When you think about Japanese games, probably the first thing that pops up in your head is Sonic or Mario, but Japan has been enjoying more than a dozen of unique board games long before anyone in the world ever picked up a game controller!
Few of these traditional board games date back centuries but are still played and enjoyed to this day, owing to their creativity. Keep reading to learn about five traditional Japanese board games that you must try at least once in a lifetime.
Shogi
Shogi is similar to chess. It is a two-player board game that involves patience, strategy, and cunning. Each side has 20 pieces with different rules and abilities for each piece. Shogi enables players to capture enemy units and keep them as their own, making the game dynamic until the last move. Shogi may seem complex for beginners, but it is fun to play.
Riichi Mahjong
Mahjong is a tile-based game that has structural similarities to rummy, the card game. The goal of this game is to create sets by drawing and discarding tiles, and the ultimate objective is to get all 14 tiles matched into sets. The sets could be matching three tiles or four tiles or a sequential run of three.
Karuta
It is a Japanese card-slapping game that uses a special set of cards, but a regular card deck can be used as well. Tori-Fuda is one set of cards that are laid out face-up in an array, while a corresponding set called Yomi-Fuda is kept aside in the care of the"reader" or "reciter". The reader has to draw a card from the Yomi-Fuda and reads it aloud, while the other players have to seek out the matching card from their array and try to slap it before their opponents do.
Go
Go is the ancient game of strategy. It is often considered the world's oldest board game. Players take turns placing white and black stones on the intersecting grid lines of the board to form territories by surrounding and eventually capturing the pieces of their opponent. Go rewards balance and patience over greed and aggression. The game has simple rules that can quickly be learned, but it takes a lifetime to master it.
Gomoku
Gomoku, better known as 'five in a row is a very different game from Go, but it is played with the same board and stones. Players need to place their pieces on the board while trying to create a line of five in a row. The challenge does not only come from blocking the opponent but also from ensuring you do not exceed five stones per line. Unlike Go, the pieces in Gomoku cannot be moved once they are played.
So, which game would you like to try first?
When you think about Japanese games, probably the first thing that pops up in your head is Sonic or Mario, but Japan has been enjoying more than a dozen of unique board games long before anyone in the world ever picked up a game controller!
Few of these traditional board games date back centuries but are still played and enjoyed to this day, owing to their creativity. Keep reading to learn about five traditional Japanese board games that you must try at least once in a lifetime.
Shogi
Shogi is similar to chess. It is a two-player board game that involves patience, strategy, and cunning. Each side has 20 pieces with different rules and abilities for each piece. Shogi enables players to capture enemy units and keep them as their own, making the game dynamic until the last move. Shogi may seem complex for beginners, but it is fun to play.
Riichi Mahjong
Mahjong is a tile-based game that has structural similarities to rummy, the card game. The goal of this game is to create sets by drawing and discarding tiles, and the ultimate objective is to get all 14 tiles matched into sets. The sets could be matching three tiles or four tiles or a sequential run of three.
Karuta
It is a Japanese card-slapping game that uses a special set of cards, but a regular card deck can be used as well. Tori-Fuda is one set of cards that are laid out face-up in an array, while a corresponding set called Yomi-Fuda is kept aside in the care of the"reader" or "reciter". The reader has to draw a card from the Yomi-Fuda and reads it aloud, while the other players have to seek out the matching card from their array and try to slap it before their opponents do.
Go
Go is the ancient game of strategy. It is often considered the world's oldest board game. Players take turns placing white and black stones on the intersecting grid lines of the board to form territories by surrounding and eventually capturing the pieces of their opponent. Go rewards balance and patience over greed and aggression. The game has simple rules that can quickly be learned, but it takes a lifetime to master it.
Gomoku
Gomoku, better known as 'five in a row is a very different game from Go, but it is played with the same board and stones. Players need to place their pieces on the board while trying to create a line of five in a row. The challenge does not only come from blocking the opponent but also from ensuring you do not exceed five stones per line. Unlike Go, the pieces in Gomoku cannot be moved once they are played.
So, which game would you like to try first?
