Kodachi Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Set Up
• Playing the Game
  • (A) Invading the House
  • (B) Taking Cards
• Ending Your Turn
• End of the Game
• Winning the Game
• Reference
  • Buying House Cards
  • Guard Reference
  • Envoy Card Notes
  • Guard/Treasure Card Notes
  • Rumor Card Notes
  • Skill Card Notes
• Credits

Components

• 4 x 12 Starting Cards
• 21 Envoys (white)
• 17 Rumors (purple)
• 22 Skills (grey)
• 1 Shuriken
• 35 Guards (brown)
• 15 Elite Guards (red)
• 4 Reference Cards
• 9 Clan Tokens

Game Set Up

1. Each player takes a set of 12 Starting cards (10 Dojo cards and 2 starting Skill cards), shuffles them, and creates a personal face down draw pile. Then each player draws 6 cards as a starting hand. With less than 4 players, put the remaining Starting cards back in the box.
2. Choose the quietest player and give them the Shuriken. They are the starting player. Give the second player 1 Fan (brown guard) face up in front of them. Give a third player 1 scroll. Give a fourth player 1 vase.
3. Shuffle the remaining guards (brown) and elite guards (red) together into a face down draw pile. This is the Guard deck.
4. Shuffle the Envoy, Rumor and Skill cards into a face down draw pile. This is the House deck.
5. Stack the Clan tokens by color, 3 stacks of 3 tokens each: the 2 value on top, the 4 value in the middle, and the 5 value on the bottom.

Playing the Game

There are two phases to a turn: (A) Invading the House by playing cards from your hand to defeat guards, then (B) Taking Cards determined by the number of guards you defeat. At the end of your turn, you discard all played cards and any unwanted cards in hand, then fill your hand back to 6. Play continues with the player on your left.

When a player gains a 4th clan token or the last clan token is taken, play continues until all have had an equal number of turns. Then the game is over and the player with the highest score wins!

(A) Invading the House

At the start of your turn, draw the top card from the House deck, and the top card from the Guard deck, placing them face up. House cards form one row and guards form a second row.

After seeing the first house card and guard card, declare if you are going to invade by stealth or strength. Strength means you must play a dojo card that is a higher value than the guard. For Stealth, you must play a dojo card that is a lower value than the guard. Ties do not win!

Example: Facing a 5 guard, Sally could choose Strength or Stealth. If she declares Strength, she'll have to use her skills to play higher than a 5. If she declares Stealth, she'll have to play lower than a 5. After deciding, she'll have to continue defeating guards this same way.

After declaring, flip the shuriken over to the appropriate side for Strength or Stealth as a reminder. For the rest of your turn, you cannot change this decision!

Play one dojo card - You must play one dojo card to defeat a guard.

Example: Alfonzo declared Stealth so he has to play a card lower than the 5 guard. He decides to play a 4 and defeats the guard.

Optionally play skill cards - In addition to one dojo card, you may play one or more skill cards to help defeat a guard.

Example: Alfonzo declared Stealth so he has to play a card lower than the 2 guard. His lowest dojo card is a 2 and ties do not win. So he also plays his starting skill card to subtract 1 (making the 2 a 1) and defeats the guard.

Skill cards have special effects represented by icons. If there is more than one effect on a skill card, you must use all the effects (if possible) and you must do so from top to bottom.

Example: Beth declared Strength so she must play a dojo card higher than the guard's 2. Her best dojo card is a 1 so she plays a skill card to add 1 and then draws another card. Luckily, it is another skill which she plays to add 2 more to the total and draws another card. The total is 4 which defeats the guard.

Example: Yue declared Stealth so she must play a dojo card lower than the guard's 3. She only has a 5 left so she plays her draw 3 cards skill first. One of the cards she draws is her switch skill and she plays it to change from Stealth to Strength. Then she plays her 5 dojo card to defeat the guard.

Some skill cards can be played as a dojo card.

Example: Michael declared Stealth so he must play a dojo card lower than the guard's 4. He plays his starting skill card as a 3 dojo card to defeat the guard.

A rumor card can be played as a dojo card to invade the house. At the end of the game, rumor cards score extra points (see Winning the Game).

Example: Robert declared Strength so he must play a dojo card higher than the guard's 4. He plays his rumor card as a 5 dojo card to defeat the guard.

Envoy cards are of a specific clan - red, blue or green. You can play an envoy as a dojo card and when you do, as a bonus, immediately take the top token from the envoy's clan. The token will add to your score at the end of the game. If there is no token, you do not get the bonus.

