Honor of the Samurai

by Gamewright

Product Details

• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• ASIN: B00000ISTQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,488 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

Product Description

Editorial Review

The Honor of the Samurai is a card game of intrigue, honor, and shame set in 16th-century Japan. The historical richness of this period is written into the game directions. The object is to serve your warlord and become the most honorable samurai of the land. As you seek honor, you must also protect yourself from attack. To do this, you need to gain power by raising armies, having ninja at your disposal, and guarding yourself with castles. The game requires planning and strategy. Includes 110 cards that have three basic attributes--honor, ki, and strength--each of which includes a number value. The beautifully drawn cards depict historical figures and authentic dress and design. There are six custom dice, and each face of these die has a family crest and an assigned numerical value. A Games magazine selection. --Margaret Quinn

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delivers On All Its Promises. Destined To Be A Classic!, October 20, 2000

By 

Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine (Fairfax, Virginia) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Honor of the Samurai (Toy)

During the 16th century, Japan was immersed in its bloody Sengoku period, an anarchic time of warfare and intrigue between daimyos, powerful warlords roughly the equivalent of European barons.

In Honor of the Samurai, players are samurai warriors, each supporting a daimyo and striving to accumulate the most honor. Following a trend of recent years toward cards rather than a game table, actions in the game are resolved through disposition of cards on the table, strategic use of cards in hand, and periodic rolls of the dice.

"The Card Game of Intrigue, Honor and Shame" is the subtitle of the game, and aptly summarizes its action. While striving to acquire the most honor, players are constantly faced with the temptation to use dishonorable means, such as assassination, theft, or firearms. Success depends on a careful balance between honorable and dishonorable actions.

Game components include 110 cards, six custom dice, and a succinct rule book. The illustrations on the cards are beautifully rendered, depicting such things as daimyos, wives, armies, ancestors' weapons, and house guards. They are also on a heavy, laminated stock, helping to ensure that the game will hold up for a long time.

The standard-shaped dice (six-sided) are marked with the actual symbols of Japanese noble houses, each of which conforms to a different number. These are easily recognizable, e.g., the symbol for "1" is a red circle, for "2" a pair of parallel wavy lines, for "5" a five-sided lotus flower.

Play moves quickly, with a single turn rarely taking more than a few minutes. An entire game can be played in an hour or so, and the number of honor points needed to win the game can be reduced, shortening the length of play.

Fortunes can change quickly in Honor of the Samurai. In one turn a player can declare his daimyo to be shogun, overall warlord of Japan, and in the next that shogun will be deposed, slain in battle or dispatched by a ninja assassin. Then the title of shogun passes to the victor, or remains in contention.

Gamewright rates Honor of the Samurai as being suitable for ages 10 to adult. Indeed, after a few turns of play a reasonably clever child 10 or older can master the rudiments of the game and will enjoy intriguing with the best of them. Children and adults will also learn about the rich, violent history that is elegantly infused into the rules, and summarized in a brief section at the end.

Honor of the Samurai delivers on all its promises, and is destined to join the ranks of the best fast-paced strategy games.

--Michael J. Varhola for Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Card Game of Intrigue, Honour, and Shame, August 3, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Honor of the Samurai (Toy)

As an avid collector of board and card games, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of this title. While not as educational as some family games available, there are significant lessons to be learned. Younger players can build skills such as basic strategy and understanding the value of diplomacy. Older, more serious players can appreciate this game for its simple mechanics, subtle gameplay, and competitive gaming environment. Add this to the fun of interacting with other players in the political arena of ancient Japan, and Honor of the Samurai is sure to please. Highly Recommended.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Riviting Game about Historic Japan, November 28, 2001

By 

"chelsea102" (San Francisco Bay Area) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Honor of the Samurai (Toy)

I (age 14) recently played this game with my best friend and two 11 year olds (our sisters), and had a blast! We couldn't wait to play it again, and did in fact the next morning! Honor of the Samurai is a game that never gets boring, there are endless strategies on how to get earn 400 honor points (at which point you win the game), and keep other players from getting in your way while reaching that goal. Additionally, Honor of the Samurai is an incredibly fast paced game, one turn you could be winning the game, but by your next turn you could be wining it!

To give you a brief idea of how game play goes, each person possess a daimyo and a samurai (in English terminology, these would be similar to a noble/lord and a knight). Each player is given a daimyo and samurai card at the beginning of the game, which each have various pluses and minuses. These include ki (the combined ki of all your cards determines how many "card actions", --i.e. drawing and playing cards-- you get), honor (you get the combined honor points of al your cards at the beginning of each turn, remember to win you have to get 400 of these) and lastly strength, which helps you to win wars.

Once you understand these basic aspects, you can begin to draw and play cards, all of which increase you amount of ki, honor, strength, or a combination of the three. Some example cards are: castles which gain you honor and strength, armies which gain you strength, and wives, which gain you honor and ki.

The ultimate card however, is the shogun card, which makes your daimyo the "king." For every turn that you are the shogun, you gain between 50 and 100 honor points (depending on the number of players)! The title of shogun is the reason you have all of the other cards, so that you won't be assassinated, declared war on, have things stolen from you etc, and so that you can keep your title as shogun and increase your power.

So, there you about have it. Once again, I definitely recommend this games for kids and adults alike. Happy playing!

P.S. Every Game Wright I every played (over 6) has been great fun. I really recommend them!