Sushi Boat

Sushi Boat Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Materials

1 Wooden Sushi Boat Board with a "conveyor belt" that the Plates move through and 9 "seats" (or spaces for the pawns); at the back is a "tunnel" that hides 2 Plates
54 Plates representing the sushi recipes: 12 each of 4 colors + 6 white
1 Bag for the Plates
36 Wasabi Cubes
1 Wasabi Bowl to hold the Wasabi cubes
8 Staff Tiles with action graphics on one side and description on the other
54 Cards: 26 Side Dishes, 4 Wasabi, 20 Menus
5 Player Mats for placing Wasabi cubes and Plates, and with a final scoring summary
5 Wooden Pawns in different colors, 1 for each player
30 Yen Coins: 25 with value 1 (silver) + 5 with value 5 (gold)
5 Reference Cards for turn action order
1 Scoring Track to help you add up your score
1 Change Tray to hold the coins
to help store your pieces

Setting Up the Game

Place the board in the middle of the table.
Mix the Staff tiles and randomly place 1 on each Staff space (see image). You can place them with the graphics or the text face up, as you prefer. There will be 3 other tiles set to the side.
Place all of the Wasabi cubes in the Wasabi Bowl. Place all of the Yen in the change tray, this will be known as the Bank. Give each player 2 Yen.
Each player chooses a color and takes the matching pawn and player mat. The player who last ate sushi will be the starting player.
Put all of the colored Plates in the bag and mix them well (leave the white ones to the side for now). Then, randomly draw Plates and add them to the conveyor belt area of the board one at a time until the board is full. Then, draw 3 more Plates and add them to the Trash, beside the board. After filling the game board, add the white Sushi Plates to the bag and mix them in.
Separate the 4 Wasabi cards from the Side Dish cards and set them aside for the moment.
Shuffle the Side Dish cards together. Then, depending on the number of players, remove a number of random Side Dishes from the deck and return them to the box without looking at them (you will not use them this game):

Number of Players	Number of Cards to Remove
2	10 Side Dishes
3	6 Side Dishes
4	6 Side Dishes
5	5 Side Dishes

Then, set aside a number of Side Dish cards equal to the number of players.
Take the remaining Side Dish cards and shuffle them together with the Wasabi cards and create a face-down draw deck near the game board. Put the Side Dish cards you just set aside on top of the deck, also face down. In this way, you will ensure that no Wasabi Challenge occurs before the Conveyor Belt has been refilled a few times. Save enough space for a discard pile next to the deck.

Playing the Game

Beginning with the starting player, you'll take turns going to the left!

Note: If you are playing a two-player game, there are some additional rules you must use (see pages 13-14).

On your turn, you do the following in this order:

You must turn over the top card of the deck and refill the Sushi Boat; then
You must move your pawn to an empty seat; then
You may perform one action; then
You must eat sushi.

Step 1: Reveal a Card from the Deck

At the start of your turn, flip over the top card of the deck and place it on the discard pile.

If you reveal a Wasabi card, the game is interrupted by a Wasabi Challenge (see below). Once the Wasabi Challenge is complete, continue with Step 2 of your turn.

If you reveal a Side Dish, you must refill the board by pulling random Plates from the bag one at a time and pushing them into the board. When you do, you will automatically push the Plates already on the board to make space!

Look at the icon at the top of the card you revealed:

If the symbol is red (Trash icon), keep adding Plates to the board until the first token falls into the Trash.
If the symbol is green (arrow icon), keep adding Plates to the board until it is full, but do not let any Plates fall into the Trash.

Important: Always add new Plates at the beginning of the track, marked with the arrow! Never add Plates to the middle of the board or push them in from the Trash!

Example: Aria starts her turn by flipping over the top card of the deck, revealing a Tempura card with a red symbol. Since there is one open space on the Conveyor Belt, she will have to add 2 Plates, pushing 1 into the Trash.

Note: It is possible, though unlikely, that there will not be enough Plates in the bag to refill the board. If this happens, return all of the Plates in the Trash to the bag and mix them well before refilling the board.

Wasabi Challenge

When a Wasabi card is revealed, the game stops temporarily: it's time for the Wasabi Challenge!

During a Wasabi Challenge, each player tries to guess the color of the 2 Plates hidden in the tunnel at the back of the Sushi Boat.

First, take all of the Plates in the Trash and return them to the bag (mix well!).

Then, each player takes 2 Wasabi cubes from the bowl and secretly places them on their player mat to mark the colors they think match the hidden Plates (use your hand to hide your cubes). You may place both Wasabi cubes on the same color if you think both Plates are that color.

Once all players have made their choice, everybody reveals their Wasabi cube guesses.

Finally, add Plates to the board until the two hidden Plates are fully revealed (this may push some Plates into the Trash—that's okay!).

