Players: 2-4
Designer: Martin Nedergaard Andersen and Banana Moon Studio Sapporo
Artist: Banana Moon Studio Sapporo and Richard Zimba
Time: 15-90 minutes
Four clans have each sent a ninja to enter the ancient enchanted castle to gain the valuable treasures said to be within! The enchanted castle has a magic maze which changes with each turn, can you cleverly maneuver you ninja to the treasures and back home first? GACHIJO is a fun dungeon crawl with lots of Japanese flavor.
Banana Moon Studio Sapporo will be bringing this exciting game to you soon on KS. This preview is based on online play so the pictures are of the prototype. GACHIJO cleverly uses transparent board/sheets to build the castle and surrounding grounds. Two of the boards have walls which move as you slide the board stepwise. Walls come in 2 forms low walls which are dotted and high walls which are solid. Both will impede your ninja’s progress although with right tool you can bypass the short walls. The rest of the boards will provide the castle walls and prizes. Martin Nedergaard Andersen has designed maze/puzzle games before, such as the fun little Bandido and Bandida, but here GACHIJO brings the puzzling to a new level morphing mazes instead of static walls. There are different levels of complexity and different castle designs for variety. As one of 4 ninja your mission is to gain the items needed to complete the goal card and return to your base.
To play, you have 3 actions which can be any combination, in any order, either move your ninja or slide one of the wall boards one step, but you must do at least one of each of those actions. As you move you may encounter gems, tools or weapons which you can pick up as you pass over them. To claim a treasure you must end your turn there. You may also encounter magic spells of luck both good and bad!
As you travel through the castle, if you have the correct tools it will allow you to maneuver through terrain obstacles more easily. For example grappling hooks let you climb walls. Some tools like the wall can help protect you. Your ninja will have status markers to show when the tools are in use. Tools are discarded after use.
You may also encounter a ninja from another clan. If you have the correct weapon you can attack! If you have a smoke bomb you may be able to avoid detection. Other tools may also protect you. If not, you are wounded and your opponent will gain a shinobi chip and you gain a frog chip. Shinobi chips are part of the goal cards. Frog chips contain random values and are VP but are not revealed to anyone, even the owner, until the end of the game. When wounded you are returned to your base and you lose an action for one round.
Lastly, if the symbols align you may be able to summon a demon who can attack your opponents. Demons move independently of your ninja. This is another way to earn shinobi chips.
Once you have gathered the requirements on the goal card you raise your flag and race back your base to secure the win.
I had a great time playing GACHIJO. I normally shy away from too much conflict but I do love a good dungeon crawl. There is no player elimination but getting wounded is a hindrance. Player vs Player is a must since that is how you gain shinobi chips. The movement of the walls is novel. It’s fun trying to map out the most profitable path through the castle while hindering your opponents. GACHIJO is clever and challenging and even though there can be a bit of “bash the leader at the end”, it doesn’t out stay it’s welcome. For those that like theme and some tactical puzzles and don’t mind a bit of chaos I would highly recommend GACHIJO.
Thoughts of Opinionated Gamers:
Love It: Lorna
Like it:
Neutral:
Not for me:
