Nippon: Zaibatsu/Nippon Genro (Pre-order)

📅 Estimated Release Date: Q1 2027
(Please refer to the campaign updates here)

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Description:

a) Nippon: Zaibatsu is a new edition of Nippon, a fast-paced, area-majority economic game. Players control "zaibatsu": massive conglomerates of interconnected companies driving Japan's economy in the Industrial Revolution era.

During the game, players invest in new industries, build factories and railroads, and produce goods to saturate local markets and fulfill contracts — all to grow their influence and power and to become rulers of the new modernized country. Players are free to choose their playstyle and winning strategy: They choose what they score victory points for, control the game's pace with income turns, and race each other to get the most beneficial factories, markets, and bonuses.

All the core mechanisms of the original Nippon are present, but the components, art, and design are upgraded, and many gameplay features are reworked to get the game in line with modern trends. Nippon: Zaibatsu features new resource types, ships are heavily revised with new Iwakura mission rules, factories are much more variable, consolidation turns provide players with new rewards, and much more. Also, the game now has an automa-driven solo mode.

b) Nippon: Genro is a major expansion for Nippon: Zaibatsu that adds a powerful new layer of interaction.

The expansion deepens what already makes the base game strong, introducing new strategic dimensions and increasing complexity through decisions. Designed to synergize with the core production → delivery arc, Genro reshapes familiar strategic patterns and can redefine your entire game plan.

Each Genro also imposes a persistent global constraint or penalty, shifting priorities and making their influence impossible to ignore. The expansion includes five Genro, and you choose two for each game, creating 10 possible combinations that dictate the flow, tension, and tempo of play. You choose them to fine-tune the experience for your group, keeping every session fresh and intentional.

While the real-world Genro were influential advisors and key figures behind Meiji-era reforms, the game uses collective, fictionalized representations of various state actors rather than specific historical figures.