We watched this on our TV and it was like sitting down to a slideshow of incredible memories ❤ AND it was amazing to see all of the footage of the rest of your trip. Great video... Love to you both!
Thanks for the lovely recap of your trip, it was amazing to follow along! Japan is such a special place and I am happy that you had a great time. Take care and have a great week! Cis
I'm glad you were able to check off Japan as one of your must see places, and that you had a marvelous time. Thanks for sharing it with us. I enjoyed seeing Japan through your eyes!
Nice to see Botswana getting some love. I got my copy of Loco! all the way back in 1999 when it’s simply numbers in colours and no animal theming. It’s truly such a simple game with some strategic plays.
FWIW, even as a person who has gotten into your content specifically as a fan of you two as a duo in your videos, I think the change for sponsored content makes a ton of sense. I for one am excited about hearing more from you two in review/opinion format possibly, since filming with the two of you will be the non sponsored stuff at least for the foreseeable future. Hope it works out well for you two!
Thanks for sharing your trip with us. It will likely be quite some time before I can visit myself. So fun. I love Trains the board game, now I know why it was set in Japan.
Looks like you had a great trip. I've visited twice and hope to return again someday. Getting outside of the main cities and island is highly recommended, as there are just so many hidden cultural treasures to discover. While on a train going up to see a view of Mount Fuji, we just jumped off to explore the amazing Hakone Open-Air Museum. Not at all on our itinerary, but something I'm so glad we made time to stop at. The Itsukushima Shrine a short boat ride outside of Hiroshima is also a great UNESCO site to explore. When I was last there the Shikoku and Kyushu islands didn't seem to get many North American tourists, so that had some challenges but great rewards too.
Thanks a lot 😡. Now I want to go to Japan!! I have been to Korea and Thailand but have yet to experience board games abroad. Glad you got to hang out with Thinker/Themer. Very cool!!!
Thank you for the update. Glad you like Japan. My husband and I have been there three times already. We love the place. Planning our 4th now. Thanks for the update!!!!!
Japan looks amazing every time I see something about it. I’d love to pick your brains about your planning some time! The channel changes make sense! Hopefully it’ll make life easier for you both and get a good chunk of the post vacation backlog cleared.
This was amazing - we just got back from our Japan trip as well. We had so much overlap in what we did and I loved seeing all those places again. Japan was truly amazing
Thanks for the rundown of the Japan trip - I was really looking forward to your thoughts on TGM. Well done on getting Nokosu Dice (crazy hard to find). For anyone who wants to try it - you can play it using Parade cards if you buy a few dice. Regarding KINGMAKERs, definitely hold off on getting the main game until Portland Game Collective release it (later this year I believe). It will save you a heap of effort with paste ups for the cards. Nareen is right about Take the A Chord! A lot of trick taking games are under-rated on BGG. When I was getting more into them I realised there are some absolute gems in the 3,000-11,000 range. I have 17 en route to the UK from Japan as I type this. I think the reason these smaller box games are so popular in Japan is because generally speaking accommodation there is quite a bit smaller than the US (the UK probably fits somewhere in between the two) and as a result smaller games that take up less space are very popular. Thanks again for the round-up. Looks like you got to visit some truly stunning places.
great video! It is so cool to see your footage from Kyoto and Tokyo and to hear about your experiences and the games you found. I would love to go to Japan someday.
Awww, yay, my favourite two board game channel couples 🤗I enjoyed Kyoto and Osaka many years ago but yet to go to Tokyo and was before I was into board games so haven't been any game shops or cafes there.....yet.
Takoyaki is a favorite of ours, along with Okinoumiyaki. The food there never dissappoints! One of the most perfect sandwiches in the world is the egg salad sandwich available at seven-eleven. That may sound crazy, but it was perfect in every way that it would we wrong here. Also miss having miso and rice with an egg on top at breakfast time. Planning a trip back for 2025, but living vicariously through your travel videos right now. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, thanks for sharing the trip! I used to live in Tokyo and haven't bought a board game there since '08. :) Nice to see Yellow Submarine is still around! Man, I miss the food. :')
Japan is fantastic. Very happy you were able to visit Kyoto. That is probably one of my favorite cities to visit over there. So many beautiful sites to see.
