Eiyo

About this board game

Eiyo is a 1–2 player samurai survival game that plays in about 20 minutes, challenging you to withstand hordes of enemies while earning at least 40 honour points.

Each turn unfolds in two phases: the samurai phase and the enemy phase. During the samurai phase, draw four cards and prepare for battle, keeping no more than six cards in hand. Choose carefully how many cards to spend as you attack or deflect the enemies before you.

Enemy position determines which Weapon cards you need to discard to confront them. Each Weapon card shows positions, and you can use only one of those positions for each card discarded. You can also turn a Weapon card 90 degrees clockwise to hit an enemy in a specific position by discarding the topmost card of your Weapon deck.

• Attack: Defeat only the topmost enemy in an overlapping row and gain honour points.
• Deflect: Discard the corresponding Weapon card and place a Deflect token on the matching enemy row.
• Survive: Unprotected rows attack during the enemy phase, forcing you to discard cards according to the damage received.

A Deflect token prevents damage from its row for the current turn, but it also means you receive no honour points from that row. Before a new round begins, discard the topmost card of each row protected by a Deflect token.

Your Weapon deck can run out twice, but the third time ends the game if enemies remain. To win, survive the onslaught and reach at least 40 honour points. The included Eiyo: Yamabushi mini-expansion adds four Yamabushi mini-bosses to the battlefield, giving Eiyo another threat to face.