Gunsen: The Battle for Toshi Ranbo

Seven clans, one fortress, and a great deal of very polite treachery.

Rokugan is the setting Legend of the Five Rings has been building for thirty years, and Toshi Ranbo is the fortress everybody in it has always wanted. You take one of the seven Great Clans — Crab, Crane, Dragon, Lion, Phoenix, Scorpion or Unicorn — each with its own abilities and its own agenda, and you fight, bribe and manoeuvre for the city. The box is generous: two boards, twenty-seven hero standees, custom battle dice, and a pile of influence, wood and koku tokens.

It is area control with multiple routes through, which is the part that matters. Holding the castle is one way to win; completing secret missions and claiming the shrines are others, so the player who commits everything to the fortress is often the one who loses it. Office Dog pitch it as an introduction to the genre and that is fair — forty-five minutes and up, teachable, and it goes to six without dragging.

Perfect for: a group that likes the idea of Rokugan but has never fancied learning a living card game to get there.

2–6 players | 45+ minutes | Age 14+