Each player now compares their guess to the 2 Plates that were revealed: for each color that you guessed correctly, you keep that Wasabi cube. Any incorrect guesses must be returned to the bowl.

After the Wasabi Challenge is complete, remove the Wasabi card from the game (do not place it in the discard pile). Then the current player continues play with Step 2 of their turn.

Wasabi card text: Return all Plates in the Trash to the bag. Then, each player guesses the colors of the 2 Plates hidden at the back of the Sushi Boat.

Example: Matteo flips over a Wasabi card at the beginning of his turn: It's time for a Wasabi Challenge! First, he puts the 3 Plates in the Trash back into the bag. Then, every player takes 2 Wasabi cubes and secretly places them on their player mats, in the spaces that match the colors they think are hidden. Matteo picks green and red. When everyone is ready, they reveal their guesses and Matteo pushes Plates into the Conveyor Belt until the 2 hidden Plates are revealed: they're both green! Since one of Matteo's guesses was right, he keeps 1 Wasabi cube and returns the other one to the bowl.

Step 2: Move Your Pawn

You must move your pawn every turn. You can move it to any seat on the game board that is not already occupied by another player's pawn.

Seats are marked with the round symbol.

Important: 3 of the seats are marked with a "4+" symbol. These spaces can only be used in games with 4 or 5 players. If you are playing a 2- or 3-player game, you cannot place your pawn in any of these spaces.

Spending Yen: If you really want a space that another player's pawn is on, you may pay them 1 Yen to take their seat. They remove their pawn from the board, and you place yours in the now-empty space (See "Spending Yen" on page 10).

You may not leave your pawn in the same seat. If your pawn is not currently on the board (during the first turn, for example), you may place it in any empty seat.

Example: Aria would really like a blue Plate to continue the run she's making in her stack, and there are 2 of them on the board. One is next to Matteo's pawn, so Aria moves her pawn to the seat next to the other blue Plate.

Step 3: Perform One of These Actions

After you move your pawn, you may take one action in your new space. You have three options:

Visit the Staff in that space to use their special ability - pay 1 Yen!
Buy the top Side Dish from the discard pile - pay 1 Yen!
Take 1 Yen from the bank

Option #1: Visiting the Staff

Some seats have a Staff tile next to them. When you move your pawn to one of these spaces, you may use that tile's ability. But, you must pay 1 Yen to the bank to use a Staff tile's ability.

There are 7 different Staff:

Hiroshi: You may take the Plate from the matching space on the opposite side of the board (in the same row marked on the board).
Satsuki: Draw 2 Plates from the bag and then choose 1 to add to your stack of Plates. You may add it to the top or the bottom of your stack. Return the other Plate to the bag.
Neko: Take 1 Plate of your choice from the Trash and add it to your stack. (There may be 2 Neko in play—they both do the same thing. We love the Neko here!)
Yuki & Takeshi: Take 1 Plate from either space that is adjacent to your seat (left or right on the conveyor belt).
Momoko: Exchange Momoko with another Staff tile (even one not currently in the game!). Then, use that Staff tile's action.
Akiko: Take any 1 Plate from the board and place it on your stack. This Plate cannot match the color of the Plate on top of your stack.
Sakura: Take 1 Wasabi cube and place it on your mat (you'll score 1 point for it at the end of the game).

Example: Aria's pawn is on a seat with a Neko. For her action, she pays 1 Yen to the bank, then takes the Plate of her choice from the Trash—a blue Plate with a salmon sushi—and adds it to her stack of Plates.

Option #2: Buying a Side Dish

You can buy the top Side Dish card from the discard pile by paying 1 Yen to the bank. Add your new Side Dish to your hand to use later. See "Side Dishes" below for more details.

You may play your new Side Dish on the same turn that you buy it, if you wish, or save it for a later turn.

Option #3: Taking Yen

Take 1 Yen from the bank and add it to your supply.

Example: It's Matteo's turn. He's a little short of money, so for his action he takes 1 Yen from the bank.

Special Actions

At any time during your turn, you may also play any number of Side Dishes...

Side Dishes

The perfect sushi meal requires the perfect accompaniment! Use these tasty side dishes to enhance your meal (and further your strategy!).

Each Side Dish card shows a Special Action that you may use one time. You may play any number of Side Dishes during your turn. When you play a Side Dish, follow the instructions on the card, then place it face up in front of you next to your player mat.

