Legend of the Five Rings (collectible card game)
| Designer(s) | David Seay, John Zinser, and David Williams |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Alderac Entertainment Group |
| Players | 2-8 |
| Age range | 12+ |
| Playing time | 1 hour |
| Random chance | Some |
| Skill(s) required |
Card playing Arithmetic/Patience/Grasp of strategy Basic reading ability |
Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) is a collectible card game created by Alderac Entertainment Group in 1995. L5R takes place in the fictional empire of Rokugan from the Legend of the Five Rings setting, where several clans and factions vie for domination over the empire.
The card game shares some similarities with Magic: The Gathering but has its own game mechanics and flavor, providing "passive" win conditions like the Enlightenment Victory, as well as a version of Magic's goal of destroying the opponent. Games can be very long, with some matches lasting hours.
A major distinctive feature of the game is the importance of the storyline: new fiction pieces advancing the story of Rokugan are published on a weekly basis, in addition to being released with every expansion, and in a quarterly publication, the Imperial Herald. Many of these stories reflect the result of tournaments, where players use their decks to determine which faction will claim a particular prize within the storyline. Two novel lines, covering the Clan War and Four Winds arcs, have been published.
Legend of the Five Rings has garnered many accolades throughout the years, including several Origins awards (such as the most recent 2008 award for best CCG with Samurai Edition) and the 2008 Scrye Players Choice Best CCG Award for Samurai Edition.
The game was created by Alderac Entertainment Group and published by Isomedia. It was first previewed at Gen Con in 1995, followed by the release of the first set, Imperial Edition, in October of that year, beginning the Clan War arc. Five Rings Publishing Group (FRPG) took over the intellectual property shortly thereafter, before being purchased by Wizards of the Coast in 1997.
In 2000, at the behest of Wizards' mother company, Hasbro, the intellectual property to the game was put up for sale. Alderac Entertainment acquired the rights to publish the game in 2001, and full rights over the game within the following years, and have since published the game.
The release of Lotus Edition (in 2005) and Samurai Edition (2007) saw extensive changes to several aspects of the game.
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