1 more Object Token from the bag. This time, show it to the Samurai. Then flip the corresponding Object Tile on the Garden Board, so that the Broken side is facing upwards, and place the Object Token on top, with the Object side (not the Sealed Object side) facing upwards. Then choose any 1 space on the Palace Board with that Object depicted on it and break it by placing the Broken Object Piece initially left aside on top of it.
12. With the erasable marker pen, mark the broken symbol on the Object you have just broken on your Goryō Player Board. Finally, place the Goryō Pawn on the same space as the Object you have just broken on the Palace Board. This will be the starting space for the Goryō.

Game Boards Information

Palace and Garden Boards:

• Palace Room
• Object Space
• Bridge (each bridge connects 2 rooms, with the 2 object spaces on either side considered adjacent)
• Object Tile Space
• Game Round Counter Spaces

Goryō Player Board: This is a miniature copy of the Palace Board used by the Goryō behind the Goryō Player Screen, out of sight of the Samurai Player.

Samurai Player Board:

• Arc of Gong Spaces
• 3 Spirit Token Spaces
• Sniff Action Space (1 for each Samurai)
• Search Action Space (1 for each Samurai)
• Move Action Spaces (2 for each Samurai)

Definitions

To keep track of the status of the various Objects, the Samurai uses the main Palace Board, while the Goryō uses the Goryō Player Board.

Broken Object: This is an Object that has been broken by the Goryō. On the Palace Board, a Broken Object is marked by a Broken Object Piece placed on top of it. On the Goryō Player Board, using the erasable marker, the Goryō Player should mark the Broken Object with the broken symbol.

Sealed Object: This is an Object that has been Sealed and therefore protected by the Samurai. The Goryō cannot break a Sealed Object. On the Palace Board, a Sealed Object is marked by a Seal placed on top of it. On the Goryō Player Board, the Goryō Player should mark the Sealed Object with a circle around it.

Bound Object: This is the object hidden under the Mark of the Goryō that is bound to the Goryō's spirit, and that the Goryō must never break. This object is jealously guarded by the Goryō, who must not mark it anywhere, either on the main game boards, or on the Goryō Player Board.

Gameplay

Each game consists of a maximum of 4 rounds.

Each round is divided into the following turns, to be carried out in this order:

• A. Goryō's Turn: The Goryō plans a path to break an Object and shake the Samurai off her trail.
• B. Samurai's Turn: The Samurai investigates the Goryō's movements, in order to try and catch her.
• C. Discovery Turn: This is a turn taken by both the Goryō and the Samurai, in which the trail of the Goryō is revealed.

A. Goryō's Turn

Take the 4 Goryō Move Cubes (white) and the Goryō Target Cube (purple), and place them on the Goryō Player Board, well-hidden from your opponent behind the Goryō Player Screen. The Sprint Cube (grey) and the False Trail Cube (green) should be kept within reach, also hidden behind the screen. Their use will be explained later (see "Powers of the Goryō"). The Move Cubes are used to mark the spaces across which the Goryō will move, while the Target Cube is used to mark the space on which the Goryō wants to break an Object (also see "Discovery Turn"). The placement of the cubes must respect the following Placement Rules:

1. Each space on the board may only contain 1 cube, therefore the Goryō cannot cross the same space more than once in the same round.
2. The 1st Move Cube must always be placed on the space where the Goryō starts that round, while each subsequent cube must be placed in a space orthogonally (horizontally or vertically, and not diagonally) adjacent to the previously placed cube.
3. All 4 Move Cubes and the Target Cube must be placed in the same turn.
4. Cubes can be placed on spaces occupied by the Samurai.
5. The Target Cube must be the last cube placed.
6. The Target Cube may not be placed on a space with a Bound, Sealed or Broken Object (see "Definitions"). It may, however, be placed on any space with an Intact Object of the same type as a previously Broken Object, or on a space occupied by a Samurai.
7. You may only move from one room to another across a bridge. Bridges are not counted as spaces, and therefore a cube does not need to be placed on a bridge in order to cross it to the space on the other side. Rather, spaces on either side of a bridge are considered adjacent.

In the unlikely event that you cannot place your cubes according to the Placement Rules, you will immediately lose the game.

Example: Playing as the Goryō, Jane would like to break an Object that is in the same room as the Goryō, which is currently on the space with the Helmet Object. She looks at the game board and notices that she cannot break the Lantern, because it is a Sealed Object, nor can she break the Mask, because it is already broken. She therefore decides to break the Scroll. She places the 1st Move Cube on the space where the Goryō already is, then places the other cubes on a path that leads her to break the Scroll. Jane has two paths available to her to do this (the black or the red path). She chooses the one she thinks is the stealthier, and places the cubes accordingly, with the Target Cube on top of the space with the Scroll.

