A Journey of Travel and Lessons in Let’s Go! To Japan
Plan a trip to the cities of Kyoto and Tokyo with all sorts of adventures and beautiful sights to see in Let’s Go! To Japan.
It was over a year ago since I last attempted to play Let’s Go! To Japan solo, and it seemed to be the right time to plan another lovely sightseeing tour! This one has worked well digitally and in a multiplayer setting, but I almost always prefer the physical versions of most games. Besides, I had a couple of expansions to add in to get the full gameplay experience!
Game Overview
Game Name: Let’s Go! To Japan
Publication Year: 2024
Designer: Josh Wood
Artists: Many (5 Credited)
Publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Gameplay is all about making decisions about which activities to add to an itinerary. Days have specialties, and there are highlights to meet the requirements for. Trains are also needed to plan travel between Kyoto and Tokyo… Ideally on a logical schedule! In the end, a trip is planned.
First Play
May 17, 2024
Complexity
2
Latest Play
June 2, 2025
Expansions
2
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
6
Play Time
15 Minutes
High Score
140
Game Area
32" x 32"
Low Score
123
Beauty and the Points
The artwork is simply gorgeous with so many little details to appreciate! However, the thin font at such a small size makes the flavor text really difficult for me to read.
One of my biggest issues has been reducing the experience down to set collection, and even then, the real trouble comes in at the end… Calculating scores. I forgot how involved it is.
This is a beautiful game with a smooth sequence of play, yet I struggled to keep up with everything during final scoring.
Normally, I try to add on little stories, but unfortunately, I was so caught up with tracking icons and points, I forgot.
Delightful Bowls
My husband really wanted to pick up the deluxe edition with these special bowls, which I was leery about. However, these bowls often find themselves participating in other games!
I think the component quality is excellent, and the wooden components certainly have a nice appearance to them.
But for me, this one is a lot more about the aesthetics than an enjoyable experience. My brain simply struggles with the constant math across multiple icon sets. So much to track!
Perhaps this indicates I need a travel agent… Ha ha! The solo opponent definitely won out time and time again.
A Thematic Friday
One of my favorite moments is when I add an extra walk card to a day and then flip it over at the end… Sometimes, the discoveries are excellent and perfectly placed!
This Friday ended up with another shrine added to the schedule, which was nice, but I was more concerned about the trains. I was all over the place near the end of the trip.
I also almost think that the joy of these different activities and places gets lost with all of the card stacks.
It was a lovely sort of time picking out cards, yet I found myself dreading the final scoring with every play.
New Expansions
To give the game a final chance, I added in the expansions for an asymmetric ability and special day trip. But these added on even more scoring criteria, which I didn’t want.
It was nice to have Sunday added, with the ability to place it at the start or end of the week. I enjoyed that flexibility!
Alas, I struggled in so many ways and never saw my final scores fluctuate all that much, no matter what I did.
Too much randomness made it difficult to achieve what I wanted to during each day of the trip, and I never felt like I could take a step back to narrate my journey.
When Too Many Small Sums is Too Many
I don’t mind simple arithmetic in most solo games, and a lot of games come down to doing all sorts of mathematical equations… Often unknowingly! Evaluating the value of a card, for instance, is often rooted in equations, even if that doesn’t seem obvious. Very cool! But I also know how I can struggle when there are too many things to add and track.
This one doesn’t work for me simply because there comes a point in the game when I can’t track everything I need to. Will I have enough shopping icons by Friday? Yes, but I have this walk card over here… Oh, and the highlight of the day on Tuesday grants me a shopping icon, so I don’t need this card. But wait, it’s worth 7 points. What does Wednesday look like?
There isn’t a simple formula to gauge cards, and the fact that the icons don’t move until final scoring can make it very tricky to understand how many icons will be earned by a certain point. I’ve created issues when I forget that I’m chaining together daily highlights, then suddenly make a decision to switch cities and break the setup of cascading icons.
Play time is quite reasonable, though, and this is only my opinion: There’s a lot to enjoy here! It’s still valuable to know how my brain works while playing games, though, as I know I’m more likely to steer clear of others that require a lot of extra tracking and lengthy final scoring. Fortunately, this hobby has so much to offer, so I’ve got plenty of other games to love!
Session Overview
Play Number: 3-6
Expansion 1: Let’s Go! To Japan: Day Trip
Expansion 2: Let’s Go! To Japan: Grab Your Passport
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Hard Difficulty Level
Outcome: 128-142, 123-135, 128-163, 140-161 (4 Losses)
I liked the expansion additions, but they didn’t solve my core issue with all of the tracking and scoring. Just not a game that seems to mesh with the way I think while I play! There is a beautiful sort of game here, though, and I can see why it would be a great choice for the right audience.
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
4
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
4
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- All of the card artwork is beautiful and cheerful, often setting the stage for exciting or peaceful sorts of moments.
- Decisions are based in randomness, but can still be very interesting with placement and choosing the cards to pass.
- The solo mode works very smoothly in general, requiring a bit of strategic thought without a lot of overhead.
- Planning card placements is important and meaningful, often with consideration for nearby activities and specialties.
- Expansions don’t include a lot of new elements, yet still change up gameplay in more ways than just added variety.
- Matching daily specialties in order to add extra walk cards is very exciting, particularly when flipping cards later on.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Final scoring takes up a lot of time and involves tracking multiple icons, moving tokens, and counting points.
- Luck can have a large impact on the ability to score well on every single day, even with careful planning.
- Stacking the cards makes sense, yet the beautiful artwork gets covered so that the icons seems to take precedence.
- Although there are many ways to score well, points typically end up in a small band no matter how a trip proceeds.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score 120 points.
Score 130 points.
Score 140 points.
Win at least 1 game at the standard difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What is your favorite part of Let’s Go! To Japan? Have you managed to plan a particularly memorable trip with a high score? I was rather sad that I got so caught up in constantly counting, yet not every game will work for me solo. The digital version seems to be fun for me in a group setting, though, so here’s to hoping I’ll continue to plan these joyful trips!
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