Overview:
Estimated achievement difficulty: 3/10 (Some campaign missions may be harder if you are uncomfortable with squad based strategy games).
Offline: 16/20 (170/200)
Online: 4/20 (30/200)
Approximate amount of time to 200: 20-25 hours for SP, 2-3 hours for MP.
Minimum number of playthroughs needed: In theory 1, but 2-3 is more realistic.
Missable achievements: See the introduction below.
Does difficulty affect achievements?: Yes, the campaign progression achievements require Normal difficulty.
Unobtainable/glitched achievements: See the introduction below.
Extra equipment needed?: The WP version requires either WP7 or WP8, the Win8 version requires a Windows 8 tablet or PC.

Introduction:
Skulls of the Shogun is a strategy game that was commissioned by Microsoft to highlight their cross platform ability. The game saves to the cloud and the saves can be accessed from any device. This has benefits and drawbacks. The primary benefit is that you really only have to play the game once even if you own all three versions of it, as long as you load saves correctly (see below for details). The primary drawback is that if you DO NOT load saves correctly, some achievements can become permanently unachievable on other devices. As such, I strongly recommend purchasing all of the three versions you plan on playing before starting any of them, and then progressing on all of them simultaneously. This is the most efficient use of your time and avoids any glitches. The rest of the roadmap and guide will be based on the assumption that you own all three versions. If you don't, you can ignore any parts that apply to a version of the game you don't own.

Abbreviated Walkthrough:
The first mission is a tutorial on how to play the game, so run through that to start. While there are no achievements tied to the mission directly, it is very easy to unlock "Devil Inside" once you are taught about eating skulls. This is good practice for how to synch achievement unlocks across devices, so I strongly recommend doing so. Before you eat the third skull, save the game manually. Then load that save game up on all three devices at once, and eat it as close to simultaneously as you can manage. The achievement should unlock on all three, and then you can exit the game on your two non-primary devices and finish the tutorial level on your primary. 

At this point, complete all of the multiplayer and online achievements. They will serve as an extra tutorial on how to move around the maps, what the different spells do, how to use the different units, etc. This will make playing the campaign much easier, and only takes a few hours.

Multiplayer:
While there are only four achievements that require online, there are many multiplayer achievements that can be done online or local, and several achievements that are easy to unlock in multiplayer.

The longest online achievement is the 30 kills in 30 turns required for "Epic Win," so do that one first, knocking out "Web Master" at the same time. I would also recommend completing the requirements for "Gone With the Wind" and "Lightning Storm" in the same game. Next is the four-player (two of which can be AI) win for "Online Multislayer" and then "Kurokawa Would Be Proud."

The other multiplayer achievements can be done locally with one controller on an Xbox or pass-n-play on Win8 or WP: "Team Player," and "Speed Kills." I also recommend completing "Were You Using That?" and "Outfoxing Death" in multiplayer.

Mop-Up:
Once you are done with the multiplayer and online achievements, all that should be left are to complete the campaign on normal, get all the skulls, and complete the game in under 3 hours. It is very important to not change the difficulty settings AT ALL until you have unlocked all five story progression achievements. Doing so will void the achievements in such a way that you will have to start a completely new game from the beginning to unlock them. Also, pay attention to the level numbers. The progression achievements unlock every four levels, so create save games as you go through that level in case you make a mistake. When you are within a move of finishing the level, save the game and load that save up on all of your devices. At that point, complete the level on all three simultaneously to avoid any glitched level progression achievements.

Once you are done with your normal playthrough, change the difficulty to easy and get any of the the skulls you missed on your normal run (which is probably most of them). Once the skulls are completed, then you can check your times for each level and repeat any that you need to that are outside the times listed for "Speed of the Shogun."

Conclusion:
Skulls of the Shogun is a fun little strategy game that is great for pick up and play sessions across all three supported devices. The interface is slick and the cloud saves are seamless and automatic. Overall, this is well worth playing and three easy completions for 800  on all three devices combined.

