Iki : Akebono Expansion

In the Nihonbashi area, where Iki is set, merchants of various crafts from all over the country set up shops, making the place Japan’s foremost commercial center. A fish market, kabuki playhouses and many yose theaters were established. The guilds of gold (Kinza) and silver (Ginza) were also established to manufacture coins, attracting people and cultural figures from all over the country. The wealthy merchants, together with the feudal lords and the various houses of the region, thus promoted Edo cultural activities.

The first Nihonbashi bridge was built in 1603, the year Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Edo shogunate. Nihonbashi became the starting point of the Five Routes and a hub of transportation and traffic.

In Iki: Akebono, two new boards are added to your main board: the City Board and the Nihonbashi Bridge.

The City Board has several uses:

• it allows you to easily place Character cards and Buildings,
• it brings a new way to manage the arrival and departure of craftsmen in the city.

The « Grand Master » mode is an improvement of the two-player game. It introduces a neutral Oyakata, the Grand Master, who moves around the Nihonbashi market in the opposite direction to the players. Once he stops in front of the stalls, he raises the experience of the craftsmen a step higher! If he reaches the Nihonbashi Bridge, he helps the players advance on the Trade Track.

The great new feature of Akebono is the expansion of the market, through the Nihonbashi bridge ! This bridge allows to multiply the strategies, and to discover new ways of playing. This board includes a bridge that welcomes Celebrities, but also a river that allows fluvial trade. The players will have the possibility, using the construction action, to build their own boats. Each boat has its own specialty: transforming resources into other resources, offering additional tokens (tobacco, pipe, fish), gaining experience for a craftsman, etc.

When another player uses one of your river traders, you progress on the Trade Track. This track gives you bonuses after the Fire phase.

If you’re lucky, you may see a Personality on the bridge! These famous people from the Edo era can be recruited for free and give you powerful abilities or new ways to score Iki. But beware, there are only two Personalities per season: only the fastest Oyakata can hire them!