Tips tokaido

Strategy Tips for the main characters in 4 player games.

Sasayakko the geisha The first advice I can give on this character is never pick her! By far the weakest character in the set. Especially avoid in games with preparations on as if you come out first you won't have enough money to take advantage of your special ability in taking a souvenir for free as long as you have the money to pay for it. You will be dead in the water. Lack of money is always the main problem for Sasayakko in any game. You need to get to as many villages as possible, but you also have to get cash from farms. Farm stops are essential, but in going there you are missing out on spa and panorama points. Taking encounter stops is probably wise in the hope of getting kuge for more cash or picking up a shokunin for another souvenir to add to your chances of claiming the souvenir bonus.

Zen-emon the merchant Is the preferable souvenir specialist as he can rack up a lot of points from buying souvenirs for only 1 coin, even more so on the return trip variant, which works well for him normally. He starts with a bit more cash than Sasayakko aswell, but again hitting the farms is necessary. Trying to pick off a panorama and its bonus is a useful side strategy and if Hiroshige and Chubei are not in the mix then try with careful planning to get a second panorama completed first. A combination of panoramas and souvenirs will give you a better chance of winning the game than a solo souvenir strategy.

Hiroshige the artist Again, one to avoid in 4 player games. If playing him you'll need to complete at least two of the panoramas first to win and preferable all three. This is virtually impossible if Chubei is in the game and Yoshiyashu can make it awkward too. The main problem is that in the rush to collect the panoramas you need to eke out enough cash to prevent yourself starving at the inns as Hiroshige only starts with 3 money. He is an impoverished artist after all. The other issue is that in concentrating on the panoramas you are often doing little else and you really do need a side strategy. Collecting the spas or trying to pick off one set of souvenirs if you have the cash. If you don't do something other than collect panoramas then you will be very limited for stops on the last leg of the journey and not having anywhere useful to stop is a common disaster for Hiroshige at the end.

--Napoleonvole 13:52, 18 November 2018 (CET)