Let’s Go! To Japan: Matsuri Edition Review

Tickets? Check! Passports? Check!  Itinerary? Umm…. Nope!  Where are we going and what will we do when we get there?!  Time to start planning our perfect week in beautiful Japan! From Tokyo to Kyoto, some of the most breathtaking sights, sounds and tastes await us! Let’s Go! To Japan.

1-5 Players 45-60 Mins Age 10+

Designer: Josh Wood

Artists: Chaykov, Kailene Falls, Toshiyuki Hara 原としゆき, Magdalena Pruckner, Erica Ward

Publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group

テーマとコンセプト

Let’s Go! To Japan is a card drafting and set collection game in which players plan their perfect six day holiday to the fabled cities of Tokyo and Kyoto.  Arranging their travel, scheduling each day’s events and ensuring they get the most out of their experience in Japan.  The game serves up a cornucopia of sites, entertainment, events and food to immerse the players in so many of the wonders Japan has to offer.  Its not only the activities you want to do, but the unexpected treats that you’ll encounter along the way that will make the difference between a well planned and executed travel itinerary and a spontaneous take-each-day-as-it-comes adventure.

So, how does it play?  To begin with, each player takes their own itinerary board, player pieces and draws one of each of the Tokyo and Kyoto cards, Players then take turns following the drafting guide each round to determine how to handle the card draft for the specific round, For example, in the first round you will play a card to your board then pass your remaining card to the player to your left.  In future rounds you may be required to draft four and play two, or switch and pass cards to your right instead of your left.  Don’t worry, the guide is there to, well… guide you, and you can’t really go wrong.  At the end of the day, you’re basically just drafting, playing and passing cards in some variation.

Cards may be played to your board in any order you like but once placed on a particular day, they cannot be changed to another day.  However if you for instance, decided to visit a shrine on Wednesday in Tokyo, then later add a restaurant visit on that day, you could choose to rearrange Wednesday’s activities however you like, so there is some flexibility.

Train travel plays an important part in the game just as it does in real-world Japan.  If you find yourself planning activities in Tokyo then play a Kyoto card on the same day or the next day, you’ll need to place a train token between the two cards to represent travelling from one city to the other.  If you can place a luxury train token, all the better as this will reward you with points.  However, poor planning and a lack of luxury trains will result in a more stressful experience and you’ll have to take an unplanned train, resulting in a loss of points. It may only be two points, but it adds up and does a great job of representing the stresses of disorganised travel.

Once all players have completed their planning, ie: end end of the final round, its time to score up  and recount your holiday to your fellow players.  The scoring takes some time, but it’s as much a part of the core game as drafting or playing cards. Scoring is the moment when you get to share you adventures, like recounting your time away to your family back home, or adding to your travel blog.  I’ve seen some players express frustration in the time it takes to score up the game, however I feel they’re missing the point that the scoring IS the final phase of the game, not something to be done after the game is over.  When our group played we each took the time to walk the other players through our journey day by day.  This not only kept all the players engaged, but allowed us to see and experience cards that we may not have encountered ourselves, broadening our understanding of the game.

このゲームの良いところ

Let’s Go! To Japan provides an elegant, enjoyable and accessible gameplay experience for all ages and levels of ability. No matter if you’re new to card drafting, as many of our family were, the game guides you through with just the right level of handholding, while never feeling intrusive. The card art is delightful to behold with gorgeous hand drawn depictions of both well known tourist sites and lesser known but equally recommendable locations. From food to shrines, from relaxing cat cafes to crowded shopping districts, Let’s Go! To Japan was clearly very well researched and created with a deep affection for the country it portrays.

As someone who lived in Japan for several years, and will be returning there to live in the near future, I can say this game certainly brought about feelings of fondness and nostalgia for my family’s home. In fact I may just challenge myself to plan may own week of exploration there based what I can schedule in the game!  Even if travelling isn’t your bag, you can live vicariously through the itinerary you create and feel like you’ve come to know Japan through association.

One aspect which impressed me is how well the game’s mechanisms support the theme.  Laying out the cards and planning each day feels like like setting a travel itinerary.  Planning my travel using ‘train tickets’ and figuring out the most efficient way to spend each day was in keeping with the core experience of travelling in a foreign country and created its own mini puzzle as I tried to find the most efficient use of my time.