My wife and I just went to Japan for our Honeymoon this year! Visited both the Yellow Submarine and Brespi boardgame cafe. Tried to find original printing of Scout but didn't find only the new Oink edition. Fun watching both of you in the same places we visited. Hope you got to check out the Shibuya crossing (AKA Shibuya Scramble) P.S. Also brought Hanamikoji in Hanamikoji =)
Always love your channel and especially loved this video. It was so fun seeing you all together! Totally have to say that I am jealous you had okonomiyaki! It's one of my favorite foods!!!!
Have you guys ever tried "Low Lands"? In the manual it says: "This seal signifies that Uwe Rosenberg recommends this game for fans of his work. Uwe Rosenberg himself studied this game and contributed during the development process.". So maybe this can be interesting.
Are those games exclusive to Japan? Awesome channel. I was so close to visiting and working in Japan at one point. I'm a Motion Capture performer and in late 2015 I was in contact with Capcom about the facial likeness role of Leon for the Resident Evil 2 Remake. I failed to mention I also have a voice acting background, in the end I lost the part and I can't forgive myself for wasting such an opportunity. That would've been a real dream come true to visit Japan.
Aww sorry to hear about that, but it's very cool that you're a Motion Capture performer! Most of the games we showcased are exclusive to Japan but sometimes they get imported in other markets. Botswana was a reimplementation for the Japanese market but definitely not exclusively found there. Thank you btw!
Thanks so much for this video. We have been to Tokyo twice and it was great to see so many of the places we visited. We probably spent 2-3 hours browsing the shelves of yellow submarine and ended up with only one game. We will be checking out some of the games you suggested. 😄
Yay! I gave Amy and Maggie their copy of Dog Tag Trick at Dice Tower West and played it with Amy. So happy to see the love being passed on! ❤ Nokosu Dice is so good! Good score. Nana is so weirdly good! Great video, as always. Thank you for being so good at what you do.
100% this was such a lovely gift Lisa ❤ We didn't have to sell them on it that hard... we said "CUTEST DOG ART" and they were in. Hehe. Bonus that the game is also great and now it also reminds me of playing together at DTW x
Take the Acorn is a joke from the very popular jazz tune Take The A Train by Duke Ellington. Nice to see you had a good time! May you have many trips ahaed. Cheers!
I am SO happy that you two got to visit Japan! 🥰 Love hearing your perspectives on the culture and aesthetic of the country that I spent so much time in growing up! I'm headed to Japan in about ten days and I'll be visiting Kyoto as well! ✈ (So nice to see Amy and Maggie too!) ☺
Wow your trip sounded so amazing, I'll have to check out some of the board game cafes and convention you mentioned the next time I go to Japan. I was wondering snice then if you had a chance to play all the games you picked up there and which are your favorite? My cousin lives there and will be visiting our family in the summer and I'd love to know which you'd recommend the most so I could ask him to pick me up some.
That shirt is giving me hope that a Root Marauder's expansion playthrough is coming! I am obsessed with Root now and your playthroughs helped me get into it. I would love to hear your thoughts on the 2 player experience with Hirelings.
Monique, you are an excellent teacher and most of the time when you are doing a teach I wonder why Naveen is even there LOL This change makes total sense and I hope it takes some of the stress out of the amazing work you do and brings more balance in your lives. Looks like you had a wonderful time in Japan!
Love seeing all the Japan footage and it's definitely making me homesick. Welcome back from PEI. Was able to catch a couple of hours on Day 1 and looked like you guys were having a lot of fun. Would love to play Nokosu Dice with you sometime, though I'm worried my brain might melt! ("Nokosu" means "to leave behind" or "to set aside" and I think that makes sense with the mechanics of the game, no?)
Trick Takers, its expansion and Trick Takers Little is getting a reprint in English by the Portland Game Collective soon. Its been announced, but no date as yet.
I miss visiting Japan- the trip looks like a blast 😊. Access ask- is it possible for you guys to list games you mentioned in your videos in the video description in future videos? I am hard hearing and sometimes the titles aren’t clear just from the video.
