Samurai Spirit

Overview

Samurai Spirit is a cooperative board game designed by Antoine Bauza (7 Wonders, Hanabi), inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s film “Seven Samurai.” Players take on the roles of fierce samurai defending a village from a horde of bandits over three increasingly difficult rounds. Each turn, players draw bandit cards and choose how to deal with them – fighting them head-on, defending the village, or letting them pass to help other samurai. The group wins if at least one farm and one family survive after three rounds. The game features a beast transformation mechanic where wounded samurai become more powerful but risk death.

Components

• 7 Samurai player boards (double-sided: human side and beast side)
• Bandit cards (3 decks of increasing difficulty for rounds 1, 2, 3)
• Raider cards (powerful bandit bosses)
• Family tokens
• Farm tokens (barricades)
• Hat tokens (samurai lives)
• Combat line (numbered track on each player board)
• Kiai tokens
• Support tokens

Setup

Each player selects a samurai and takes the corresponding player board (human side up). Place family tokens and farm tokens to form the village (number varies by player count). Shuffle each of the three bandit decks separately. Remove a set number of cards from each deck based on player count (to create uncertainty). Place raider cards for each round. Determine a start player.

Turn Structure

The game lasts 3 rounds. Each round, the bandit deck is played through card by card. On each turn, the active player draws the top bandit card and must choose one of three options:

1. Fight: Place the bandit card on your combat line, adding its value to your total. If your total exceeds your endurance limit, you are wounded.
2. Defend: Place the bandit card on a defense slot on your board. This protects a village element (farm or family) from being destroyed. Each samurai has specific defense abilities.
3. Pass (Let Through): Place the bandit card in a pass area. Passed bandits damage the village at round end.

After resolving the bandit, play passes to the next samurai. A samurai who is overwhelmed (total equals or exceeds limit) must stop taking bandits for the rest of the round.

Actions

Fight (Combat Line)

• Add the bandit’s value to your combat line total.
• Some bandits have special effects (steal support tokens, force discards, etc.).
• If your total exactly equals your endurance limit, activate your Kiai ability (a powerful special action).
• If your total exceeds your limit, you are wounded.

Defend (Defense Slots)

• Place bandit on one of your defense slots (matching the bandit’s type if required).
• This occupies the slot, protecting the associated village element from harm at round end.
• Each samurai has different defense slot configurations.

Support

• Samurai may use support tokens to assist other players on their turns (reducing bandit values, healing, etc.).
• Support actions vary by samurai character.

Beast Transformation

• When a samurai is wounded, they flip their board to the beast side.
• Beast side grants enhanced combat abilities but a second wound kills the samurai permanently.
• Losing a samurai makes the game significantly harder.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Win Condition: At least one farm and one family must survive in the village after the third round ends.

Lose Conditions:

• All farms or all families are destroyed.
• Any samurai dies (receives a second wound).

Village Damage

At the end of each round, the village takes damage:

• Each bandit that was “passed” (let through) destroys one village element (farm or family, defender’s choice if any remain).
• Undefended village elements are at risk.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Kiai Activation: Landing exactly on your endurance limit triggers your unique Kiai power. This is a strategic target.
• Raider Boss: Each round includes a powerful raider card that must be dealt with. Raiders are stronger and have devastating special abilities.
• Card Removal: Before each round, cards are randomly removed from the bandit deck. This means players can never be certain exactly which bandits remain.
• Player Count Scaling: The number of farms, families, and bandit deck composition changes with player count.
• Samurai Death: A dead samurai is permanently out. Their defense contributions are lost for remaining rounds.
• Round Escalation: Round 1 bandits are weakest, Round 2 moderate, Round 3 strongest. The raider in Round 3 is the final boss.

Player Reference

Option	Effect
Fight	Add bandit value to combat line
Defend	Protect a village element
Pass	Let bandit through (damages village at round end)

Combat Line	Result
Below limit	Safe, continue
Exactly at limit	Kiai ability triggers
Over limit	Wounded (flip to beast side)
Over limit (beast side)	Dead (game may be lost)

Win: Survive 3 rounds with at least 1 farm and 1 family intact. No samurai may die.