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Board game publisher Devir has been creating a fascinating universe with the Kemushi Saga, a series of games that all take place in the same world but at different points in time. If you’ve played Bitoku, Bamboo, or Sand, you’ve already seen how this world evolves. From a time of ancient spirits to a future shaped by environmental change, each game explores a different era with its own mechanics and themes.
Now, Daitoshi throws us into an age of rapid industrial expansion, where steam power is reshaping cities and industries. The old ways of relying on human and animal labor are disappearing, replaced by machines and factories. Progress is unstoppable, and those who master the power of steam will control the future.
You take on the role of a business magnate, traveling between districts, harnessing the wilderness, and seizing opportunities to expand your influence. But unchecked progress comes at a cost. Nature’s guardians, the Yokai, won’t sit idly by as industry spreads. Will you build an empire of steam, or will the forces of the wild push back against your ambitions?
👥 1-4 players, ages 14+
⌛ Playing time: 120 minutes
📝 Designer: Dani Garcia
🎨 Artwork: Marina Vidal
🏢 Publisher: Devir Games (review copy provided)
Gameplay Overview
The game plays out over multiple turns until the second-to-last hex on any wilderness track is revealed, signaling the final round. Each turn, you’ll choose between two main actions: a Production Turn or a City Turn.
A Production Turn is all about running your factory. You’ll spend steam to activate specific buildings, triggering the inventions inside them. At first, your production line will be small, but as you expand and upgrade your inventions, you’ll start gaining more and more bonuses.
Other players don’t just sit and wait for their turn. If they’re willing to pay the steam cost, they can follow your action, activating the blue check mark bonuses on their own inventions. After that, everyone who participated moves their invention’s progress markers forward. If it reaches a certain point, that invention can be upgraded, making it even more powerful.
A City Turn is about movement and expansion. Your magnate must travel at least one or two districts clockwise, though if you want to go farther, you can pay extra steam. Where you end up matters because each district offers different actions and benefits.
If you choose a paid action spot, you can place workers in the district and gain their bonuses. These bonuses can help you move up the wilderness tracks, increase your reputation and prestige, discard wilderness tiles, or move the wormbus (yes, there’s a wormbus, and yes, it’s important). The prestige marker and wormbus movement can also lead to extra resources, steam, movement, and additional ways to clear wilderness tiles.
If you take the free action spot, you skip the worker placement and go straight to exploiting the wilderness. You take a tile from the track, place it in your factory, gain a worker, and adjust your chimney, which might generate some extra steam.
Regardless of which option you pick, you’ll always perform the district’s action afterward. This might involve building new machines for your factory, expanding a district to make it more valuable, or electrifying an area to improve its efficiency.
There are also opportunities for trade. By discarding luxury goods, you can gain useful bonuses, depending on how many you trade at once. And if you’re in the right district, you can contribute to the Mega Machine, a massive technological marvel that gives powerful rewards. If the Mega Machine happens to be in your district, you can skip the district’s normal action and use the machine instead. This lets you upgrade one of your progressed inventions into a Mega Invention, which scores better and offers bigger bonuses.
Yokai and Wilderness Conflicts
Of course, steam-powered expansion isn’t without its downsides. Nature’s guardians, the Yokai, aren’t too happy about your rapid development. If you end up with more than one wilderness hex of the same type in your factory, you’ll have to flip the corresponding operation tile, which can cause problems. Maybe it reduces your steam production, limits your workers, or increases your production costs. It’s a setback, but you can remove the penalty by getting rid of the extra tile later in the game.
Endgame and Scoring
Once the second-to-last wilderness hex on any track is revealed, the final round begins. Everyone gets one last turn before scoring starts.
Each wilderness track awards points based on how much progress you’ve made. The river track is a little different. It gives you points, but it also subtracts points if you still have unresolved Yokai conflicts in your factory. On top of that, you’ll score a few extra points for leftover resources and workers. After the final tally, the player with the most points claims victory, securing their place as the most powerful magnate of the steam age.
Daitoshi – The Review
A New Heavyweight from Dani Garcia
Released during Spiel ‘24 in Essen, Daitoshi is the latest creation from Dani Garcia, a designer who has quickly become a familiar name in modern board game design. With titles like Barcelona, Arborea, and Windmill Valley, he has shown a talent for deep, strategic gameplay, and Daitoshi might just be his most complex and intricate game yet.
Published by Devir, this game supports 1 to 4 players, is recommended for ages 14 and up, and has an average playtime of around 120 minutes. That said, if it is your first time playing, you might want to set aside some extra time, as teaching the game takes a while and early turns can feel overwhelming. This is not a quick filler game. It is the kind of experience you sit down for and sink your teeth into.
