Let's go to Japan! Review
Go travelling and experience Japan in this fun, replayable, reasonably priced board game.
Let's go to Japan board game summary
Score:
8/10
Number of Players:
1-4
Time to Play:
45-60 minutes
A quirky, fun game that's easy to learn and will appeal to non-board gamers as well. It's well-designed, with a highly professional finish, and it presents Japan in a whimsical, lovely way.
What we loved:
The artwork is very in keeping with the theme and well executed
The gameplay requires planning and is challenging in a good way
It manages to give the impression of going on tour in Kyoto and Tokyo
What could be improved:
More variety outside of Tokyo and Kyoto would have been nice
It's a good game to play sporadically rather than binge
Some of the rules are a little tricky to pick up correctly the first time
Let's go to Japan!
Let's go to Japan is (for want of a better description) a fun tourist simulator in which players are on holiday for a week in Japan, trying to get the most fun out of Tokyo and Kyoto.
Planning the most efficient trip, visiting the best locations and achieving personal holiday objectives will give the most points to help win the game.
Let's Go to Japan has 160 really well-designed cards featuring different activities you can perform in Tokyo (blue) or Kyoto (pink). Jumping between stations is inefficient and costs time and, therefore, points, so holiday-goers must plan carefully to make sure each day on holiday is packed with the right activities.
Activities include going to a cat cafe, visiting Tokyo tower or climbing Fushimi Inari Shrine (we've done this in real life and it was amazing). Each activity features different icons, and collecting them increases the points gained at the end of the game. Certain activities (such as heavy walking or climbing) will increase stress, and others (such as zen gardens) will reduce it. The more stress a player has, the fewer points!
Overall, the iconography and layout of the activities are clear and easy to pick up quickly. Which is important because the amount of fun you have hinges on your understanding of the cards.
Building your daily itinerary
Let's go to Japan builds the strategy through card placement. Each turn, players pick up cards, and then they need to place some of them on their daily track to match up icons, meet specific player objectives and also manage the amount of travelling required between Tokyo and Kyoto. There is thought and planning required by players about where to put each activity, and this is where Let's Go to Japan works best.
Each time you draw a card, there is a series of questions you need to answer based on where points are scored. Firstly, what icons are showing on the activity? And which city is the activity based in? This will determine which day you may wish to complete the activity, trains cost points, so the fewer hops between cities, the better. Next, you need to decide where in your day you place the trip. Card bonuses are scored only by the top cards in the day's list, but activities can also add negatives, such as stress. A card can be played between others, but once it has been played, it is fixed. So this is a one-time, get-it-right decision that will heavily influence your scoring at the end of the game.
This mechanic is satisfying when you get it right, and challenging in just the right way to avoid frustration. It drives the game's strategy, and this is where you will either win or lose the game.
The way players draw cards also has a large impact on points, as discards are placed in a pile that the other player will have to draw from in certain turns. This almost guarantees that every few turns, you will have a hand of cards you may not want or that will negatively impact your week. The strategy you use to play these hands requires some deep thought and clever placement. It's a good idea and increases the limited interactivity between players.
Overall, this is a fun game; the rules are well-designed and add to the strategic elements rather than cause complications (mostly!).
Let's go to Japan pros and cons in detail
What we liked:
The artwork for Let's go to Japan is very in keeping with the theme and the destination. It has a folksy charm, is fun and brings the game to life. The Inari shrine gates are just right, the cat cafe artwork is fab, and as with all good board games, the look and feel add to the overall enjoyment of the game.
The challenge of planning your week in the most efficient, action-packed, but stress-free way is very rewarding. Working out the exact day to put your shinkansen tokens, or getting that "Nurts" feeling when a day requires two hops to make the most points, is really engaging and in keeping with real-life holiday planning! Building days of icons in the right order to get the most points and bonuses is tricky, but fun and is the main reason we would recommend you play this game.
Board game themes are sometimes hit or miss. Great board games like Wingspan or Viticulture live and breathe the theme so that it becomes an unconscious part of gameplay. Let's go to Japan isn't that thematic, but it is very good indeed, and you feel like you are planning your trip to Japan. It certainly made us want to go back!
What we would improve:
Let's go to Japan is a two-city game. You can visit Tokyo or Kyoto, and that's it. For anyone who has been to Japan, this might seem like the most touristy (or even least Japanese) cities you can visit. They are obvious options for a board game with limited scope, but adding in Osaka, Hiroshima, Kawaguchiko, or Sapporo would have added more travel challenges, more activities and extra immersion into the theme. Eating Okonomiyaki in Hiroshima would have been an excellent card to draw.
The two-city approach, and a combination of limited activity types, does mean that we don't tend to binge this game in the same way we might do with Finspan, for instance. Let's Go to Japan hits the table every now and again, we remember how much we enjoy it, we play it twice, and it gets put away. Compare that to Botany, where we will leave it up for weeks at a time, and you can see that it's fun - but not addictive.
This might be because the rulebook can be a little vague to begin with. The core rules, such as card drafting, are easy to follow. But the additions, such as how to score cards, how bonuses work, the stress factor and when to play it and how trains work, can take a few readings and the odd house rule agreement to make them work. Many games struggle with rulebooks; this one is better than most, but still has its issues.
Let's go to Japan: Summary
Let's go to Japan is fun, has a strong theme and looks great. It won't get back-to-back play time, but it will be a game that lands on the table a few times every year. It's a good game to play with friends who have played a few other games and are used to learning rules quickly, and if you've been to Japan already, you will feel nostalgic!
Expansions and Related Games
Expansions
Let's Go to Japan has two small expansions:
Grab your passport adds an extra dynamic with passport cards, where players plan other people's holidays rather than their own
Day Trip adds extra one-day journeys onto the core game so players can choose from 12 cities to add as a day trip activity.
Related Games
If you're interested in Japan and travelling around Japan as a board gaming theme, then Tokaido might be a good option. Players are travellers in ancient Japan, travelling between Kyoto and Tokyo (Edo), collecting items on their travels. It's beautiful and, being an older game, more affordable than Let's Go to Japan.
If you enjoy AEG games and like nature, then Cascadia is a good option. Players place down tiles of different wildlife types in their habitats to create corridors that will earn them points.
Finally, if you want a thematic game that begs for binge play, then Finspan is an excellent option. It's fast, easy to learn, thematic, and because of this gets a lot of board gaming time here!
Other Games You May Like
Next Station Tokyo
If you're feeling like you're turning Japanese, like you're turning Japanese - then Next Station Tokyo might keep your theme running. You must create the perfect subway network of trainlines underneath Tokyo to score the most points. It's fun, fast and can be played anywhere. Perhaps even on your flight to Tokyo!
Let's Go to Japan: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Let's Go to Japan playable solo?
Let's Go to Japan has a solid solo player set of rules and automata. As the game has limited inter-play anyway, playing solo is easier than other games.
How much space does Let's Go to Japan need?
This game has a lot of extra parts, playing mats, areas for cards. It isn't something you can play on the sofa like Next Station Tokyo, it will need a table of good size.
How replayable is Let's Go to Japan?
This is the sort of game that will come back to your gaming table a few times a year, if not more. You will maybe play this twice at a sitting before moving on, but it will certainly have a good amount of playing time.
Transparency Notice
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