Back

How to Play

Kanagawa

2-4 players 45-45 min 7.0 Board Game Geek Rating

In this painting-themed game, players are Hokusai's art students competing to create the ultimate masterpiece. Draft cards representing different subjects and seasons to build your studio and complete harmonious prints. Victory comes from crafting the most balanced and beautiful artwork that proves your worthiness as the master's successor.

Published 2016

Kanagawa

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Place the school board
Put the bamboo mat board in the center of the table
2
Arrange diploma tiles
Sort diploma tiles by color and place them face-up above the school board in two rows, ordered by harmony points and color
3
Choose starting player
Randomly select one player to receive both the Master pawn and Assistant pawn
4
Distribute starting tiles
Deal one random starting tile to each player, placing it in front of them
5
Give starting brushes
Each player takes two brush tokens and places them in front of themselves
6
Prepare the deck
Shuffle all 72 lesson cards and place them face-down next to the board to form a draw pile

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Draw lesson cards
The starting player (with Master pawn) draws cards equal to the number of players still in the school
2
Place cards on board
Put cards on the first row of the school board, following face-up or face-down indicators shown on the mat
3
Choose to wait
Skip your turn without taking cards to wait for more cards to be added in subsequent rounds
4
Choose to paint
Leave the school and take all cards from one column
5
Expand your studio
Rotate cards so the studio side faces correctly and place below your starting tile
6
Expand your painting
Match the landscape on new cards with brush tokens on corresponding landscape icons in your studio
7
Apply immediate effects
When adding cards to studio, immediately gain brush tokens or claim the Assistant pawn
8
Move brushes
Use arrow symbols in your studio to move brush tokens to different landscape icons
9
Add more cards
If players remain in the school, the starting player draws cards equal to remaining players
10
Place on next row
Put new cards on the second row, aligned below existing cards
11
Force selection
When all three rows are filled, remaining players must each select one column and start painting
12
Meet requirements
When your painting or studio meets a diploma's conditions, you must immediately decide whether to take or pass on it
13
Take a diploma
Claim the matching diploma and place it beside your painting
14
Pass on a diploma
Decline to take it, allowing pursuit of a harder diploma of the same type
15
Transfer Master pawn
The player with the Assistant pawn receives the Master pawn and becomes the new starting player
16
Begin new round
Start again from Phase 1 with the new starting player drawing cards

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Deck exhaustion
When the last card is placed on the school board, all remaining players take cards and paint, then the game ends
2
Painting completion
When any player has 11 or more cards in their painting at the end of a round, the game ends
3
Place storm tokens
Before scoring, place any storm tokens on painting cards to change their season to any desired season
4
Count painting cards
Each card in your painting (including starting tile) scores 1 harmony point
5
Score longest season run
Find your longest consecutive sequence of matching seasons and score 1 point per card (including starting tile)
6
Add harmony symbols
Count all harmony symbols on painting cards and in your studio
7
Total diploma points
Add all harmony points shown on your earned diplomas
8
Master bonus
The player holding the Master pawn scores 2 additional harmony points
9
Highest score wins
The player with the most harmony points is the winner
10
Tie resolution
If players are tied, they share the victory

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

Hra v kocke - Kanagawa

Hra v kocke - Kanagawa

Instructional

Kanagawa - Tutorial

Kanagawa - Tutorial

Instructional

MORE VIDEOS

FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

Play Board Games Online

Explore breakout hits and fan favourites with no downloads, setup or paywalls. Just click and play.

Play Now

more GAMES LIKE THIS

Everdell Farshore

Everdell Farshore

Sea Salt & Paper

Sea Salt & Paper

Creature Comforts

Creature Comforts

Ark Nova

Ark Nova