Autumn · Keichō 9 · 1604

Rōnin

Four years after Sekigahara, thousands of masterless men walk the roads looking for rice and a roof. You are one of them. You cannot farm, trade or build. You can only cut. Sell your sword from village to village, wager on yourself when the crowd is watching, and earn a name great enough that a lord will take you into service.

Lose a wager that empties your purse and your road ends.

Connecting to the road…

Mouse to look, WASD to walk, V to switch between the over-the-shoulder and first-person views. On a phone, drag to look and use the stick to walk. Sound plays once you begin.

道The way of the blade

構
Your stance is the line you cut along: 上 high, 中 middle, 下 low. An opponent guarding the same line blocks your cut. Their guard shows in grey above them.
受
When an opponent raises their blade, a red ring closes around your sight and shows the line of the coming cut. Parry just as it closes to break them, hold the same stance to block, or dash away.
斬
A swordsman recovering from a missed cut is open. Strike then. A broken opponent takes a far deeper wound.
虚
Skilled opponents read your stance as you wind up. Change stance mid-swing to feint.
的
Draw your blade near an opponent and you lock onto him. The camera frames you both from your right side so you can read each other's stance and footwork. Step in, step back and circle with the movement keys. Tab or the middle mouse button switches to the next opponent.
抜
Striking with your blade sheathed is a quick-draw cut (iai). It is faster and deeper, once.
賭
Crowds gather when swordsmen meet. You may wager on yourself in a wooden-sword bout: first to two clean strikes. Stronger opponents pay better odds. Lose a wager that empties your purse and your journey ends.
仕
You have no trade but the sword. Find work on village notice boards and on the road. Work and victories grow your skill and your renown. With enough renown, a lord may offer you service.
言
Not every fight needs a blade. Press G when someone confronts you to intimidate, persuade or bribe. How you settle things shapes who you become.
義
Kill a civilian and you become a wanted fugitive: anyone may hunt you, and no one will trade with you until you pay blood money at a notice board. Cutting down other wanted fugitives raises your honor.
弓
Make a bow from branches and arrows from wood, flint and feathers (I opens your pack). Press B to raise the bow, hold strike to draw, release to loose. A full draw flies far and hits hard; aim for the head. Better bows and arrowheads open as your skill grows.
探
Search the fallen (E) for coin, swords, arrows and materials. Sell what you do not need to merchants and smiths.
鍛
Every village has a smith. Blades dull with every clash, and a chipped blade cuts shallow. Smiths repair, sell iron and tamahagane, and forge blades from Mumei up to legendary Meitō in the style you choose. Named rivals carry legendary swords of their own.
腹
Eat, rest and pray. Hunger slowly bleeds you. Shrines heal you and remember your progress.

Keys

Mouse: Look. Click the world to capture the mouse
WASD: Walk · hold Shift to run · arrows also turn
Left click or J: Strike
Right click or K: Parry
1 2 3 · Q: Change stance
Wheel · + −: Zoom the camera (pinch on a phone)
B: Raise the bow or return to the sword
I: Pack: gear, materials and crafting
Space: Dash
X: Draw or sheathe
Tab · middle click: Switch target
V: Over-the-shoulder or first-person view
E: Talk, trade, pray, gather, harvest, search bodies
F: Spare, or pay a bandit's toll
G: Talk your way through a confrontation
R · H · T · C: Eat · herbs · sake · make camp
M · Esc: Map · this page

With your blade drawn, your eyes settle on the nearest opponent.

図Kiso road map

Only the land you have walked is drawn. Torii mark shrines. The red mark is your current work or a bounty you have read about.