Bushido duels is a fast, fun and action-packed card game where the players try to out-think each other, act unpredictably and have faith that their risks will reap rewards. The game is designed by Frozen Maze Games and illustrated by the talented Emily Ryan.
It’s the year 1607 and Japan has entered the Edo period. The Tokugawa has established itself as the dominant force in Japan and it’s a time of legends. Take the role of one of eight fighters and get ready to challenge your friends to a duel, Samurai style! Each fighter has their own agenda and personality, some follow Bushido (the way of the warrior) others might seek wealth and power while a few are in it for the thrill of the fight. Will your cunning, skill and the power of your fighter´s Special Attacks be enough to be victorious, or will you feel the bitter taste of defeat?
A single duel takes less than 15 minutes to play while playing the included game variants Clash of the Clans or The Kyoto Grand Tournament will take up to an hour.
Table of Content
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Resources
How to play
A Duel is played in Duel Turns.
A Duel Turn is comprised of the following phases.
- The Stance Phase
- The Attack Phase
- The Discard/Refresh Phase
The Stance Phase – The fighters prepare and plan their attacks
The players chooses the Attack Card they wish to play. Once a player has decided on a card they place the chosen card face down in front of them.
The Attack phase – The fighters unleash their attacks
The Attack Cards are then flipped face up, revealing the techniques.
The Mon symbols of the Attack Cards are then compared. The Mon is in the cards upper left corner. Each symbol represents a technique and determines its placement in the Mon Wheel.
The Mon Wheel determines if your technique is Offensive, Defensive or if the attack was a Tie. If the symbols do not tie one of the Attack Cards will be the offensive technique and the other will be the defensive.
Then compare the Speed and Strength values of the Attack Cards.
The Speed value of the Attack Card is shown in the upper right corner.
The speed value is white and has either a fixed numerical value or a varying value indicated by an X. The value determines the Speed of the Attack Card, the lower the value the faster the attack.
The damage is determined by the Strength value shown as a black number or an X in the upper right corner of the Card. The higher the value the stronger the attack.
When comparing cards check if the Defensive Attack Card is faster. If it isn’t, the Offensive technique inflicts the full amount of damage (determined by the offensive Attack Card’s Strength value).
In the above example the defensive technique’s speed value (7) is not faster than the offensive technique’s speed value (6) and the offensive technique connects with full strength causing 7 points of damage.
If the Defensive technique is faster, subtract the defensive Attack Card’s Strength value from the opponent’s Attack Card’s Strength value. The result is the amount of damage the player with the Defensive technique receives.
In the above example the defensive technique is faster (4 compared to 6) and will hence block some of the incoming damage and only take 2 points of damage (7 – 5 = 2)
If the damage is reduced to 0 or below the player receives no damage.
Keep track on your health by moving the Health Marker on the Health Tracker Card. If this causes a player to be Knocked Out the game ends otherwise proceed to Discard/Refresh phase.
Discard/Refresh Phase – The fighters regroup
Each player places the played Attack Card to the side, face down forming their discard pile.
If this causes a player to have no Attack Cards left in their hand they pick up their discard pile to refresh their hand.
A new Duel turn then starts. This will repeat until one of the player’s fighter are Knocked Out.