The best games by Hisashi Hayashi 🇯🇵👨 2026

Players create subway networks by filling in station fields on their individual boards. They use the numbers revealed on the cards to mark their subway plans with circles, but they face tough decisions due to limited station additions per line. Points can be earned through star bonuses at highly intersected stations and by completing lines first. Each player uses a unique board representing either the Tokyo or Osaka subway system, marking their progress as they draw numbers and circles according to the card drawn. The game ends when all indicator fields are filled, and the player with the highest score wins after calculating points and penalties for unfilled spaces.

Players work together as a team to organize a music festival featuring various performers. They must place all fifty cards into ten columns while keeping their hands secret from each other, allowing only limited suggestions.

Players create subway networks by filling in station fields on their individual game boards. Using the numbers revealed on the cards, they mark their subway plans while making tough decisions about the limited number of stations they can add to each line. Points can be amassed by completing stations with many crossing lines, and bonuses are awarded for being the first to finish routes. The game ends when all indicator fields are filled, and the player with the highest score wins.

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.

Smarter than you think and simpler than you expect! This small Japanese game defies categorization. While playing, you may not realize how rich it truly is.

String Railway is a unique railway game featuring colored strings, game pieces, station tiles, and a scoring board. Players start by laying a large circle of string on the table to define the game area, along with smaller circles for mountains and a string for rivers. On their turn, players draw and place a station tile, aiming to connect their stations with railway strings to form their own train network and earn victory points, with the game ending after five rounds.

Rolling America, based on the 2014 version "Rolling Japan," is a light multiplayer solitaire dice game. Players have a map of the United States divided into fifty abstractly represented states, organized into six colored regions.

Players take on the role of entrepreneurial railroad barons during Japan's Meiji era, a time of rapid industrial growth. They plan tracks, upgrade trains, sell goods to distant cities, and use action cards to become the wealthiest railroad baron in Japan. The mountainous terrain often limits track placement, requiring strategic foresight and careful management of resources to outmaneuver competitors and build a successful railroad empire.

In Yokohama, set during the Meiji era's transformative period, you step into the role of a merchant in the rapidly modernizing city of Yokohama. As the city evolves from a quaint fishing village into a bustling trade hub, you are at the forefront, capitalizing on this economic boom.

Players take on the role of zoologists exploring the African savannah to gather information about various animals such as elephants, lions, and giraffes. To study the animals, they must first capture them in their designated area, earning points along the way. The game features special rules that allow for younger players to participate as well.

Sail to India transports players back to the Age of Discovery where you, as a noble backer of Portuguese explorers like Vasco da Gama and Bartolomeu Dias, strive to find a sea route to India and establish profitable trade routes.

Set in the golden age of American railroads, players engage in portfolio management reminiscent of the 18XX series while participating in a trick-taking card game. They collect stock certificates and increase company values by expanding the rail network. The game alternates between stock rounds, where cards played become stocks, and operations rounds, where those same cards create tracks for the companies. Players score points based on the value of their stocks, with the highest total winning the game.

The Roman Empire was vast and powerful, with a legacy that endures. Players act as administrators of Roman cities, striving to develop their city into a prosperous metropolis like Rome. Success depends on gaining points through military, cultural, and religious developments, while also managing resources and housing for citizens to support their ambitions.