The best games set in Japan 🇯🇵 2024

Ohanami is a serene and strategic card drafting game that seamlessly blends simplicity with deep strategic choices. Over three rounds, players cultivate their gardens by selecting cards and building sequences in a quest for the most points.

Hanamikoji is a strategic card game set in the historical context of Geisha culture in Japan. The game immerses players in the role of patrons who are competing to gain the favor of seven renowned Geishas by collecting items related to their art and performances.

King of Tokyo is a game where players take on the roles of mutant monsters, robots, and aliens, all competing to become the sole King of Tokyo.

Hanabi, named after the Japanese word for "fireworks," invites players to collaboratively create the perfect fireworks display. In this cooperative game, the goal is to arrange cards on the table in the correct order to achieve a stunning pyrotechnic spectacle. However, there's a catch - players must hold their cards so that they are visible only to their teammates. To succeed, you'll need to provide hints to your fellow players about the numbers and colors of their cards, working together to avoid mistakes and complete the fireworks show before running out of cards.

Takenoko is a charming board game set in the Japanese Imperial court, revolving around the care of a giant panda gifted by the Chinese Emperor. Players, as court members, are tasked with managing a bamboo garden for the panda.

Tokaido is a beautifully designed board game where players embark on a journey across the "East sea road", one of Japan's most scenic routes. The essence of the game lies in experiencing the journey itself, with players encountering various events and collecting diverse items along the way.

Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan is a strategic war game for two players, allowing them to relive the pivotal battle of Sekigahara in 1600, which unified Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate for over 250 years. Players take on the roles of either Ishida Mitsunari, defending the rightful heir, or Tokugawa Ieyasu, the most powerful daimyo, as they gather armies from their allies, all the while questioning their loyalty. With no use of dice, the game emphasizes strategy and loyalty through card mechanics, where cards are essential for motivating armies to fight. Loyalty is a fluctuating resource, represented by hand size, and battles involve deploying hidden units based on loyalty, with the potential for defections. The game aims to provide a historically accurate experience within a concise and intuitive set of rules, focusing on strategic deployment and the significance of loyalty without relying on luck to determine outcomes.

Age of War is a fast-paced dice game centered on conquest and strategy, set in feudal Japan. The game is designed for quick play and involves capturing castles, managing resources, and strategic planning.

Samurai is a strategic board game set in medieval Japan. It immerses players in a contest of influence and power among three key factions of the era: samurai, peasants, and priests.

Machi Koro is a light and fast-paced city-building board game, where players take on the role of mayor of a small town, striving to develop it into a thriving city.

Kanagawa is a beautifully crafted board game set in 1840 in the bay of Tokyo. In this game, players become disciples of the famed Master Hokusai, striving to learn and excel in the art of painting. As disciples, players must expand their studios, choose their subjects carefully, and pay keen attention to the seasons to create the most harmonious and compelling print, aspiring to produce their lifetime's masterpiece.

Tsuro of the Seas is an engaging and thematic variation of the classic board game Tsuro. In this version, players navigate their ships through treacherous waters, trying to stay on the board as long as possible. The game introduces new elements of strategy and unpredictability with the addition of daikaiju tiles, representing sea monsters and other mythical creatures.

Honshū is a strategic map-building card game set in feudal Japan, where players take on the roles of lords and ladies of noble houses. The game combines card drafting and trick-taking with an intriguing tile-placement mechanism.

Trains is a strategic deck-building board game that combines railway development with elements of capitalist competition. Set against the backdrop of the industrial revolution and the subsequent railway boom, players take on the roles of capitalists managing private railway companies in Japan. The game offers a fascinating blend of historical railway development and modern strategic gameplay.