How To Play: Shogun

Overview

If you ever wanted to be a warlord but dislike real life jail, Shogun is the game for you! I’ve played it with my friends, and yes, I still have friends. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the main rules and show you the best strategies for winning (I’ve tried them, so you don’t have to lose as badly as I did). Get ready for some rice, gold, and chaos!

What’s in the box

• 1 game board
• 5 player boards
• 310 wooden cubes
• 5 sets of 24 action cards
• 5 province cards reference sheets
• 10 special cards
• 60 gold coins
• 48 rice tokens
• 1 war tower
• 1 year marker
• 5 scoring markers
• 1 event card deck (12 cards)
• 1 manual

How To Play Shogun: Rules Summary

Setup

1. Place the game board in the middle of the table. Make sure everyone can reach it. No stretching across the dip for the rice!
2. Each player picks a color and grabs all the matching pieces. You need armies, cubes, and a screen for secret plans.
3. Give out the starting provinces as shown in the rules. Everyone gets a mix of good and bad spots. Yes, you will complain about it.
4. Give each player a rice marker and a money marker. Put them at the starting spaces on their tracks.
5. Shuffle event and warlord cards. Place them where everyone can reach.
6. Hand out planning boards and mission cards. Hide them well. People like to peek.

Gameplay

1. Each round, players secretly pick actions on their planning boards. You get one action per province, so plan wisely. Or plan poorly, like me.
2. Everyone reveals their actions in order. Do you attack? Build? Tax? This part gets loud.
3. If you attack, use the cube tower to resolve battles. Put attackers and defenders in the tower and pray to the cube gods.
4. Collect rice and money from your controlled provinces. Forgetting rice always leads to sadness later.
5. At the end of the round, check the event cards. Sometimes good. Usually bad. That’s why they’re called events and not presents.

Winning

1. The game lasts for two years (turns). At the end, count up your points from controlled provinces and buildings.
2. Whoever manages the most points—despite famine, revolt, and terrible dice luck—wins honor and bragging rights until the next round.

Special Rules & Conditions

1. If you run out of rice during winter, your people revolt. It gets ugly fast.
2. Special event cards can toss in ninjas, fires, or random disasters. Stay flexible or get burned. Literally.
3. Every action must be planned ahead. Forget a battle plan? That province just chills for the round.

So, that’s how to play Shogun. If you want to impress your friends or just avoid a total rice revolt, remember these basics! For more strategy and silly stories, check out my How To Play shogun guides next time.

Best Shogun Strategies

Protecting Your Piece of Japan: Province Selection and Defense in Shogun

Picking the Right Provinces

When learning How To Play shogun, I found picking provinces wisely is half the fight. Choose areas close to each other. This makes defending easier and keeps your armies tight.

1. Pick provinces that share borders.
2. Snag regions with castles for better defense.
3. Look for places with rice fields to avoid famine shame.

Building Solid Defenses

Once you’ve grabbed your land, plan your defense. My friends got greedy once and I picked them off like sushi rolls. Focus your troops where attacks seem likely.

1. Put extra armies in border provinces.
2. Reinforce high-value provinces in the winter phase.
3. Fortify castles and don’t spread armies too thin.

Boost Your Odds: Resource Management Tips for Shogun

Keep Rice Flowing

First off, rice is life in Shogun. If you run out, your peasants throw a riot. So, focus on these:

1. Secure provinces with lots of rice early.
2. Upgrade harvests before doing anything else.
3. Trade rice with friends—then betray them at the right time.

Gold Every Turn

Gold buys you troops and buildings. Without it, you’ll watch your dreams crumble. My group learned this the hard way! Here’s what worked:

1. Prioritize gold-producing provinces over random land grabs.
2. Don’t overspend early. Save for surprise attacks.
3. Balance gold and rice. Both matter every round.

Smart Spending

Finally, always plan your expenses. I once lost because I bought too many castles. Don’t be that guy.

1. Check your future needs each season.
2. Build only what you can protect.
3. Remember: patience saves resources for later chaos.

Master these resource moves, and you’ll rule the table. For more tricks, check out my How To Play shogun breakdown after I nearly starved my army by accident!

Clash of Blades: Mastering Battle Tactics and Timing in Shogun

Picking Your Fights

1. Strike when rivals are weak or distracted. I once won a major province because my friend focused on rice, not defense!
2. Attack isolated spots, as reinforcements will never arrive on time.

Surprise and Bluff

1. Hide your intentions. Mix in decoy moves to keep opponents guessing.
2. Sometimes, threaten a stronghold just to pull troops away from your real target.

Perfect Timing

1. Wait until opponents exhaust their best troops, then pounce. That opening is pure gold!
2. Act quickly if resources are tight, before anyone else can react.

Mastering these strategies will improve your How To Play shogun game and maybe—just maybe—stop your friends from calling you a lucky bandit.

Master the Way of the Daimyo!

Alright, friends, if you’ve made it this far in my How To Play shogun saga, you deserve a rice tax exemption! Seriously though, I hope my tips on picking the right provinces, guarding your stash, managing rice without starting a famine, and picking the perfect time to start a fight make your next Shogun game more fun (and maybe help you win). Just remember, even the best plan can go up in smoke when someone flips the dreaded revolt card. Good luck and don’t forget your sword—or your sense of humor!

Want to know what we think of Shogun? Read our detailed review of Shogun here