(Note: this is based on the prototype available at GenCon 2019. For more up to date information, see the Namiji Kickstarter page.)
Tokaido has made the top lists of Nerd Union writers a couple of times, both for value and recommendations as a great family game. As such, I was delighted when the Funforge team reached out with an offer to see the prototype of a sequel to Tokaido, Namiji, at GenCon 2019. The game we saw is definitely a test version with most of the tokens and cards glued pieces of paper on cardboard, but the vision of the game shined through.
Namiji started as an expansion to Tokaido, but evolved to the point where the creators decided to make it a stand alone game. Setting wise, both are influenced by Japanese aesthetics; however, Namiji takes place on the water rather than on land. Players roam off the shore while fishing, collecting panoramas of sea creatures, and making offerings to gain victory points.
Rather than choosing a character with a special ability at the beginning of the game, each player has the same starting ship as everyone else. As players enter ports, ship upgrades become available, allowing player strategies to diverge and develop uniquely from one an. A notable quirk of the starting game state is that each player starts with negative points. There are spaces along the trail that allow a player to make an offering and get rid of their initial penalty. Those penalties apply at the end of the game and can reduce a player’s overall score if not enough offerings are made.
Each player can also choose secret objectives by landing on the corresponding spot en route. Many secret objectives can be chosen, but they are only scored at the end of the game. They seemed to range from 3 to 4 points.
More choices and synergies are available to the players in Namiji than in Tokaido. In the demo game I played, I had a different strategy than my counterparts and it paid out. There was less of the back-to-back crawling up the road than I’ve experienced in Tokaido. We were more likely to jump ahead to the truly opportune spots if that supported our strategy. One of my upgrades was if I visited a spot to make an offering, I could also fish. In that way, I could off-load my negative points and fill up my net at the same time.
Fishing seems to be where the points are most plentiful. The net is a grid that is populated with fish with a shape in the corner and a particular color. Get like shapes or like colors in a row or column and many points can be scored. I won our demo game by leaning on fishing while taking no secret objectives. I was only able to do this, however, because I could combine making offerings with the fishing action thanks to an early upgrade I took at a port.
Namiji was released on Kickstarter late last year and is available for pre-order now. The artwork (not pictured, but check it and the beautifully crafted game pieces out on the kickstarter page) is in keeping with the aesthetics of Tokaido, and as such is charming and pleasant. Tokaido, without fail, has been a hit with casual and more frequent gamers alike (also my parents and in-laws, which is a feat). Namiji is shaping up to deliver an innovative sequel to an accessible and thoroughly enjoyable game.
Ross Blythe is a Chicago based gamer interested in all things tabletop. He enjoys reading history as well as fiction, and so has a soft spot for historical wargames like Pike & Shotte. For the campaigns he runs as a DM he often looks to history for inspiration, for the lessons of the past to challenge the players at his table.
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