Example: Sally declared Stealth so she must play a dojo card lower than the guard's 2. She plays her envoy as a 2 then plays her skill card to make it a 1 - defeating the guard. Because she played a blue envoy, she collects the top blue clan token.

Elite (red) guards are more challenging than regular (brown) guards! You can always tell when an elite guard is about to appear by looking at the top of the Guard deck. So watch out!

Some elite guards show two different values: one low and the other high. The low value is used if you declared stealth, the high value if you declared strength.

Example: The elite guard shows 2 for stealth and 4 for strength. Since Robert declared Strength, he must play higher than a 4. He plays a 5 dojo card and defeats the guard.

Example: The elite guard shows 0 for stealth and 3 for strength. Since Jill declared Stealth, she has to play lower than a 0. She plays a 1 and a -2 skill (totalling -1) and defeats the guard. She also gets to draw a card because of her skill.

Other elite guards are two guards - both must be defeated!

Example: The elite guard is two guards: a 3 and a 5. Shelly declared Strength so has to play higher than a 3 and then higher than a 5. She plays a 4 to defeat the 3 guard and a 5 with a skill to defeat the 5 guard. Then she draws a card because of her skill.

Stop or continue - After each guard card is defeated, you must decide to stop or continue. If you stop, you can take cards from the display. But if you want to continue, declare you are moving forward, and again draw one card from the House deck and one the Guard deck - placing both face up. Then you must defeat the guard with the remaining cards in your hand. You also must continue using your declared stealth or strength!

Example: Gabriel has declared Strength and sees there is an elite guard coming up next. If he continues, he might be facing a very tough guard. He decides to take a chance, and flips over a new house card and the elite guard.

BE CAREFUL! If you continue and cannot play a dojo card to defeat a guard, your invasion fails and your turn immediately ends. You will not take any cards - only your opponents can take cards from the display!

Example: Gabriel declared Strength and now faces an elite guard - a 6! There's no way he can defeat that guard, so his invasion fails. He will not get to take any cards. However, his opponents still can choose 1 card to take - either 1 guard card (treasure) or 1 house card (envoy, skill or rumor).

(B) Taking Cards

After defeating guards, you may take cards from the display - guard cards (treasure) are free while house cards (envoys, skills or rumors) are bought with treasure. If your invasion failed, you cannot take any cards!

The number of cards you can take depends on the number of guard cards you defeated. If you defeated 1 or 2 guard cards, you may take 1 card. If 3 guards, up to 2 cards may be taken. If 4 guards, up to 3 cards may be taken, and so on. Elite guards with two guards depicted still count as only one guard card.

When taken, guard cards become treasure - place them face up in front of you. This treasure may be immediately used this same turn to buy a house card or kept for later.

To take a House Card you must pay an amount of treasure as indicated on the card. Discard used treasure to the guard discard pile. House cards bought are immediately placed in your hand!

Example: Phil defeated 4 guards, so he can take up to 3 cards. He has 1 fan saved from a previous turn. He spends the fan to buy 1 rumor, then takes 1 vase as treasure for free, and spends that vase to buy 1 skill card.

Each house card costs specific treasure or a combination of a kind of treasure: fan, scroll, vase or jade. Gold is 'wild' and can substitute for any treasure (e.g. 1 gold can be used as 1 jade).

There are 4 kinds of treasure - fan, scroll, vase, and jade. Gold can be used as any kind of treasure.

• This envoy can be bought with any 1 treasure plus any 2 treasures of the same kind (e.g. 1 jade and 2 fans.)
• This envoy can be bought with 2 fans and 1 scroll.
• This envoy can be bought with 1 jade, 1 vase and 1 scroll.
• This rumor can be bought with any 1 treasure.
• This skill can be bought with any 2 treasures of the same kind.
• This skill can be bought with any 1 treasure plus any 1 treasure (they could be the same or different kinds).

After you have finished taking cards (or if your invasion failed and you could not take any cards), the opportunity to take cards passes to the player on your left who may take only one card - either 1 treasure for free or buy 1 house card.

This continues clockwise around the table to each opponent, each having an opportunity to take one card. Note that a player may have more than 6 cards in hand after buying a house card. If there are no treasures left and you can't pay for a house card with treasure, you can't take any cards.

Ending Your Turn

Discard any remaining house and guard cards in the display back to their respective discard piles. Discard all of your played cards to your discard pile. Draw and fill your hand to 6 cards from your draw pile. If you ever run out of cards, shuffle your discards to form a new draw pile.

You may discard or keep any unplayed cards still in your hand. If you have more than 6 cards, you must discard down to 6 cards. You can keep no more than 4 treasures in front of you. Discard any additional ones back to the guard discard pile.

