2026 · Economic
Nippon: Zaibatsu
Players lead powerful conglomerates during Japan’s industrialization, investing in industries, building factories and railroads, and producing goods to supply markets and fulfill contracts. Area-majority influence, strategic investment, and timing of income turns shape income and scoring; players choose which activities to prioritize and which objectives to pursue for victory points. The game updates classic mechanics with newer components and revised systems: expanded resource types, reworked shipping and mission rules, more variable factories, consolidation actions that grant rewards, and an automa for solo play.
- Players
- 1–4 best 4
- Playing time
- 60–120 min
- Age
- 12+
- Complexity
- 3.6 / 5
About the game
- Publisher
Expansions
See them in Ludoya
Photos from Ludoya tables
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Where to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 172
- Plays logged
- 258
- Players
- 2h 32m
- Average play
- 73
- In collections
- 18
- On wishlists
- 11
- Pre-ordered
8.1/10
from 24 Ludoya reviews
The rulesbook is bad. Game seems fine
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
Can I spend silk as money anytime on my turn, or only during an action?
Yes — at any moment on your turn you may spend 1 silk to gain 1 green money any number of times (silk can also be spent to temporarily boost R&D when building a Factory). (p. 8)
Do I have to take a Worker before I pay for or perform an action, and what if I can’t pay for it?
You must choose the action and take a Worker first, and you may not choose an action if you cannot perform it at least once; additionally you must pay the action in full and may not use resources gained during that action to pay for it. (p. 8)
Can I spend silk or R&D tokens to meet a Factory’s R&D requirement when building it?
Yes — you may spend silk (1/3/6) to temporarily increase your R&D level by 1/2/3 when building a Factory, and the rules also note you may spend 1/3/6 R&D tokens for the same temporary increase. (p. 8, p. 10)
When placing Influence via Local Markets, can I place tokens that don’t match the Goods’ level, and can I replace my own tokens?
You may not place Influence tokens that don’t match the level of the Goods, but you may replace your own Influence tokens (even ones you just placed) to gain region bonuses; follow the Local Market space limits and replacement rules for 2/3-player games. (p. 16)
What exactly happens when I make a Consolidation — do I keep my green resources and black cubes?
During Consolidation you must discard all green resources and black cubes, then take a Favor token, gain Department bonuses and Income according to your Workers and levels, pay salaries, and return Workers as specified. (p. 17)
Do Trains always count as Influence in a Region, or only sometimes?
Trains grant their owner influence in a Region only if that player has at least one Influence token in that Region during scoring; otherwise those Trains grant no Influence. (p. 12, p. 18)
Free, on web, Android and iOS
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.