Feature: Japanese Game Festival
Freshly inspired by the bundle of new Japanese games I came back from UK Games Expo (read my report of the convention here) with, I’ve decided to run a short feature here on Punchboard. Today is the start of our Japanese Game Festival, or 日本のゲーム祭り (Nihon no gēmu matsuri), celebrating the variety of game design from our friends on the other side of the planet.
I’ve covered games by Japanese designers before, but I should warn you now that not all of the games I feature over the next two or three weeks will be as widely available as the likes of Yokohama or Hanamikoji. Getting hold of Japanese games can be difficult for reasons I’ll go into.
You might be asking yourself, “Why are you reviewing games which I can’t buy?” That’s a fair question to ask. Think of this as a tasting menu of Japanese games. Seasonal board game tapas. This is an opportunity to become aware of some of the games and designers that you might not otherwise know about, and to help reinforce the idea that not all great games are from designers in Europe or the US. That said, wherever possible, I’ll be pointing you to the places in your part of the world where companies may be importing these games. Places like:
- UK – Travel Games
- Europe – Golden Meeple
- US – Tricky Imports, Tanuki Games
I also need to caveat everything you read during this feature, too. I am in no way an expert in Japanese board and card games. Far from it. There will be those of you out there thinking, “This guy has no idea what he’s talking about”, and that’s fine. I don’t pretend to be an expert. What I am, however, is someone with a lot of experience in a wide variety of tabletop games, and I’ll be posting my thoughts and opinions from that perspective.
For context, I’m an unashamed Nihonophile who grew up in the 80s and 90s on a diet of whatever anime Manga UK could throw my way, and my love of Japanese culture, old and new, continues to this day. I’m (slowly!) learning the language, and with any luck, will be able to visit for myself in the not-too-distant future.
So without further ado, let’s kick things off with a crazy dexterity game called Yubibo. 始めましょう?
Click here to read the Yubibo Review
