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Collection Status
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Description
Samurai is set in medieval Japan. Players compete to gain the favor of three factions: samurai, peasants, and priests, which are represented by helmet, rice paddy, and Buddha figures scattered about the board, which features the islands of Japan. The competition is waged through the use of hexagonal tiles, each of which help curry favor of one of the three factions — or all three at once! Players can make lightning-quick strikes with horseback ronin and ships or approach their conquests more methodically. As each figure (helmets, rice paddies, and Buddhas) is surrounded, it is awarded to the player who has gained the most favor with the corresponding group.
Gameplay continues until all the symbols of one type have been removed from the board or four figures have been removed from play due to a tie for influence.
At the end of the game, players compare captured symbols of each type, competing for majorities in each of the three types. Ties are not uncommon and are broken based on the number of other, "non-majority" symbols each player has collected.
The game is part of what is sometimes called the Knizia tile-laying trilogy.
Year Published
1998
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video tm__skcwBIs
Dice Tower general_discussion at 0:31 sentiment: positive
video_pk 28068 · mention_pk 82104
Click to watch at 0:31 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- beautiful board
- tight area control decisions
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Array
- Array
- area control and tile placement
- Array
- Feudal Japan–themed territory control
- Array
- Array
- Array
- positive
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — competition to dominate regions on the board
- area_control — competition to dominate regions on the board
- tile placement — arranging tiles to claim space and shape the map
- tile_placement — arranging tiles to claim space and shape the map
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is Samurai
- I love the drafting of this game that has this push your butt kind of feeling element
- Best game I played today is an oldie but a goodie. This is Aqua Romana from Queen Games.
- I cannot recommend this one enough if you're looking for a great two-player game.
- In this game, you are laying down tiles and you are trying to make the longest aqueduct you can.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video JVpqy0Ba4Go
game_rules_explanation at 0:00 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 12292 · mention_pk 35867
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- tile placement — Discussing how to place or swap tiles
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- what is this game this is called samurai
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video LyVN9RjEPyQ
Cardboard Herald interview at 4:19 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8809 · mention_pk 25965
Click to watch at 4:19 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- tight, clever scoring and tension-building mechanisms
- strong historic flavor with accessible strategic depth
Cons
- can be punishing for newcomers to heavier euro design
- some iterations may feel black-box without clear rules
Thematic elements
- control, negotiation, and strategic positioning
- Feudal Japan; political intrigue and battlefield tactics
- historical/strategic abstraction with thematic flavor
Comparison games
- Tigris & Euphrates
- Modern Art
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area majority / control — Players vie for region control to maximize influence and scoring.
- Auction / Bidding — Players bid for actions or territories, creating negotiation dynamics.
- set collection / resource management — Players collect and optimize resources to fuel actions.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- there's no fun game for everybody there are different approaches and people can pick what they like
- we didn't have the trouble of getting all the approvals from the movie side
- read Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck as a kid and suddenly I'm doing games about it
- the best thing is to give your best every day you don't know how many days you have left
- you've only one life
- Steve Jobs changed our world in our times probably like nobody else
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video xA8m_wZUK1Q
HCHQ general_discussion at 5:00 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 6728 · mention_pk 19996
Click to watch at 5:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Deep decision space can offer rich strategic exploration
- Compact playtime relative to cognitive load (implied by description)
Cons
- Frustrating and mentally exhausting
- Not necessarily beginner-friendly due to vast options
Thematic elements
- fealty, strategy, and decision space driving tension
- Feudal Japan setting referenced in discussion
- personal reaction, anecdotal and timeboxed streaming context
Comparison games
- QE
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- high decision space — The speaker describes a vast decision space that leads to mental effort and frustration, suggesting a heavy cognitive load rather than a quick, light game.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's an odd duck
- the reason i say that is aegis theme is thought of as like an auction with a game built around that core auction
- one auction in it at the beginning of the game and that's it
- y'all can't seem to get enough aegis theme and let's face it we love it here at hchq
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video pcBX9Jtrg-w
Chairman of the Board general_discussion at 16:12 sentiment: positive
video_pk 1836 · mention_pk 5324
Click to watch at 16:12 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- clever token movement tricks
- tight margins and strategic depth
Cons
- scoring can be mentally heavy for new players
Thematic elements
- strategic token placement to secure districts
- abstract area control with monuments
- tight, head-to-head competition
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area-control — surround monuments to gain majority and points
- token scoring — manipulating tokens to influence multiple monuments
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is the best area control game out there
- a perfect 10
- I adore El Grande
- really nice game I taught this to a complete non-gamer
- I love Feld games this one is just an absolutely brilliant one
- it's one of the best two-player games ever made
- overproduced to say the least
- one of my favorite dice games and it's actually just broken into my top 100 for the first time
- the sudden death mechanism where if you are the first player to collect three buildings then you'll instantly win
- really cool decisions
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–5 of 5