Looks like an amazing trip!! Glad you both got to experience Japan. We just received our copy of Oranienburger Kanal so hoping a tutorial makes it into the Uwe Rosenberg series! ..or else it may just sit in shrink wrap indefinitely 🙏 😅
Japan is incredible for "wonderers". It's kind of funny when you go in random direction in Tokyo and suddenly, in the middle of "city of steel and glass", there is a little wooden house that seems to be thousands years old :)
@@BeforeYouPlay So many: Senji Temple, Super Mario World, Akihabara, Bamboo Forest, the bullet trains, the Gundam Factory, and Oh my gosh the Food was amazing! I was most impressed by just the city of Tokyo in general, the biggest city in the world and everything is no nice and clean and safe everywhere. I think my favorite thing was checking out the amazing vintage toy stores hunting for rare and unusual Star Wars toys. I wish I had known about the Tokyo Game Market, but my family and I were so busy I probably wouldn't have had time. Maybe on my next visit!
I couldn’t find the channel Card board east and I am curious about it. Could you please share the link please! Thank you for the video, really love it!
We did our first trip there a month ago for 3 weeks. Why did the toilets not make it into your video. They are the #1 attraction. Only board games I found were at yodabashi camera but I was not looking hard for them…
Oh coming to this vid a bit late... but I hope you guys do coverage on King Tricktakers! Can't wait to see all the games or even mini-reviews of them. ^_^
Hi Krissy!! We’ll do a mini review video for these games soon. King’s was one of the games I was looking everywhere for! Lol. They’re actually going to have a new Kickstarter for it. Thanks!
Fellow wonderer here lol, cant wait to get back to Japan! You did the same as us, including landing in Japan and heading straight to Kyoto, i too felt slightly sick on rhe bullet train lol.
Hi, Monique & Naveen! Happy Anniversary! Jay here from Cardboard East. Thanks for the shout out! I loved hearing about your trip and re-experiencing Japan for the first time through your eyes. You picked up some good games & can’t wait to hear your thoughts on them. Keep gaming and making great content 👍 And if you ever have questions about games from Asia, you know where to find me 🤓
We watched this on our TV and it was like sitting down to a slideshow of incredible memories ❤ AND it was amazing to see all of the footage of the rest of your trip. Great video... Love to you both!
Thanks for the lovely recap of your trip, it was amazing to follow along! Japan is such a special place and I am happy that you had a great time. Take care and have a great week! Cis
I'm glad you were able to check off Japan as one of your must see places, and that you had a marvelous time. Thanks for sharing it with us. I enjoyed seeing Japan through your eyes!
It was great to see you guys around the table in PEI! I hope that trip went very well too.
Thank you! We had an absolute BLAST with the team in PEI. We're home now and missing them all =/
Nice to see Botswana getting some love. I got my copy of Loco! all the way back in 1999 when it’s simply numbers in colours and no animal theming. It’s truly such a simple game with some strategic plays.
Loved seeing the scenes from Japan & the nifty games you got! So much fun! Thanks for sharing!
Super envious, Japan is my dream destination, loved this video.
Hope you get to go!
I love Cardboard East just found his channel recently but great recommendations. Sounds like an awesome trip.
FWIW, even as a person who has gotten into your content specifically as a fan of you two as a duo in your videos, I think the change for sponsored content makes a ton of sense. I for one am excited about hearing more from you two in review/opinion format possibly, since filming with the two of you will be the non sponsored stuff at least for the foreseeable future. Hope it works out well for you two!
Thanks for sharing your trip with us. It will likely be quite some time before I can visit myself. So fun. I love Trains the board game, now I know why it was set in Japan.
Really enjoyed this video. Thanks for sharing your trip with us. My son just got back from Tokyo, Thailand and loved it!
Looks like you had a great trip. I've visited twice and hope to return again someday. Getting outside of the main cities and island is highly recommended, as there are just so many hidden cultural treasures to discover. While on a train going up to see a view of Mount Fuji, we just jumped off to explore the amazing Hakone Open-Air Museum. Not at all on our itinerary, but something I'm so glad we made time to stop at. The Itsukushima Shrine a short boat ride outside of Hiroshima is also a great UNESCO site to explore. When I was last there the Shikoku and Kyushu islands didn't seem to get many North American tourists, so that had some challenges but great rewards too.