[x360a would like to thank Creech for this Roadmap]

Skulls of the Shogun Achievement Guide

Printable Guide
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There are 20 achievements with a total of 200 points

  • Complete the Shores of the Dead on Normal difficulty.

    The Shores of the Dead are the first four levels. This achievement will unlock when you kill the enemy general on level four, Glorious Gates, on Normal. If you at any time up to this point have changed the difficulty level, the achievement will not unlock! Save before attacking the general and open that save on all of your devices. Kill him near simultaneously on all devices and you will get this achievement on all of them. 

    Thanks to Shelton for tips on level four: What you want to do is attack the enemy unit directly in front of their General, then, when your next turn comes around attack the General with everything you've got. In the bamboo directly to the right of where your units spawn, there is a potion. It can either be red (bonus attack strength) or green (bonus health and regeneration). In either case, you should pick it up.

    *** Note that this achievement can become permanently unobtainable on some devices if you unlock it on one without doing the simultaneous kill on the others. For instance, if you play on the WP and unlock this achievement, and then later complete level four on the Xbox, for many people the achievement will not unlock on the Xbox even if playing offline on a clean install. This glitch applies to all of the campaign achievements!

  • Complete the Land of Eternal Blossoms on Normal difficulty.

    The Land of Eternal Blossoms refers to levels five through eight. This achievement will unlock when you kill the enemy general on level eight, Guardian Gardens, on Normal. If you at any time up to this point have changed the difficulty level, the achievement will not unlock! Save before attacking the general and open that save on all of your devices. Kill him near simultaneously on all devices and you will get this achievement on all of them. 

    Thanks to Shelton for tips on level eight: Guardian Gardens is a medium sized map. It features the first appearance of Demon Monks -- healing monks who are allowed two turns -- which means in terms of strategy, you need to be aggressive with your attacks. If you're going to attack, make sure you are able to kill that particular unit in the same turn. Otherwise, the monks will simply heal it back to full health, essentially resulting in a wasted turn for you. 

    *** Note that this achievement can become permanently unobtainable on some devices if you unlock it on one without doing the simultaneous kill on the others. For instance, if you play on the WP and unlock this achievement, and then later complete level eight on the Xbox, for many people the achievement will not unlock on the Xbox even if playing offline on a clean install. This glitch applies to all of the campaign achievements!

  • Complete the Land of Monsoon Meadows on Normal difficulty.

    The Land of Monsoon Meadows refers to levels nine through twelve. This achievement will unlock when you kill the enemy general on level twelve, Forsaken Flights, on Normal. If you at any time up to this point have changed the difficulty level, the achievement will not unlock! Save before attacking the general and open that save on all of your devices. Kill him near simultaneously on all devices and you will get this achievement on all of them. 

    Thanks to Shelton for tips on level twelve: Forsaken Flights features Oni, similar in appearance to trolls. They will attack you or the enemy if either of you get close to them, with great power. Goad the enemy into walking by the Oni, thus letting the Oni do your work for you. There are skulls scattered near the entrances of the Oni's caves. Leave them and the enemy will try to grab the skulls, upon which they will be attacked by the Oni. When the enemy numbers have dwindled, avoid the Oni as best as you can on your ascent, and take out their General. Whether by traditional means (attacking him until he has no hit points left) or by forcing him off a ledge by hitting him when he is close to it.

    *** Note that this achievement can become permanently unobtainable on some devices if you unlock it on one without doing the simultaneous kill on the others. For instance, if you play on the WP and unlock this achievement, and then later complete level twelve on the Xbox, for many people the achievement will not unlock on the Xbox even if playing offline on a clean install. This glitch applies to all of the campaign achievements!

  • Complete the Land of Golden Harvest on Normal difficulty.

    The Land of Golden Harvest refers to levels thirteen through sixteen. This achievement will unlock when you kill the enemy general on level sixteen, Autumn Assault, on Normal. If you at any time up to this point have changed the difficulty level, the achievement will not unlock! Save before attacking the general and open that save on all of your devices. Kill him near simultaneously on all devices and you will get this achievement on all of them. 

