2024 · Fantasy
River of Gold
Players act as river merchants aligned with competing samurai clans, developing settlements and businesses along a legendary river that links mountain passes to coastal fishing villages. On each turn players build ports, markets, shrines and other locations, take delivery contracts, move ships to fulfil orders, visit noble patrons, and seek divine favors to cope with setbacks. Income, influence, and reputation determine scoring as players balance investment in infrastructure with opportunistic trade runs. The game plays in about an hour, emphasizes route planning and engine building, and supports streamlined, tactical decisions with limited downtime.
- Players
- 2–4 best 3
- Playing time
- 60–90 min
- Age
- 14+
- Complexity
- 2.5 / 5
About the game
- Design
- Publisher
Photos from Ludoya tables
All photos in Ludoya
Where to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 220
- Plays logged
- 288
- Players
- 1h 13m
- Average play
- 68
- In collections
- 11
- On wishlists
- 2
- Pre-ordered
7.9/10
from 34 Ludoya reviews
Upcoming events with this game
All eventsRules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
How exactly does spending Divine Favor to change a die face work — can you wrap around the die faces?
You spend Divine Favor to change die faces and adjustments use wrap‑around; follow the sun/moon favor track rules for how those changes are applied (p7).
When I build a building do I always pay the full Koku cost and when do I get the build bonus and influence?
You pay the building’s Koku cost, place the tile on a matching shore space, then immediately gain the build bonus and the influence/marker effects; after placement slide the building row and refill tiles as described (p8–9).
When I sail a ship do I collect rewards for all adjacent shores or only where the ship stops?
When you sail a ship using the die, you collect the Visitor and Owner rewards for the shores adjacent to the ship’s position as resolved by the sail action, and you also apply any completion bonus or tile/era triggers that occur (p10).
Do I have to match exact goods to deliver to a customer, and can I exchange goods during delivery?
Follow the Deliver to a Customer action steps: meet the customer’s required goods using your available goods (certain customer abilities and allowed exchanges apply), resolve the customer’s rewards/effects, and then claim any applicable Masteries; the rulebook’s delivery steps and exchange rules explain permitted swaps (p11–12).
What ends the game, how are regions scored, and how are ties broken?
The game ends on the Emperor visit or other end triggers; final scoring counts region majority, customer scoring and bonuses as listed, and any ties are resolved in favor of Divine Favor (p13).
Free, on web, Android and iOS
Play River of Gold with Ludoya
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.