🥷 7 Samurai – big expectations, big disappointment
⭐ 1/10
Players: 1–7
Playtime: 30–45 min
Difficulty: Medium (lots of rules, but not rewarding)
Game type: Cooperative / Card-driven / Thematic
I bought this game for obvious reasons — Japan! Antoine Bauza, the designer of Tokaido and 7 Wonders, this time takes us to a village under attack from the ONI-MUSHA clan. It sounds epic: step into the role of samurai and defend the villagers. The art by Victor Perez Corbella sets the scene beautifully, each samurai has unique abilities… Everything looked so promising. But in practice, the result was frustration and boredom.
🎯 Objective
Defend the village against waves of invaders. Players must work together to protect farms and families, using their samurai talents, barricades, and support tokens. Victory comes only if at least one farm and one family survive until the end of the third round.
🛡️ How a turn works
The active player reveals an Invader card.
Decide whether to fight (right side of the board) or defend (left side – Hut, Doll, Hat).
Resolve the outcome: win, take damage, or lose a barricade/farm.
Players can pass support tokens to one another.
The round ends when the deck runs out or all players pass. Then come the penalties for missing symbols.
🔥 Why I (don’t) like it
I bought it for the Japanese theme, but it turned out boring.
The rulebook was clunky — not impossible, but frustrating enough to kill the mood.
The gameplay felt repetitive and joyless — more like grinding through mechanics than actually having fun.
🏆 How to win in 7 Samurai
Use the unique talents of your samurai and combine them with other players’ actions.
Make sure each round includes Hut–Doll–Hat to avoid heavy penalties.
Manage barricades and support carefully — they’re your only lifeline to the end.
☕ Impressions
7 Samurai was supposed to feel atmospheric and full of tension, but for me it was just dull. The rulebook annoyed me, the flow was repetitive, and the fun was missing. Instead of samurai heroism, I only felt fatigue.
🎯 Rating: 1/10
Pretty art and a Japanese theme aren’t enough. 7 Samurai was a disappointment, and it’s a game I won’t be coming back to.