    Thanks to Shelton for tips on level sixteen: Autumn Assault is a large map, home to many cleansing shrines, as well as crow monk shrines. Camp at the first pair of cleansing shrines, claiming them, and then kill the enemies as they come to you. Be careful of the archers to your left. I also suggest awakening your General early in proceedings and transforming him into a demon. He will be paramount to your defense, just remember to pull him out of the action after each turn. Once you've dealt with the enemies spawning in your immediate area, advance up the steps on the top right of the map. Claim the two cleansing shrines there, then make another defensive stand. When you feel comfortable, attack the General.

    *** Note that this achievement can become permanently unobtainable on some devices if you unlock it on one without doing the simultaneous kill on the others. For instance, if you play on the WP and unlock this achievement, and then later complete level sixteen on the Xbox, for many people the achievement will not unlock on the Xbox even if playing offline on a clean install. This glitch applies to all of the campaign achievements!

  • Complete the Land of Frozen Fortunes on Normal difficulty.

    The Land of Frozen Fortunes refers to levels seventeen through twenty. This achievement will unlock when you kill the enemy general on level twenty, End of the Line, on Normal. If you at any time up to this point have changed the difficulty level, the achievement will not unlock! Save before attacking the general and open that save on all of your devices. Kill him near simultaneously on all devices and you will get this achievement on all of them. 

    End of the Line is the last level of the campaign but the same basic strategy applies. Get your archers to demon status ASAP and capture the four shrines near you as soon as you clear out the closest enemies. Salamander monks work the best, and you will want to focus on getting your general and both monks to demon status once your archers are up to par.

    All of your enemies start as demons, so it will take multiple units ganging together to get kills, especially at the beginning. You have quite a few more units than you need, so if you lose a few at the beginning it is okay, but try to not lose any archers. Also, you will want 3-400 rice for the end game. Defend the top of the stairs at the beginning, and then spread out to defend the two bridges. You will want to send a cavalry unit to capture the two central cleansing shrines early on.

    Play defensively, and pull back wounded units to heal on the shrines. Any unit with a blue sword will freeze you, but good use of your archers should prevent anybody from getting into melee range after the first few enemies. Remember to protect your archers by having them fire from behind defenders whenever possible.

    When the enemy general finally wakes up and attacks you, the fastest way to kill him if you have two Demon Salamander Monks is to put them behind your general, and no units out front. You can't kill the enemy general with units other than your general, but you can damage him with other units, cleansing shrines and spells. His attacks will freeze you, so ensure that you are attacking first. Use your two Demon Salamander Monks to first cast three lightning storms on the enemy general. Save your game and load it up on all of your devices to synch the achievement, and then attack with your Demon General. Game over!

    *** Note that this achievement can become permanently unobtainable on some devices if you unlock it on one without doing the simultaneous kill on the others. For instance, if you play on the WP and unlock this achievement, and then later complete level twenty on the Xbox, for many people the achievement will not unlock on the Xbox even if playing offline on a clean install. This glitch applies to all of the campaign achievements!

  • Power up your General to a Demon.

    Your general needs to eat three skulls. Skulls are left on the battlefield when you kill an opponent, and eating them heals your units and increases their maximum health. Eating three of them will turn any of your units into a demon, which gives them extra actions each turn. This achievement can be unlocked on any level in any game mode. If you do the first level which serves as a tutorial, as soon as you are told about eating skulls you can unlock this achievement. Simply select your general and have him eat three skulls over three turns, retreating behind your line of infantry after doing so to prevent the AI from attacking him. The achievement will unlock after eating your third skull. If synching across devices, you can create a manual save immediately prior to eating the third skull and unlock it on all your devices by simultaneously loading that save on all three devices and then eating the skull.

  • Defeat an enemy Monk by haunting its Shrine.

