Chiyo's Secret

Set up the Shogun board and the temple establishment in the center, and distribute establishment boards and patron cards based on the player count. Moto Naka distributes role cards, secretly assigns disguises to the Geisha and Ronin among the patrons, and places the city markers on the Shogun track. The game begins with a prelude where Moto Naka informs the betrayer and the assassin of their roles in secret.

Players belong to different factions with unique winning conditions. The daimyo allies win if the true Ronin, Geisha, daimyo, and imperial patrons share an establishment. The betrayer and the conspirator-servers have their own character grouping requirements. Moto Naka wins if the Shogun reaches the destination city before anyone else accomplishes their goals.

On their turn, noble players must perform a loyal action—Spy, Search, or Interrogate—to move tokens, ask Moto Naka questions, or reveal hidden patrons. Following the loyal action, players must perform secret actions such as honoring the Shogun, meeting an informant, or framing patrons, with extra secret actions required if they peeked at too many cards during a search.

Scoring and turn order shift during the final act once both the true Geisha and true Ronin are unmasked. Players calculate their honor by summing the honor values of their patrons and tokens, and turn order for the remainder of the game is determined by initiative cards handed out from lowest to highest honor.

The game concludes immediately when any player or faction successfully meets their specific victory conditions and reveals their role card, or when Moto Naka's Shogun marker successfully reaches the final space containing the correct city marker.