When you have finished placing your cubes, it's the Samurai's Turn.

B. Samurai's Turn

Take the 6 Samurai Action Cubes (black) and call on up to 3 different Samurai in sequence, using each of their actions to try to understand the Goryō's movements, and guess which Object she wants to break. Each Samurai called upon can carry out as many as 1 to 3 of the following Actions, placing 1 cube for each action in the appropriate space of their colour on the Samurai Player Board. Each space can only contain one cube. The cubes must be placed one at a time.

• Move: With this action, you can move a Samurai to 1 orthogonally adjacent space on the Palace Board. Since there are 2 Move Action spaces on the Samurai Player Board, this action can be done twice by the same Samurai, placing 1 cube each time on the Samurai Player Board.
• Search: With this action, the Samurai Investigates the square he is already on (see "Investigate" below).
• Sniff: With this action, the Samurai Investigates 1 space orthogonally adjacent to the one he is already on (see "Investigate" below).

Important: After calling on a new Samurai, you can no longer perform any Action with the previous Samurai, even if that Samurai has performed fewer than 3 Actions.

If fewer than 6 actions are performed in total by the various Samurai, the unused cubes are discarded to one side. Just like the Goryō, the Samurai may only move from one room to another across a bridge. Bridges are not counted as spaces, so a Samurai can move across a bridge to the space adjacent to the bridge on the other side, since the spaces on either side of the bridge are considered adjacent. When the Samurai Player cannot or does not want to carry out any further actions, or call on any more Samurai, the game moves on to the Discovery Turn.

Investigate

When a Samurai Investigates a space using a Search or Sniff action, the Samurai asks the Goryō if the chosen space is a space on her path in that round (i.e. if the Goryō has placed a cube on that space). The Samurai will then place 1 Paw-print Token on that space, with the green side up if the answer is yes, and with the red side up if the answer is no. The Samurai Player may not investigate the starting square of the Goryō in that round, nor the same square more than once in the same round.

Example: Playing as the Samurai, John decides to use the Green Samurai to carry out a Search action, to see if the Goryō has crossed that square on her path to an object. Jane replies yes, and so John places a green-side-up Paw-print Token on that space. John then decides to carry out the Sniff action, and so Investigates the space with the Urn. Jane replies yes again, and John places another green-side-up Paw-print Token on that space. After reflecting on the possible paths of the Goryō, John calls on the purple Samurai to perform 2 Move actions and the Sniff action to Investigate the space with the Flower. Jane replies no, and therefore John places a red-side-up Paw-print Token on that space. John must choose whether to call on the Red Samurai, the Blue one, or end his turn in the round. He decides to call on the Red Samurai to perform a Move action, in order to position him on the square with the Lantern, a possible Goryō target object.

Powers of the Goryō

To shake the Samurai off her scent, the Goryō can use 2 Powers: a False Trail, or a Sprint. As part of her Turn, the Goryō may decide to use one or both Powers, placing the corresponding cubes as explained below.

The Goryō should not announce the use of a Power. The Samurai will discover this during the Discovery Turn.

• Sprint: The Sprint Cube (grey) can be placed by the Goryō as if it were 1 additional Move Cube, according to the normal Placement Rules. The Sprint Cube may be used only once during the game. It is then discarded at the end of the Discovery Turn of the round in which it was used.

  Example: Jane wants to catch the Samurai by surprise and use the Sprint to reach an object one step further away than she would ordinarily be able to reach. She therefore uses the Sprint Cube to take one more step to reach the target object.

• False Trail: The False Trail Cube (green) can be placed by the Goryō on any space on the Goryō Player Board, as long as it is not occupied by another cube.

  Note: This cube does not follow the normal Placement Rules for Move Cubes.

  If the Samurai investigates the space where the False Trail Cube is placed, the Goryō can (falsely) answer that the space is part of path of the Goryō in that round. In the Discovery Turn, if it is revealed that the space where the False Trail Cube was placed was not investigated, the Goryō can replace the False Lead Cube behind the Goryō Player Screen and use it again later. Otherwise, it must be discarded and can no longer be used for the rest of the game. A green-side-up Paw-print Token placed by a Samurai on the space with the False Trail must also be discarded, without conferring any benefit (see "Discovery Turn" below).

  Example: Jane tries to use the False Trail Power to scupper the Samurai's investigations, placing the green cube on a space that could potentially be part of her path. During the Samurai's Turn, John asks if the space the False Trail is placed on is part of the Goryō's path. Jane answers yes, and so John places a green-side-up Paw-print Token on that space on the Palace Board. On the Discovery Turn, however, that Paw-print Token will be discarded, and will not help John locate the Goryō.

