Nippon: Zaibatsu Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Common
  • Per Player (×4)
  • For Solo
  • Modules
• Setup
  • Common Setup
  • 6 Types of Goods
  • Individual Setup
  • Starting Conditions
    • Starting Tokens A
• General Concepts
  • Basic Icons
  • Note on Silk
• Gameplay
• Actions
  • R&D (Research & Development) Action
  • Bonuses
  • Mining Action
  • Factory Action
    • Types of Factory Effects
    • Factory Types
    • Build a Factory
    • Factory Tile
  • Machines Action
    • Build a Machine
  • Production Action
    • Produce
  • Trains Action
    • Build a Train
  • Ships Action
    • Build a Ship
  • Department Bonuses
  • Investment and Contracts Action
    • Fulfill a Contract
  • Local Markets Action
    • Serve a Local Market
• Consolidation
• End of the Round
  • Final Rounds
• Influence Scoring
• End of the Game
  • Final Consolidation
  • Final Scoring
• Late-Game Factories Module
• Common Goals Module
  • Gameplay
• Solo Mode
  • Changes in Setup
  • Automa Setup
  • Gameplay (Solo)
    • Determining a Region
  • Influence Scoring, and the End of the Game (Solo)

Components

Common

• Main board
• 24 standard Factory tiles
• 9 Demand tiles
• 24 Upgraded Department tokens
• 16 Starting tokens A/B and 1 Old Factory tile
• Money (15 Money tokens '1000', 15 Money tokens '3000', 10 Money tokens '5000')
• 2 Round markers
• 6 Expert Worker tokens
• 32 Goods cubes
• 48 Worker meeples (8 per color: white, blue, grey, yellow, red, black)
• Resources (32 Coal cubes, 24 Silk cubes, 24 Iron cubes)
• Cloth bag
• Rulebook

Per Player (×4)

• 1 Zaibatsu board
• 2 Scoring discs ('0/100' and '200/300')
• 6 Ships
• 8 Contract tokens
• 6 Machines
• Track markers (1 R&D marker, 1 Mining marker, 1 Finance marker)
• 6 Trains
• 10 Influence tokens
• 9 Favor tokens
• 1 Player's Handbook

For Solo

• Automa board
• 9 Action tokens
• 9 Solo Goal tokens

Modules

• Common Goals board
• 9 Common Goal tokens (back sides of the Solo Goal tokens)
• 6 late-game Factory tiles

Setup

Common Setup

The Main board has a Worker Queue (three areas — top, middle, and bottom — with rows for Worker meeples), a Hiring area (Hiring spaces for Worker meeples), and Actions corresponding to different Hiring spaces. It also has a Scoring track, Local Markets (each has four Influence spaces and a City space for a Demand tile), a Round track (divided into Periods, with dark and light spaces for Round markers), and an Iwakura Mission area with six Destinations with spaces for Ships, Expert Worker tokens, and Upgraded Department tokens.

1a. Place the Main board in the center of the table.

1b. Place 8 random Demand tiles on the Main board — 1 tile face up on each City space. Also, randomize the direction of each Demand tile. Return the remaining tile to the box.

1c. Place the Round markers on the leftmost dark and light spaces of the Round track.

2a. Place the Expert Worker tokens on the dedicated spaces in the Iwakura Mission area.

2b. Place the Upgraded Department tokens on the dedicated spaces in the Iwakura Mission area (1/2/3/4 of each type for a 1/2/3/4-player game, respectively).

3a. Fill the bag with Worker meeples:

• In a 4-player game, put all 48 Workers into the bag.
• In a 3-player game, remove 1 set of 6 Workers of different colors and put the rest 42 Workers into the bag. Return the removed set to the box.
• In a 2-player game, remove 2 sets of 6 Workers of different colors and put the rest 36 Workers into the bag. Return the removed sets to the box.

3b. Fill the Hiring area with random Workers from the bag. Place 3 Workers on each Hiring space.

3c. Fill the Worker Queue with random Workers from the bag:

• In a 4-player game, place Workers in all three areas of the Worker Queue.
• In a 3-player game, place Workers in the top and middle areas of the Worker Queue.
• In a 2-player game, place Workers only in the top area of the Worker Queue.

4a. Separate the standard Factory tiles (numbered 1–4) into 6 piles by type. Place random Factories near the Main board (2/3/4 of each type for a 2/3/4-player game, respectively). You may randomize Factories' sides, but we recommend playing with side A in your first games. Those Factories will be available to build from the start of the game. Return unused standard Factories to the box.

4b. Late-Game Factories module. You may add random late-game Factory tiles (numbered 5) to the available Factories (3/4/5 late-game Factories for a 2/3/4-player game, respectively). You may randomize Factories' sides. We do not recommend using this module in your first games or mixing it up with the Common Goals module.

5a. Place all Goods, Resources, and Money near the Main board so that all players can comfortably reach them — this is the general supply.

