Who goes first in IKI?
English Sorry We Are French edition, 2021 publisher file
With three or four players, whoever visited Japan most recently is the first month's starting player; choose randomly if nobody has visited Japan. With two players, randomly assign the Sun and Moon tokens; the Sun player starts the first month.
Rule details
The starter chooses an Ikizama space first. The chosen spaces then determine the action order, so the setup starter does not necessarily take the first action.
For the first month's choice order, the starting player's firefighting marker is on top of the stack, with the other markers underneath in clockwise order.
If there’s a tie
The cited starting-player instruction does not specify a tie-break. We don’t infer one.
Source & edition
- IKI — Sorry We Are French rulesSorry We Are French · Player Setup, steps 10–11; Phase A, Way of Life; Rules for 2 Players, Setup; PDF pages 2, 6, 12 · Checked 2026-09-23
More starting rules
Browse available game rulesFound a different instruction in your edition? Send a correction with the game, edition, and source.