Japanime Games

TOKYO SIDEKICK

Brings Japan to You

by Sam Nolton, Japanime Games Marketing & Communications Manager

Tokyo 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, 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!

Yes, Retailers, It is Well Worth the Tripby Dawn Studebaker, Chair, GAMA Retail Division

Industry trade shows are often subject to the age-old question of, “Is it worth it for me to go?” I remember pondering this question before my first GAMA Expo (then called GAMA Trade Show) in Las Vegas.

This question had me second-guessing myself time and time again before my first trip. I felt that finding resources and new product information was so easy to obtain on the internet even back then, and I had a hard time convincing myself it would be worth the $2,000 in expenses. Let’s not forget the biggest challenge was the will to leave my store for an entire week.

It’s important to note that the first two years I was thinking about going, I talked myself right out of it. So in my third year of contemplation, I booked my flight without refund options, so I couldn’t back out.

Fast forward to the first day of the tradeshow. There I sat overwhelmed with all the information from retailers who had been doing this for years. The amount of information I was receiving was unbelievable. I couldn’t keep up. Every seminar had me analyzing the processes at our store. Sure, some validated that what we were doing was awesome, but some had me looking at new processes.

The amount of information from peers in an educational space willing to share their trade secrets was not only appreciated but impressive. The thing about peer education is the opportunity to learn how others are doing things and challenge yourself to question if your way is the best. You can then assess the information and decide what would work for you.

I will be the first to say that not all information will work for your particular store. You will have to decide what is appropriate, but the practice of challenging yourself to you look deep at the way your store operates is invaluable. It’s like sitting through stages of a S.W.O.T. analysis exercise live at the show. If you are anything like me, it is invigorating.

I learned how my peers manage and motivate staff, handle in-store programming, create community programs, cultivate inclusive communities, handle competition and so much more. There was a plethora of information and that had me immediately recharged to make my store better. All of this excitement and it was just day one!

Day two started and I was so excited to get into the seminars. I found myself a bit more relaxed and used to the rhythm of the show. I found time to chat with other retailers at meals, ask questions about their thoughts on the seminar and started diving into stage one of networking. This was the peer networking aspect of the show. I suggest you learn from me and challenge yourself to be open to networking day one.

Networking and talking to other retailers can be intimidating. A lot of us suffer from imposter syndrome. We think everyone is doing it better than we can do it. I want to implore you to get away from that mindset. You will not regret it.

Next, we did some premiere presentations from sponsored publishers. This was fascinating to me. They ran down the list of new and upcoming games from their catalog and retailers excitedly jotted down notes to take back to their stores and share with staff and customers when allowed.

Now keep in mind this was before the social media surge. Back then, I was an abnormal store with a very active social media presence and was, a few years later, teaching retailers why it was important to have social media.

In a lot of seminars the publishers identify that a catalog rundown is best suited with some marketing techniques and is often way more than a look at what

is upcoming. Which is a positive growth. Then you can jot down what you think looks amazing and try those games out at the various game nights.

Oh yeah, I said game nights. Nothing, and I repeat nothing can be as useful is a quick demo of a new game to help a retailer decide how and where that fits into their store. But my best advice is don’t be afraid to ask a publisher for a few-turn demo versus a full play-through. You are there to see as much as you can. Publishers will be okay with this; they are there for you.

And the last thing that I didn’t think was that big of deal was the dealer hall. I attend GenCon and Origins every year, but this was so different. Trade shows allow me an opportunity business, place orders, see things I have not noticed or didn’t know existed. This is a retailer’s paradise.

Take the time to really scour the exhibit hall for new and unique products. I am not suggesting you skip over the big guys – they will have amazing show specials for you. Take advantage of them. But the vendor hall gives you a close-up look at some smaller companies you may not have heard of.

Product lines are discovered, and games like Wing it by Flying Leap games can claim success from a good showing at GAMA Expo. A group of my friends and colleagues kept taking people to Molly Zeff, creator of the game, to place order after order … until, I believe, we sold her out.

Without the trade show, I wouldn’t have found amazing new dice lines from Metallic Dice Games, Foam Brain Games and Dice Hard. I ordered so much cool stuff from all of them; stuff I had never heard of or seen before.

Maybe you want to expand to offer more miniature games, more board games, collectible card games or toys. The expo allows you to look deeper into so many vendors and services in one place. I have never regretted going and I will constantly encourage every retailer to, at the very least, attend every other year if you cannot swing yearly.

I am happy to help anyone find their footing and feel more comfortable this year at the tradeshow. You can email me at dstudebaker@gama.org if you have questions or need a colleague to help guide you. But what I do know, without a shadow of a doubt, is that it is worth every penny you will spend – tenfold.