How to Play Tokaido: Matsuri

Objective of the Game

In Tokaido: Matsuri, players embark on a journey across Japan, aiming to collect the most points by experiencing various aspects of the trip. Players will move their traveler pawns along the road, stopping at different journey spaces to take actions like buying souvenirs, visiting hot springs, or donating to temples. The game ends when all players reach the final inn and have a meal. The player with the most points at this time is the winner.

Preparation (Setup)

1. Lay out the 7 achievement cards (Gourmet, Collector, Bather, Chatterbox, and 3 panorama bonus for 1st completion).
2. Separately shuffle the Meal, Souvenir, Encounter, and Hot Springs decks and place them face-down on their spaces.
3. Sort the panorama cards by type (sea, mountain, rice paddy) and then in numerical order.
4. Each player is dealt 2 traveler identities and they choose 1 to represent them during the game. Take the coins shown on the chosen traveler card.
5. Each player chooses a color and takes a pawn, color disc, and scoring marker of that color. Put the scoring marker on the “0” space of the score track, and the color disc in your traveler card to show your color.
6. Randomly place all players’ pawn at the 1st inn. One pawn per space (red dot).
7. SET-UP VARIANT: Give the player closest to the inn 2 extra coins, the next furthest 1 coin, the 3rd furthest nothing, and the 4th and 5th furthest must give back 1 coin. This is to balance out the benefit of going first.
8. For the Crossroads Expansion: Place the Legendary Objects, Bathhouse Cards, Calligraphy Cards, Amulet Cards, and the Cherry Tree Cards next to the corresponding decks from the base game. The red die is also placed nearby.
9. For the Matsuri Expansion: Shuffle the Matsuri deck at the beginning of the game.
10. Special Rules for 2 players: During set-up, add a 3rd traveler who is neutral. Set his starting position randomly with the other 2 pawns.

Game Flow

Throughout the game, the player whose traveler pawn is “furthest behind” is the next to take their turn. When players are ready to depart the inns, the player furthest from the road will depart first.

On a player's turn, they will simply move their pawn forward as many spaces as they wish to an empty journey space and take the action, but you can never go backwards! When the inns are reached, players will place their pawns in the next available closest space. All players must wait for the group to arrive at the inn before departing.

Double Spaces: In a game with 4/5 players, the double spaces are used (areas with 2 dots). When a player lands on this journey space, if the space on the road is open, use that space. If that space is occupied, then use the 2nd space further out. The space on the road itself is considered farther along on the journey, thus, if a pawn was on the 2nd space, he would go before the pawn on the road.

Matsuri Expansion: After all players have taken part in meal time at the 3 intermediate inns, the player who arrived first will take the top 2 Matsuri cards of the deck, look at both secretly, and pick 1 to go into effect until the next card is chosen at the next inn.

Special Rules for 2 players: The player whose pawn is in the lead will move the neutral traveler. Other than blocking spaces, the neutral traveler has no effect on the game except at the Temple and the Inn.

Actions and How to Play

All points earned will score immediately in game (except the 4 end-game and Temple bonuses).

