The Wargamer

Introduction

The land of Kosumi is set in mythological Japan, with players able to control clans of Samurai and Ninja as well as Oni and Dragons. Kosumi is much like a play-by-email game with a GUI. Each player is given one of fifteen clans to play in the game. This game is turn-based, with turns in variant intervals depending on that particular game’s settings. Kosumi is a little bit chess, a little bit Risk, and a little bit Diplomacy, tied up into a medieval Japanese setting.

Much like any board game, the view is a top-down, bird’s eye view of the action. The fog of war is in effect, so a player does not automatically see every piece or city on the board. The player, as the Shogun of a clan, has the ability to manipulate a myriad of factors to control the outcome of any facet of the game.

Presentation

The presentation, for a game that is not about fluff, is actually very stylized. While there are no flashy graphics or sound effects, the look and feel of the map is that of a very nicely produced board game. 

The author is very upfront about his target audience. “Kosumi is for the serious strategist, played by intelligent people who know that a sweet victory is won over time. There are no flashy graphics to undermine the true power of strategy, only the thrill of communicating with your allies and enemies as you develop stratagems to outwit them.”

Kosumi targets strategy board gamers with busy lives. Since the turns are usually bi-weekly, a player can spend fifteen minutes a week at a game and not fall behind the other players. The web site even has a short movie on how the game can fit into a player’s life.

All outcomes come in the form of simple reports, detailing the action taken and the result. Violence and death are part of the game, although there are many strategies available for victory. There are no inherent benefits or penalties in acting a certain way towards your enemies, although some clans are better at certain actions than others.

Plot

The plot is simple and direct, essentially be the last Shogun standing. The first clan to control three of the ten provinces for three consecutive turns is declared the winner.

The background story of the game is that the God of War, Hachiman, created the land of Kosumi and summoned the fifteen greatest clans of Japan to fight for his amusement. Each clan has its own background, a combination of myth, legend, and history. Some of the clans have blood enemies – historically opposed groups, such as the Oni and Dragon or Taira and Minmamoto, whose influence directly affects the other.

The initial positioning of each clan is fairly static, so the first few turns tend to follow scripted strategies. Since the game has fifteen live players, it diverges from script rapidly. There is a different strategy for each clan, as each one has different strengths and weaknesses. Each turn, from the first one, is very important to the development of the game. A slow start or early mistake can affect the overall game.