Advert: we were sent this game from Playte in exchange for a review.

Gachapon (also gashapon) is a ball-buying, toy collecting craze that originated from Japan but has become popular all over, including the UK (you can watch us visit some local gashapon machines here!). So it makes perfect sense for there to be a set collecting game all about it! Gotta collect em’ all!

Key stats

2 to 4 players | 20 to 40 minutes | 10+ years

Publisher: Playte Games
Designer: Daniel Newman
Art: Wanjin Gill, Sai Beppu

Theme/category: Card Game, Toys
Key mechanics: Trick Taking, Set Collection

Gameplay overview

In this trick taker meets set collector, you have 7 coloured suits, and in each suit are the same 7 toys. Players must win tricks full of toys in order to spend their hard earned coins on them. The more matching toys you collect (type, not colour), the more points they’re worth at the end of the game!

Each round, the lead player plays any card from their hand and this determines the lead suit (colour). The next player must play the same suit if they can, if not they can play any card of choice. Unlike a traditional trick, the next player(s) must still follow suit if possible, but it can be the suit of any previously played card (i.e. not necessarily the lead suit).

The winner of the trick is the card with the highest value in the most prevalent suit. If there’s a tie for the dominant suit – like if there are 2 suits with 2 cards each – the highest value card across the tied suits wins. If there’s STILL a tie, then the highest card that was played last wins. 

Whoever won can now choose to buy whichever toys they want from the trick – but they must buy at least 1 of them. They can also spend ¥500 to draw a MYSTERY TOY from a separate deck – ooooooh! This deck includes the leftover toys that weren’t dealt out at the start, as well as 1 special refund card (used at the end of the game).

Once they’ve finished with all their spending, the player now takes the lead and starts the next trick. Play continues until all the cards are played (10 tricks) and then it’s time to score up! If someone has the special Refund card, they can choose to discard one of their toys to get its cost refunded. Then points are awarded for sets of toys (4 for 2 toys, 9 for 3 toys, 16 for 4 toys, etc) and any leftover coins (1 per ¥200).

If you ever run out of money (ending up with ¥200 or less), then you’re out until the end game scoring (you still score). Gachapon Trick is usually played over 3 games, then the player with the highest total score across all 3 is the winner! 

2-player variant

A 2-player game has some slight adaptations, where essentially you’re playing 2-handed but you don’t have full access to all the cards. Where in a normal game each player is dealt 10 cards, 2 players are dealt 10 cards for their hand and 10 cards in a personal draw pile. You also start the game with ¥8,000 rather than the usual ¥5,000.

A trick is then played as normal, except each player alternates playing 2 cards each. Then, after the trick is resolved (and toys bought), the players replenish their hand from their personal draw pile back up to 10 cards. When there’s no cards left in the draw pile you just keep playing as normal until all the cards are played.

The other key difference in a 2-player game is that the lead player simply alternates back and forth between the players – it doesn’t matter who won the trick.

Our thoughts

Trick taking is certainly having its moment in the board game community – there are many cracking examples out there (Lord of the Ring Trick Taker being one of last year’s hotties). What I like most about Gachapon Trick, and what I think will help it stand out is how it integrates the set collecting with the tricks in a way that works very well for the toy-collecting theme. It’s fun, it’s colourful, and there are some very interesting toy choices… illustrated by Playte regular Waijin Gill and ever popular Sai Beppu, who’ve captured the fun, colourful and sometimes quirky gachapon craze perfectly.

If you’ve played Seas of Strife (one of our favourite trick takers), you’ll be familiar with the ‘follow-suit’ twist that Gachapon Trick uses. It’s a twist I particularly enjoy because it adds some interesting tactical choices and often encourages those ‘a-HA!’ moments when an opponent whips the trick victory from under your feet.

Each suit includes all the toys, but the cost of the same toy differs across each suit ranging from ¥200 to ¥800 (e.g. Frog on a Bog would be ¥200 in one suit, ¥500 in another, etc etc). So not only do you want to win the right tricks that include toys you want, but ideally you want the cheaper toys. Cheaper toys, more money for more gachapons! It can be particularly challenging when you have the cheap toys you want in your hand. So there’s some strategic manipulation involved as you try to play the right cards at the right time – especially keeping in mind the different ways you can exploit the trick to win.

And of course there’s the surprise ¥500 gachapon! Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s always fun! And sure, putting coins in the box slot is a complete gimmick, but we still did it every time. (Tip: keep a coin stash next to the box so you can get change easily when needed).

Before playing we weren’t sure if the 2-player variant would be up to scratch…and it does feel slightly different, but I’m happy to confirm that it works really well! You are more likely to win more tricks and collect more than a 3+ player game, which gives less incentive to pay for the mystery gachapon (but we did anyway!). Being able to play 2 cards a round also adds a twist on how you can manipulate tricks and throw people off. I think overall I prefer playing 3+ players, but I would happily still play this 2-player as well.

I do have a few design critiques to note. First is more an accessibility caution: while they have tried to use background patterns to differentiate between the coloured suits, I didn’t notice them at first so they might be too subtle (the photos show them better). Secondly, I think it would have been more helpful for players if the coins had their value on them, and if there were some player aid cards with the suits and toy costs rather than just included in the rules (especially if you’re a plotting player). 

What we like:

• It has a unique combo of trick taking and set collection with a fun theme that ties to the gameplay nicely.

• We enjoy the ‘follow-any-played-suit’ twist to the trick and how that can spin the win.

• Don’t judge by its cover – there’s more strategy than you think thanks to the varying toy costs and trick winning criteria. The only thing that fell a bit flat in our games was the refund card (it usually wasn’t used).

• Yes, sticking coins in the box slot is a complete gimmick, but it’s fun anyway! Especially when you’re paying for a MYSTERY GACHAPON.

• Colourful and quirky artwork (very reminiscent of the kind of toys you can get in gachapons).

• The 2-player variant works really well albeit feels slightly different in vibes.

Considerations:

• Our games were usually at the longer end of the suggested playtime. You could easily just play one game (instead of 3) to cut down playtime if needed.

• The background patterns to help distinguish colours could be more distinct.

• It also would have been useful for the coins to be marked with their values and to have player aids showing the toys/suits/costs.

Verdict

We’ve had so much fun with Gachapon Trick! It takes the trick-taking mechanism from Seas of Strife (our fave) and combines it with fun, quirky toy collecting. And not only is it fun, it has more satisfying tactical gameplay that you might expect. This was easily one of my favourite Playte games to date – I strongly recommend checking it out if you can.

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Playte will be at UKGE on  29-31 May 2026 – you can preorder games with them for UKGE pick-up here and check out their stand at 3A-602.

They will also be at the Tokyo Game Market 23-24 May, and you can preorder games for that here.