TOKYO SIDEKICK Brings Japan to You
by Sam Nolton, Japanime Games Marketing & Communications Manager
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okyo Sidekick, a new board game from Japanime Games, launches in March 2022! Inspired by a hybrid of western superhero action and anime tropes – reminiscent of One Punch Man or My Hero Academia – Tokyo Sidekick is one of the company’s most ambitious projects to date and features deckbuilder card game elements combined with a more traditional board game format to make something truly unique. After a successful Kickstarter in 2020, it’s finally ready for release! “Bringing Japan to You” is Japanime Games’ mission, and Tokyo Sidekick lets you explore the wards of Tokyo from Shibuya to Ebisu, Aoyama to Osaki – beautifully presented in an aerial view map displaying the entire city lit up at night. This overhead view of Japan’s capital city, including iconic landmarks such as Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Skytree, is lit in neon, representing an emergency response map that dictates when and where crises can occur. Each ward plays an important role in the game – with heroes and villains deploying in specific wards, and various incidents that arise in these wards over the course of the game which need to be tackled and resolved in order to perform heroic deeds and reduce the city’s crisis level! The game gradually gets harder as crisis after crisis arises in Tokyo: villains wreak havoc and then – if enough of them have been defeated and sent to Adachi Asylum – supervillains start to take over, and then…even more powerful villains called nemeses! Tokyo Sidekick is a truly challenging experience and you definitely won’t beat it on your first playthrough – but that’s part of the charm. Tokyo Sidekick features over 40 superheroes, sidekicks, villains, supervillains, and nemeses, giving players the pick of the litter in which characters they want to play, which villains they encounter, and more – the game is truly replayable, a unique and extensive board game experience like nothing you’ve seen before! Each hero focuses on one aspect of the deck – speed, power, or concentration, and gets bonuses when performing actions or attacks. Speed heroes get a bonus when playing speed cards, Power heroes get a bonus to playing power cards, etc. Every time a Hero moves to resolve an Incident on the map, 46 AROUND THE table • Q1 2022
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that Incident requires a certain type of action in order to resolve it and remove it. These actions are accomplished by playing cards from your hand, so for instance if you’re trying to resolve the overturned oil tanker – a crisis which crops up in Meguro Ward, it requires two speed actions to resolve – if you have two speed cards in your hand, or if you have a speed type hero who can give bonus speed actions, you can take care of the incident immediately! As you resolve more incidents, fight villains, and face threats over the course of the game, you’ll spend experience to level up your abilities, add new cards to your deck, and purchase equipment cards to outfit your dynamic duo of hero and sidekick so they can grow stronger, faster, and more skilled. If you let incidents linger too long without being resolved, however, Tokyo gets one step closer to destruction, and the crisis meter on the board advances every turn based on how many active incidents there are, how many villains are running amok, and other factors. It becomes a race against time for your hero and sidekick, as well as any other players, to prioritize, coordinate, and effectively fight back to save the city – in fact, this challenging aspect of the game ensures you probably won’t beat it the first time through! Tokyo Sidekick is highly replayable – every time you set up the game, things progress differently – new crises to resolve, new villains to defeat, new synergies between heroes and sidekicks to discover (many heroes even have a specific, canonical Sidekick they’re partnered with – which gives a special bonus!), you’ll always encounter new ways to play and new gameplay strategies to test out. It becomes a true test of your board gaming prowess to plan your strategy, pick which characters suit your playstyle best, and prioritize your challenges – whether that be fighting the nearest Villain or tackling the toughest crisis – in order to win! Tokyo Sidekick will be released in March 2022 and retails for $64.95 – players can also look forward to upcoming Acrylic Standees, Scenario Packs and other expansions to take the gameplay experience even further. Look for Tokyo Sidekick at GAMA Expo and more upcoming 2022 conventions and events!
japanimegames.com
2/9/22 11:52 AM
