Rising Sun

2018 · Fantasy

Rising Sun

Players lead rival clans in legendary feudal Japan, competing across four Seasons to earn Victory Points through warfare, alliances, and devotion to the Kami. Each clan has unique abilities, income, honor rank, and a home province; gameplay cycles through setup, a Tea Ceremony for negotiating seasonal alliances, a Political Phase to select mandates and position forces, a War Phase of area battles, and cleanup. Diplomacy, binding and nonbinding deals, honor standing, and seasonal cards shape outcomes; ties are broken by Honor and points come from winning battles, controlling provinces, and fulfilling clan virtues.

Players
3–5 best 4
Playing time
90–120 min
Age
14+
Complexity
3.3 / 5
7.4 on Ludoyafrom $99.99WargameBluffingSet CollectionArea MovementTake That

On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya
260
Plays logged
498
Players
2h 55m
Average play
125
In collections
18
On wishlists
1
Pre-ordered

7.4/10

from 82 Ludoya reviews

  • Garfield8.0

    #41 Similar to Blood Rage, but more complex. Too many big monsters for my taste. A little bit less movement possibilities. War phase should use a timer. There were people that thought about 2-3min where to place the coins! I think 1min should be enough. [c] Theme: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Ok --> Gameplay: ★★★★★ <!-- size 7]Good amount of decisions to make --> Interaction: ★★★★☆ <!-- size 7]Fighting against others --> Artwork: ★★★★☆ <!-- size 7]Appealing --> Luck: ☆☆☆☆☆ <!-- size 7]Nope --> Strategy: ★★★★☆ <!-- size 7]Yes --> Components: ★★★★★ <!-- size 7]Perfect --> Play duration: ★☆☆☆☆ <!-- size 7]First 4p game took us almost 3h! --> Easy to teach: ★★☆☆☆ <!-- size 7]A lot to teach --> Rules quality: <!-- size 7]Not yet read --> Setup time: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Takes a little bit... Tidy up is a nightmare... --> No downtime: ★★☆☆☆ <!-- size 7]War phase was horrible --> Replay value: ★★★☆☆ <!-- size 7]Ok --> [/c]

    No plays logged

  • Mestremuten7.0

    Rating: 3/5 Production value: 4/4 Is the game in my collection/Love to have?: 0/1

    First impressions · 2 plays

  • Sergio Botello7.9

    Ed.Kickstarter

    First impressions · 2 plays

Read the reviews and rate it

Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

If I form an alliance, what does it actually do for me and my ally—do we both get the same bonuses and can one of us betray later?

An alliance grants non‑aggression and shared benefits on certain actions (both players may receive the ally bonus on Mandates and other effects); however either player may betray later, which breaks the alliance and costs Honor—see pages 11–13 and the Betray rules on page 18.

When I pick a Political Mandate, do I always act first and does my ally get discounts or bonuses?

The current player’s Mandate turn gives them initiative: you draw/choose Mandates in the Political Phase and the current player (and their ally when specified) receives the primary bonus or discount for that Mandate (see page 13 for choosing Mandates and pages 14–16 for Recruit/Marshal/Train specifics and who gets the bonus).

How do Shrine (Kami) resolutions work—do all shrines resolve at once, and how are ties decided?

Kami Turns trigger shrine resolutions one at a time from left to right on the board; for each shrine compare total Force to determine the reward and use players’ Honor to break ties (see pages 19–20, with Honor tiebreak explained on page 7).

In a battle, how does the coin bidding and hiring Ronin work, and what breaks ties in combat?

Before resolving a contested province players may bid coins for War advantages (per the bidding rules) and may hire Ronin to add +1 Force each; the highest total Force wins and ties are broken by Honor (see pages 21–24 for battle sequence, coin bidding, hiring Ronin, and tie resolution).

What exactly happens when I use the Betray action—do I lose Honor and can I replace my pieces on the map?

Betray breaks your alliance, causes an Honor loss, and lets you replace up to two of your map figures with same‑type reserve pieces (note Daimyo and Shrine figures are immune to replacement); full Betray effects are on page 18.

Opens Ludoya's rules assistant, which reads this game's rulebook.

Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.