Samurai FAQ
39 questions players ask · Updated Nov 10, 2026 · Full rulebook
Setup
- Are starting tiles chosen before the caste pieces go on the board?
- Does the Edo space start with one piece of each caste?
- In what order are caste pieces placed at setup?
- Which board and how many caste pieces do you use for 2, 3 or 4 players?
- How is each player's set of 20 tiles set up at the start?
- Do the old and new editions of Samurai play differently?
Playing the Game
- How many tiles can a player place in one turn?
- Must every turn include a tile without a Japanese character?
- Must tiles with a Japanese character be played before the plain tile?
- Can you play a Samurai tile in the same turn as another tile?
- When do you refill your hand of face-up tiles back to five?
- Can every player run out of tiles before the game ends?
- Can you place tiles in several areas in one turn and capture from each?
Tiles
- Can a player use the switch tile more than once in a game?
- Can a Switch tile put two caste pieces of the same type in one city, including Edo?
- Can a Switch tile move a caste piece onto an empty space?
- Where does the move tile go when you use it?
- Can a move tile relocate a Ronin or another tile with a Japanese character?
- After using the move tile, can you still play a plain tile that turn?
- What does a Ronin tile do?
- Where can Ship and Samurai tiles be placed?
- Do Samurai tiles count as wild for all three caste types?
- Is the 7 printed on a Samurai tile its influence value?
Resolving Captures
- What happens to a surrounded caste piece if nobody has influence on it?
- Does a wild tile's influence count separately for every caste piece it surrounds?
- Does the order of resolving captures matter when a settlement holds several caste pieces?
- Are captured caste pieces taken after each tile, or at the end of the turn?
- Must a ship be next to a coastal city for the city to be surrounded?
- Are captured caste pieces hidden behind the screens, and can you keep a tally of opponents' captures?
Winning the Game
Scoring
- How is the winner decided at the end of Samurai?
- Does a player who leads two castes win outright?
- If nobody leads any caste, who wins?
- Does a tie for the most pieces of one caste give a player that caste's leader token?
- Does majority mean more than half of all pieces of a caste?
- When players are tied on leader tokens, do the pieces set aside count again?