Portland Game Collective is going to be bringing Tricktakers to the US, but I’m not sure of the timeline. I’ve been on the hunt for it as well!
Thanks a lot 😡. Now I want to go to Japan!! I have been to Korea and Thailand but have yet to experience board games abroad. Glad you got to hang out with Thinker/Themer. Very cool!!!
Oh my! Can't wait for you guys to play these new games.
Thank you for the update. Glad you like Japan. My husband and I have been there three times already. We love the place. Planning our 4th now. Thanks for the update!!!!!
Thanks for sharing insights on your trip! Please bring back Filler Fridays! 🙏
Love Nana! Picked it up and its one of my favorite games to play with people.
Japan looks amazing every time I see something about it. I’d love to pick your brains about your planning some time!
The channel changes make sense! Hopefully it’ll make life easier for you both and get a good chunk of the post vacation backlog cleared.
This was amazing - we just got back from our Japan trip as well. We had so much overlap in what we did and I loved seeing all those places again. Japan was truly amazing
Thanks for the rundown of the Japan trip - I was really looking forward to your thoughts on TGM. Well done on getting Nokosu Dice (crazy hard to find). For anyone who wants to try it - you can play it using Parade cards if you buy a few dice.
Regarding KINGMAKERs, definitely hold off on getting the main game until Portland Game Collective release it (later this year I believe). It will save you a heap of effort with paste ups for the cards.
Nareen is right about Take the A Chord! A lot of trick taking games are under-rated on BGG. When I was getting more into them I realised there are some absolute gems in the 3,000-11,000 range. I have 17 en route to the UK from Japan as I type this. I think the reason these smaller box games are so popular in Japan is because generally speaking accommodation there is quite a bit smaller than the US (the UK probably fits somewhere in between the two) and as a result smaller games that take up less space are very popular.
Thanks again for the round-up. Looks like you got to visit some truly stunning places.
great video! It is so cool to see your footage from Kyoto and Tokyo and to hear about your experiences and the games you found. I would love to go to Japan someday.
Awww, yay, my favourite two board game channel couples 🤗I enjoyed Kyoto and Osaka many years ago but yet to go to Tokyo and was before I was into board games so haven't been any game shops or cafes there.....yet.
Takoyaki is a favorite of ours, along with Okinoumiyaki. The food there never dissappoints! One of the most perfect sandwiches in the world is the egg salad sandwich available at seven-eleven. That may sound crazy, but it was perfect in every way that it would we wrong here. Also miss having miso and rice with an egg on top at breakfast time. Planning a trip back for 2025, but living vicariously through your travel videos right now. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, thanks for sharing the trip! I used to live in Tokyo and haven't bought a board game there since '08. :) Nice to see Yellow Submarine is still around!
Man, I miss the food. :')
This video made me smile. Love the highlights of your travel.
Wow, what a fantastic trip , we are very envious
Great vlog! Makes us miss Japan even more, though. Thanks for coming on our show!
Japan is fantastic. Very happy you were able to visit Kyoto. That is probably one of my favorite cities to visit over there. So many beautiful sites to see.
Food is definitely one of my favorite things to experience when traveling - glad y'all got to eat so many delicious things!
My wife and I just went to Japan for our Honeymoon this year! Visited both the Yellow Submarine and Brespi boardgame cafe. Tried to find original printing of Scout but didn't find only the new Oink edition. Fun watching both of you in the same places we visited. Hope you got to check out the Shibuya crossing (AKA Shibuya Scramble) P.S. Also brought Hanamikoji in Hanamikoji =)
So cool! We absolutely loved Japan. We saw a copy of the original Scout in a used game store!!
i want to go and try to get the deep sea adventure expansion dice
What a trip!!!! So glad you had such a great time :D
Always love your channel and especially loved this video. It was so fun seeing you all together! Totally have to say that I am jealous you had okonomiyaki! It's one of my favorite foods!!!!
