A board game for 2 to 5 cunning clan leaders, ages 14 and up Japan, 1605 – Hidetada Tokugawa has succeeded his father as the new Shogun, ruling from the great city of Yedo. This is the opportunity our clan has been looking for. Our chance at power and glory. Our clan will prove ourselves to be indispensable to the new Shogun. We will work from the shadows to acquire information about our rival clans. We will kidnap those who might oppose our ascent and assassinate those who prove a threat. We will use cunning to prevent our adversaries from doing the same to us. We will find glory and honor in the eyes of this new Shogun, or failing that we will end his rule by any means necessary. Boldness may win the day, but we must choose our missions carefully. In Yedo, eternal glory and painful disgrace are two sides of the same coin. Yedo: Rule from the Shadows object of the game As leader of your Clan you try to earn as many Prestige Points as possible. You mainly gain Prestige Points by com- pleting Mission Cards, by activating Disciples at certain locations on the game board, and by having fulfilled the tasks of Bonus Cards at the end of the game. Each player counts his Prestige Points by moving his own Marker along the Score Track on the game board. Components 40 Weapons (5 of each) Doku Fukiya Katana Metsubushi Nawa Shuko Shuriken Yumi back (Poison) (Blowgun) (Sword) (Smoke bombs) (Rope) (Fighting claws) (Throwing stars) (Bow) 1 game board The game board depicts the town of Yedo with its 7 Districts: b A B C D E 1 The Castle District (Edo-Jo) a c f F 2 The Gates District (Takanawa Okido) 3 The Tavern District (Juku) 7 Geisha counters 5 Blessing counters 10 Placeholder counters 20 wooden Disciples 15 wooden Markers (4 in each of the 5 player colors) (3 in each of the 5 player colors) 4 The Harbor District (Shiba) e d G 5 The Red Light District (Yoshiwara) 7 6 6 The Market District (Kyobashi) 1 Watch Patrol coin 2 wooden Watch Patrols 1 wooden Round Marker 7 The Temple District (Ikegami Hommonji) 1 “District inaccessible” counter (1 red side, 1 blue side) (1 red, 1 blue) (gray) 1 5 The area above and to the right The game board also shows: g of the river holds assets that you a Player Order Track can acquire during the game: b Egress space 5 Clan boards (1 in each player color) A Action Cards 2 c Bidding Track Each player has a Clan board on which he organizes the assets that he obtains during the game. 4 i B Bonus Cards d Score Track Most kinds of assets have a particular space assigned and a limit to the number that you are allowed to own. C Weapons 3 e Round Track h Annexes Important: Weapons are always kept face up. Cards are always kept face down, but you are allowed to look at your own cards at any time. D f Weapon discard pile E Geisha g Watch Patrol circuit Space for your Mission Clan House Space for 1 Blessing Spaces for your Geisha 1 space for each type of Annex F Disciples (Reserve) h Event Cards Cards that you have (Keep your Disciples here) (Limit: 1) (Limit: 3) (Limit: 1 of each type of Annex) G Mission Cards i “Current Event” pile not completed yet. Limit: 4 If you exceed the limit, 59 Mission Cards 50 Action Cards Are played during 84 Mon tokens 16 Annexes (4 of each) Here you immediately reduce to place Mis- the game to gain (money) the limit by discarding Completing Mission Cards is the heart and soul of a game of Yedo advantages or to Dojo (Training room) sion Cards uncompleted Mission after you as they are not only the main source of Prestige Points but also give obstruct one’s The Mon was the Cards of your choice. you money and sometimes other assets. You start the game with opponents currency most have com- (Discarded Mission pleted them. 4 Missions and can acquire more during the game. commonly used in Cards are always placed There are Mission Cards in 4 colors. The color gives a clue to the Yedo. It resembled 27 Bonus Cards Are kept till the end face down at the bot- No limit. difficulty level of that Mission (but it is only a generality). and was derived Kobudo-Ryu tom of the Mission Card of the game, then Keep face from the Chinese (Weapons school) deck of their color). There are: give Prestige Points Wen. In 1870, the down. depending on their Mon was replaced Keep face down. 12 Green Missions individual tasks by the Yen as the (easy to achieve) Japanese currency. 