Let's Go! To Japan

The Game

This is not a game from Japan, but one about going to Japan. My first contact with Let's Go! To Japan was at the Essen game fair. I saw a group playing it. I didn't listen to the full rules explanation. I just took a look at the game setup and the components. It seemed rather complicated. Now that I have played it, I realise it is not that complicated at all. In fact I think this is a game which new gamers are able to handle. 

This is a game about visiting Japan. You get to visit tourist attractions in Tokyo and Kyoto. You plan an itinerary of six days, and you get to visit 18 different locations. After everyone has completed their itinerary, you calculate points to see who wins.  

Throughout the game you will be choosing cards to play to your itinerary. The itinerary starts blank, and you can play a card anywhere you like. However once a card is added to one particular day, you can't move it to another day. When you want to add a card to the same day, you can play that new card above or below the first one. However once you have decided, you cannot change their order. Gradually you fill up your itinerary, and then the game ends. 

That track in the screenshot above is a summary of what you do every round. It tells you which types of cards you draw (Tokyo or Kyoto), how many you must play, and how many you will pass to your neighbour. Any card you don't play are opportunities for your neighbour. That is something you can consider. When I played I focused only on my own itinerary. I didn't bother checking whether I'd be helping my opponent. 

Every day in your itinerary has one associated icon. This represents the ideal activity type for the day, for example great weather for outdoor activities, or there is a cultural celebration. When you play cards to a day with the same icon, you will gain some benefit. 

On each card, you can see the point value in the top right corner. The lucky cat means victory points. In the top left corner you see icons which you collect. These icons represent things you get to do in Japan, like tasting the local delicacies, shopping, participating in cultural activities, and visiting historical sites. For each of the five icon types, when you collect up to certain numbers, you will score points. At the bottom of each card there is a mission. If you fulfil it, you gain points and possibly other benefits too. You can place at most three cards per day. The missions on the first two cards will be covered and will not take effect. Only the mission on the third card will be in effect. You only check whether you fulfil the mission condition at game end. This is determined by whether you have enough of the required icons from Day 1 of your trip up to that point in time. For example, for your Day 2 mission, you can only count all your Day 1 and Day 2 cards. This is fun and thematic. This is like experiencing your trip for real. If there are activities you are planning to do but you have not yet done them, of course you can't count them as something you have experienced. 

Some activities affect your mood. You may feel guilty for have splurged on an expensive meal, or too much walking makes you tired and gloomy. Some things can make you happy, for example planning nothing for an evening and just going for a relaxing walk, or finding a fantastic deal when shopping. Too many unhappy triggers or happy triggers can cause you to lose or gain points respectively. You are not only planning an itinerary, you are also planning your mood. 

The Play

I have been commenting this about many recent games I've played - nothing unusual or innovative, but great fun. Now I am saying the same thing about Let's Go! To Japan. The play experience is wonderful. I wonder whether I am biased because my wife Michelle and I do enjoy traveling to Japan in real life. We have been there several times. We have not been to all the locations in the game, but there are some which we have visited. It is a joy to see those in the game. 

There is a reason for the two cities in the game. If your itinerary requires a lot of traveling back and forth between the two cities, that is going to be tiring and expensive, and you will likely lose points for it. Ideally you want to visit one city for several days, then take a train to the other, and stay a few days. You will only need one train trip. There are several things to consider when you plan your trip. It's nigh impossible to plan a perfect trip. Sometimes you have to compromise and choose. Every time you draw a card, you anticipate whether it's going to be something that matches well with the plan you have so far. Which missions to go for and which to forgo is not always easy to decide. Sometimes you decide on a mission and hope you will draw the right cards that can be inserted before the mission. Sometimes you have many of a certain icon, and you hope you will draw missions which need such icons. 

My first game didn't go so well. I could not complete my missions on Day 1 and Day 3. The earlier missions are harder to complete, because only a handful of cards counts towards them. Pink are Kyoto locations, and blue are Tokyo. I needed to take the train three times. Tuesday after breakfast I headed from Kyoto to Tokyo. Notice that little train ticket. Then I spent four days in Tokyo. Saturday morning I made a trip to Kyoto, just to visit one place (yeah, it was that important), and then by noon I took the train back to Tokyo to visit two other places. That was an exhausting Saturday. 

For my second trip I spent most of my time in Kyoto (pink). This time I only made two train trips, Wednesday morning from Kyoto to Tokyo, then Thursday noon back to Kyoto. This time round I managed to complete all of my missions. That was satisfying. Notice that along the top there is a track, and my yellow marker (which represents shopping) is still at 0. I'm not a shopping person, so this is an accurate reflection of real life. Realism! 

The Thoughts

Let's Go! To Japan is a pleasant game to play. Planning a holiday in itself is a fun thing to do. I would even say this is an educational game. All the cards come with a description about the location or activity. You will learn something about Japan. The train ticket token in the game looks exactly like a real train ticket in Japan, and I appreciate that kind of detail. How much player interaction there is in the game depends on how you want to play it. I played without bothering with what others were doing. I just wanted to happily plan my own holiday. The game works fine that way. If you are more competitive, or if you want to play at a higher level, then certainly you can pay attention to what kinds of cards your opponents are looking for and try not to give them such cards. 

This is an immersive game. The logistical challenges you face are indeed like those when you plan a trip. Because of that this is a game which makes a lot of sense and it is easy to understand. It also makes me want to plan my next trip to Japan.