There are 10 kinds of Side Dishes:

Edamame: Swap the Plate on top of your stack with any 1 Plate on the board, then take 1 Yen from the bank.
Fugu: Name 2 colors, then pull 1 Plate from the bag—if it matches one of those colors, take 3 Yen; if not, take the top Plate from your stack and place it in the Trash. Either way, return the Plate you drew to the bag.
Gyoza: This card is worth 1 point at the end of the game.
Miso Soup: You may look at all of the Plates in your stack without changing their order (return them to your stack), then draw the top Side Dish from the discard pile and add it to your hand.
Mochi Ice Cream: Move the top Plate from your stack to any position in your stack.
Onigiri: Take 2 Yen from the bank -OR- Play this card during a Wasabi Challenge to automatically "guess" correctly with all of your cubes. You must play it before the hidden Plates are revealed.
Takoyaki: Play this card during a Wasabi Challenge: You get to use 3 Wasabi Cubes to guess the color of the hidden Plates and you get to see all of the other players' guesses before you decide how to guess (but before the hidden Plates are revealed, of course!). It may be possible to win all 3 wasabi cubes in this way.
Tempura: Choose any Plate on the board and push it forward 1 space (towards the Trash). This may "push" other Plates forward also, possibly pushing 1 into the Trash. After pushing the Plate, take 1 Yen from the bank.

At the end of the game, the players who "eat" the most Side Dishes (by playing Side Dish cards) will earn bonus victory points! (See Final Scoring).

Important: You can only hold up to 2 Side Dishes in your hand. If you draw a third card, you must immediately discard the card of your choice without using its Special Action.

Example: On an earlier turn, Matteo bought an Edamame Side Dish card. He plays the card to swap the yellow Plate on top of his stack for a green one on the conveyor belt. Then he takes 1 Yen from the bank. The Edamame card stays face up next to his stack of Plates—he has "eaten" the tasty treat!

Spending Yen

At any time during your turn, you may spend Yen from your supply to take any of the following Special Actions, in any combination:

Special Order: You may return 1 Yen to the bank to add 1 random plate drawn from the bag to the board (adding it to the beginning of the track as normal, see Step 1).
Take a Seat: You may pay 1 Yen to another player to remove their pawn from the game board (so you can use the seat they were on). During their next turn, that player can place their pawn on any seat, as normal.

Step 4: Eating Sushi and Stacking Plates

The best part of going to a sushi shop is eating the sushi, of course! Once you are done enjoying your sushi masterpiece, kindly stack your plates in front of you. When you are finished, our friendly staff will be happy to clear them away!

When you eat sushi, take the Plate from the conveyor belt space that is next to the seat your pawn is on.

Important: 3 of the seats are marked with arrows. These seats each have 2 Plates next to them. When you place your pawn in one of these seats, you may only take 1 of those 2 Plates, not both of them!

As you collect Plates, you will create a stack of them in front of you. You must always place your new Plate on top of your stack. You cannot change the order of your Plates once they are on your stack. Also, you cannot look at the Plates in your stack except for the one on top: once you've eaten the sushi, you have to remember what it was!

You can place any color of Plate on top of any other in any order, but remember:

You score points for eating a variety of sushi, so try to get as many different kinds as you can!
If you stack 2 or more Plates of the same color in a row, you'll score bonus points (see "Final Scoring").
White Plates are never counted when scoring matching colors—they don't add to the color sequence, but they don't break the series either.

Example: After completing her action, Aria takes the blue Plate with the shrimp sushi that's next to the seat her pawn is on and adds it to the top of her stack of Plates.

After you have eaten your sushi, your turn ends and the player to your left begins their turn.

The End of the Game

Finished eating? I trust that your meal tasted as fantastic as it looked! Let's just tally up your total now and see who had the best sushi feast!

The game ends when the last card in the draw deck is turned over. Finish playing your turn as normal, then it's time for the final scoring!

Final Scoring

First, place the Scoring Track in the middle of the table and move all players' pawns to the "0" space on the track. As you add up your points, move your pawn up the track to show your new total. When you're done counting, the player furthest ahead on the track will be the winner!

Each player counts:

Colors in a Row—Every group of the same color Plates in your stack is worth a number of points equal to the number of Plates in that group minus 1 (so, 4 red Plates together is worth 3 points). You may score for more than one group in your stack. White Plates do not interrupt a color group, but they are not counted (even if you have a group of white tokens together). Remember: always count these points before proceeding to the next step!
Sets of Different Sushi—There are 7 different types of sushi on the Plates. Arrange your Plates into sets, with each Plate in the set showing a different sushi. The color of these Plates does not matter, only the type of sushi matters!

You may have more than one set of Sushi.

The number of points each set is worth is based on the number of different sushi types in the set:

Sushi Types Points
1 0
2 0
3 1
4

Sushi Types	Points
1	0
2	0
3	1
4

Whoever has the most points wins! In case of a tie, the tied player with the most Yen wins. If they are still tied, they share the victory.

Example: It's the end of the game, and Aria is adding up her score.

First, she looks at her stack of Plates. She has a run of 4 blue Plates (she gets to count all four despite the fact that there is a white Plate in the middle of the run) and a separate run of 2 red plates. She gets 3 points for the blue Plates and 1 point for the red Plates.

