Think you can resist the Gacha? Think again! In this board game review we will be looking at Gachapon Trick by Playte Games, a delightful trick taking, set collection game that sees players fighting to collect cute little toys in an attempt to score points.
Overview:
In Gachapon Trick, players are scouring gachapon machines aiming to win tricks and collect the toys that earn them points. The game is played over 3 rounds, players will play cards from their hand to perform the trick. The winning player then has the choice of the cards played and can purchase as many of the toys available.
Each round refreshes with players gaining back up to ¥5000 and placing all toy cards back into the deck. Players score points cumulative to how many sets they have and per ¥200 at the end of the round. However, if you can defy the overwhelming temptation of the gacha and fail to win any tricks you get a 5 point bonus additional to points earned for your unused yen.
Components:
The components in Gachapon Trick are minimal yet effective and incredibly satisfying. Before we get into the main components, I need to give a special mention to the box itself. This is a small box game, it consists of cards and coins, however the box has a beautifully illustrated gachapon machine with a working coin slot. Is the coin slot necessary for gameplay? Absolutely not. Is it satisfying? 100%.
Toy Cards
The game contains 49 different toy cards, each toy card has its own colour, rank and of course toy type. There are 7 colours, and 7 ranks (¥200, ¥300, ¥400, ¥500, ¥600, ¥700, ¥800). There is one toy in each colour and each cost. The rulebook contains a chart showing each toy type, their colour and value.
Refund Card
The game also contains 1 refund card. This is placed into the deck after dealing each player’s hand. If a player receives the refund card, they can use it at the end of the round to trade their toy in for its monetary value. This is useful to help players score more points for a standalone toy where the points earned from additional yen is more beneficial than the points earned from the card alone.
Coin Tokens
Unlike the original version, Gachapon Trick from Playte provides the Yen tokens needed to buy your toys. By my calculations there is 36 gold tokens representing ¥500 each and 59 silver tokens representing ¥100 each however the rulebook doesn’t state how many are included in the game and my calculations could be off. However, there is certainly more than you need if you have all 4 players each receiving 8 gold tokens and 10 silver tokens at the start of each round.
Gameplay:
Gachapon Trick is played across three rounds and can be played between 2-4 players. In a 2 or 4 player game, players receive 10 toy cards at the start of the round (12 toy cards in a 3 player game). They also receive ¥5000 made up of 8 gold tokens (¥500) and 10 silver tokens (¥100).
Shuffle the remaining toy cards along with the refund card to form a stack in the middle of the table. Players can purchase a card from here for ¥500 as well as purchase any available toys when they win a trick.
The player who last used a gachapon machine goes first, they become the lead player and can choose a card from their hand to start the trick. All other players must follow suit if possible, if not they can play any card from their hand.
Once all players have played a card from their hand, the highest ranked card in the most represented suit wins the trick. The player who won the trick must buy at least one toy card, and if they would like they may buy as many cards as they like as well as buy the top card from the deck for ¥500 if they wish.
In the scenario where the winner of the trick has less than ¥100 at the end of their turn, they are out of the round, but not out of the game. If a player is out of the round whilst it’s their turn to lead, this passes onto the next player, if only one player remains they can buy any cards remaining in their hand as well from the top of the deck.
If you have more than ¥100 and win a trick you are unable to pay for, the win transfers to the next highest rank in the majority suit.
If a player opts to buy a card from the deck for ¥500 and finds the Refund Card, they may keep it until the end of the round. This can be used to earn the money back from one of your purchased toy cards, this is a great way to earn points if you have a high ranked card but no set for it as remaining Yen can be traded in for points.
Once all players have played their tricks for this round, they score for each set of toys they have collected. Players also earn 1 point for every ¥200. If you are able to go the whole round without winning a trick, you are deemed to have resisted the Gacha and score an additional 5 points.
At the end of the round, return all toy cards and the refund card if applicable. Deal 10 toy cards to each player, and ensure everyone has ¥5000 again. The game ends after the third round. No money or toy cards transfer between rounds.
Replayability:
Despite its simple trick taking mechanics, Gachapon Trick provides a decent amount of replayability. Everyone I have introduced it to has enjoyed it and asked to play again. I love how you can try your best to resist winning a trick, sometimes points from the bonus and your money is worth more than what you can earn through your collection and thats the risk of the Gachapon and certainly provides a level of tension.
Pros:
I really like that this version kept the original artwork but elevated the component quality. The coin tokens are of good quality and previously you had to provide your own, I am glad these were added as there’s nothing worse than buying a game and having to buy additional components.
The gameplay has a good amount of strategy, knowing when to play cards of a certain rank, deciding whether you want to win a trick or avoid the temptation entirely which is actually quite tricky to do. It all adds to the tensions.
Cons:
Playing across 3 rounds doesn’t quite make sense, especially as each round you don’t carry anything over and so it is effectively a brand new game. I get it in the sense that the rounds can vary significantly and so if you have a bad opening round you can still catch up.
Thematically, in my head I am imagining spending 3 days at grandma’s house, she gives you pocket money each day to go to the Gachapon Parlour for you to try and win toys.
Final verdict:
Gachapon Trick has been on my radar for a while however it’s been hard to find here in the UK. When I saw Playte were bringing it to UK Games Expo I knew I had to arrange a demo and they were kind enough to send me a copy ahead of the event as part of the container offer and it certainly didn’t disappoint. I love bringing it to the table, I enjoy seeing all the different toys in different colours and it has this underlying strategy that generates tension between players vying to get the best toys.
This game was kindly gifted to me by Playte games however all thoughts and opinions are my own.
- 2-4 Players
- Ages 14+
- 30 Minutes
Designer: Daniel Newman
Publisher: Playte