Pass the shuriken to the player on your left. It is now their turn. If the house or guard deck ever runs out, shuffle the discards to form a new face down house or guard draw deck.

Example: At the end of his turn, Gabriel has 6 treasures. He has to discard down to 4, so he discards a fan and scroll.

End of the Game

After a player finishes their turn gaining their 4th clan token by playing an envoy or gains the final clan token (there are no tokens left), continue play until all have an equal number of turns. Note: You may still take cards from the display when an opponent finishes their invasion even after your last turn!

Winning the Game

Players total up points for all of their cards (envoys, rumors and skills) and clan tokens, Each unspent treasure (guard or elite guard) is worth 1 point.

• The envoys score 9. Each rumor scores 2 (1 for each envoy). So the total here is 13.
• The skills score 4 plus the rumor scores another 3 (1 for each skill). So the total here is 7.
• These rumors depend on who else has them. If only one player has these rumors to score, they would be worth 6 each. If two players have them, they would score 4 each. If three or more players have them, they would score 2 each. For example, if only you had these, the total would be 12.
• This rumor scores 1 for each rumor you have including this one. So if you have 5 additional rumors, this rumor would score 6.
• Three left over treasures would score 3 points (1 for each treasure). The clan tokens add up to 8. So the total here is 11.

The player with the most points wins! If there is a tie, the player with the most envoys among the tied players wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most points in clan tokens among the tied players wins.

Reference

Buying House Cards

• Pay any 1 treasure to buy this card. For example, 1 vase or 1 scroll.
• Pay any 2 treasures of the same kind to buy this card. For example, 2 fans or 2 scrolls. Or you could pay 1 jade + 1 gold (the gold is used as 1 jade).
• Pay any 1 treasure plus any 1 treasure (these can be the same or different kinds) to buy this card. For example, 1 fan + 1 vase or 1 jade + 1 jade.
• Pay any 1 treasure plus any 2 treasures of the same kind to buy this card. For example, 1 jade + 2 fans or 1 scroll + 2 scrolls.
• Pay the indicated treasure to buy this card. In this case, 1 jade, 1 vase and 1 scroll.

Guard Reference

• You must defeat the guard. If you declared Stealth, you must play less than 2. If you declared Strength, you must play higher than a 4.
• You must defeat both guards. If you declared Strength, you must play one dojo card higher than 3 and another dojo card higher than 5.
• You must defeat the guard. If you declared Strength, you must play higher than 2. If you declared Stealth, you must play lower than 2.

Envoy Card Notes

• You may play this as a 2 dojo card to defeat a guard. If you do, you will collect the top blue clan token for scoring. Also, this card is worth 4 points at the end of the game.

Guard/Treasure Card Notes

• This guard is a vase treasure. You may discard the treasure to buy a house card. If you keep it until the end of the game, it is worth 1 point.
• This guard is a gold treasure. Gold may be used as any 1 treasure (it is a 'wild'). If you keep it until the end of the game, it is worth 1 point.

Rumor Card Notes

• You may play this as a 5 dojo card to defeat a guard. It is worth 1 point for each envoy (white) card you have at the end of the game.
• You may play this as a 5 dojo card to defeat a guard. It is worth 1 point for each rumor (purple) card (including this one) you have at the end of the game.
• You may play this as a 2 dojo card to defeat a guard. It is worth 1 point for each skill (grey) card (including your starting skills) you have at the end of the game.
• You may play this as a 3 dojo card to defeat a guard. It is worth either 6/4/2 points if 1/2/3+ players have one or more of these cards at the end of the game. For example, if two players have these cards, each is worth 4 points.
• You may draw 3 cards. It is also worth 2 points at the end of the game.

Skill Card Notes

• This is a starting skill. You may play this as a 3 dojo card OR add 1 or subtract 1 from a dojo card. It is not worth any points at the end of the game.
• You may play this as a 0 dojo card and then draw 1 card. It is worth 1 point at the end of the game.
• You may play this skill to switch from Strength to Stealth OR from Stealth to Strength. It is also worth 2 points at the end of the game.
• You may play this skill to add 2 to a dojo card and then draw a card. It is also worth 2 points at the end of the game.
• You may play this skill to add 1 or subtract 1 from a dojo card and then draw a card. It is also worth 2 points at the end of the game.
• You may play this as a 3 dojo card. If you take cards, you may use this as 1 gold (1 of any kind of treasure) to buy a house card. It is also worth 2 points at the end of the game.
• You may play this as a 1 dojo card OR as a 5 dojo card. It is also worth 2 points at the end of the game.

Credits

Design: A. B. West Illustrations: Drew Baker Logo Design: Peter Gifford

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