Toshi Tōshi Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Objective
• Game Setup
• How to Play
  • 1. Trick
  • 2. Nature
  • 3. Construction
  • 4. Influence
• End of the Game
• Final Scoring
• Specialisation Variant
  • Influenstar
  • Pawnlitician
  • Builder
  • Octogeek
  • Overseer

Components

• Building cards x50 (numbered from 1 to 10 in 5 colors)
• Park cards x4
• Monument card x1 (one side "10 > 1" in blue, the other side "1 > 10" in red)
• Specialisation cards x5 (a "special power" side and a "Bonus Points" side)
• Nature tokens x50 (5 colors x 10)
• Player Aid cards x5

Game Objective

Toshi Tōshi is an area control game with a trick-taking mechanism in which you need to win or lose tricks at the right moment. You play only ONE hand of 10 cards, so make them count!

The winner of the trick gains a special action and also selects which buildings are constructed in which sectors. On the other hand, the non-winners place Nature tokens around the buildings to increase their influence.

At the end of the game, the player who has the most tokens connected to a building wins that building. The higher the value, the more Nature Points (NP) it gives! The player with the most NP wins the game.

Game Setup

A. Shuffle the 50 Building cards and deal 10 to each player. Put the remaining Building cards in the box.

B. Each player takes 10 Nature tokens of one color and one Player Aid card.

C. Place the 4 Park cards in the corners of an imaginary 5 x 5 grid. Place the Monument card in the center of that grid, with the blue "10 > 1" side face-up.

Note: In a 3-player game, use a 3 x 5 grid instead of 5 x 5.

City area setup: 4 or 5 players use a 5 x 5 grid; 3 players use a 3 x 5 grid. The Parks are in the four corners and the Monument in the center.

How to Play

The game is divided in 10 rounds that are divided in 4 phases:

1. Trick
2. Nature
3. Construction
4. Influence

The player with the most NP wins the game. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most unused Nature tokens wins. If still tied, the tied player who gained the most cards wins. If still tied, players share their victory.

1. Trick

The first player (determined randomly for the first trick) chooses a card from their hand and places it on the table. The color of that card becomes the demanded color. In clockwise order, each other player plays one card from their hand. If a player has at least one card of the demanded color in their hand, they must play one of them (this is called following). If a player does not have a card of the demanded color, they can play any card from their hand, regardless of the color.

Once every player has played a card, determine the winner of the trick using the following rules:

• If ALL players followed the demanded color: the strongest card wins the trick.
• If at least one player did not follow: the strongest card that is NOT of the demanded color wins the trick. In case of a tie, the strongest card that was played last wins the trick.

IMPORTANT! The strength of the cards is determined by the Monument card in the center of the City grid. If the blue side "10 > 1" is face-up, the card with the highest value is the strongest. On the other hand, if the red side "1 > 10" is face-up, the card with the lowest value is the strongest.

Example of a trick: Alicia starts with a Purple 5, which becomes the demanded color. Ben has Purple in his hand, he follows with a Purple 7. Cora, David and Emily don't have any Purple in their hands so they decide to play a Red 10, a Blue 4 and a Green 4, respectively. Since at least one player did not play the demanded color, the strongest card that is not the demanded color (Purple) wins the trick. Since the Monument card had the red "1 > 10" side up, the 4 wins the trick. The tie between the two 4s is won by the latest played card, Emily then wins the trick with her Green 4.

2. Nature

Clockwise, starting with the player left of the trick's winner, each player that did not win the trick places a Nature token on the City Grid, while following these placement rules:

A. A token must be placed on one of the 9 spots of a card that is already present on the grid (middle, the 4 sides or the 4 corners);

B. It must be inside the grid, and not on the outside;

C. There can only be ONE token per spot.

(The rulebook's diagram marks certain red letter spots that do not respect the corresponding placement rules.)

3. Construction

The winner of the trick must place 2 cards on the City Grid. Secretly, they choose 2 cards among the ones that were played during the trick. They place one face-up, and one face-down in the city Grid. There can only be ONE card per grid space, including the Parks and Monument. Remaining cards from the trick are put back in the box without being revealed.

