by Derek Yeung

I had the honor of attending Game Market Spring 25 in Japan on May 17-18, 2025, receiving a press pass for the event on behalf of BGG. (I’m a Team Geek volunteer at BGG events and picked up games from this event for the BGG Library.) Here’s an overview of the Game Market experience:

1. What is Game Market?

Game Market is a gaming exhibition hosted twice a year by Arclight Games, usually in May and November. In 2025, Game Market is hosted at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, about forty kilometers east of Tokyo, with the event often still being referred to as “Tokyo Game Market”.

Exhibitors will have their titles — board games, card games, tabletop RPGs, and more — on display and for sale, and beyond the games themselves, you will find a plethora of game accessories such as meeples, dice, and more available for purchase.

2. Who are the exhibitors?

Most of the exhibitors are from Japan, ranging from first-time designers to regular attendees such as Engames and Korokorodou to big publishers like Arclight and Oink Games. A few exhibitors come from outside Japan, such as Taiwan Boardgame Design, Broadway Toys (Hong Kong), and Allplay (U.S.).

3. How do you buy a ticket to Game Market?

You can get a ticket in two ways: Preordering through a website (which requires a Japanese phone number, making it difficult for a visitor) or buying the ticket on the day of the exhibition.

On Saturday, an early ticket is available that lets you in an hour before the show officially opens, but (again) you need to have a Japanese phone number for text confirmation, which is difficult to obtain.

On Sunday, all tickets enter at noon.

If you want to be the first ones into the show, you want to be waiting at least an hour prior to the opening. You will be waiting in the outdoor area, so be sure to dress for the weather. When I was there, it was raining and humid.

4. How do you buy the games?

Most vendors will take only cash for game sales, although some larger vendors will take credit cards. To reduce the foreign exchange fees, my recommendation is to use a debit card with no foreign transaction fees at any 7-Eleven ATM. Be sure to withdraw using Japanese yen and let the bank automatically calculate the exchange rate rather than selecting the equivalent in your local currency. 7-Eleven ATMs allow you to withdraw up to 200,000 yen (approx/ US$1,300) per transaction.

Many vendors have reservations for games. They will post the RSVP link either on their Twitter account or on the Game Market website. This will reserve a copy for you until a certain time. Once the RSVP time passes, the game is available for public sale. (I lost a game during my visit in the spring because of this.)

Other vendors do not do reservations; they are first come, first serve. Quoth Games, the original publisher of Nokosu Dice, sold out of Final Binary immediately on Saturday. As there was popular demand, they later reprinted Final Binary with English rules.

5. What’s the difference between Saturday and Sunday?

Since most vendors are hobby enthusiasts and not businesses, some come on Saturday only or Sunday only, while others are present for both days. The Game Market website shows where each vendor is and whether they will be present only on Saturday (土), only on Sunday (日), or on both days (両). To get the games you want, you may need to show up both days. In general, Saturday is geared more for board games and Sunday is geared for RPGs.

6. Does Game Market have food and drinks available?

Yes, food trucks and vending machines are in the outside hall areas for dining and keeping yourself hydrated. Be sure to bring at least two additional bottles of water for the spring Game Market as it was extremely hot and humid when I went there. Should you want more food, a food court can be found in a five-minute walk from the Messe that features Yoshinoya (a Japanese rice bowl chain), Taco Bell, and other options.

7. How do you get to Makuhari Messe?

From Tokyo Station downtown, take the Keiyo Line (marked with Red JE sign) to Kaihin-Makuhari station. Once there, leave via the South Exit (buses should be buses present) and keep walking south. Take the escalator up to the sky pedestrian walkway and follow the directions to Makuhari Messe. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk from the subway station.

8. Are there any gaming areas around Messe?

Since most of the game market goers are local, a few hotels nearby have gaming space:

• APA Hotel Tokyo Bay

• New Hotel Otani

• Hotel Francs

• Hotel Green Tower Makuhari

There is also gaming available in the food court between the Messe and the train station.

9. What about game stores in Tokyo?

The best stores are Suragaya and Yellow Submarine in Akihabara. You’ll need to take the Keiyo train to Tokyo Station, then transfer to either the Keihin-Tohoku or Yamanote Line to Akihabara.

Suragaya has a used game shop that is reasonably priced. You may find some older games that are gems.

For transiting throughout Tokyo, I would recommend getting a Suica card. This is like a prepaid subway card that you just tap to get through the gates.

10. Oh no! I missed the Game Market! How can I get the popular games recommended by various bloggers or YouTubers?

Most publishers will sell their unsold games in one of three ways:

• Booth

• Korokorodou

• Bodoge

All three will ship only within Japan, so if you are not also in Japan, you will need to use a Japanese freight forwarder to consolidate your packages and ship them all at once. (It’s not fun to pay $30 to ship a small card game every time.) Most forwarders hold a package for one month.

If you are located in the U.S., you may face an additional 15% tariff (current as of published date) and possible delivery charges.

Okay, enough about the Game Market basics. Here is my sneak peek for five games that will be featured at Game Market Fall 2025, which takes place November 22-23:

1. Dodicitr3, by Taiki Shinzawa, designer of American Bookshop, Inflation!, and Shut the Books — Dodicitr3 is a shedding game in which you want to be the first one to empty your hand of cards. What’s interesting about this game is that cards range only from 3-12,, but the 11s can be used as two 1s and the 12s as a 1-2 run. You can add cards to your tableau to create a longer run or set. (¥2500)

2. Chrono Trick — You need a regular deck of playing cards for this co-operative trick-taking game with no trump. During set-up, three players are assigned a card that determines how many tricks (0-6) they must take, but this card faces away from them, so it’s seen only by other players; the fourth player must take what remains of the thirteen tricks. Four chrono cards lie in the middle of the table, and a player can select one to choose the starting player for the next trick. (¥500)

3. ウロボロストリック (“Ouroboros Trick”) — In this trick-taking game, when you run out of cards in your hand, you reshuffle the cards that you’ve won and use them as your new hand, but first you discard one or more cards based on the smallest card that you won. When someone needs to refill their hand but can’t, the game ends and that person loses. (¥2500)

4. Tricktakers Guide to the Galaxy — This design combines No Thanks! with trick-taking. Rules are revealed one at a time, and if you don’t the rule to be passed to you, place a coin from your starting reserve on the card. If you accept the rules, take all of the coins on that card, with coins being worth points at game’s end. The game features a decent amount of Japanese text, so I’ll have to translate that before I can explain more. (¥2200)

5. Catte, from LEO, designer of VIVO — Catte is a must-follow trick-taking game with three suits: black, white, and brown, which represent black coffee, milk, and a milky coffee. A player can combine a black and white card to create a brown one, and sometimes you’ll be forced to do so. The card in the center of the table shows the trump suit, and whoever wins the trick scores this card, with the lowest-played card becoming the next card in the middle. If your score goes over a certain total, you bust and score 0 points, with the round ending immediately. After 3-4 rounds, the player with the highest score wins.