If you've ever wanted to play Nippon and balked at the eBay prices, here's better news. CrowD Games is bringing the 2015 worker placement classic back as Nippon: Zaibatsu, a 10-year anniversary edition that smartens up the components, reworks several core systems and adds a proper solo mode. Pre-orders are open now, with shipping pegged at Q2 2026.
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Find events near youThe original Nippon, designed by Nuno Bizarro Sentieiro and Paulo Soledade, sent 2-4 industrialists into Meiji-era Japan to build factories, ship goods and cosy up to the Emperor. It earned a strong following on BoardGameGeek, sitting at 7.13 across thousands of ratings, but has been out of print for years with copies regularly going for triple digits second-hand. The Zaibatsu edition isn't just a reprint. The designers have leaned in on what was always a tightly designed area-majority euro and tightened it further.
Among the changes: silk replaces blueprints as a resource, iron picks up new functions, and there are 24 distinctive factories plus six new late-game factories with unique bonuses. Consolidation, the action that turns produced goods into prestige and money, has been reworked. Starting positions are now asymmetric, which should push players to commit to different strategies from turn one. There's also an Automa-driven solo mode, which the original lacked.
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Start organising for freeThe Kickstarter wrapped earlier this spring with around 4,900 backers and just under $400,000 raised, with a Standard Edition and a deluxe Emperor's Edition for collectors who want the metal coins and upgraded bits. UK backers can expect retail availability through the usual channels in Q2.
For Nippon fans, this is the long-awaited reprint. For everyone else, it's a chance to try one of the more underrated heavy euros of the last decade with a modernised rule set. Pull together your group and find a local board game cafe for a Sunday afternoon teach.
Sources: CrowD Games | Kickstarter | BGG
