Board Gaming in the Inaka
Guest Article by Nicholas Jang
First of all, just a quick “thank you” to all of you who have made gaming possible until now. As you know, for games it always takes at least two to tango!
Do you like social interaction? Competition? Tired of traveling every weekend? Trying to save money? If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, I’d recommend putting a group together to play some board and card games at your house.
A note on Covid-19. Because larger gatherings increase the spread of the disease, keep your board gaming to small groups or online options (see below) until things clear up!
Modern Board Gaming
In the last 10 years or so, modern board and card games have become much more strategic and have a higher replay value. No more standard roll-of-the-dice move mechanics like in Monopoly or simple match-and-play-a-card a la Uno. Not to say that I still don’t enjoy these classic games!
Instead you have Bang!, a western-themed card game where everyone has a secret role and must try to figure out who’s on whose side and who’s against who. There’s Fluxx, with its many themed versions, where every game is different because the rules are, as per the name of the game, always changing. Higher up the difficulty and playtime scale is The Castles of Burgundy, where you use dice rolls and various special abilities to build an estate in the 1600’s. Even higher than that is Agricola, a farming-themed game (yeah, I was skeptical too before I played it!) where you place your workers to do an action that no other player can do that round, and play improvements through cards to build up your farm. Whatever difficulty, game mechanic, type, theme, etc. you’re into, surely there’s a game out there for you and your friends to play!
Forming a Group
I haven’t been playing these kinds of modern board and card games for too long. I started playing more often and seriously while I was living in Daejeon, Korea in the late fall of 2015. When I first moved there in spring 2013, I had found a Facebook group called the Daejeon Board Games Enthusiasts. They had gatherings at least once a month, but only in the aforementioned late fall of 2015 did I finally go to one. I had gotten tired of taking the 2-hour regular train up to Seoul 2–3 times a month and had begun a custom of winter hibernation by abstaining from alcohol and just keeping warm inside, so I was glad to see that this group was very much alive and kicking. There was a big library of games to play as the group leaders owned several of them.
After my full membership into the group, more gatherings were made and several new people joined up too. I recognized that there were a few members who were more into serious games. With those members, we began to play almost every week. Many sessions would last all night. I remember we even started an Agricola game (average play time of 1 hour per player) at about 4:30am! We sure created some fantastic memories with those binges. And when new foreign teachers came in during late February and late August, more players joined the group and “hardcore” division. We held meetups at either a core member’s place or at MECA, a board game cafe.
When packing for the JET program, I wanted to take several card games with me. Sadly, I could only bring a few due to the airline’s baggage policy. During Japanese Language Camp was when I first played games here. I had brought Pirate Fluxx and Space Fluxx to play if there was time after class. I asked a few of the people I played with there if they’d want to come over some time to play some more. This was the origin of the current group. Since then, we’ve been adding more players!
Board Gaming in the Inaka
So what’s our average inaka game session like? If it’s at my house, we usually meet at my local Do! Every supermarket around Bingo-Akasaka station at noon, buy some of their bakery items for lunch, and eat at my house. Then we game for about 6–7 hours, with several tea, snack, and bathroom breaks in between, until dinner. The host usually picks the first game to play. Thereafter, the winner of that game chooses the next game and so on.
For being a bit of a quiet place, Bingo-Akasaka has some surprisingly worthy restaurants. Our consensus favorite is this hidden gem of an Indian restaurant called “Annapurna”. It’s elegant, spacious, reasonably-priced, and there’s always a table available. The owner is also very kind and always a joy to talk to (she speaks fluent English). Dinner is always the perfect time to unwind and talk about the day’s action. Also, it’s a good time to catch up on other stuff, as during gaming we’re all concentrating on our own strategies and trying to remember several things — well, some more than others ;). At last, it’s time for us to all go our separate ways, with me walking back home and the others catching their trains.
Time always goes by so fast on game days! It may take more time than expected to make a decision. Sometimes we have friendly arguments about the rules. A snack break can drag on for a bit. People constantly forget the instructions. A side conversation during a game distracts people. All good times though!
One of our recent additions is to play themed music according to the game we’re playing. Classic western movie music fits Bang! well. Star Wars and Star Trek music matches Star Fluxx to a T. The Lord of the Rings and other medieval fantasy melodies suit Saboteur and Citadels very fittingly. The music really gets us into the mood, especially if we’re playing a character or if we just want to talk in a pirate voice because we’re playing Pirate Fluxx.
Finding Games
Where can you buy games here? The only specialized shop I know of is Yellow Submarine at the west end of the covered shopping street in Hiroshima. All of their games are in Japanese though and seem to be more expensive than if they were bought in the U.S.A. Personally, I have either brought my games from home or bought new ones in Hong Kong, where they’re “off-brand.” Some of the games I bought there were surprisingly not in English, in which case I had to cut and paste English overlays on the cards.
Online Alternatives
So what if everyone is too busy to play with you? Luckily, there are several websites and phone applications that can entertain you. The best website is by far www.boardgamearena.com. It’s almost all free and offers tons of games to learn and play. It has everything from Hearts to 7 Wonders to Clans of Caledonia. Another of my favorite websites is www.boiteajeux.net. It has mostly games from the Euro genre, such as Castles of Burgundy and Bruxelles 1893. Finally, there’s www.gamesbyemail.com. They have some basic stuff like Checkers and Backgammon, but also Risk and History of the World. As for phone applications, there’s Fluxx, Agricola, Pandemic, and Galaxy Trucker, amongst so many more!
It’s a lot of fun to do, so why don’t you try forming a group together and playing some games? They’re perfect for a cold winter’s day and they’re great investments with high replay value. Compare a $20 Fluxx card game to spending over $50 on a night out in Hiroshima with dinner and drinks. Every gaming session can be different because of who you play with or what you play. I hope to have a game with you sometime in the future!
If you’re interested in playing in-person or online, contact me with the information below!
Nicholas Jang
Facebook: Nicholas Jang
Board Game Arena ID: NKDRidahX
Boiteajeux ID: NKDRidahX
Fluxx and Agricola apps’ ID: nkdridahx
