Philosophia: Floating World

About this board game

Philosophia: Floating World is a deck-building sandbox game for 1–6 players with a 75-minute play time, set in feudal Japan. You decide whether to build majestic pagodas and Shinto shrines, learn ancient eastern wisdom, explore the world, fight ancient monsters, or pursue several paths at once.

Choose one of six unique characters from Edo Japan, each with a distinctive power and a mysterious secret. The game supports either turn-taking or a fully simultaneous mode, creating a fast-moving experience in which players plan and act together.

Rounds repeat across three simultaneous phases:

• Draw Phase: Draw six cards, pass them to another player, discard one, and divide the rest into piles of two and three. You perform the same process for another player, then choose one of your piles to keep and play.
• Collect Phase: Gather the items and bonuses shown on your cards, and optionally pay time tokens for extra actions in the next phase.
• Action Phase: Take actions simultaneously based on your cards and your chosen collect-phase options. When actions create disputes, the influence track determines who chooses the outcome.

The influence track adds a sharp political choice: the player at the top decides a dispute, but choosing an outcome in their own interest sends them to the bottom. This makes power valuable while discouraging selfish decisions.

Victory can come through any of seven available conditions, including collecting all four ganbaru tokens or discovering another player’s secret location and achieving any two ganbaru tokens. With over 200 tarot-sized cards and 12 intricate miniatures, Philosophia: Floating World presents its Edo Japan setting through digitally remastered Ukiyo-e-style art.