6a. Common Goals module. Place the Common Goals board to the left of the Main board. Place random Common Goal tokens on the dedicated spaces (1/2/3 Common Goals in each Period for a 2/3/4-player game, respectively). We do not recommend using this module in your first games or mixing it up with the Late-Game Factories module.

The rules for Solo mode are described on pp. 20–23.

6 Types of Goods

• Cotton
• Paper
• Bento
• Lenses
• Bulbs
• Clocks

Individual Setup

The Zaibatsu board has a Departments area (spaces for gained Upgraded Department tokens), a Workers area (spaces for taken Worker meeples), an R&D, Mining, and Finance area (respective tracks), a Ships, Machines, and Trains area (respective spaces), a Factories area (spaces for built Factory tiles and produced Goods cubes), a Contracts area (spaces for fulfilled Contract tokens), and a Personal Objectives area (respective spaces for gained Favor tokens).

Each player chooses their color and takes all components of that color, as well as 3 Track markers. Each player sets up their Zaibatsu board (hereinafter referred to as Zaibatsu):

1. Place 6 Ships, 6 Machines, and 6 Trains on the dedicated spaces of your Zaibatsu.
2. Place 3 Track markers on the leftmost spaces of respective tracks of your Zaibatsu.
3. Place 3 Influence tokens (with values '3', '5', and '7') on the left side of your Zaibatsu. Those Influence tokens are unavailable to you until gained. Also, place both Scoring discs there.
4. Place 7 remaining Influence tokens in your supply to the right of your Zaibatsu. Those Influence tokens are available to you from the start of the game.
5. Place all 8 Contracts face up to the left of your Zaibatsu. Those Contracts are available to you for fulfilling from the start of the game.
6. Separate the Favor tokens into 3 piles by type. Place them on the dedicated spaces of your Zaibatsu.

Starting Conditions

Randomly determine the first player. Set random pairs of Starting tokens A + B face up (3/4/5 pairs for a 2/3/4-player game, respectively). Starting with the player to the right of the first player and proceeding counterclockwise, each player chooses 1 pair (that pair is no longer available for choosing) and immediately takes the following steps in order:

1. Apply the effect shown on the left side of the Starting token A.
2. Place your Scoring disc '0/100' (no value side up) on the Main board's Scoring track's space corresponding to the value shown on the right side of the Starting token A.
3. Gain all bonuses (Resources, Money, advance the tracks) shown on the Starting token B (see 'General Concepts' on p. 7).

Return unused Starting tokens to the box. Now, you are ready to start the game.

Starting Tokens A

• Take 1 Machine from your Zaibatsu and add it to your supply. You must immediately place that Machine on the leftmost space in the first Factory you build. This is the only exception when a Machine may be added to a player's supply.
• Build 1 Ship. Take an Expert Worker and an Upgraded Department token as normal (see 'Build a Ship' on p. 13).
• Build 1 Train (see 'Build a Train' on p. 12).
• Take the Old Factory tile and place it on the leftmost space in the Factories area of your Zaibatsu, with Paper or Cotton side up by your choice. Place 1 Goods on the space below the Old Factory.
• Take 1 Worker of your choice from the bag and place it on the lowermost space in the Workers area of your Zaibatsu.
• Take 2 Goods and add them to your supply. You must immediately place those Goods in the first Factory you build.
• Take 3 Coal and place them on this token. You may use those Coal as normal. Do not discard those Coal in step B of the Consolidation.
• Spend 2 Money less each time you build a Factory with the Factory action.

General Concepts

• All effects of your components affect only your Zaibatsu unless otherwise specified.
• You may apply effects only on your turn unless otherwise specified.
• If an effect instructs you to gain Resources or Money, take corresponding components from the general supply. If an effect instructs you to spend or discard Goods, Resources, or Money, return corresponding components to the general supply. Your Resources, Money, available Influence tokens, and some specific components are stored in your supply.
• If an effect instructs you to advance on the track, move your marker forward on the corresponding track. If an effect instructs you to go back on the track, move your marker backward on the corresponding track.
• Markers cannot be moved forward from the last space or backward from the first space of the track. In this case, if an effect instructs you to do so, nothing happens.
• If an effect instructs you to take a Ship, Machine, or Train from your Zaibatsu, take the leftmost one.
• Generally, red numbers on icons refer to spending, and white numbers refer to gaining Resources/Goods/Money/etc.

Basic Icons

• Coal
• Goods
• Silk
• Advance on the R&D track
• Iron
• Advance on the Mining track
• Money
• Advance on the Finance track
• Victory points

Note on Silk

Like in other regions of the world, textiles in Japan were very much relevant for the process of the Industrial Revolution. In this regard, silk assumed a principal role and became one of the structural engines for the economy of Meiji Japan. It allowed the concretization of big economic revenues and with them the evident evolution of the economic structures. In Nippon, to reflect this status quo and its importance for the Industrial Revolution in Japan, silk may be used as R&D or money.

• When building a Factory, you may spend 1/3/6 Silk to temporarily increase your R&D level by 1/2/3, respectively.
• At any moment of your turn, you may spend 1 Silk to gain 1 Money any number of times.

