A weird slice of Pokemon's tabletop history is climbing back out of the 1990s. Bandai Spirits has confirmed Plakoro, the dice battle game originally released in 1997, is being revived for Pokemon's 30th anniversary, with six starter sets dropping in July 2026.
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Set up your group for freeIf you've never heard of it, you're not alone. Plakoro never officially left Japan. The original ran on custom Pokemon-faced six-sided dice combined with elemental Energy Dice and move cards, with battles ending when one trainer's HP hit zero. The revived version reassembles the original development team and brings Bandai Spirits' modern injection moulding to the snap-fit Pokemon dice, which look properly chunky in the reveal photos.
Each pack contains one character die, three Energy Dice, 18 attachable elemental symbol parts, a character card, seven move cards and an HP counter dial. The launch lineup hits the obvious classics: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, Eevee and Mew across six starter sets, at a tempting introductory price of 500 yen each (around £2.50) before settling at 990 yen.
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See how it worksThis sits within the wider Bandai Tabletop Games brand launching across 2026. UK availability has not been confirmed, but Japanese specialists like NinNin Game tend to pick up Bandai tabletop product fairly quickly. If you've got a Pokemon-obsessed kid or game night, keep an eye on importers from July.
Sources: Bandai Hobby | Essential Japan | Bulbapedia
