The players are Ninja sent to the castle on a special mission by their warlords.
As indicated on the Mission Card, starting from their own Base, in the maze of the castle, collect Treasures, Crystals, and Shinobi/Summon Chips.

To collect Treasures, Crystals and Shinobi/Summon Chips, Ninja must
1: acquire items in squares in the castle
2: attack other Ninja
3: summon and manipulate the Guardians of the Treasures (GoT, specters).

Each player repeats their turn to play in clockwise order.
On each turn players,
ⓐ maneuver their own Ninja
ⓑ slide the Walls (transparent sheets)
for 3 moves in total.

Ninja can move freely within a space surrounded by Walls.
• By stopping at a Treasure Square (4 types) and
• by passing through a Crystal Square,
they acquire each item.

Slide the Walls that block your way and create a path for the Ninja.
Hidden Staircases allow Ninja to pass through secret passages.

To enter the Water or ascend to the Rooftop, each requires a specific Tool, Take (Bamboo Snorkel) or Hashigo (Rope Ladder).
To acquire (or exchange) Tools, you must pass through the Tool Square.
However, it is luck of the draw!
Other Tools include
・Nawa (Grappling Hook) for climbing over Walls
・Nuno (Camouflage Cloth) for hiding (to prevent being attacked)
・Kekkai (Magical Barrier) for protecting Ninja from the specters
・Kusuri (Medicine) for healing an Injury
*The use of a Tool is not counted as a move.

To attack other Ninja, you need Weapons such as Tsume, Katana, or Shuri.
To acquire (or exchange) Weapons, you must pass through the Weapon Square.
Again, it is luck of the draw!
Including one type of defensive Weapon, Kemuri.
If the attack is successful, that Ninja takes an item (Treasure, Crystal, or Tool) from the opponent, and also gets a Shinobi Chip.
The defeated Ninja is injured and is sent back to their own Base.
*Attacking (using Weapons) is not counted as a move.

By sliding the sheets, in the center cell, if the Yin-Yang symbols are merged, a GoT (Oni, Rokuro, Kappa, or Tengu) can be summoned.
The GoT is given the number of moves by the card, and tries to capture other Ninja, forcing them to return a Treasure.
If successful the player gets the Summon Chip.

Kaeru, Lucky Frog

Do not despair if another Ninja or a GoT (specter) takes your Treasure or item.
You can draw a Kaeru (lucky frog).
Be patient, it will be converted into points at the end of the game!

Gacha, The Unexpected

Stopping at the Hidden Staircase with the plum blossom emblem, is a bit of a gamble.
Flip a Gacha Card and follow the instructions.
For better or worse, the unexpected happens: you may get or lose items, your location may change instantly, etc.

Place the tokens and chips you have acquired on your Acquisitions Board.
When you reach the required number, fly the Base Flag to mark, and declare “Return!”
Now, will you be able to return to your own Base safely?

On the return to Base, if by the Gacha, other Ninja or GoT, you fall below the mission requirements, it’s a fail.
Lower the Flag and continue playing.

Upon successfully returning to Base, the game is concluded!

 Scoring

All players count their scores.
The player with the highest score wins!

Treasure: 20 points/token
Shinobi/Summon: 10 points/chip
Crystal: 5 points/piece
Tool: 2 points/token
Weapon: 2points/token
Kaeru: 0-15 points/chip
Returning Ninja: +30 points bonus

Detailed Game Rules

ENGLISH (Draft Version 7.01E) → PDF