Gameplay

A game of Nippon: Zaibatsu lasts 3 Periods. Each Period consists of several Rounds, and Rounds consist of players' turns. At the end of each Period, players earn Victory points for Influence majority in the Regions. Also, at the end of the game, players earn Victory points for the development of their Zaibatsu. The player with the most Victory points wins. Influence in the Regions and development of the Zaibatsu are the main ways to victory.

Players take their turns clockwise starting with the first player. On their turn, a player must choose one:

• Perform an action (see below).
• Make a Consolidation. If a player cannot or does not want to perform an action, they must choose to make a Consolidation (see p. 17).

To perform an action, take the following steps in order:

A. Choose an action and take a Worker

Choose an action on the Main board. Then, take 1 Worker from the Hiring space above the chosen action and place that Worker on the lowermost empty space in the Workers area of your Zaibatsu.

• If there are no empty spaces in your Workers area, you may not perform an action and must make a Consolidation instead.
• You may not choose the action if you cannot perform it at least one time (see step B below).
• If there are no actions you can perform, you must make a Consolidation.
• Generally, colors of the Workers do not matter for performing actions, they are important only during Consolidation.

B. Pay the action in full

Even if an action can be performed more than once (up to three times), it is considered one action (you took one Worker for that).

You may pay for each time separately, but resources, Goods, or Money you gain from the action become available to you only after that action is fully completed (that is you performed it the desired number of times). Thus, you may not spend resources, Goods, or Money gained during the action to pay that action.

Actions are described in detail on pp. 9–16.

Note — Run Out of Workers: At the very end of your turn, if there are no Workers in any space of the Hiring area, move all Workers from the topmost filled row of the Worker Queue to an empty space in the Hiring area. If you cannot move Workers (all rows of the Worker Queue are already empty), the round ends (see p. 18).

Actions

R&D (Research & Development) Action

1 time: Spend 1/3/6 Money to advance the R&D marker 1/2/3 spaces, respectively.

Example: The Purple player takes a white Worker to perform the R&D action. They spend 1 Money and advance the R&D marker 1 space.

Bonuses

• R&D, Mining, and Finance tracks have bonuses shown on their spaces. You gain that bonus when the respective marker reaches (or passes through) its space.
• Ships, Machines, and Trains area has bonuses shown between the spaces. You gain that bonus when both adjacent spaces (above and below the bonus icon) become empty.
• Gain all bonuses at the end of the step you have reached them.

The bonus icons are:

• Gain the respective Department bonus (see p. 14).
• Gain any Department bonus of your choice.
• Advance on the Finance track.
• Take the respective Influence token from your Zaibatsu and add it to your supply.

Mining Action

1 time: Spend 1/3/6 Money to advance the Mining marker 1/2/3 spaces, respectively.

Example: The Green player takes a red Worker to perform the Mining action. They spend 3 Money and advance the Mining marker 2 spaces.

Factory Action

1 time: Spend 6 Money to build a Factory.

Types of Factory Effects

• Immediate. Immediately apply the effect of the Factory after placing it on your Zaibatsu.
• Action modifier. Factories can modify the actions. You may only apply a modifier from one Factory per action, even if you have more than one Factory with the same respective modifier.
• Special. Some Factories have permanent effects or effects triggered in specific situations. Such Factories have no icon to the left of the effect.

Note: Factory effects are not actions, so those effects cannot be modified by the action modifiers.

Factory Types

There are 6 types of Factories divided into 3 levels:

• Level 1 — Cotton Factories and Paper Factories. They require R&D level 2 to build and 2 Coal to produce.
• Level 2 — Bento Factories and Lense Factories. They require R&D level 4 to build and 3 Coal to produce.
• Level 3 — Bulb Factories and Clock Factories. They require R&D level 6 to build and 4 Coal to produce.

Build a Factory

Do the following in order:

1. Choose an available Factory.
2. Take the chosen Factory tile and place it on the leftmost empty space in the Factories area of your Zaibatsu.
3. Apply the immediate effect, if any, shown at the top of that Factory tile. (See detailed description of all Factory effects in a Player's Handbook.)

Additional Rules and Clarifications

• To build the chosen Factory, you must meet its R&D requirement with your R&D level.
• You may spend 1/3/6 Silk to temporarily increase your R&D level for building one Factory by 1/2/3, respectively.
• You can have more than one Factory of the same type in your Zaibatsu.

Example: The Purple player takes a white Worker to perform the Factory action. They choose 1A Cotton Factory and spend 6 Money, as shown on the Main board. Also, the Purple player spends 1 Silk because they only have R&D level 1, and the Factory requires R&D level 2. They place the Factory on the leftmost empty space in their Factories area and apply the immediate Factory effect: advance 2 spaces on the R&D track and gain the Yellow Department bonus (2 Victory points). Due to the track advancement, the Purple player reaches the Black Department bonus (2 Coal) and gains it at the end of the current step.

