Rising Sun board game

karazax

United States3737 Posts

March 08 2017 19:30 GMT

Looks pretty sweet, the game is on Kickstarter now.

Game overview:

Rising Sun is a board game for 3 to 5 players set in legendary feudal Japan. As the Kami descend from the heavens to reshape the land in their image, it is up to each player to lead their clan to victory. Use politics to further your cause, negotiate to seek the most profitable alliances, worship the Kami to gain their favor, recruit monsters out of legend to bolster your forces, and use your resources wisely to be victorious in battle.

Played over the course of a year, each Season in Rising Sun is divided into a Political phase, where players prepare their clans and set their plans in motion, and a War Phase, where dominance over each of the contested provinces is decided.

During the Political phase, players choose among a restricted selection for a Political Mandate to play. These determine the actions all players may perform. They can Recruit new units on their Strongholds, Marshal their forces across the map, Train to upgrade their clan with Season cards, Harvest to reap the rewards of the provinces they dominate, or even Betray their ally to bring opposing forces to their side.

When players perform a Train Political Mandate, they are able to spend their coins to upgrade their clans with Season cards that bring all manner of new abilities. From Virtues that give you bonuses according to your actions, to Enhancements that improve your clan, to powerful Monsters that may join your clan, bringing with them amazing strength or other more devious benefits.

At the start of each Season, players engage in a tea ceremony to negotiate new Alliances. Having the right ally and playing for mutual benefit (for a time) is often key to victory. Allies don't kill each other during war, and they also grant each other a unique bonus whenever they play a Political Mandate. Recruit extra units, build Strongholds when you Marshal, save coins when you Train, and reap a bountiful Harvest. However, the enticing Betrayal option always casts a shadow of doubt over Alliances.

Do not be too quick to Betray your ally, though, for such an action brings dishonor to your clan. Honor is a tangible force in Rising Sun. Clans are always competing on a ladder for who is more or less honorable than the other. Having more Honor than your opponent gives you the upper hand on any ties in the game, from a dispute when worshipping a Kami, to deadly war on the provinces. But occasionally being dishonorable might also be a valid strategy, for upgrades such as the nightmarish Oni often favor those at the bottom of the Honor scale.

When players Recruit their forces, they may choose to send their Shinto warriors to climb the mountains and go worship the mighty Kami. Three times per Season, each of these gods will grant their blessing upon the clan who worships them the most. The competition for the grace of the Kami can become fierce and change the course of the game. Each Kami grants a different benefit, from increased Honor, to extra Bushi, Ronin or coins. Only four of the seven Kami are used in each game, creating different dynamics each time you play.

Each Season ends with the War phase. In each of the contested provinces, the warring players secretly bid their coins on the different War Advantages. Only the winner in each of the different options is allowed to execute them, allowing for dramatic shifts in the outcome of each battle, or cunning players coming out ahead even in defeat. Bluff your way through impossible odds and trick your opponents into needlessly wasting their coins. Sometimes losing a battle may win you the war.

When Winter comes, all politics and fighting are over. Players gain extra points for winning battles in as many different provinces as possible, and also for certain upgrades they may have gathered. As the snow falls, the new Emperor will ascend!

Picture Gallery
+ Show Spoiler +

The miniatures shown are resins. All miniatures in Rising Sun will be pre-assembled plastic.

More information here.

karazax

United States3737 Posts

April 03 2017 14:56 GMT

Kickstarter is ending in 13 hours. Here is the updated content with the base pledge:

and the optional buys:

Plansix

United States60190 Posts

April 03 2017 16:02 GMT

That looks pretty. And doesn’t seem to fall into the trap of most kickstarter board games of just being loaded endless stuff, just a bunch. I haven’t see who the designer is.

karazax

United States3737 Posts

April 03 2017 16:22 GMT

Designer is Eric Lang who did Bloodrage, Chaos in the Old World, Arcadia Quest and a bunch of other stuff. Coolminiornot is the publisher.

AlexRoss0908

1 Post

February 04 2021 13:56 GMT

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Lobanica

1 Post

February 04 2021 20:44 GMT

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EchelonTee

United States5260 Posts

February 04 2021 21:51 GMT

This game is almost nothing like Dungeons & Dragons. Is this some weird bot / advertising necro?

It's a fun board game, with a lot of player interaction (alliances and betrayal), unique factions, great artwork. It's a good, albeit complicated board game. But yeah it has almost nothing in common with D&D - no player character, no adventuring party, no roleplaying.

Latham

9573 Posts

February 04 2021 22:32 GMT

Pretty sure they're some kind of bots... just not the spammy Keto / penis enlargement kind of spam bots, maybe testing a keyword / keyphrase?
Anyway I got baited, went to the kickstarter page and imagine my shock seeing this was from 2017... lol, necro bots got me good.

Manit0u

Poland17727 Posts

February 04 2021 22:51 GMT

Same here. Was looking for the pledge button all over until I saw the date

plated.rawr

Norway1676 Posts

February 04 2021 23:32 GMT

#10

Since this thread has been necroed and all... I've played this once, I had a lot of fun, love the thematics and gameplay. Definitely try it out if you have a chance. Took a couple hours or so.

EchelonTee

United States5260 Posts

February 05 2021 00:08 GMT

#11

I'd say the biggest downsides are the cost, and the complexity. The cost comes from all the figurines, which are quite well made to be fair. But you can test the game out in something like TTS if you want before making the big purchase.

The complexity... if you have an experienced board game group, it's not the hardest thing out there, but the fact that player intrigue is a major component, and the fact that player movement is very unrestricted makes decision paralysis a big thing. It's not my favorite board game (I prefer Scythe, which has some similarities in terms of complexity / unique factions / hidden combat tokens), but if you like the Japanese aesthetic, this is really well made.

[X]Ken_D

United States4650 Posts

February 07 2021 10:55 GMT

#12

Rising Sun is such a pretty looking board game. The figurines are not lacking in quality at all. Wish I could play it, but at $100 I'm a bit hesitant.

I hope they make an app for this game on iPhone/Android and Steam. I usually get hooked to a board game from the app then purchase the real life board games. Often times overpaying for the board game (ex. Tigris & Euphrates) because I like the game so much.

EDIT: They had a pledged goal of $300,000, but took in $4,228,060!!! nice!

karazax

United States3737 Posts

February 11 2021 20:43 GMT

#13

It's a good game, but it boosts the value if you enjoy painting the miniatures. Available at retail now

They made an electronic version of it's viking cousin, Blood Rage on Steam, but it was really buggy. I ended up returning it. So I am not too hopeful on Rising Sun getting a good digital version.

Adopteros

2 Posts

May 27 2021 11:09 GMT

#14

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