Originally, my long-delayed samurai/sengoku era Japan project was called ‘Ronin’. It is intended to be a historically ‘plausible’ game set in that period, but with options to include supernatural elements or for a more horror-oriented form of solo-play. Three settings for the price of one!

However, both Bushido and Sengoku are taken, and this game is a partial homage to them. Ronin was relatively open, but a *Borg project was created and funded in the meantime, so it’s probably not a great idea to stick with that name. It would already get lost in web searches, and now with competition, the problem is doubled.

The table below contains various options; you can pick one. I’ll explain each.

ONAMI – The meaning is that of a ‘great wave’, which references the famous paintings, but also has a great deal of other powerful symbolism in Japan. Ronin literally means ‘wave man’ so it has double or even triple meaning here. The drawback in that there is a boardgame of that name, and the ‘accent’ that is supposed to be over the ‘O’ can be off-putting to people or hard to search.

JIZAMURAI – Jizamurai were part-time samurai and part-time landholders, combining community leadership and agriculture with some military prowess. You can think of them as being like poorer, ‘bumpkin knights’ in European folklore and history. It’s basically pitch-perfect for what the game is about (Ronin with the potential to become provincial samurai running a small domain) but does, unfortunately, to western eyes, contain the word ‘jizz’. Given my associations, I think people would make assumptions and take the piss too much.

CHIBURI – This is the (questionably useful and somewhat apocryphal) ‘flick’ of a sword to shake off the blood. This has obvious virtue for both describing deadly sword play, and ‘shaking it off’ and moving on, which is the lot of the sword-for-hire.

CHANBARA – This is the whole genre of Japanese ‘sword fighting films’, which does describe a lot of the cultural background and awareness, but implies cinematic, which this game isn’t really.

STRAY CROW/S – I really like this one and the symbolism from Japanese traditions of storytelling, folklore and omens fits very well. However, it doesn’t instantly scream ‘JAPAN!’ at people, so I’m not sure. Each of the three books will have a subtitle, EG: Stray Crow: Ronin, so this isn’t necessarily a problem.

KATANA – Straightforward, cool factor, but dull and overly pragmatic. Meh.

TO – Another word for sword, as in ‘Ninja-To’, but has the accent over the ‘o’ and doesn’t have the ‘brand recognition’ of Katana.

YOJIMBO – Meaning a bodyguard, mercenary, guard or protector (the meaning has widened). More literally, it means a staff, used for protection. It’s not a bad one, but the association with the film, etc., speaks against its use for a gaming product due to confusion. It’s also what people say to me in the street.

SHINWA – Meaning myth, legend or story. Not bad, not quite the scale we’re talking about for our stories (which are more like Mad Max wandering around getting mixed up in shit) and not that recognisable. It’s also, apparently, the name of a Korean boy band.

RONIN – Maybe I should just say ‘fuck it’ and keep the name anyway. It’s not really copywritable or anything and the subtitles would differentiate from the *Borg thing.