Factory Tile

Each Factory tile shows: the R&D requirement; the Factory effect; the Factory level and number; the type of the Factory and Goods produced; the production cost and basic quantity of Goods produced; and the spaces for Machines, cost of Machine placement, and benefits of built Machines (increased production).

Machines Action

1–3 times (in different Factories): Spend 5 Money to build a Machine.

Note: Machines help you to produce significantly more Goods and thus fulfill more Contracts, as well as place more Influence tokens on the Main board.

Example: The Purple player takes a blue Worker to perform the Machines action. They spend 5 Money to take the leftmost Machine from their Zaibatsu and place it on the leftmost empty dedicated space in their Factory.

Build a Machine

Do the following in order:

1. Choose one of your Factories.
2. Take the leftmost Machine from your Zaibatsu and place it on the leftmost empty dedicated space in the chosen Factory. If that space has additional cost shown on it, you must pay that cost to build a Machine there.

Additional Rules and Clarifications

• You may not choose a Factory which has no empty spaces for Machines.
• You may not build a Machine on a space if you cannot pay the additional cost shown there.
• Factories have 2 Machine spaces: 1 free and 1 available for 1 Iron.

Production Action

1–3 times (in different Factories): Produce.

Note: Production is an important part of the game because players need Goods to spread their Influence by means of Local Markets action.

Example: The Purple player takes a blue Worker to perform the Production action. They spend 2 Coal to place 2 Goods in their Factory. The type of those Goods is Cotton.

Produce

Do the following in order:

1. Choose your Factory to produce in.
2. Spend 2/3/4 Coal to produce in a 1/2/3-level Factory, respectively.
3. Take produced Goods from the general supply and place them in the empty dedicated spaces below the respective Factory tile. A Factory produces 1 Goods as basic production and 1 Goods for each Machine in that Factory.

Additional Rules and Clarifications

• Each Factory has 4 spaces for Goods shown below the Factory tile. At any time, if there should be more Goods in a Factory than spaces available, discard the excess.
• Factories of the same type produce Goods of the same type.
• You may not move Goods from one Factory to another, even if they are of the same type.

Trains Action

1–3 times (in different Regions): Either spend 3 Iron or spend 5 Money and 1 Iron to build a Train.

Note: Trains help you to spread additional Influence in the Regions, safe from being knocked out by other players.

Example: The Green player takes a yellow Worker to perform the Trains action. They spend 5 Money and 4 Iron to take 2 leftmost Trains from their Zaibatsu and place them in different Regions on the Main board. The Green player gains 1 Silk for the first Train placed, and 1 Iron for the second one.

Build a Train

Do the following in order:

1. Choose a Region on the Main board.
2. Take the leftmost Train from your Zaibatsu and place it on any empty dedicated space in the chosen Region.
3. Gain a bonus shown on that space, if any.

Additional Rules and Clarifications

• You can have more than one Train in the same Region.
• There is a limit of Trains per Region (3/5/7 dedicated spaces for a 2/3/4-player game, respectively). If there are no empty dedicated spaces in the Region, you may not build a Train there.
• Each Train usually grants its owner 2 Influence in the Region during Influence Scoring if that player has at least 1 Influence token in that Region.

Ships Action

1–3 times (in different Destinations): Either spend 3 Iron or spend 5 Money and 1 Iron to build a Ship.

Note: Ships help you to use the Department bonuses more effectively following your intended strategy.

Example: The Orange player takes the grey Worker to perform the Ships action. They spend 6 Iron to take 2 leftmost Ships from their Zaibatsu and send them to different Destinations (Washington and Berlin). Then, the Orange player takes a grey and a white Upgraded Department tokens and places them on the respective spaces in their Departments area. Also, they take a grey and a white Expert Workers and place them on the lowermost empty spaces in their Workers area. The Orange player could not send a Ship to the Paris Destination, because the Green player has already taken the respective Expert Worker. Also, at the end of the current step, the Orange player advances their Finance marker 1 space because they have reached the bonus shown between Ship and Machine spaces.

Build a Ship

Do the following in order:

1. Choose a Destination in the Iwakura Mission area.
2. Take the leftmost Ship from your Zaibatsu and place it on any empty dedicated space of a chosen Destination.
3. Take the Expert Worker token from that Destination and place it on the lowermost empty space in the Workers area of your Zaibatsu.
4. Take the Upgraded Department token from that Destination and place it on the respective space in the Departments area of your Zaibatsu. If that Department is already upgraded, do not take the Upgraded Department token.

Additional Rules and Clarifications

• You may not choose a Destination which has no Expert Worker token.
• You must place a taken Expert Worker in your Workers area. If you cannot do that, you may not build the Ship.
• You can have more than one Ship in the same Destination. But you will not gain any benefits for the second and further Ships because your respective Department will be already upgraded due to your first Ship in that Destination.
• There is a limit of Ships per Destination (2/3/4 dedicated spaces for a 2/3/4-player game, respectively). If there are no empty dedicated spaces in the Destination, you may not send a Ship there.

Note: Expert Workers are treated as any other Workers in terms of Consolidation.

