Hagakure Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components and Setup
• Game Round
  • Dealing the Cards
  • Step 1: Preparation
  • Step 2: The Fight
  • Step 3: Scoring
• End of Game
• Nobori Tokens

Components and Setup

• 31 cards:
  • 17 Villagers (numbered 1 to 17)
  • 10 Samurai (numbered 18 to 27)
  • 3 Old Fools
  • 1 Player Aid
• 25 Nobori tokens
• 1 scorepad

Each player takes 5 Nobori tokens (1 color per player).

With 3 and 4 players, remove Villagers cards 1 to 5 and Samurai cards 23 to 27 from the game.

Game Round

A game consists of several Rounds (see End of Game), each composed of several turns. Each turn, players play one card. These cards form a trick.

Dealing the Cards

At the beginning of the first Round, choose a card dealer randomly. In the following rounds, the player sitting to the left of the last dealer becomes the next dealer. Cards are dealt according to the number of players.

• 3 players: Remove Villagers cards 1 to 5 and Samurai cards 23 to 27 from the game. Deal 5 cards per player. The 5 remaining cards form a pile of cards called the Yomi.
• 4 players: Remove Villagers cards 1 to 5 and Samurai cards 23 to 27 from the game. Deal 4 cards per player. The 4 remaining cards form the Yomi.
• 5 players: Deal 5 cards per player. The 5 remaining cards form the Yomi.

Yomi means "the land of the dead".

A Nobori is a Japanese banner, used to denote units on the battlefields of feudal Japan.

The first player is the player sitting at the left of the dealer.

Step 1: Preparation

Starting with the first player then in clockwise order, each player can decide to play one of their remaining Nobori tokens, visible from all (see Nobori Tokens). This token will only be active for the current round. It will then be discarded.

Step 2: The Fight

Starting with the first player then in clockwise order, each player plays a face-up card. The winner of the trick will play the first card for the next turn.

There is only one rule to play a card: if the player who starts the turn plays a Samurai (red card), the other players must play a Samurai if they have one in their hands. Otherwise, if the starting player plays a Villager (blue card), the other players are free to play the card of their choice.

Note: Old Fools are considered to be Samurai.

The player who played the highest value card wins the trick. If a single Old Fool has been played, it is considered to have a value of 0. However, if more than one Old Fool has been played, the last player who played an Old Fool wins the trick.

Step 3: Scoring

• +1 point: Players score 1 point for each trick they have won.
• +1 point: The player who has the card #18 scores 1 additional point.
• -2 points: Players who did not win any trick suffer a -2 points penalty.

At the end of a Round, write down each player's score on the scorepad.

End of Game

The game ends after a certain number of rounds, according to the number of players:

• 3 players: 9 rounds
• 4 players: 8 rounds
• 5 players: 5 rounds

The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, play one additional round.

Nobori Tokens

At the beginning of the game, each player receives 5 Nobori tokens (one of each type). Each token can only be used once per game. At the end of the round, the tokens that have been used are discarded.

The five Nobori tokens, in the order printed in the rulebook, have these effects:

1. The points scored by the player are doubled during this round. Be careful, if no tricks are won, the penalty becomes -4 instead of -2.
2. The player scores 0 points this round regardless of the number of tricks they won or having the Samurai #18 in one of their tricks.
3. If, at the end of the round, the player has at least 4 Villagers (5 for 5 player games) in his tricks, he scores 2 additional points.
4. The player can exchange all his cards with the Yomi.
5. The player can look at the cards in the Yomi, or at another player's hand of cards.