Main game
3.67 average rating based on 12 ratings
Playtime: 14 minutes
Review
Sword of the Samurai is one of the most interesting games i've ever played. It has elements of grand strategy, real-time strategy, role-playing and shooter games.
You pick a Japanese province and try to increase your power. Each turn you can raise/train troops, practice fighting, donate to the temple, raise taxes or travel. Travelling lets you straight-up attack rivals or infiltrate their homes to kidnap/kill someone. In my case i could sneak in to steal a sword that the lord was supposed to bring to his boss. This involved the game turning into a topdown shooter. I also tried to attack a castle with my army, which involves some clunky "strategy" in which you pick an army and a target.
It's an incredibly ambitious game, especially for 1989. I've never played anything quite like it, though it's vaguely reminiscent of Crusader Kings and Lords of Midnight. It's also really clunky and vague, and you have to look up the controls elsewhere. Fascinating, but not something i'd recommend to anyone.