Reiner Knizia's Samurai

As far as board games adapted for the computer go, this one makes all the right moves. Based on the German game of the same name, Reiner Knizia s Samurai is a PC gem, with attractive graphics, detailed and integrated help, and a natural control system.

In Samurai, you try to gain the most political power among the cities of pre-unification Japan by acquiring support from religious leaders, nobility, and peasants. Players take turns placing influence tiles near cities that affect one or more of the main three groups. Tiles are drawn in random order, so some luck is involved, but strategy rules the day as well-played special tiles generally decide the winner.

Samurai does what every good adapted board game should: teaches new players quickly, speeds up gameplay, adds online play, and maintains the feel of the original game. The lack of a running score is a small annoyance, but a long learning curve ensures strong replay value.