C. Discovery Turn

The Goryō removes the Goryō Player Screen to allow the Samurai to examine her path taken in the Goryō's Turn. If the Goryō has made any mistakes in positioning cubes or in responding to investigations, the Samurai can turn over an equal number of Spirit Tokens on the Samurai Player Board to their numbered sides, starting from the one not yet turned over furthest to the left.

Important: If Goryō breaks the object to which she is Bound, she will immediately lose the game.

The Goryō Player takes a Broken Object Piece from a Game Round Counter Space on the Garden Board and the Goryō Pawn, and places them both in the corresponding space on the Palace Board on which the Target Cube has been placed on the Goryō Player Board. This will be the starting space for the Goryō in the next round. With the marker pen, the Goryō Player marks the broken symbol on the space on the Goryō Player Board that corresponds to the object the Goryō has just broken. If, on the Garden Board, the tile of the same type of object has its Intact side facing up, this should now be flipped to its Broken side.

The Samurai returns all of the Paw-print Tokens to his reserve and advances the Gong Mallet on his board by as many spaces as green-side-up Paw-print Tokens he has removed (excluding those removed because of the False Trail power). If one or more Samurai Pawns are in the same space as the Goryō, the Samurai turns over an equal number of Spirit Tokens on the Samurai Player Board to the numbered side, starting from the one not yet turned over furthest to the left. If, at any time, the Samurai turns over the third Spirit Token, he immediately wins the game.

Example: Jane removes the Goryō Player Screen so that John can see the path the Goryō has taken. She places the Broken Object Piece of the current round and the Goryō Pawn on the space where the Target Cube is, and marks the broken symbol on the same space on her Goryō Player Board to indicate that the object is Broken. Now, John removes the 2 Paw-print Tokens from the Palace Board, and moves the Gong Mallet forward 2 spaces on his Samurai Player Board. Then, since the Red Samurai is on the same space as the Goryō, he can flip the first Spirit Token on his Samurai Player Board.

Ofuda: Exorcism Through Kami

For each Bag Icon reached by the Gong Mallet and each Spirit Token flipped to its numbered side in the Discovery Turn, the Samurai may draw one Object Token from the bag.

The Samurai shows each Object Token drawn and places it on the Garden Board, with the Seal side facing upwards on top of the corresponding Object Tile, which, in turn, should be flipped to its Broken side (marked by a light border).

This object has now been Sealed and is therefore protected from being broken by the Goryō. Therefore, one Seal should be placed on each object still Intact (i.e. without a Broken Object Piece on its space) of the same type on the Palace Board.

With the marker pen, the Goryō should mark the sealed symbol on the spaces on her board that correspond to the Objects just Sealed.

If, at any time, all but one of the Object Tiles on the Garden Board are flipped to their Broken side, the Samurai wins the game, since he has discovered the Goryō's Bound Object, and will be able to exorcise the Goryō forever.

Example: In this round, John has reached a Bag Icon on the arc of gongs, and flipped one Spirit Token on the Samurai Player Board. He therefore draws two Object Tokens from the bag, showing the Helmet and Urn, and turns them to their Seal side. He turns the corresponding Object Tiles on the Garden Board to their Broken sides and places the newly drawn Object Tokens on top. To keep track of the Sealed Objects, John places one Seal on each of the squares of the Palace Board with Urns and Helmets still Intact. With the marker pen, Jane marks the sealed symbol on the Sealed Objects on her Goryō Player Board, meaning that she will no longer be able to break them during this game.

Round Ending

The Samurai removes all the Samurai Cubes from the Samurai Player Board. The Goryō does the same on the Goryō Player Board and places the Goryō Player Screen once more in front of it.

Now, it's time for the next round! Except, of course, if the round just ended was the fourth round of the game. In that case, if the Samurai has not won already, the Goryō wins (see "Game Ending" below).

Game Ending

The game ends immediately with a Samurai Victory when at least one of the following conditions is met:

• The Goryō cannot validly place the Target Cube anywhere during her turn.
• The Goryō breaks the object to which she is Bound.
• The Samurai has flipped all three Spirit Tokens.
• On the Garden Board all the Object Tiles except one are flipped to their Broken side.

Otherwise, if none of the above conditions have been met, the game ends with a Goryō Victory at the end of the fourth round.

Strategy Tips

Goryō is a profoundly asymmetrical game. In your first few games, you will realize how challenging it is as a Samurai to capture the Goryō, and as a Goryō to exact your revenge by breaking objects. However, by taking turns to play one role and then the other and with a little experience, you will be able to develop new strategies and tactics for both the Goryō and the Samurai.