Department Bonuses

• Energy Department (Black). Gain 2 or 3 Coal, respectively (basic or upgraded bonus).
• Prospection Department (Red). Gain 2 or 3 Silk, respectively.
• Transportation Department (Grey). Gain 2 or 3 Iron, respectively.
• Financial Department (Blue). Gain 3 or 5 Money, respectively.
• Innovation Department (White). Advance 1 or 2 spaces, respectively, on the R&D or Mining track. You may choose to advance 1 space on both tracks when gaining the upgraded Department bonus.
• Foreign Affairs Department (Yellow). Gain 2 or 4 Victory points, respectively.

Investment and Contracts Action

1–3 times:

• Spend 1 Goods of any type to advance 2 spaces on the Finance track or fulfill a Contract, for 1 time.
• Spend 1 and 2 Goods of different types to advance 2 spaces on the Finance track or fulfill a Contract, for 2 times (in any combination).
• Spend 1, 2, and 3 Goods of different types to advance 2 spaces on the Finance track or fulfill a Contract, for 3 times (in any combination).
• Two of the Contracts show special conditions. In order to fulfill such a Contract, among the Goods spent for this action, there should be at least one 2-level Goods or 3-level Goods, depending on the Goods icons shown on the respective Contract token. Each of these Contracts grants you 1 Department bonus of your choice.

Note: Investment and Contracts action is the main way to increase the Money income. Also, fulfilling Contracts allows you to get the necessary Resources at the right time.

Example: The Pink player takes a black Worker to perform the Investment and Contracts action. They spend 2 Goods of Paper and 1 Goods of Lenses to advance 2 spaces on the Finance track and fulfill 1 Contract. The Pink player chooses the Contract that requires Lenses or Bento among spent Goods, and thus gains a Department bonus of their choice — that is 5 Money for the Blue Department bonus. After that, the Pink player places the fulfilled Contract in the leftmost empty space at the bottom of their Zaibatsu.

Fulfill a Contract

Do the following in order:

1. Choose an available Contract.
2. Gain all bonuses shown on that Contract token.
3. Place the fulfilled Contract token in the leftmost empty dedicated space at the bottom of your Zaibatsu. (You may place the fulfilled Contract tokens face down, if you wish.)

Additional Rules and Clarifications

• No matter what Factory, if any, is above the space where you place the fulfilled Contract. Factories and Contracts are not related to each other in any way.
• You may not fulfill a fulfilled Contract again.

Local Markets Action

1–3 times (in one Region): Serve a Local Market.

Note: Local Markets action is the main way to score points and win the game. However, you may also perform this action to get the necessary Resources at the right time and effectively develop your Zaibatsu.

Example: The Pink player takes a yellow Worker to perform the Local Markets action. They decide to place 3 Influence tokens in the Region with Iron bonus to gain 6 Iron in total. The Pink player spends 3 Goods from the Paper Factory and 1 Goods from the Lenses Factory. There is only 1 appropriate Influence space corresponding to Paper in the chosen Region, so the Pink player places their 1-valued token and immediately after that replaces it with their 2-valued token. Finally, they place their 3-valued token on the space corresponding to Lenses.

Serve a Local Market

Do the following in order:

1. Choose an appropriate Influence space in any Local Market of one Region.
2. Spend 1–3 Goods of the type shown on the adjacent side of the Demand tile.
3. Place your available Influence token with an appropriate value on a chosen Influence space.
4. Gain either the respective Region bonus (2 Silk / 2 Iron / 2 Coal / 3 Money) or 2 Victory points.

Additional Rules and Clarifications

• To determine an appropriate value of an Influence token, check the table on the Main board:
  • For 1-level Goods, take a token with 1/2/3 Influence value for 1/2/3 Goods spent.
  • For 2-level Goods, take a token with 3/4/5 Influence value for 1/2/3 Goods spent.
  • For 3-level Goods, take a token with 5/6/7 Influence value for 1/2/3 Goods spent.
• To choose an appropriate Influence space, check the following conditions:
  • If the space is empty, you may place your Influence token on it. Ignore the Influence values preprinted on the Main board.
  • If the space is occupied by a token (opponent's or yours), and the Influence value of the token you are about to place is higher, you may replace the current token with the new one. Immediately return the old token to its owner.
  • If the space is occupied by a token (opponent's or yours), and the Influence value of the token you are about to place is equal or lower, you may not place the new token on that space.
• You may not place the Influence tokens which do not match the level of the Goods.
• You may replace your own Influence tokens, even if you have placed them with the same action. It may be helpful to gain more Region bonuses.
• There is a limit of available Influence spaces per Local Market (2/3/4 spaces for a 2/3/4-player game, respectively). However, in a 2/3-player game, you may choose any 2/3 spaces in the Local Market to occupy. If the limit is reached, you may still replace old tokens with new (higher-valued) ones. In a 2/3-player game, you may also place a token on the 3rd/4th empty space in the Local Market, but that token must have a higher value than at least one of the tokens in that Local Market. If you do, immediately return any token with the lowermost Influence value from that Local Market to its owner, so that the limit is not exceeded after the new token is placed.

