The best games from Seiji Kanai 👨 2021
Looking for a really good game from game designer Seiji Kanai 👨? Then we have just the thing: the list with the best Seiji Kanai games 2021.
Who is Seiji Kanai anyway?
Seiji Kanai has been designing dice, card & board games since 2005. The game designer hails from Präfektur Kanagawa, Japan🇯🇵, was born in 1981 and currently lives in Japan🇯🇵. He is also known as カナイセイジ, Kanai Sage.
Kanai's first game "Dragon Rush" he developed in 2005 at the age of 24 - so he has been designing games for over 16 years. Famous Kanai games are for example Love Letter und die Love-Letter-Serie, Lost Legacy & BraveRats.
Who is Seiji Kanai anyway?
Seiji Kanai has been designing dice, card & board games since 2005. The game designer hails from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan🇯🇵, was born in 1981 and currently lives in Japan🇯🇵. To our knowledge, it is currently the only professional analog game designer among the nearly 300 in Japan. Kanai, by the way, is spelled カナイセイジ in Japanese, sometimes called "Kanai Sage."
Kanai's first game "Dragon Rush" was developed in 2005 at the age of 24 - so he's been designing games for over 16 years of games. Famous Kanai games include Love Letter and the Love Letter series, Lost Legacy & BraveRats.
Game fair in Essen & awards from Germany brought the breakthrough
In 2008, he exhibited for the first time at SPIEL'08 via JAPON BRAND. In 2012, he was at Spiel'12 with the game "Love Letter". Both the €7 variant with a red bag that was sold initially and the version subsequently sold without a bag for €3 sold out in a very short time.
In 2014, "Love Letter" won the 4th prize at the Deutscher Spielepreis 2014. It was the first Japanese game to win this award.
Game inventor already in his teens
Kanai started making simple "Sugoroku" (a Japanese version of Pachisi) when he was still in his teens. His dream was to one day be able to make a living solely from creating new games.
After dropping out of college, he lived with his parents in Tokyo and supported himself with odd jobs. The underlying motivation for his game development is not so much financial gain, but the joy of providing entertainment for others, he says.
Love Letter brought the breakthrough
There was a contest called "500 Yen Games" at Japan's largest board game event, Game Market. In 2010, he planned to make a game ("Regality & Religion") at a low production cost and sell it for 500 yen (about €4.40 at the time). A publisher had a special offer to print 16 cards very cheaply.
Then, after another game in 2011 ("R"), he finally showed Love Letter at the 2012 "Game Market." At the game fair, publisher AEG also became aware of the game and acquired the license. Everything after that is history.
How good are "Seiji Kanai" games?
There are 4 games by Seiji Kanai in our Top1000 games list, making Kanai the #61 best game author out of a total of 708 authors in our database.
More information about Kanai
More information about Kanai can be found on:
- Kanai's BGG profile
- Kanai's Twitter feed
- official Seiji Kanai website
- Interview with Kanai by Japan Times
List of best games by Seiji Kanai 2021
In this list we have listed the best board games that Seiji Kanai either designed himself - or was involved in designing.
Unfortunately, not all of Seiji Kanai's games are currently available. In the following list you can find all dice, board & card games by Seiji Kanai that you can buy 2021:
Love Letter
2 - 6 Players
20 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: very easy
Video reviews for Love Letter
Love Letter
Nominated for 14 awards and won 7.
More details for Love Letter2 - 4 Players
20 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: very easy
Video reviews for Love Letter
Adventure Time: Love Letter
2 - 4 Players
20 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: very easy
Lovecraft Letter
2 - 6 Players
5 - 15 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: very easy
👍 Good price!7€ at.de
Video reviews for Lovecraft Letter
Infinity Gauntlet: A Love Letter Game
2 - 6 Players
15 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: very easy
👍 Good price!15€ at.de
Video reviews for Infinity Gauntlet: A Love Letter Game
Love Letter: The Hobbit – The Battle of the Five Armies
2 - 4 Players
20 - 30 Minutes
8+ years old
Complexity: very easy
Archer: Once You Go Blackmail...
2 - 4 Players
20 - 30 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: very easy
Lost Legacy: Second Chronicle – Vorpal Sword & Whitegold Spire
2 - 6 Players
10 Minutes
14+ years old
Complexity: very easy
🔥 Great price!40€ at.de
BraveRats
Nominated for 1 award and won 1.
More details for BraveRats2 Players
15 Minutes
8+ years old
Complexity: very easy
🔥 Great price!12€ at.de
Lost Legacy: Third Chronicle – Sacred Grail & Staff of Dragons
2 - 6 Players
10 Minutes
14+ years old
Complexity: very easy
Lost Legacy
2 - 6 Players
20 - 30 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: very easy
Chronicle
3 - 6 Players
30 Minutes
12+ years old
Complexity: easy
Video reviews for Chronicle
Zaginione Dziedzictwo: Gwiezdne Ostrze
2 - 4 Players
10 - 20 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: very easy
Cheaty Mages!
Nominated for 1 award and won 1.
More details for Cheaty Mages!3 - 6 Players
30 Minutes
12+ years old
Complexity: easy
Mai-Star
3 - 6 Players
30 Minutes
14+ years old
Complexity: easy
Gods' Gambit
2 - 6 Players
20 Minutes
Complexity: easy
Sword Art Online Board Game: Sword of Fellows
1 - 4 Players
30 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: easy
RR
2 Players
15 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: easy
Say Bye to the Villains
3 - 8 Players
45 Minutes
14+ years old
Complexity: easy
Adventure Tours
Nominated for 1 award.
More details for Adventure Tours3 - 6 Players
30 - 45 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: easy
😕 Questionable price33€ at.de
Unicornus Knights
2 - 6 Players
60 - 90 Minutes
12+ years old
Complexity: medium
Video reviews for Unicornus Knights
Eight Epics
1 - 8 Players
15 - 60 Minutes
10+ years old
Complexity: easy
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