Satori

Overview

Satori is a board game designed by Paco Yanez and published by Perro Loko Games. Named after the Japanese Buddhism term for awakening and enlightenment, players compete to advance on a spiritual path in the historic Koyasan monastery. Players build new temples for votaries to pray, recruit the wisest monks, and contribute to building the great pagoda to establish Koyasan as the heart of Zen Buddhism. The game uses worker placement and resource management mechanics across multiple temple locations. The player who advances farthest on the spiritual path wins.

Components

• 1 Main game board featuring Koyasan
• Player boards
• Devotee meeples (workers)
• Monk cards
• Temple tiles
• Pagoda construction pieces
• Resource tokens (various spiritual and material resources)
• Spiritual path track
• Torii gate area (worker selection zone)
• Solo mode components

Setup

Place the main board centrally. Each player receives a player board and starting resources. Set up temple tiles in designated locations. Arrange devotee meeples at the torii gate. Shuffle monk cards and lay out the initial offerings. Place pagoda construction pieces nearby. Set all players’ markers at the start of the spiritual path.

Turn Structure

On each turn, a player:

1. Choose a Devotee: Select one of the available devotee meeples at the torii gate.
2. Place at a Temple: Move the chosen devotee to a temple on the board.
3. Resolve Action: Perform the action associated with that temple.
4. Optional Actions: Perform any bonus or chain actions gained.

Actions

Temple Actions

Each temple on the board offers a different action:

• Resource Temples: Gather spiritual or material resources needed for other actions.
• Monk Temple: Recruit monks who provide ongoing abilities or scoring bonuses.
• Pagoda Temple: Contribute to building the great pagoda, earning spiritual path advancement.
• Prayer Temple: Advance on the spiritual path through devotion.
• Trade Temple: Exchange resources at various rates.

Mountain Actions

• Send monks to the mountains to concatenate additional actions.
• Mountain placement allows chaining multiple actions in a single turn for powerful combos.
• Monks in the mountains also advance the player on the spiritual path.

Building Temples

• Construct new temples on the board, expanding available action spaces for all players.
• Building temples earns spiritual path advancement and may provide ongoing benefits.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The primary measure of success is position on the spiritual path. The player who has advanced farthest on the spiritual path at game end wins.

Additional scoring may come from:

• Monk cards with end-game scoring conditions
• Pagoda contribution bonuses
• Resource conversion to spiritual advancement

Ties are broken by remaining resources.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Devotee at Torii: The specific devotee chosen at the torii gate may affect which actions are available or how powerful they are.
• Action Chaining: Mountain monk placement enables chain actions, creating powerful multi-step turns.
• Temple Building: New temples built by players expand the available action spaces, changing the game dynamics as it progresses.
• Solo Mode: Includes an automa variant for single-player games.
• Player Count Scaling: The number of available devotees and temples adjusts based on player count.
• Monk Abilities: Each monk has unique abilities that may modify standard rules or provide special scoring conditions.

Player Reference

Step	Action
1. Choose	Select devotee at torii gate
2. Place	Move devotee to a temple
3. Resolve	Perform temple action
4. Bonus	Execute any chain/bonus actions

Victory: Farthest on the spiritual path wins.