    You can unlock this on any level with a shrine, in any game mode. The easiest method is to create a local game with two players on the Chaos Canyon map, with unlimited time. Note which color is your primary profile and with the other one, haunt any of the shrines that generate a monk. In the middle of the map is the Crow Shrine, which is easy to reach with both teams. Once your secondary profile has haunted the shrine (which takes a turn), a Crow Monk will spawn. Move him and the soldier you haunted with out of the way to make it easier to select the shrine, and then end your turn. With a unit from your primary profile's army, haunt the Crow Shrine and end your turn. Immediately end your turn with the alternate profile and the achievement will unlock.

    This can easily be done in the same session as "Outfoxing Death."

  • Bring back a fallen unit with a Demon Fox Monk's Revive spell.

    You can unlock this on any level with a Fox Shrine, in any game mode. The easiest method is to create a local game with two players on the Chaos Canyon map, with unlimited time and 100 rice. Note which color is your primary profile and with one of its units haunt the Fox Shrine which is at the top center of the map. This will spawn a Fox Monk on the following turn. Kill three of your secondary profile's units and have the Fox Monk eat their skulls so that he becomes a Demon Fox Monk. On your secondary profile's turn, kill one of your primary profile's units, and then end your turn. Select the Demon Fox and move within range of the skull left behind by your deceased unit, choose Spell, and select Revive which will be the spell all the way to the right. Confirm the spell and the unit will revive and the achievement will unlock.

    This can easily be done in the same session as "Were You Using That?"

  • Defeat 5 foes at once with a Salamander Monk's Lightning Storm spell.

    You can unlock this on any level with a Salamander Shrine, in any game mode. The easiest method is to create a local game with two players on the Chaos Canyon map, with unlimited time and 1000 rice. Note which color is your primary profile and with one of its units haunt the Salamander Shrine which is at the bottom center of the map next to the cliff with two other shrines on it. This will spawn a Salamander Monk on the following turn. Kill three of your secondary profile's units and have the Salamander Monk eat their skulls so that he becomes a Demon Salamander Monk. On your secondary profile's turn, group five of your units (not counting your general) close together, and then end your turn. Select the Demon Salamander Monk and move within range of the group of five units, choose Spell, and select Lightning which will be the spell all the way to the right. This will damage all of the units. End your turn and immediately end the turn of your secondary profile as well. Cast the Lightning spell again, the units will all die, and the achievement will unlock.

    I recommend doing this achievement at the same time as "Epic Win" to save yourself time killing all the units that have to be created for that achievement. Note that doing so requires creating a pass and play or online game, rather than local as detailed at the beginning of the guide for this achievement.

  • Knock 3 foes off a ledge at once with a Demon Crow Monk's Typhoon spell.

    You can unlock this on any level with a Crow Shrine, in any game mode. The easiest method is to create a local game with two players on the Chaos Canyon map, with unlimited time and 100 rice. Note which color is your primary profile and with one of its units haunt the Crow Shrine which is at the very center of the map. This will spawn a Crow Monk on the following turn. Kill three of your secondary profile's units and have the Crow Monk eat their skulls so that he becomes a Demon Crow Monk. On your secondary profile's turn, line three of your units up right next to each other on the edge of the cliff that makes up the bottom of the map. Select the Demon Crow Monk and move within range of the three units on the cliff edge, choose Spell, and select Typhoon which will be the spell all the way to the right. Target the middle unit, confirm the spell and all three will be knocked off the edge of the cliff, unlocking the achievement.

    I recommend doing this achievement at the same time as "Epic Win" to save yourself time killing all the units that have to be created for that achievement. Note that doing so requires creating a pass and play or online game, rather than local as detailed at the beginning of the guide for this achievement.

  • Earn 15 gold skulls.

    Gold skulls are awarded for completing meta goals in the game (such as beating the first level while taking no casualties.) You may earn some of these while completing your Normal campaign, but don't worry about them. You can do a second playthrough on Casual focusing on the skulls using level select.

    There are a total of 55 gold skulls available, and you will need to earn 15 of them in any order to unlock this achievement.

    Shelton's very detailed guide to earning all 55 gold skulls is available here, with both text and video for every skull.

