Japanese Age of Samurai
Original hand-drawn artwork.
Pure strategy. Zero luck.
Why Taiko
Two to any number of players — just add more decks. Your entire friend group can join.
Identical starting armies mean every win and loss is purely a result of your decisions — not your draw.
Simple enough for grandkids, deep enough to keep serious players hooked. Competitive and casual players both have a shot.
Every illustration is a hand-drawn original, done traditionally with ink and pen by Pittsburgh-based artist Jason Okerman — who lived in Kobe, Japan.
Your Army
Every player commands the same seven cards. No shuffling, no random draw — just pure strategy. Ink-and-pen original art on every card.
Each card carries a rank and a warrior class. Samurai, Ninja, Archer — each has strengths and a weakness. Deploy them wisely.
The central card of each player's position. Tracks your three wall tokens using the crescent-moon markers. When the walls fall, your castle is exposed.
Brass coin tokens mark your wall positions — satisfying to handle, impossible to mistake. The Elite Edition includes larger metal tokens in a leather pouch.
Special ability cards that break the normal rules. The Daimyo's greatest threat — and the underdog's best weapon. Every army carries them.
Game Mechanics
Players sit in a circle. Each receives a Castle Mat, 3 wall tokens, and 7 cards. All armies are identical.
Each player places two cards face-down — one to their left neighbor, one to their right. No peeking.
All cards flip at once. Each neighboring pair is a battle — the weaker card loses a wall token. No takebacks.
After each battle, cards are passed to the neighbor you battled. Collect stronger cards by taking strategic losses.
Destroy all 3 walls, then win the next battle to eliminate that Daimyo. Last one standing wins — becomes the TAIKO.
Red arrows = active battles · Gold arrows = card swaps
Get the Game
Both editions include the complete game. The Elite Edition elevates the experience with a handcrafted wooden box and premium metal tokens.
The full Taiko experience — ready to battle.
Secure checkout via Square · Ships worldwide
Handcrafted for the table. Built to last.
Secure checkout via Square · Ships worldwide
☩ Shop coming soon — checkout powered by Square ☩