Consolidation

You may choose a Consolidation if you have at least 1 Worker in your Workers area.

To make a Consolidation, take the following steps in order:

A. Favor Token

1. Take a Favor token to the right of the topmost Worker in your Workers area. You may take a lower-level token if there are no respective tokens (or if you wish to).
2. Place the taken Favor token on one of the Personal Objective spaces in the respective area of your Zaibatsu.

Once the Favor token has been placed on one of your Personal Objective spaces, it cannot be moved or discarded unless otherwise specified. Each Personal Objective space may contain only one Favor token.

B. Discard all Money and Coal you have.

C. Departments and Income

1. Gain a Department bonus corresponding to the color of the lowermost Worker in your Workers area.
2. If you have at least 4 Workers in your Workers area, and your topmost and lowermost Workers have different colors, gain a Department bonus corresponding to the color of the topmost Worker, too.
3. Gain Coal according to your Mining level.
4. Gain Money according to your Finance level.

Note: Workers in grey spaces never grant Department bonuses.

D. Salaries and Clean-Up

1. You must spend 3 Money per each different color of Workers (including Expert Workers) in your Workers area, but you may not spend the last 1 Money.
2. If you do not have enough Money to pay the salaries, lose 1 Victory point for each 1 Money you have to pay but cannot (including the last mentioned above).
3. Return all Expert Workers from your Workers area to their dedicated spaces in the Iwakura Mission area.
4. Return all standard Workers from your Workers area to the bag.

Note: Expert Workers are treated as any other Workers in terms of Consolidation.

Example: The Purple player makes a Consolidation. They decide to place the 1-level Favor token on the R&D Personal Objective space because they have already advanced on the R&D track. After that, the Purple player discards all their Money and Coal. Then, they gain 3 Money for the Blue Department bonus and may choose to advance 1 space on the R&D track or the Mining track for the White Department bonus. Next, the Purple player gains 2 Coal and 12 Money as Income. Finally, they pay salaries of 6 Money and return all Workers from their Workers area to the bag.

End of the Round

At the end of the round, take the following steps in order:

1. If the Round marker is on the rightmost space of the current Period, immediately perform the Influence Scoring (see below).
2. Advance the Round marker 1 space.
3. Add 1 random Worker from the bag to each Hiring space if there are less than 3 Workers on that space. Do not discard any remaining Workers before adding new ones.
4. Fill the rows of the Worker Queue with random Workers from the bag, as during setup:
   • In a 4-player game, place Workers in all three areas of the Worker Queue.
   • In a 3-player game, place Workers in the top and middle areas of the Worker Queue.
   • In a 2-player game, place Workers only in the top area of the Worker Queue.
5. Now, the player to the left of the active player can start their turn.

Final Rounds

If the Round marker reaches the first light space (occupied by the second Round marker), the active player gives the second Round marker to the player to their left.

• From now on, each player has 3 turns until the end of the game.
• When all players, starting with the player with the Round marker, have taken 1 turn each, the current round ends — advance the Round marker 1 space, but do not add Workers to the Hiring spaces and do not fill the rows of the Worker Queue.

Influence Scoring

There are 3 Influence Scorings in the game. At the end of each Period, perform the Influence Scoring according to the respective Victory point values preprinted on the Round track. Score each Region one by one from left to right. Take the following steps in order:

1. Calculate the total Influence (gained from Influence tokens and Trains) in the Region for each player. Each Train usually grants its owner 2 Influence in the Region if that player has at least 1 Influence token in that Region. Otherwise, those Trains grant no Influence.
2. Calculate the total Influence of Overseas Companies (preprinted values not covered by players' Influence tokens).
3. Compare Influence of each player and Overseas Companies to each other.
4. The first place earns the highest Victory point value, the second place — the second Victory point value, and so on.

If there is a tie, each tied player earns a sum of Victory points for all tied places, divided by the number of tied players and rounded down. Each Victory point value is scored only once, so if 2 players are tied for the 1st place, the 3rd player earns Victory points for the 3rd place, not for the 2nd. (In extremely rare cases, if 2 players are tied for the 4th place, they earn Victory points for the 4th place, divided by 2 and rounded down.)

Overseas Companies participate in Influence Scoring but do not count their total score.

In a 2-player game, the 2nd Victory point value is not available. So the 2nd place earns the 3rd Victory point value, and the 3rd place — the 4th Victory point value.

5. If the Round marker is already on the last space of the Round track, immediately proceed to the End of the Game (see p. 19). Otherwise, proceed to step 2 of the End of the Round above.

Example: In a 4-player game, players have already scored the Region with Silk bonus. Now, they are about to score the Region with Iron bonus. The Purple player has 3 Influence, the Pink and Green players have 5 Influence each, the Orange player has no Influence, and Overseas Companies have 6 Influence in that Region. As a result, the Pink and the Green players are tied for the 2nd place and earn 7 Victory points each, the Purple player earns 2 Victory points, and the Orange player earns nothing. After scoring that Region, players proceed to the next one.