     

    *** Note that this achievement can become permanently unobtainable on some devices if you unlock it on one without doing the simultaneous kill to end the level on the other devices. For instance, if you play on the WP and unlock this achievement, and then later complete a level on the Xbox, for many people the achievement will not unlock on the Xbox even if playing offline on a clean install. This glitch applies to all of the campaign achievements!

  • Earn 30 gold skulls.

    Gold skulls are awarded for completing meta goals in the game (such as beating the first level while taking no casualties.) You may earn some of these while completing your Normal campaign, but don't worry about them. You can do a second playthrough on Casual focusing on the skulls using level select.

    There are a total of 55 gold skulls available, and you will need to earn 30 of them in any order to unlock this achievement.

    Shelton's very detailed guide to earning all 55 gold skulls is available here, with both text and video for every skull.

     

    *** Note that this achievement can become permanently unobtainable on some devices if you unlock it on one without doing the simultaneous kill to end the level on the other devices. For instance, if you play on the WP and unlock this achievement, and then later complete a level on the Xbox, for many people the achievement will not unlock on the Xbox even if playing offline on a clean install. This glitch applies to all of the campaign achievements!

  • Earn all gold skulls.

    Gold skulls are awarded for completing meta goals in the game (such as beating the first level while taking no casualties.) You may earn some of these while completing your Normal campaign, but don't worry about them. You can do a second playthrough on Casual focusing on the skulls using level select.

    There are a total of 55 gold skulls available, and you will need to earn all of them in any order to unlock this achievement.

    Shelton's very detailed guide to earning all 55 gold skulls is available here, with both text and video for every skull.

     

    *** Note that this achievement can become permanently unobtainable on some devices if you unlock it on one without doing the simultaneous kill to end the level on the other devices. For instance, if you play on the WP and unlock this achievement, and then later complete a level on the Xbox, for many people the achievement will not unlock on the Xbox even if playing offline on a clean install. This glitch applies to all of the campaign achievements!

  • Break a Deadly Alliance in online multiplayer.

    This achievement can be earned in Skulls Online (on XBLA) or Skulls Anywhere (all devices). Create a Deathmatch game with 3 or more players (only two of whom need to be human, the rest can be AI). Once both humans have selected their unit color (which is the start of the second human player's turn if using Skulls Anywhere), have the second player open the Info screen (press  on XBLA, tap or click on the tan scroll icon on WP and Win8) and select the other human player. Choose Form Alliance to create a Deadly Alliance. The other player will need to accept the alliance on their turn, and at that point whoever is getting the achievement will need to open the Info screen and break the alliance. The achievement unlocks immediately.

    If synchronizing across multiple devices, you must load the save game on all devices simultaneously for the turn in which you are going to break the alliance or you will not be able to utilize the same save for this achievement.

  • Win an online multiplayer match.

    The XBLA version of the game distinguishes between "online" and "anywhere" (which is asynchronous game play). This achievement will unlock in either mode. WP and Win8 versions only offer asynchronous game play. Simply win any non-local multiplayer match by defeating the opposing general(s) and this will unlock. If nothing else, this will also unlock when you earn either "Online Multi-Slayer" or "Epic Win.

  • Win a 4-player online multiplayer match.

    This can be unlocked with two human players and two AI players. Create a Team Deathmatch game with one human on each side. For the person earning the achievement, you can let your AI partner do much of the heavy lifting while you simply support him and play defense if you get attacked by the enemy AI. The human player losing simply needs to pass every turn, or can actively obstruct his partner by haunting shrines and rice patties but never attacking. If your AI partner survives, you will also unlock "Team Player" if you have not done so already.

    If you do this in a Skulls Anywhere game mode (as opposed to Skulls Online on the XBLA) you can load up the final turn on all three devices simultaneously and unlock the achievement without having to play three separate games. Note that if you let the AI take the final move and the game ends without having loaded it on the other devices, the game disappears and you will have to start a new one to unlock it on the other devices.

    You do not need to survive in order to unlock this achievement. As long as your team wins, you will satisfy the conditions for the achievement regardless of the status of your general.

