Object of the game

The players are travelers in Japan. They will follow the prestigious Tokaido and try to make this journey as rich an experience as possible.

To do this, they will pass through magnificent countryside, taste delicious culinary specialties, purchase souvenirs, benefit from the virtues of hot springs, and have unforgettable encounters.

Playing the game

The player whose Traveler is farthest behind on the road is the player who takes the next turn.

This player must move his Traveler forward to the open space of his choice, freely passing over one or more open spaces.

Once he has moved his Traveler, the player receives the benefit corresponding to this type of space.

NOTE: Some of the spaces on the board are doubled. Double spaces are used only in games with 4 or 5 players.

Description of the spaces

Farm

The player earns 3 coins.

Hot Spring

The player takes a Hot Spring card. These cards are worth 2 or 3 points.

Temple

The player must donate 1, 2, or 3 coins to the temple and scores 1 point for each donated coin.

Encounters

The player draws one Encounter card and receives a bonus:

• Shokunin - one Souvenir
• Annaibito - one Panorama
• Samurai - 3 points
• Kuge - 3 coins
• Miko - 1 point and 1 coin to the Temple (from the bank)

Village

The player draws 3 Souvenir cards and can purchase one or more of these cards.

Each Souvenir belongs to one of 4 types: small objects, clothing, art, and food & drinks.

Souvenirs cost 1, 2 or 3 coins. They are worth 1, 3, 5 or 7 points depending on the actual Souvenirs in a player’s collection.

As you purchase Souvenir cards, group them into sets; each set can contain only one Souvenir of each type.

• The first Souvenir in a set is worth 1 point.
• The second Souvenir in a set is worth 3 points.
• The third Souvenir in a set is worth 5 points.
• The fourth Souvenir in a set is worth 7 points.

Panorama

Panoramas are made of 3, 4 or 5 sections.

When a player stops on a Panorama Station, if he doesn’t yet have any Panorama cards of this type, he takes a Panorama card of value « 1 ».

Otherwise, he takes the next number in ascending order and scores a number of points equal to the value of the card.

NOTE: Each traveler can create only a single panorama of each type; a traveler who completes a panorama can no longer stop on the spaces corresponding to that type (Sea, Mountain, or Paddy).

Inns

All Travelers must stop at each Inn.

The Inns are the places where players can buy Meal cards. Meal cards cost 1, 2 or 3 coins and all give 6 victory points.

The first traveler occupies the space nearest the road, and later travelers form a line after him.

When the first traveler arrives at an Inn, he draws as many Meal cards as there are players, plus 1.

He can then purchase one Meal card of his choice by paying its price.

He adds this card, face up, to his collection and places the remaining cards next to the board, face down.

He then must wait for the other travelers to arrive at the Inn. Upon arrival, each traveler can purchase one of the remaining Meal cards.

IMPORTANT:

• A traveler cannot taste the same culinary specialty twice during his journey.
• A traveler can never purchase more than one Meal card per Inn.
• A traveler is never obliged to purchase a Meal card.

End of the journey

When all of the Travelers have arrived in Edo at the last Inn, the game ends.

The travelers score additional points depending on their ranking as donors to the Temple:

• The most generous donor scores 10 points.
• The second scores 7 points.
• The third scores 4 points.
• All other donors score 2 points.

Award the following achievement cards to the appropriate travelers. Each achievement card is worth 3 points. If players are tied for an achievement, then they each receive the 3 points.

• Gourmet - the player with the highest total face value of Meal cards.
• Collector - the player with the most Souvenir cards.
• Bather - the player with the most Hot Spring cards.
• Chatterbox - the player with the most Encounter cards.

Note: There are 3 other achievement cards that are awarded during game play. One for each different type of panorama and each is awarded to the player that is first to complete the specific panorama.

Note: If players are tied after the final scoring, then the player with the most achievement cards wins.

(Extracted from the English rule book)

Expansions

Cross Roads Expansion

With this expansion, each station (except the Inn) gives travelers a new option. There are also new travelers added.

Rules for playing the Cross Roads Expansion can be found here: http://www.funforge.fr/US/files/crossroads/Crossroads_Rules_US.pdf

Note: The Fortune die (for gambling at the farm) has these faces: x0, x1, x2, x3, x3, x4

The New Encounters

This expansion adds 4 new Encounter cards. Description of the cards is here: http://boardgamegeek.com/image/1452161/tokaido-the-new-encounters?size=large