Then, she lays out all of her Plates into sets of different sushi types: She is able to make a set of 6 different sushi (worth 7 points) plus a set of 3 different sushi (worth 1 point), with 1 leftover Plate.

Looking at her Side Dishes, she sees that she has eaten the second most, which awards her 2 points. One of them is a Gyoza, though, which gives her 1 bonus point.

Finally, she counts up the Wasabi cubes she collected during the game: a total of 4 more points.

Adding it all up together gives her 3 (blue Plates) + 1 (red Plates) + 7 (set of 6 Sushi) + 1 (set of 3 Sushi) + 2 (Side Dishes) + 1 (Gyoza) + 4 (Wasabi) = 19 points. A sumptuous Sushi feast for sure!

2-Player Games

If you are playing a game with two players, there is a special restriction when you move your pawn.

The Sushi Boat board is divided into a number of rows. Each row has a number of seats in it. In a game with 3 or more players, you are only prevented from placing your pawn in the same seat as another player, and you may use a different seat in the same row. But, in a 2-player game, you cannot place your pawn in any seat in the same row as the other player.

As usual, you may give your opponent 1 Yen to remove their pawn so you can place yours in a seat you are blocked from using.

Example: In a 2-player game, Matteo's pawn (red) is in the third row, so Aria (blue) cannot place her pawn on any of the crossed out seats (remember: seats marked "4+" are not playable in a 2-player game). She will either have to pay Matteo a Yen or move to one of the available seats.

A meal made entirely of your favorite sushi is a wonderful thing, but to make it truly special, you can combine different flavors to make the perfect pairing! It's like a celebration in your mouth!

The Menu Pairing cards are an option you can use if you would like to add another layer of strategy to your Sushi Boat game. Each card shows a combination that can include sushi types, Plates, and/or Side Dishes. If you can "eat" everything on your Menu card, you'll earn bonus points!

Menu cards are always kept secret from the other players until the end of the game. You must reveal the number of Menu cards you have, but not the nature of their pairings.

Setup

Before the game, shuffle the Menu cards and create a face-down deck. Deal each player 2 Menu cards. Each player looks at their cards, chooses 1 to keep, and places the other at the bottom of the deck.

You now have another Special Action you may take at any time during your turn (in addition to playing Side Dishes and spending Yen):

Request an Additional Menu: You may gain an additional Menu card by paying 1 Yen to the bank. Draw 2 Menu cards from the deck, choose 1 to keep, and return the other to the bottom of the deck. There is no limit to the number of Menu cards you can have.

At the end of the game, reveal all of your Menu cards. For each card, if you have collected the combination shown, you get the bonus points listed! There is no penalty for not completing a Menu.

Some Menu cards simply show a specific requirement, such as "have at least 5 Side Dishes" or "have at least 4 yellow and 4 blue Plates." If you have them in your stack or next to your mat, you complete the Menu and score the points.

Other Menu cards require that you have "the most" or "the least" of something. In order to score the points for one of these Menus, you must compare your collection to the other players. You must have the single most or least of the item to score the Menu—a tie isn't good enough.

Menu	Requirement	Points
All You Can Eat	You are the player with the most Plates in your stack	5 pts
Adult's Menu	You have all 7 kinds of Sushi and at least 2 Side Dishes	5 pts
Sushi Only	You don't have any Side Dishes	5 pts
Samurai	You have the most Wasabi cubes	5 pts
Kimono	You have at least 3 California rolls (white Plates)	5 pts
Children's Menu	You are the player with the fewest Plates in your stack

FAQs

Is a Plate considered "falling in the trash" when it reaches the trash symbol or falls off the Sushi Boat board? A Plate "falls into the trash" when it reaches the red trash symbol.

All of the Wasabi Challenges have been completed, and I forgot to play my Takoyaki card. Can I still count it towards my Side Dishes? Sure! You can play the card during your turn, it just won't have any effect other than adding to your Side Dish collection.

If I use an ability like Yuki & Takeshi or Edamame, can I pick a Plate that is in the tunnel? No. You cannot take any Plates out of the tunnel by any means. You have to wait until they come completely out the other side!

Can Takoyaki really let me get 3 Wasabi cubes? How does that work with Onigiri? Yes! Takoyaki lets you guess with 3 Wasabi cubes instead of 2. If you place your 3rd cube on the same color as one of your 2 regular cubes, and that guess is right, you get both cubes! If your other cube is also right, you get all 3. Onigiri just makes all of your guesses correct automatically. So if you play both cards during the same Wasabi Challenge, you get all 3 cubes.

Do I have to pay 1 yen to tip the staff member that I summoned using Momoko's ability? No - the tip you gave to Momoko will be handed off to the new staff member, no need to tip twice!