Country: Japan

Maki Master

As a master sushi chef, you've studied your craft for years. It took diligent training to perfect specialty maki like your All-Day Breakfast, Octopus's Garden, and Squid Salad Sandwich, but now you face your toughest challenge yet: Friday night dinner rush!

In Maki Master, you compete with your fellow chefs to complete the most valuable orders. You can concentrate on short and simple orders to get bonuses quickly or take your time to make complicated masterpieces for big rewards!

Each turn, add a new ingredient to the shrinking kitchen space and try to arrange them for the orders you're working on. Complete a scrumptious recipe for points or take an action card like Chop!, Stack!, or Switch! to help with future turns. Don't forget to collect spicy wasabi to complete orders with style! At the end of the night, the chef who has earned the most points by completing their recipes wins!

Maki Master adds new mechanisms, streamlined rules, and fresh art by Claire Lin to the Wasabi! design from 2008.

Let's Go! To Japan

In Let's Go! To Japan, you are a traveler planning, then experiencing your own dream vacation to Japan.

The game consists of thirteen rounds in which players draw activity cards illustrated by Japan-based artists and strategically place them in different days in their week-long itinerary. These can't-miss tourist attractions will have you bouncing between Tokyo and Kyoto as you try to puzzle out the optimal activities to maximize your experience while balancing your resources. The game ends with a final round in which you ultimately go on your planned trip, activating each of your cards in order along the way.

The player who collects the most points by the end of their trip wins!

-description from designer

Tokaido Duo

After Journeying the Tokaido road, it is now time to discover the island of Shikoku in Tokaido Duo!

In Tokaido Duo, two players pace the smallest isle of the Japanese archipelago. You will discover its many sceneries through the eyes of three different characters, and will thus experience a threefold spiritual journey.

As the Pilgrim, you will visit temples, forests, seashores and hot springs.
As the merchant, you will craft and sell handmade wares.
As the artist, you will paint a variety of beautiful sceneries, and gift them to passers-by.

You will earn points through all three characters' adventures as you slowly become one with their endeavours.

The White Castle

The heron flies over the Himeji sky while the Daimio, from the top of the castle, watches his servants move. Gardeners tend the pond, where the koi carp live, warriors stand guard on the walls, and courtiers crowd the gates, pining for an audience that brings them closer to the innermost circles of the court. When night falls, the lanterns are lit and the workers return to their clan.

In The White Castle, players will control one of these clans in order to score more victory points than the rest. To do so, they must amass influence in the court, manage resources boldly, and place their workers in the right place at the right time. The authors are Sheila Santos and Israel Cendrero, the duo known as Llama Dice who also designed the successful The Red Cathedral with Devir. In this case, we leave the Moscow of Ivan the Terrible behind to explore the most imposing fortress in modern Japan, Himeji Castle, where the banner of the Sakai clan flies under the orders of Daimio Sakai Tadakiyo.

The White Castle is a Euro type game with mechanics of resource management, worker placement and dice placement to carry out actions. During the game, over three rounds, players will send members of their clan to tend the gardens, defend the castle or progress up the social ladder of the nobility. At the end of the match, these will award players victory points in a variety of ways.

The central panel shows Himeji Castle in all its splendor, divided into several zones. The largest is inside the castle, with the Room of the Thousand Carpets, where the courtiers must ascend socially until they reach the circle closest to the Daimio to enjoy his favor. There is also the pond and the gardens, patiently tended by the gardeners where everyone can relax and contemplate its beauty without restriction. Another important area is the wall and the outside of the castle, where the warriors patrol and stand guard. Finally, we find the area of the three bridges, where the three types of dice that can be used to carry out actions are accumulated, and the personal domain of each player, where they will keep track of their resources and where they will have the reserve of workers.

With accessible rules and a very careful setting, The White Castle is a very versatile title that will fit in with different gaming groups. As is tradition with Llama Dice titles, its sleek and simple design belies a great deal of strategic depth within the grasp of players.

—description from the publisher

IKI

Edo — what we now know today as Tokyo, Japan — was a thriving city with an estimated population of one million, half townspeople and half samurai. With a huge shopping culture, Edo's main district, Nihonbashi, was lined with shops, selling kimonos, rice, and so much more.

Nihonbashi is the focus of IKI: A Game of EDO Artisans, which brings you on a journey through the famed street of old Tokyo. Hear the voices of Nihonbashi Bridge's great fish market. Meet the professionals, who carry out 700­-800 different jobs. Enter the interactivity of the shoppers and vendors. Become one with the townspeople.

One of the main professions in the world of Edo is the artisan. Each of the Edo artisans uses their own skill of trade to support the townspeople's lives. In this game, not only are there artisans, but street vendors, sellers at the shops, and professions unique to this time and age. Meet the puppet masters, putting on a show. Meet the ear cleaners that people would line up for.

The goal of this game is to become the annual Edoite, best personifying what is known as "IKI", an ancient philosophy believed to be the ideal way of living among people in Edo. Knowing the subtleties of human nature, being refined and attractive — these are all elements of a true IKI master.