Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
The emperor is dead and the throne awaits its new host! Who will get the most support to claim the throne?
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Chaining
Link actions or effects so one result enables the next part of a sequence.
Deck Construction
Build a deck before play by selecting cards under defined construction rules.
Rondel
Move around a circular action track that limits which actions are currently reachable.
Read the full game description
The emperor is dead and the throne awaits its new host! Who will get the most support to claim the throne? Five powerful houses decide the future of Japan, including the court of the Imperial Palace. Play skillfully to get the support of the clans that dominate the territories in these turbulent times. Genpei stands out for its original mechanics where the players will chain actions to get them closer to victory by influencing more clans than their rival players. Easy to play but hard to master. On your turn you must play one of the two cards from your hand. Whenever you play a clan card, it activates the clan marker on the corresponding clan wheel: move the marker to one of the two adjoining spaces and perform the action indicated on that space. You may perform a chain of actions during the same turn: whenever you draw a card as part of an action its clan marker is activated. Place your influence tokens to get the support of the Houses. The player who receives the support of the most Houses (including the House of the Emperor) is declared the new Emperor and wins the game.