GACHIJO – Four Ninja and the Castle of Treasures, a competitive ninja tabletop game from Banana Moon Games, has officially launched a new Kickstarter campaign. It features a customizable and moving game board, and Banana Moon Studio Sapporo is based in Japan.

In GACHIJO, four ninja must infiltrate a Japanese castle, racing to complete their mission. Players can adjust obstacles in the castle by moving the transparent layers of the game board. You’ll use a variety of ninja tools and weapons, and summon specters to aid you, aiming for the highest score at the end of the game.

At this time, GACHIJO’s campaign hasn’t crossed the halfway point yet. The stretch goals will add more stages to explore, new cards, and an improved finish for some components. I haven’t had the chance to play, but Banana Moon released an overview trailer for the game last month:

GACHIJO may surprise some players with its colorful, bright, and friendly approach, which somewhat contradicts the box’s mysterious cover art.

Rather than carrying out assassinations, the ninja in GACHIJO are pursuing treasure, which may be cozier for younger players. Players still attack each other, but they can simply return to base, injured.

This tone shouldn’t detract from the atmosphere though, since it’s clear the designers included a lot of cultural influence. The traditional art design in all of the components is definitely attractive, from the environments to the cards and acquisition boards.

Those mindful textures extend to the specters, and may be enough to interest casual players. Given the trailer, introducing specters was a good decision, consistent with the overall tone of the game.

The theme also justifies the novelty of a shifting game board, which should invite some unusual strategy. GACHIJO is more ambitious and interesting than Banana Moon’s previous games, which are occasionally just plain odd. A successful GACHIJO campaign might also inspire other new directions from Banana Moon.

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