The story
Fiction and adapted settings written by Akitsora Gaming for this title, including invented dialogue and events. This is not a historical or folklore reference. The rules and specification tables define the gameplay and math.
Before the bamboo blinds are raised, aloeswood smoke has already drifted through,
and kindred scents recognize one another across the seats at dusk.
I. Dusk at the Heian Incense Parlor
Inspired by the classical art of Genji incense diagrams, this quiet gathering unfolds inside a Heian-style chamber at twilight. Soft light gleams on the timber floor where a painted cypress fan, a noble ox carriage, a mother-of-pearl shell chest, and a ribbon-tied letter are arranged in order, while the hostess presents a gold-lidded censer with gentle movements of her layered sleeves.
Before the reels come to rest on any spin, curling ribbons of fragrant smoke trace this spin's Genji diagram above the board — five vertical strokes joined by horizontal bars that bear a classical chapter name from The Tale of Genji and reveal which reels share the same scent. The delicate geometry of those five lines sets a poised and contemplative rhythm before the symbols even come into view.
II. Kindred Scents Across the Room
In traditional Genji-kō, guests pass five censers around the room not to guess the name of the wood, but to discern which passes carry the exact same fragrance and join their vertical lines with a crossbar. The game translates that refined court pastime directly into linked reels on the board. Listening closely to the subtle notes of aloeswood and sandalwood was the mark of true sensibility in the Heian court.
Reels belonging to the same incense group — even when separated by other reels across the room — copy the same full column of symbols and come to a stop on the exact same beat, while rare Kyara aloeswood wilds help bridge consecutive reels from the far left. Even when separated across opposite sides of the board, reels in the same group move and settle in complete harmony.
III. The Moonlit Wisteria Gathering
When enough gold incense burners gather on the stopped board, the sliding doors open onto a moonlit garden where hanging wisteria sways in the night breeze, beginning the Incense Gathering. The hostess unfolds her painted cypress fan in welcome, and every free spin guarantees linked incense groups. Pale silver moonlight filters through the blossoms outside, casting lacy shadows across the polished wooden veranda.
During the Incense Gathering, each linked group of reels carries a multiplier according to its size; any winning combination that crosses distinct incense groups multiplies their values together, counting each group once with classical poise even when several of its reels participate. The more distinct incense groups a winning combination touches from left to right, the richer the fragrance of the reward.
IV. Raising the Blinds in the Golden Hall
The finest moment of the parlor arrives when all five reels unite in a single full link: the woven bamboo blinds roll upward, the incense hostess turns her gaze toward the guest, and golden trails of smoke frame the entire board in quiet splendour. That quiet glance from behind the raised bamboo blinds marks the most coveted alignment in the entire incense parlor.
In the Incense Gathering, a full link switches to a dedicated full-incense board holding only the four noble court treasures — the fan, carriage, shell chest, and letter — carrying the top group multiplier and lighting up the golden wisteria hall when a major win settles. Surrounded by drifting golden smoke and blooming wisteria, the courtly gathering reaches its most luminous moment.