End of the Game

Final Consolidation

The game is about to end. Prior to the Final Scoring, each player makes a Consolidation as normal (see p. 17), but all players do it simultaneously. A player must make the Final Consolidation, even if they have no Workers in their Workers area.

After that, the game ends, and the players proceed to the Final Scoring.

Final Scoring

Calculate Victory points for the development of your Zaibatsu (add them to the Victory points you have earned during the game) by taking the following steps in order:

A. Personal Objectives Scoring

Check each Personal Objective space in the respective area of your Zaibatsu.

• For Ships, Machines, Trains; R&D, Mining, and Finance tracks. Earn 5/8/10 Victory points for each 1/2/3-level Favor token, respectively, if you have reached or passed only the lower threshold. Or earn 10/16/20 Victory points for each 1/2/3-level Favor token, respectively, if you have reached or passed the higher threshold. For Ships, Machines, and Trains, the threshold is considered reached when the respective space is empty.
• For Factories and Contracts. Earn as many Victory points as shown below/above the rightmost built Factory / fulfilled Contract. The 1st/2nd/3rd Victory point value corresponds to the 1/2/3-level Favor token, respectively.

B. Resources, Goods, and Money Scoring

Earn 1 Victory point for each 3 Goods/Coal/Silk/Iron you have in total. Earn 1 Victory point for each 5 Money you have.

Now, the game ends. The player with the highest final score is the winner. If there is a tie, the tied player who took their turn later is the winner.

Example: Each player has already made the Final Consolidation. The Purple player has earned 109 Victory points during the game. Now, the Purple player sums up Victory points for their Personal Objectives and earns 73 Victory points. Then, they earn 4 Victory points for the remaining Goods/Silk/Iron and 2 Victory points for the remaining Money. The final score of the Purple player is 188 Victory points.

Late-Game Factories Module

This module contains 6 additional Factories for the late game. These Factories are Goals-like: the better you fulfill the conditions shown on the Factory tiles, the more Victory points, resources, or other benefits you gain. Players compete for each Factory, balancing between early building with little benefit and later building with more benefit but there is a chance that another player will get that Factory earlier.

The setup for playing with this module is described in step 4b on p. 5. We do not recommend using this module in your first games or mixing it up with the Common Goals module, as they have similar purposes.

Common Goals Module

This module contains an additional board and a set of Common Goal tokens. It increases the competitiveness of the game.

The setup for playing with this module is described in step 6a on p. 5. We do not recommend using this module in your first games or mixing it up with the Late-Game Factories module, as they have similar purposes.

Gameplay

At the end of each Period, after step 4 of the Influence Scoring, a player gains a reward for each Common Goal where they lead or share the lead with other players. In Periods I and II, the player may choose any one reward from those shown below. In Period III, each Common Goal corresponds to a specific reward below.

• The player has built the most Ships/Machines/Trains.
• The player has advanced the farthest along the R&D/Mining/Finance track.
• The player has built the most Factories.
• The player has fulfilled the most Contracts.
• The player has the most Influence tokens in the Regions on the Main board.

Solo Mode

In Solo mode, you compete against Automa. It has its own Zaibatsu and simulates a player's behavior in a simplified way. To win, you should achieve all of the goals selected for the game. After that, check how well you played.

Changes in Setup

Perform setup for a 2-player game, with the following changes:

1. Common Setup. In step 3a, take the first removed set of Workers and randomly place 4 of them in the Regions on the Main board. Return the 2 remaining Workers from the first set to the box. Place the second removed set near the Main board.
2. Common Setup. Do not take steps 4b and 6a.
3. Individual Setup. Do not set up Zaibatsu for Automa. Take only 1 Zaibatsu board and respective components for yourself.
4. Starting Conditions. Set only 2 random pairs of Starting tokens A + B, choose and take one of them, and return another to the box. You are always the first player.

Automa Setup

The Automa board has a Priority area (spaces for Worker meeples), a Goals area (spaces for Solo Goal tokens), Trains area, Influence area, and an Actions area (a space for the Action pile and a space for revealed Action tokens).

1. Place the Automa board near the Main board.
2. Choose a Difficulty level and take:
   • 1 random Solo Goal token for Easy level.
   • 2 random Solo Goal tokens for Normal level.
   • 3 random Solo Goal tokens for Hard level. Then, place all taken Solo Goal tokens in the dedicated spaces on the left side of the Automa board.
3. Choose an unused color and place all the Trains and Influence tokens of that color in the dedicated areas to the right of the Automa board.
4. Take the second removed set of Workers and randomly place all of them in the Priority area of the Automa board.
5. Shuffle all 9 Action tokens into the pile. Place the pile face down on the dedicated space of the Automa board.

Gameplay (Solo)

You play your turns normally. On Automa's turn, take the following steps for Automa in order:

A. Reveal an Action token from the top of the pile and place it on the dedicated space to the right.

B. Return a Worker from the Hiring space above the respective actions to the bag. Select that Worker by the color following the Priority left to right.