My two favorite gaming channels in the thumbnail?!?!!!! WhhhHHAT?!
I will be in Japan for the first time in September. Super excited. Thanks for the tips, just in time!
Have you guys ever tried "Low Lands"? In the manual it says: "This seal signifies that Uwe Rosenberg recommends this game for fans of his work. Uwe Rosenberg himself studied this game and contributed during the development process.". So maybe this can be interesting.
Are those games exclusive to Japan? Awesome channel. I was so close to visiting and working in Japan at one point. I'm a Motion Capture performer and in late 2015 I was in contact with Capcom about the facial likeness role of Leon for the Resident Evil 2 Remake. I failed to mention I also have a voice acting background, in the end I lost the part and I can't forgive myself for wasting such an opportunity. That would've been a real dream come true to visit Japan.
Aww sorry to hear about that, but it's very cool that you're a Motion Capture performer! Most of the games we showcased are exclusive to Japan but sometimes they get imported in other markets. Botswana was a reimplementation for the Japanese market but definitely not exclusively found there. Thank you btw!
@@BeforeYouPlay Thanks for the information.
Major score on Nokusu Dice. My #1 grail game at this time.
Ahhh it's sooo good! I hope they print more in the future, because it was even difficult to find in stores in Japan =/
Thanks so much for this video. We have been to Tokyo twice and it was great to see so many of the places we visited. We probably spent 2-3 hours browsing the shelves of yellow submarine and ended up with only one game. We will be checking out some of the games you suggested. 😄
I'm happy you came to my country of residence! Hope you enjoyed it here!
Please can you play and show some of these games you have bought. Very interested in seeing some of these.
Haven't had the time yet, but hopefully we can in the future!
Yay! I gave Amy and Maggie their copy of Dog Tag Trick at Dice Tower West and played it with Amy. So happy to see the love being passed on! ❤
Nokosu Dice is so good! Good score. Nana is so weirdly good!
Great video, as always. Thank you for being so good at what you do.
100% this was such a lovely gift Lisa ❤ We didn't have to sell them on it that hard... we said "CUTEST DOG ART" and they were in. Hehe. Bonus that the game is also great and now it also reminds me of playing together at DTW x
@@ThinkerThemer ❤
Take the Acorn is a joke from the very popular jazz tune Take The A Train by Duke Ellington.
Nice to see you had a good time! May you have many trips ahaed.
Cheers!
I am SO happy that you two got to visit Japan! 🥰 Love hearing your perspectives on the culture and aesthetic of the country that I spent so much time in growing up! I'm headed to Japan in about ten days and I'll be visiting Kyoto as well! ✈ (So nice to see Amy and Maggie too!) ☺
Wow your trip sounded so amazing, I'll have to check out some of the board game cafes and convention you mentioned the next time I go to Japan.
I was wondering snice then if you had a chance to play all the games you picked up there and which are your favorite?
My cousin lives there and will be visiting our family in the summer and I'd love to know which you'd recommend the most so I could ask him to pick me up some.
That shirt is giving me hope that a Root Marauder's expansion playthrough is coming! I am obsessed with Root now and your playthroughs helped me get into it. I would love to hear your thoughts on the 2 player experience with Hirelings.
Sounds like a good change to put out more content. Good luck.
Monique, you are an excellent teacher and most of the time when you are doing a teach I wonder why Naveen is even there LOL
This change makes total sense and I hope it takes some of the stress out of the amazing work you do and brings more balance in your lives.
Looks like you had a wonderful time in Japan!
Love seeing all the Japan footage and it's definitely making me homesick. Welcome back from PEI. Was able to catch a couple of hours on Day 1 and looked like you guys were having a lot of fun. Would love to play Nokosu Dice with you sometime, though I'm worried my brain might melt! ("Nokosu" means "to leave behind" or "to set aside" and I think that makes sense with the mechanics of the game, no?)
Trick Takers, its expansion and Trick Takers Little is getting a reprint in English by the Portland Game Collective soon. Its been announced, but no date as yet.
I miss visiting Japan- the trip looks like a blast 😊.