27 Event Cards Each round a new The game uses Karesansui 18 Yellow Missions event is revealed coins of 1, 3, and 5 (Sacred garden) Space for your Bonus Cards. Space for your Weapons. (not too difficult) which affects all Mon: Limit: 4 players Limit: 2 Space for your Action Cards. 18 Red Missions 39 If you exceed the limit, immedi- If you exceed the limit, im- (take quite some effort) ately reduce to the limit by discard- Limit: 3 mediately reduce to the limit Yashiki (Mansion) ing Bonus Cards of your choice. If you exceed the limit, immediately reduce to the limit by by discarding Weapons of 5 Favor Cards On the back: 11 Black Missions 25 (Discarded Bonus Cards are always discarding Action Cards of your choice or by playing them, your choice. (Weapons are Blackmail (very challenging) placed face down at the bottom of if possible. (Discarded or played Action Cards are always always discarded face up onto Card the Bonus Card deck). placed face down at the bottom of the Action Card deck.) the Weapon discard pile.) 20 For a detailed description of how to complete Missions, see page 11. Keep face down. Keep face down. Keep face up. 2 3 zDepending on the number of players, reduce the number Finally, each player receives his starting capital and assets: simple or samurai? of Assignment spaces in the Districts by covering them z Yedo is a game for with Placeholder counters: 4 Mission Cards: The player who is last on the Player Order Track draws For your first game, we recommend following On the other hand, setbacks will not unsettle a true determined players. the top card of any of the 4 Mission Card decks, keeping it hidden from the the simple set-up. Fate will be kinder to you, samurai. His strength lies in accepting every twist of In a 2-player game: Every once in a while fate other players. and you’ll get to know the twists of the game. fate and turning it into greatness. may strike in unpleasant Then, in a counter-clockwise direction, each other player also draws the top Simple games are played for 8, instead of 11 So when you feel ready to handle this, you should play Put a Placeholder ways. While building up card of any of the 4 Mission Card decks. Repeat this procedure until each rounds, and the “Kill The Shogun” mission is the Samurai setting of the game by following the usual counter onto each of the power of your Clan, player has 4 Mission Cards. removed from the black mission deck. Other rules and the instructions given in the brown Samurai the 10 spaces shown you may encounter quite Important: At least one of your 4 Mission Cards must be a Red or Black changes are highlighted in further yellow boxes. boxes. Ignore the yellow Geisha boxes. on the right. a few setbacks. Mission Card. Remember, the difficulty of completing Mission Cards is indicated by their setup color. Apart from the one Red or Black Mission that you must take, we recommend you concentrate on Green and Yellow Mission Cards in the Some Action Cards and Event Cards In a 3-player game: beginning, as they can be completed faster and thereby provide the money have “Samurai” written at the top you need to prepare for harder Missions. right corner. Remove these “Samurai” Put a Placeholder 5 9 10 cards from the game and return them 1 2 counter onto each of z12 Mon: Each player receives 12 Mon from the bank. to the box. They are not needed. the 6 spaces shown on the right. z1 Action Card: z Put the game board in the middle of the table. 11 In player order, In player order, each player takes 6 7 each player draws the top 3 cards of the Action Card z Shuffle the Action Cards and place them as a the top card of the deck. He keeps one of these cards face down deck onto the indicated space on Action Card deck. and returns the other 2 face down the game board 1 . In a 4-player game: In a 5-player game: to the bottom of the deck. z Do the same with the Bonus Cards 2 , Put a Placeholder counter No space is covered. z1 Favor of the Shogun: Take the 5 Favor Cards and display them face up in the Event Cards 3 , and each of the 4 colors onto the following space: a row. First, the last player on the Player Order Track takes one of the cards of Mission Cards 4 . and immediately receives the assets shown on it. Then he flips his Favor 12 4 Card over to the Blackmail side and places it close to his Clan board.