  • Win a team deathmatch game with your teammate still alive.

    This can be earned in local or online play as long as your teammate is alive at the end of a Team Deathmatch game. This will likely unlock when earning "Online Multi-slayer," but if it doesn't or you want to earn it prior, the easiest method is detailed below. You do not need to survive in order to unlock this achievement. As long as your teammate is alive and your team wins, you will satisfy the conditions for the achievement regardless of the status of your general.

    Start a Skulls Local game of Team Deathmatch with four players, unlimited time, and on the Murky Mire map. Note which color your primary profile is and the color of your teammate. When the game starts, simply have the opposing generals rush toward your teams and get killed. The game will be over and the achievement will unlock in roughly four turns of each team, or fewer if you meet the opposing generals mid-way across the battlefield.

    If you do this in a local game as opposed to asynchronous online play, you will need to repeat it for each device.

  • Win a multiplayer match with a 20-second-per-turn time limit.

    This is best done in Skulls Local with two players. Set the Time Per Turn to 20 seconds, start the game, and have the losing team's general rush to the other side of the map. Kill him and the achievement will unlock.

    Note that this one cannot be done in asynchronous mode, so must be completed individually on each device you own the game on.

  • Win an online match that lasts at least 30 rounds, defeating at least 30 enemies.

    This can be unlocked in asynchronous mode (which is recommended if you are playing Skulls of the Shogun on multiple devices) or on XBLA it can be played in online mode. It is easily obtained with a partner (while it could be done with a random, this guide is written presuming you have a partner to help you). Start a deathmatch with one opponent, 1000 rice, and choose the map Chaos Canyon. Whoever is going to win needs to haunt the Salamander Shrine and the Crow Shrine. The losing player needs to haunt all of the rice paddies and the Soldier Shrine, and then start pumping out infantry until he has at least 30 units.
    Unit counts are displayed on the Info screen (tap or click the tan scroll on WP or Win8, or press  on XBLA. This is a good time to unlock "Gone With The Wind" and "Lightning Storm." Proceed to kill off all of the losing player's units except the general, and then both players need to skip their turns until round 30 (or 31 to be extra cautious if you prefer). If you are playing Skulls of the Shogun on multiple devices, load the game up on all devices the final turn BEFORE killing the general! The game will become unavailable as soon as you kill the general, so if you have failed to load it on all of your devices prior to killing him, you will have to repeat the entire process to earn the achievement on those devices. At that point, kill the losing player's general on each device and the achievement will unlock on the stats screen.

  • Complete every level such that your best times for all of them add up to less than 3 hours.

    This can be done in level select on Casual difficulty. The best time needs to add up to a combined total of less than three hours. Some target times from Shelton are below to help with checking your progress, but as long as the totals add up to less than 180 minutes you will unlock this achievement across all devices.

    1. Line Limbo - 3:50
    2. Bedlam Beach - 5:22
    3. Archer Ambush - 4:59
    4. Glorious Gates - 1:20
    5. Sakura's Solace - 1:53
    6. Pink Pursuit - 6:06
    7. Potion Panic - 6:05
    8. Guardian Gardens - 3:33
    9. Raiden's Rampage - 0:52
    10. Murderous Moats - 12:30
    11. Hurricane Plain - 15:09
    12. Forsaken Flights - 7:43
    13. Fujin Falls - 12:45
    14. Lion's Labyrinth - 16:36
    15. Chaos Canyon - 7:31
    16. Autumn Assault - 14:14
    17. Glassy Glacier - 6:55
    18. Avalanche Alley - 11:20
    19. Frozen Finale - 16:37
    20. End of the Line - 24:12

     

    *** Note that this achievement can become permanently unobtainable on some devices if you unlock it on one without doing the simultaneous kill to end the level on the other devices. For instance, if you play on the WP and unlock this achievement, and then later complete a level on the Xbox, for many people the achievement will not unlock on the Xbox even if playing offline on a clean install. This glitch applies to all of the campaign achievements!

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