Setup

At the start, you receive two pieces to place on your board, these must go on separate columns

Turn

On your turn, pick one Kokeshi and move it 1 space upwards then resolve effects resulting from this, you can move your Kokeshi onto a blank or filled space

Movement Results

If the space is empty, move the Kokeshi back home and take a new tile (you can purchase a Quality tile if you are high enough and pass the threshold shown on the left)

If the space has a normal tile, activate it

If the space has a Quality tile, activate it then move that piece one more space and trigger the outcome on the next space

If the space is the end of the track, gain 3 Happiness and return home

Tile Effects

If a tile has a slash, you can only perform the action on one side

Any Kokeshi movement is always upwards, like your starter movement

If it depicts a Kokeshi, move that Kokeshi 1 space

If it depicts a group of Kokeshi with a large arrow to left or right, move a single Kokeshi who resides in that direction (placement note: as such, think about who you can affect when placing these, and try not to put a right arrow on the far right as this will affect nothing, same as a left arrow on the far left will do nothing)

If it depicts a group of Kokeshi with two up arrows, move a single Kokeshi of your choice 2 spaces but only resolve the effects of the 2nd space

If it depicts an Animal, move that Animal 1 space

If it depicts a group of Animals, move an animal of your choice 1 space

If it depicts a black tile, take a tile and place it as depicted, the arrows will show where it can be placed e.g. only that track, or any track

Cascade

Effects may trigger further effects, such as if you move a different Kokeshi onto a new tile on its track which depicts an effect

As such, fully resolve your initial Kokeshi, the one you first moved, before resolving the effects of the next Kokeshi, and resolve that one fully before resolving effects of Kokeshi it affects

Tile Placement

Except for instances such as the anywhere tile placement effect, tiles will be placed on the same track which triggered their creation

If a track is full, when landing on a tile which gives tiles to that track, ignore the effect

If multiple tiles are gained for a track, these can be placed in whichever order you choose

If you have some tiles which can be allocated to any track, and some which can only be allocated to a particular track, the any track tiles can still be added to that track, and again in an order of your choosing

Be warned: Tiles placed orthogonally adjacent to tiles of the same shade will lose 3 Happiness, but can still be placed

Quality Tiles

Quality Tiles follow the same tile placement restrictions as shown above

To gain a Quality Tile, either land on an empty space higher than its level on the left of the board with your Kokeshi, or pass the red line on the Animal track

The Quality Tile gained must be placed on the same track as the Kokeshi depicted within it

The Quality Tile must be placed on a space equal or higher than the matching threshold on the left, e.g. a Level 3 Quality cannot be placed below the level 3 threshold i.e. it has to be placed in the top space only

Each Kokeshi track can only hold a single Quality tile regardless of level

One player will always miss out on gaining a Quality tile for a Kokeshi, as such when everyone but 1 player has taken a Quality for a particular Kokeshi, discard the rest of that Kokeshi's Quality Tiles. Remember, the player who misses out can be different for each Kokeshi, missing out on one does not cut you out from all of them.

Animal Tracks

As well as passing the red line to gain Quality Tiles as discussed, these tracks also hold bonus tiles which can be gained on a first come first served basis. The earlier ones are related to a single track, whilst the later ones can be claimed by reaching the space on either track they cover.

Game End

The game ends after a player collects 5 Quality Tiles (or 4 in a 4-player game)

Scoring

End Game Scoring

1. Position of where are you on the each animal track scores the point on top of the track.

2. For each track that you are ahead of your opponent(s), you score 3 additional points.

3. Recognition tiles placed on your workshop board score the scores on the tile.

4. The position of each of your kokeshi doll score the points on the right on the board.

5. -3 points for each two tiles on your workshop board of the same color that are orthogonally adjacent to each other.

In-Game Scoring

1. 3 points each time your kokeshi doll hit the top of the board and returned to the starting point.