The respective actions are determined by the icons on the revealed Action token.

If the revealed Action token shows the Workers icon, find the Hiring space with the most Workers. That space determines the respective actions for that token. (In case of a tie, select the Hiring space with the most Workers in the direction of the arrow shown on that token. If the arrow points to the left, select the leftmost tied space; if it points to the right, select the rightmost tied space.)

C. If the revealed Action token corresponds to the Trains action or the Local Markets action, determine a Region to perform the respective Automa action (see below).

If the revealed Action token shows the Workers icon, and the determined action for that token is either Trains or Local Markets, Automa performs that action, but only if the Difficulty level of that token does not exceed the Difficulty level chosen for the game. Otherwise, Automa does not perform an action. (The Difficulty level of the Action token is determined by its color and corresponds to the number of Goal tokens taken for the game.)

Thus, the higher the Difficulty level, the more aggressively Automa plays by performing more actions that affect you.

D. At the end of the Automa's turn, if there are no Action tokens in the pile, update the Priority area and the Action pile by repeating steps 4 and 5 of the Automa setup.

Determining a Region

Following its current Priority, Automa aims to gain more influence in a Region than you.

Following the Priority, check each Region:

1. If Automa has equal or less Influence in the Region than you, it performs the Automa action in that Region.
2. If Automa has more Influence in the Region than you, it proceeds to the next Region (following the Priority) and checks the condition in step 1.
3. If Automa has equal or less Influence in the Region than you, but it cannot perform the Automa action in that Region (for example, there are no available spaces for Influence tokens or Trains), it proceeds to the next Region (following the Priority) and checks the condition in step 1.
4. If Automa has more Influence in all Regions than you, it performs the Automa action in the first Region according to the Priority.
5. If there are no available spaces in any Region, Automa does nothing.

Trains Action

Automa takes a Train from its Trains area and places it on the topmost empty dedicated space in the determined Region. If Automa runs out of Trains, it does nothing with the Trains action.

Unlike your Trains, the Automa's Trains grant Influence anyway, even if Automa has no Influence tokens in the Region.

Local Markets Action

1. Depending on the current Period, Automa selects a row in the Influence area of the Automa board:
   • Bottom row for Period I. Influence tokens from that row relate to all 1-level Goods (Paper and Cotton) at the same time.
   • Middle row for Period II. Influence tokens from that row relate to all 2-level Goods (Lenses and Bento) at the same time.
   • Top row for Period III. Influence tokens from that row relate to all 3-level Goods (Clocks and Bulbs) at the same time.

If the row of the current Period has run out of Influence tokens, Automa selects the row above. If Automa runs out of Influence tokens, it does nothing with the Local Markets action.

2. In the determined Region, Automa tries to place the leftmost (lowest-valued) Influence token from the respective row on the available Influence space. That space must match one of the two respective types of Goods (no matter which one). If there are no appropriate Influence spaces with matching types of Goods, Automa must determine another Region.

Thus, Automa checks the possibility to place its Influence token in the determined Region in the following order:

1. To replace your highest-valued Influence token (on available space). The replaced token immediately returns to your supply as normal.
2. To cover the highest-valued preprinted space.
3. To place its Influence token on the leftmost space, if there are 2 or more appropriate spaces.

Automa never replaces its own Influence tokens. If there are no available Influence spaces in the Region, Automa determines another Region.

Note: As in a 2-player game, there is a limit of 2 available Influence spaces per Local Market (see p. 16). You may replace Automa's Influence tokens as normal — immediately return the replaced Automa's tokens to the box.

Example: On its turn, Automa reveals an Action token with the Workers icon. Automa finds the Hiring space with the most Workers. It is the space corresponding to the Local Markets action. Automa follows its Priority and returns a white Worker from that Hiring space.

The Difficulty level is Hard, which means Automa performs the action (not only returns a Worker). It checks Regions (following the Priority) to find a Region where it does not surpass the player by Influence. In the blue Region (with Iron), Automa has more Influence than the player. The yellow Region does not exist. In the white Region (with Silk), Automa has 2 Influence (because its Trains always count as 2 Influence each), and the player has 4 Influence. Automa must place the 4-valued Influence token because of Period II, but it cannot replace the player's 4-valued token with the equal-valued token. Other two appropriate spaces (corresponding to Lenses or Bento) have no value, so Automa selects the leftmost of them. Now Automa surpasses the player with its 6 total Influence in the white Region.

Influence Scoring, and the End of the Game (Solo)

Score Influence in each Region as in normal 2-player game (ignoring the 2nd Victory point value on the Round track).

When the game is about to end, take the following steps in order:

1. If you have not achieved all the Solo Goals taken for the game, you immediately lose and should not perform the Final Scoring.
2. If you have achieved all taken Solo Goals, perform the Final Consolidation and then the Final Scoring as normal.
3. Check your final score in the table below to know how well you played.

Score	Result
250+	Emperor's favorite
220+	Brilliant
190+	Significant
160+	Forgetable
0+	Unessential