Production and Components
Daitoshi is packed with components, and I mean that literally. You will have to tetris everything back into the box if you want it to close properly. The sheer amount of pieces is impressive, and thankfully, the quality is excellent across the board. The game features sturdy wooden tokens, custom-shaped markers, and beautifully detailed meeples with a silk-screen finish.
That said, it is a bit of a mystery why some components got the silk-screen treatment and others did not. The victory point and wormbus markers, for example, look noticeably different, and it is hard to tell why they were not given the same attention. But that is a minor nitpick. Everything else is solidly made, from the thick cardboard tiles to the acrylic resource, steam, and wealth tokens.
The dual-layered player boards are a welcome addition, keeping everything neatly organized during play, and the game board itself is huge with a clean layout. The iconography is well-designed but does take some getting used to, especially on your first game. Fortunately, each player gets a large, detailed player aid, which helps smooth out the learning curve.
If there is one thing missing, it is a proper insert. With so many components, setup and cleanup can take a while, and an organizer would have made a big difference. No doubt third-party insert makers will jump on this soon enough.
Artwork and Theme
As part of Devir’s Kemushi Saga, Daitoshi carries over some familiar design elements from the series. If you have played Bitoku or Bamboo, you will recognize certain tokens and Yokai illustrations that tie the games together.
The artwork, done by Marina Vidal, captures the game’s steampunk-inspired world beautifully. The game board is rich with details, and the characters and components feel alive with personality. It is not the kind of over-the-top, highly detailed art style some games go for, but it fits the theme and mechanics perfectly.
How Heavy Is Daitoshi?
Let’s be clear. Daitoshi is not a casual game. There is a lot to think about, a lot to track, and turns can feel dense with decisions.
There is a bit of everything packed into this game: worker placement, engine building, a rondel system, and resource management. At times, it can feel like there is almost too much going on, as if several mechanics were fused together in a way that does not always flow naturally. That said, once you get the hang of it, the game offers deep, rewarding gameplay for those who enjoy a challenge.
The rondel system is the heart of the game. Players move around a central five-section wheel, with each section representing different actions. Four sections are specific actions, while one is wild, giving more flexibility. Each segment also has three spaces: a free spot where you cannot place workers, and two paid spots that cost steam but allow you to place and remove workers for bonuses.
The worker placement aspect is tightly integrated with the rondel. Each section of the rondel is tied to a specific color, and only workers of that color can be placed there. This means timing is everything. Placing workers at the right moment can create powerful combos, while poor timing can leave you with limited options.
The engine-building side of things is where Daitoshi really shines. Players build up their factories by acquiring and upgrading inventions, making their production turns progressively stronger. Spending steam wisely to trigger the best combinations is essential, and watching your factory grow into a well-oiled machine is one of the game’s most satisfying elements.
At the core of everything is resource management. Steam, food, energy, and other materials are all essential to keep your economy running smoothly. Run out of steam at the wrong moment, and you will find yourself struggling to take key actions.
Player Interaction and Strategic Depth
Daitoshi is not just about building your own engine. It is also about navigating the obstacles your opponents create. While the game might seem like a multiplayer solitaire experience at first glance, it actually has a strong competitive edge.
Players frequently block each other’s moves, sometimes intentionally, sometimes just because of timing. If you were hoping to place workers on a high-value space, do not be surprised if someone beats you to it, forcing you into a less efficient option.
Production turns can have unintended side effects. Activating a factory might help you, but it can also give opponents resources they otherwise wouldn’t have had. Choosing when to produce is a big part of the game’s strategy, and miscalculating can give your rivals exactly what they need.
At the same time, ignoring any one aspect of the game can cost you the win. Focusing only on production without city expansion? You will fall behind. Expanding too aggressively while ignoring the Yokai? Prepare for some harsh penalties. The game rewards a balanced approach, and players who can adapt to changing situations will fare the best.
Final Thoughts
Daitoshi is a heavy game with a lot of moving parts, and every decision you make has weight. Do you focus on building the most efficient factory, or do you spread your influence across the city? Should you invest in the Mega Machine, or is trading a better long-term strategy? No two games will play out exactly the same way, making it a deeply replayable experience.
It has clear, structured actions, and once you learn the systems, everything is nicely laid out on the board. But do not expect an easy ride. This is a thinky game, where planning ahead is essential, and mistakes can cost you dearly.
If you enjoy heavy strategy games, Daitoshi is definitely worth checking out. It has just the right amount of player interaction, with enough blocking and competition to keep things interesting, but never feels aggressively mean-spirited.
Is it for everyone? If you’re more comfortable with lighter or mid-weight games, Daitoshi might feel like a lot to handle. But if heavy strategy is your thing, Daitoshi delivers a rich, rewarding experience with plenty of depth to explore.
📝 We received a copy of the game from the publisher, Devir.
