Samurai

Most games about feudal Japan revolve around killing everyone with your Samurai warriors. Samuraiis different. You do deploy Samurai warriors (and priests and peasants), but the focus is controlling "power figures" rather than wanton slaughter. When you do fight, victory depends on what you've played, not on a hokey dice roll (sorry Risk fans).

Power figures are placed on the board at the beginning of the game. Players win by dominating one type of power figure (there are three types) and having an advantage in the other two. Each turn one tile is placed on the board, and the type and number of the tile determine its power and what kind of tiles can be played beside it.

This is purely a skill-based strategy game. The theme is fun, but the real fun comes in planning and executing your conquest of Japan through tile placement. It's a giant, constantly changing logic puzzle that you can't control entirely, letting you develop your overall strategy skills, as well as your ability to think on your feet and modify your approach as necessary.

The board never changes, and there are no expansions, but you don't need those for Samurai to be fully engaging every time you play. Power figures are placed randomly, and unless you play with the same people each time and they use the exact same strategy, every venture into old Japan will be a new challenge. Highly recommended for lovers of chess, Pentago, and other abstract strategy games.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.