Journey Spaces

• Shops:
  • Draw the top 3 cards from the Souvenir deck and lay them out face-up. Buy 0-3 of these cards for their coin value. Unwanted cards go on the bottom of the deck.
  • Each card has a coin cost and a type. The goal is to create a set of the 4 types of souvenirs.
  • The 1st souvenir in a set earns 1 point.
  • The 2nd souvenir (must be different from the 1st) is worth 3 points.
  • The 3rd souvenir (must be different from the 1st and 2nd) is worth 5 points.
  • The 4th souvenir (the one you don’t have in this set yet) is worth 7 points.
  • You are NOT required to finish 1 set before working on another set. Score points according to the set the new card is being added to.
  • If you have no money, you can’t stop here.
  • Crossroads Expansion - 2nd choice: Acquire 1 Legendary Object of choice, paying the cost. Any player may obtain multiple of the same type of card, and these cards count towards the “Collector” bonus.
    • Shodo and Emaki: Gives 1 point for all Souvenir and Legendary Objects earned thus far, and 1 additional point for all Souvenirs acquired thereafter.
    • Buppatsu and Ema: These cards count as a new “class” of souvenir in a set, allowing 5 cards in a set. Score points for its position in the set, and the 5th card is now worth 9 points.
    • Murasame and Masamune: Give 8 points.
• Farms:
  • Earn 3 coins from the bank.
  • Crossroads Expansion - 2nd choice: Pay 2 coins to roll the red die. The “X” earns nothing. The x1/2/3/4 will multiply the 2 coins you gambled, earning 2/4/6/8 coins.
• Panorama:
  • There are 3 types – a 3-panel, a 4-panel, and a 5-panel image.
  • See which panorama you stopped at and take the next segment (1,2,3,4,5) you need for your image and score matching number of points (e.g., the 4th panel will grant 4 points).
  • You can only create 1 panorama of each type, so once you have finished a type, you may no longer stop on that panorama’s spaces again.
  • If you are the 1st player to finish a particular type of panorama, take the bonus achievement card worth 3 points!
  • Crossroads Expansion - 2nd choice: Take a Cherry Tree card, if available. Cherry Tree Cards are worth 2 points and 1 coin. Can have any number.
• Hot Springs:
  • Take the top card, which will be worth 2-3 points as shown.
  • Crossroads Expansion - 2nd choice: Pay 1 coin for a Bathhouse card. Worth 4 points. Bathhouse cards count as Hot Springs cards for awarding the “Bather” bonus at the end of the game.
• Temple:
  • Pay 1-3 coins to the Temple space on the board and earn points equal to this value.
  • At the end of the game, players will earn 10/7/4/2 points based on their coin ranking in the temple.
  • Crossroads Expansion - 2nd choice: Pay 1 coin to the bank for 1 available Amulet Card. Amulet cards give a single use effect (keep face-down until use):
    • Vitality – Play again right away if you move into the lead and not at an inn.
    • Fortune – Roll the red die before you move, earn coins based on the number shown.
    • Health – Lets you pick both options at the place you stop this turn, not at an inn.
    • Friendship – Lets you stop on a “single space” as if it were a “double space.”
    • Hospitality – Meal card for free when at an inn.
    • Devotion – When purchasing any card, put the coins in the temple and score points as normal.
  • Special Rules for 2 players: Add 1 coin from the bank to the neutral player's color.
• Encounters:
  • Flip over the top card and apply the effects.
  • Shokunin – take and add the top souvenir card to a set for free. Score like normal.
  • Annaibito – Add the next card of the shown panorama. If this panorama is complete, take for another panorama. Score like normal.
  • Samurai – Score 3 points.
  • Kuge – Take 3 coins from the bank.
  • Miko – Take 1 coin from the bank and place it in your temple stack. Score 1 point.
  • Crossroads Expansion - 2nd choice: Pay 1 coin for 1 Calligraphy Card of choice. Keep face-down until the end of the game. These cards count towards the “Chatterbox” bonus given at the end of the game.
    • Foresight – score 2 points for every coin you have.
    • Contemplation – score 3 points for completed panorama and 1 point per cherry tree.
    • Nostalgia – score 2 points per Legendary Object and 1 point per Souvenir.
    • Patience – 6 points if last to arrive at the last inn, 4 points if 2nd to last, and 2 points for 1-3 position.
    • Perfection – score 2 points per Accomplishment and 1 point per Calligraphy card.
    • Fasting – score 3 points per inn that you didn’t eat a meal.
• Inns:
  • Special spaces where all travelers must stop.
  • Here you will buy meal cards for 1-3 coins and earn 6 points.
  • Arriving at the Inn: When you arrive at an Inn, you must stop and put your pawn on the next closest space to the road. Then you look at the meal cards to see if you want to buy some food.
  • If you are the 1st person at the Inn, draw meal cards 1 + the number of players, then look at them all and decide if you want to buy 1. If you aren’t the 1st player, take the meal pile that was set aside for this inn.
  • If you don’t want to buy one, put the deck to the side and wait for everyone else to arrive.
  • If you do want a meal, pick 1, pay the 1-3 gold coins shown, add the card to your collection and earn 6 points.
  • You can’t purchase another meal you have eaten already (can’t double card names).
  • After all players have arrived, the next leg can begin just like the beginning of the game.
  • Special Rules for 2 players: The 1st player that arrives will draw 4 cards, and when the neutral player arrives, the player who moved him will randomly discard 1 meal card to the bottom of the deck.

End Game and Scoring

The game is over when all players reach the final inn and have a meal. The player with the most points is the winner.

End Game Scoring

Players will award the following bonus cards:

• Gourmet – 3 points for the person who spent the most on food.
• Collector – 3 points for the person who has the most souvenir cards.
• Bather – 3 points for the person who has the most Hot Springs cards.
• Chatterbox – 3 points for the person who has the most encounter cards.

Players will award majority bonus for the Temple. Look at the coins in each pile and give points:

• 10 points for the player with the most coins.
• 7 points for the player with the 2nd most.
• 4 points for the player with the 3rd most.
• 2 points for the player with the 4th most.
• If anyone is tied, all tied players earn the point value for the tied position.
• If you didn’t donate any coins, don’t earn any points.

The player with the most points is the winner! If a tie, the player with the most achievement cards will win.

Tips for Winning

• Focus on completing panorama sets early, as the first player to finish a type earns a 3-point bonus achievement card.
• Strategically manage your coins, as they are crucial for purchasing souvenirs, meals, and donating to the Temple for end-game points.
• Pay attention to the Souvenir Shop to build sets of different souvenir types, as the points earned increase significantly with each unique item in a set.