IMPORTANT! In a 3-player game, the winner of the trick will only place one card, which is face-down.

4. Influence

The winner of the trick can take ONE of the following bonus actions:

A. Move one of their tokens already in play to another legal spot;

B. Choose which player becomes first player (if this action is not chosen, the winner of the trick is the next first player by default);

C. Flip over one of the Building or Monument cards on the City Grid. It can be a face-up or a face-down card.

End of the Game

After 10 rounds, the City Grid is filled and the game ends. Each Building, Park and Monument card is scored and given to the player that has the most Nature tokens connected to it.

Final Scoring

For each of the 25 cards from the City Grid (or 15 cards in a 3-player game), count all tokens connected to it on all possible spots (in the middle of the card, on the sides and on the corners):

• The player who has the MOST Nature tokens gains the card.

In case of a tie:

• The tied player who has a token in the middle of the card gains that card.
• If there is no token in the middle of the card, the tied player with the most tokens on the SIDES of the card gains that card.
• If it is still tied, no one gains the card and it is put back in the box.

Example of final scoring: Mushroom gains the card since they have 3 tokens, while Beehive and Leaf each have 2. Since there is a tie at 2 tokens, Beehive, who has a token in the middle of the card, gains that card. Since there is a tie at 2 tokens and no token in the middle of the card, Leaf, who has 2 on the SIDES, gains that card. Since there is a complete tie between Beehive and Mushroom, no one gains the card.

Each player tallies their final score:

1. Each gained Building card gives a number of Nature Points equal to their face value;
2. The player that gained the most combined Parks and Monument cards scores 12 NP. In case of a tie, tied players split the 12 NP equally (6/4/3/2 NP with 2/3/4/5 tied players);
3. The NP scored with the Specialisation card if the card was flipped during the game (see Specialisation variant).

Specialisation Variant

This micro-extension gives a unique special power and way of scoring Nature Points to each player. During setup, shuffle the 5 Specialisation cards and deal one to each player, which they place in front of them with the "special power" visible (in a 3-player game, remove the "Pawnlitician" card before dealing).

A player can use their special power as long as the "special power" side is up. Once during the game, during the Influence phase, the winner of the trick can flip over their Specialisation card for free, after taking their bonus action.

If the "Bonus Points" side of their card is up at the end of the game, the player can score NP in a way that is unique to them.

Influenstar

Special Power: When losing a trick, you can place your Nature token when you want, without respecting turn order, but before the start of the next trick. This includes between two other players, after the Construction phase or even after the Influence phase.

Bonus NP opportunity: Score 5 NP per unused Nature token at the end of the game.

Pawnlitician

Special Power: When losing a trick, during the Construction phase, you can choose the card that is placed face-up and where it is placed in the City Grid. The winner of the trick then chooses the face-down card and places it. In a 3-player game, remove this card from the game before dealing the Specialisation cards.

Bonus NP opportunity: Score a number of Bonus NP depending on the number of different Building card colors you have gained during the final scoring. For 3/4/5 different colors, score 3/6/10 Bonus NP. The Parks and Monument cards are not considered when counting the number of colors.

Builder

Special Power: During the Nature phase, when placing a Nature token you can place a SECOND token, but only in the middle of a card. Your placement must respect placement rules. If you do not have any more unused tokens at any point and you need to place one, you simply don't place any.

Bonus NP opportunity: During final scoring, you win the complete ties in which you are implied. This is done after checking all other tie-breaking rules.

Octogeek

Special Power: When winning a trick, during the Influence phase, you can take all the Bonus actions ONCE EACH, in the desired order.

Bonus NP opportunity: Score 5 NP for each Park or Monument card you gained. Those cards still count for the 12 NP majority.

Overseer

Special Power: When placing a token during the Nature phase, you can place that token outside of the City Grid or in a spot where there are no cards yet. There can't be 2 tokens in the same spot at any time.

Bonus NP opportunity: Score a number of NP according to the number of Building card colors that you have NOT gained. For a 3/4/5 player game, gain 7/6/5 NP per missing color. The Parks and Monument cards are not considered when checking the colors.