Access ask- is it possible for you guys to list games you mentioned in your videos in the video description in future videos? I am hard hearing and sometimes the titles aren’t clear just from the video.
Me and my wife are wingers too. We just wing it each day and where we are, the fun of discovery of the unknown and being open to new
Looks like an amazing trip!! Glad you both got to experience Japan. We just received our copy of Oranienburger Kanal so hoping a tutorial makes it into the Uwe Rosenberg series! ..or else it may just sit in shrink wrap indefinitely 🙏 😅
Monique, I dig the style of your shirt, if you don't mind sharing where did you get it, I'd like to check out more options/designs?
It's a band T-shirt for a popular Japanese group called Yoasobi!
@@BeforeYouPlay Ha! Did you know of them before your trip? Also, thank you.
I was in Kyoto around the same time as you 🙂 I have to agree that google translate and google maps was must have on this trip, huuuge help.
My husband’s company is sending him to Japan at the end of May and I want to go!!! 🤞🏼
Nokosu (pronounced No-kuss, I believe) Dice is soooo good!
Japan is incredible for "wonderers". It's kind of funny when you go in random direction in Tokyo and suddenly, in the middle of "city of steel and glass", there is a little wooden house that seems to be thousands years old :)
I was in Japan a couple weeks ago too. From what I see in your video, I was in a lot of the same places. I wish I had run into you guys!
Awww how fun! I hope you had a great time. What were your highlights?
@@BeforeYouPlay So many: Senji Temple, Super Mario World, Akihabara, Bamboo Forest, the bullet trains, the Gundam Factory, and Oh my gosh the Food was amazing! I was most impressed by just the city of Tokyo in general, the biggest city in the world and everything is no nice and clean and safe everywhere. I think my favorite thing was checking out the amazing vintage toy stores hunting for rare and unusual Star Wars toys. I wish I had known about the Tokyo Game Market, but my family and I were so busy I probably wouldn't have had time. Maybe on my next visit!
I couldn’t find the channel Card board east and I am curious about it. Could you please share the link please! Thank you for the video, really love it!
youtube.com/@CardboardEast
Are you not doing the new lacerda playthrough? Was hoping for your teach video as you're definitely the easier to follow with his games!
We're releasing it tomorrow! We didn't have enough time to get it done by today
Did you actually play Hanimikoji in Hanimakoji?
Sounds like a good trip!
Glad yall enjoyed Japan makes me wanna go back there😅
We did our first trip there a month ago for 3 weeks. Why did the toilets not make it into your video. They are the #1 attraction. Only board games I found were at yodabashi camera but I was not looking hard for them…
Oh coming to this vid a bit late... but I hope you guys do coverage on King Tricktakers! Can't wait to see all the games or even mini-reviews of them. ^_^
Hi Krissy!! We’ll do a mini review video for these games soon. King’s was one of the games I was looking everywhere for! Lol. They’re actually going to have a new Kickstarter for it. Thanks!
Fellow wonderer here lol, cant wait to get back to Japan! You did the same as us, including landing in Japan and heading straight to Kyoto, i too felt slightly sick on rhe bullet train lol.
Hi, Monique & Naveen! Happy Anniversary! Jay here from Cardboard East. Thanks for the shout out! I loved hearing about your trip and re-experiencing Japan for the first time through your eyes. You picked up some good games & can’t wait to hear your thoughts on them. Keep gaming and making great content 👍
And if you ever have questions about games from Asia, you know where to find me 🤓
What is the cocktail set collection game called? :)
I don't know, actually lol. I THINK the written kana says - "hitoiki," but I could be totally wrong.
@@BeforeYouPlay thanks!
Jelly I want to go to japan!!! I love Japan
what a wonderful trip!
ooh, a travel blog.
wait - nothing on Prince Edwards Island?
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
LOL there it is!!!
I would of thought that see alcohol near games wouldn’t of been a surprise to you now, having been cons in Europe etc.
6:50 What is Monique eating?
It's called, "dango." One of our favorite Japanese snacks
Lol…He was speaking in Italian and it was being translated into Japanese and then converted to Klingon and then into Dothraki……sadly no English. 🤣