The Wise Goryō

At the beginning of the game, the Palace will seem like a large playground, with lots of objects to break and the Samurai groping around in the dark. However, over the course of the game, the Samurai will begin to severely limit your choices. Therefore, save your powers for critical moments, don't break too many different types of objects, decide wisely when to move from one room to another and when it's best to hide right under the nose of a Samurai. Make the most of your starting advantage to disperse the Samurai, creating blind spots easily reachable by using your powers in following rounds. Sometimes, an indirect or unpredictable path can be the best way to avoid capture.

The Wise Samurai

At the beginning, it will seem as if the Goryō is unstoppable, with too many objects to break and too few clues left behind. However, over the course of the game, you will have the opportunity to Seal more objects, and the Goryō's choices will become more and more limited. Carefully evaluate potential targets, and remember that the number of steps the Goryō will take must always be the same, unless she uses her Sprint Power, which can only be used once. Later in the game, with various objects Sealed and others too far away, you will be able to narrow down potential targets and it will be easier and easier to place Paw-print Tokens. Try to force the Goryō to use her powers early on, so you will have an advantage later in the game. Also, remember that the Goryō will have to cross a bridge sooner or later, so keep an eye on them.

Advanced Mode

If you want to make it more difficult to capture the Goryō, you can use this rule variation: the 3 Samurai can perform a maximum of 2 actions each, instead of 3.

You can use this variation if you want balance the odds between a new or less experienced player and an expert player, with the more experienced player taking on the role of the Samurai.

Frequently Asked Questions and Forgotten Rules

• The Goryō can break Objects of the same type as those already broken, but cannot break those Sealed by the Samurai.
• For each flipped Spirit Token, the Samurai Player can draw 1 Object Token from the bag.
• If the Goryō makes any mistakes (e.g. breaks a Sealed Object, uses one of her Powers incorrectly, places her Action Cubes incorrectly), in the Discovery Turn, the Samurai can flip 1 Spirit Token to its numbered side and then draw 1 Object Token for each mistake made.
• At the end of the fourth round, the Goryō wins only if, after drawing the necessary Object Tokens, there are 2 or more Object Tiles still with their Intact side facing upwards.
• The Sprint Cube counts as an additional Move Action, following the normal Placement Rules for Goryō Action Cubes, and therefore must be used as part of the path of the Goryō in that turn. At the end of the round in which it has been used, the Sprint Cube must be discarded, and can no longer be used for that game.
• The False Trail Cube does not follow the normal Placement Rules for Move Cubes: it can therefore be placed anywhere on the Goryō Player Board, and must be discarded only if the corresponding space on the Palace Board has been investigated by a Samurai in that round. Otherwise, the Goryō can use it again in a following round.
• The first Move Cube must be placed on the starting square of the Goryō for that round.
• The Goryō must always use all her Move cubes and the Target cube as well during her Turn. For this reason, the Goryō will always move the same number of Object spaces (except when she uses the Sprint cube, in which case she will move one time more).

Game Flow

Each game is made up of a maximum of 4 rounds, divided into three turns, to be played in order:

A. Goryō's Turn

The Goryō places 4 Goryō Move Cubes and the Goryō Target Cube on the Goryō Player Board according to the Placement Rules. If she wants, she can also use one or both Powers of the Goryō, that is Sprint and False Trail.

B. Samurai's Turn

The Samurai Player can call on to up to 3 different Samurai in sequence. Each Samurai can carry out 1 to 3 actions, placing 1 Samurai Action Cube for each:

• Move Action: The Samurai moves to 1 orthogonally adjacent space.
• Search Action: The Samurai investigates the space he is on.
• Sniff Action: The Samurai investigates 1 orthogonally adjacent space.

On each space correctly investigated, the Samurai places 1 green-side-up Paw-print Token. On each space incorrectly investigated, he places 1 red-side-up Paw-print Token.

C. Discovery Turn

The Goryō removes the screen so that the Samurai can see the trail of the Goryō. For every mistake made by the Goryō, the Samurai can turn over just as many Spirit Tokens. The Goryō takes the Broken Object Piece for the round and her own pawn, and places them on the space where the Target Cube was placed, breaking the object of that space. She marks the broken symbol on that space on her own board.

The Samurai advances the Gong Mallet the same number of times as the green-side-up Paw-print Tokens he has placed. Then, for each Bag Icon reached, and each Spirit Token flipped, he draws one Object Token and places it on the Garden Board, flipping the corresponding Object Tile. The objects of this type are now sealed, and the Goryō will no longer be able to break any of them. The Samurai places one Seal on each of the objects on the Palace Board, and the Goryō marks them with the sealed symbol on her own board.

End of the Game

If the Samurai has not won by the end of the fourth game round, it is the Goryō who has won the game.