Game Market – Spring 2017

The thrice yearly analog Game Market is coming up on May 14th! It’s a great chance to check out the Japanese analog gaming scene if you happen to be in the Tokyo area.

There will be game creators, publishers, shops, and hobby groups exhibiting. In addition to that, there will be event and vendor organized games that you can participate in. There is also ample free play space where you can grab a seat and play games.

I went to the Game Market last Fall, which was also at Tokyo Big Sight, and had a great time. I showed up in the afternoon and some products were already sold out, so if you’re looking to shop, I definitely recommend getting there early on in the day. The booth-organized events are pretty free-form, but the official events do run on a schedule, so it’s best to check before hand.

Tickets, Please!

There are two types of tickets for the event – a ticket with map for 1,000 yen and a nearly 200 page catalog that also includes some articles for 1,500 yen. In either case, the map/magazine itself is the ticket itself and you just show the cover to the gate staff. Re-entry is no problem. You can buy a ticket at a local game shop or at the event space on the day of the event for the same price.

For just 500 more yen, I’d say the catalog is definitely worth it. The vast majority of content is in Japanese, with only one page with basic event info in English. There’s the requisite map, schedule, rules, and booth listings, but there’s also articles about how to write board game rule books; glossary of game terms; and interviews, just to a name a few.

Check out the official site even if you’re not able to attend. It has lots of details, including a game search tool and a Google translate selector at the top. There’s also additional details on the event’s twitter account.

If you can’t make it this time, there’s also the Summer event in Kobe and Fall event in Tokyo!