The best games set in Japan 🇯🇵 2025

Sushi Go Party! is an expanded version of the popular card game Sushi Go!, offering more variety and accommodating more players for a larger, more dynamic game experience.

King of Tokyo: Dark Edition is a limited collector's edition of the popular game King of Tokyo. Set in an alternative, darker version of Tokyo, this edition brings a new level of intensity to the battle for control of the city.

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.

Sushi Go! is a dynamic, fast-paced card game set in a sushi restaurant. Players aim to grab the best sushi combinations as they come around. It's all about strategy, from picking the perfect sushi rolls to collecting sashimi sets. Boost your scores with wasabi-flavored nigiri, and don't forget to load up on pudding by the end!

Immerse yourself in the world of Onitama, a dynamic two-player abstract game offering perfect information and a randomized starting setup on a 5x5 board. Both participants begin the game with five pawns each, strategically placing the main pawn at the board's center.

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.

All the King of Tokyo fun comes in a Monster Box. The battle for dominance in Tokyo has never been more intense, packed with excitement and adrenaline! It includes the essential Power Up! and Halloween expansions, evolution cards to enhance your monsters, and even a new version of Gigazaur with exclusive cards and a new dice tray for stylishly wreaking havoc in Tokyo.

On Nekojima, the "Island of Cats" in Japan, players build an electrical grid to supply various lively districts. Installing power poles becomes increasingly challenging due to the limited space and the curious cats that roam the cables.

Sushi Roll is a delightful dice game that transforms the beloved card game Sushi Go! into a dynamic, dice-rolling feast. Players dive into the world of sushi-making with this engaging, family-friendly game that uses dice to represent various sushi ingredients, combining strategy with luck.

Players take on the role of monsters battling for supremacy in a standalone game designed for newcomers. It features four new monsters, a mix of power cards, energy dice, and special yellow dice. The objective is to be the first to reach 20 points or be the last monster standing. Players roll six dice to gain points, energy, heal, or attack others, with various strategic options for each turn.

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.

The game accommodates 2 to 5 players, immersing them in the unique atmosphere of a pilgrimage along Japan's legendary Eastern Sea Road. Players aim to collect beautiful souvenirs, discover stunning views, enjoy enriching encounters, relax in soothing hot springs, and savor the rich cuisine.

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.

Players are transported to the idyllic landscapes of Japan in this standalone successor to the award-winning board game. With the introduction of cherry blossoms as a new element and over 40 achievements to unlock, there's plenty of exciting challenges to face. Numerous surprises await as players explore the world of Dorfromantik - Sakura.

Welcome back to your charming and quirky favorite city! In Machi Koro 2, players will notice significant changes with new area laws and a limited budget to select starting businesses. Cards are drawn from three decks and displayed for everyone, creating a race to build the coolest new establishments and landmarks across the country. Choose wisely, as your landmarks could also benefit your opponents, ensuring that no two games are alike.

As a Ninja apprentice, it's time to prove your skills through challenging and exciting tests. Players engage in collective challenges and duels in a series of randomly drawn tests. Whether challenging the whole group or going head-to-head, the objective is clear: be the best in your trial!

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.

Players take turns placing tiles in a communal garden area, with each tile featuring a colored flower and a colored bird. Points are awarded for bird groups during placement, while points for flower rows are scored at the end, based on the player's perspective from their position on the board. The version "Seikatsu: A Pet's Life" follows the same principles but instead features tiles depicting pets sitting on cushions.

The heron flies over the skies of Himeji while the Daimyo observes the activities of his servants from the castle's summit. Players control a clan to earn victory points by gaining influence at court, managing resources, and strategically placing their workers. The game features resource management, worker placement, and dice placement mechanics, set against the backdrop of Himeji Castle, where players engage in tending gardens, defending the castle, and climbing the social ladder. With accessible rules and a carefully crafted setting, it offers a blend of simplicity and strategic depth.

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.

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 explore the smallest island of the Japanese archipelago in Tokaido Duo. They experience various landscapes from the perspectives of three distinct characters: a pilgrim visiting temples and hot springs, a merchant crafting and selling handmade goods, and an artist painting beautiful scenery. By embarking on adventures with all three characters, players collect points and deepen their connection to their journeys.

Players arrange game pieces to gain the favor of the emperor in Okiya, also known as Niya. They can also block opponents from placing their tokens in the imperial garden to show more control.

Players roll dice to collect "Sushi" and "Fishbone" stones from the center of the board, with the type of stone depending on their roll. They can steal stones from others by rolling three or more colored "Chopsticks," allowing them to take a tile from an opponent's stack. At the game's end, players score points based on their collected stones, but having more blue stones than red results in losing excess blue stones.

Long ago, in the land of the rising sun, spirits and demons known as Yokai harmed human lives. They didn't attack directly but caused supernatural disasters, destroying crops, flooding rivers, and spreading diseases.

Players grow trees in a three-dimensional space. They move their Kodama stones around a 4x4 grid of branch tiles to choose the branches they want to add to their trees. Once all players have placed 12 branches on their trees, they score their goal cards, and the player with the most points wins.