Speaking of famous Japanese efficiency, the fact that each card is double sided means they can be used more than one way.  The front side will have the event, location or activity while the backs of all the cards function as ‘walk’ cards.  This means if you draw or are stuck with a card that isn’t particularly useful, you can place it as a walk card and then draw a new card when it comes time to activate it and see what you discovered while wandering.  It’s a great way to add a few unexpected surprises, and perhaps salvage a less rewarding day of your holiday.

The scoring is one aspect I feel will make or break this game for some players.  On the one hand, it takes a bit of time to score everything up and there is certainly some points-salad shenanigans going on.  However, if you take the scoring as an integral part of the experience, entertaining your fellow players by regaling them with the tale of your adventures and walking them through your journey, then the scoring quickly becomes one of the most thematic aspects of the game.

このゲームのあまり良く無いところ

I found it difficult to point out many inherent flaws in Let’s Go! To Japan.  The game is a light-weight card drafting game that does exactly what it says on the tin, not much to improve without adding complexity to the game, which in turn, would make it into something else.  Perhaps one of the only areas I could recommend would be including additional locations in the base game, this would have been a nice way to extend replay-ability and get a wider look at what Japan has to offer. As it is, the Day Trip expansion does add this extra content, but I feel it could have easily been included in the core experience.

Additionally, some folk lament the scoring, saying it can be tedious.  I can certainly see how this could be the case, however, I feel this is as much a matter of perspective as it is anything to do with the game itself.  Recognising the scoring as the final phase of the game can help to overcome this possible drawback by embracing it as part of the journey.

アートとコンポーネント

The art work is enticing, rich in thematic vibe and serves as a wonderful allure to see what delights the next card holds. There are several copies of many cards, but their variety is expansive and showcases Japan in a glorious, water-coloured feast for the eyes.  For anyone who is familiar with some of the more well known tourist spots in Japan, they’ll recognise several represented in the game’s comforting, relaxed art style.

In the Matsuri edition there are wooden tokens to replace the cardboard ones found in the retail version as well as cloth bags for the card decks and components and further cloth bags in each player colour for their individual bits.  Additionally, this edition came with the ceramic token bowls and the game itself was beautifully wrapped in furoshiki a traditional Japanese cloth used for wrapping gifts. None of these additions impacts the game itself and they definitely fall under the category of ‘nice-to-have’, but I can assure you they are indeed nice to have, it really just depends on whether you’re wiling to spend the extra money as the retail edition is a perfectly nice production. Bear in mind, the Matsuri edition will increase the cost, so be sure you know what you’re getting out of it and decide if the extras are worth it to you.

The Matsuri edition does come with some additional gameplay expansions; Day Trip and Grab Your Passport, the first of which can be used to extend your 6 day holiday to a full 7 days by adding Sunday to the track and allows players to visit other locations in Japan beyond Tokyo and Kyoto.  Grab Your Passport allows players to experience different travel ‘personas’ which essentially amounts to individual player powers. For example, you can be a meticulous planner or a spontaneous adventurer among other types.  These enable players to experience different play styles and serve to extend replay-ability.

最終的な考え

Let’s Go! To Japan has been one of my greatest delights to review this year.  It appeals to our family’s love of Japan, the art sparks joy and the game-play is snappy, intuitive and easy to teach to any newcomers to the hobby.  Whether you pick up the retail version, or indulge yourself by upgrading to the Matsuri Edition, you’re sure to be pleased with the results.  If you’re not a fan of Japan, or travelling or card drafting, well, then I don’t know what to tell you, perhaps this won’t float your boat.  But, if you’re looking for a fun, light-weight game that holds your attention to the very end and entertains the eyes throughout, then I highly recommend this one!

ありがとうございます (thank you) for reading, I hope you enjoyed this brief exploration of Let’s’ Go! To Japan.  Do you have a favourite Japanese-themed game?  If so I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or you can share your thoughts on our Above Board Facebook group. Please also check us out on Instagram!  Until next time, happy travels! またね！