Mugen Gaming, the Kansas City-based publisher currently steering the high-fantasy English translation of Japan’s legendary Sword World roleplaying game, has officially launched its crowdfunding campaign for En-nichi. Moving away from the dense rules and 2d6 tactical gridless combat of their signature roleplaying game project, the publisher has partnered with Vala Foundry to bring this popular Japanese indie family game to Western tables. The project, launched on Kickstarter from Missouri, immediately shattered its modest funding target of £5,896, raising £23,834 from 260 backers within its opening hours.
Originally designed by Masaya Nishihara of Sora Game Studios, En-nichi is an authentic, low-stress tabletop translation of a traditional Japanese summer festival (matsuri). Built for two to six players, the game relies on bright visual prompts, rapid turns, and intuitive choice architectures to keep gameplay engaging without excessive strategic pressure. The launch marks a notable collaborative pivot for the local design hub, pairing Mugen Gaming’s cross-cultural translation pipeline with Vala Foundry’s production infrastructure.
The core mechanical layout of En-nichi divides the board into four distinct, interactive festival stalls. On a turn, a player places their meeple at a specific booth to initiate a dedicated micro-challenge. The Shooting Gallery (Shateki) relies on matching drawn cards to successfully knock down colourful prize tokens. Goldfish Scooping (Kingyo-sukui) shifts the pace into a press-your-luck card game, where players must weigh the value of an escalating catch against the physical risk of breaking their fragile paper net.
The remaining two stalls emphasise distinct mechanical vectors. The Yo-Yo Balloon Catch uses custom dice, forcing players to match strings, hooks, and balloon patterns while navigating a failure condition where rolling three broken strings forfeits their accumulated round score. The Mask Vendor booth uses hidden information mechanics, in which an opponent secretly determines the available stock, forcing the active player to correctly guess which traditional folk-character masks remain on the shelf. Failing to win a prize at any booth rewards the player with a Temple Charm, a built-in catch-up mechanic that guarantees an attribute boost on subsequent visits to that specific stall.
Scoring Dynamics and Cultural Add-ons
Winning the mini-games awards specific prize assets, which players then spend to charm various local villagers. Each attracted villager card provides unique end-game point values and carries a distinct Fireworks Preference. The game progresses linearly until the final Fireworks Display card is pulled from the deck, triggering an immediate transition into final scoring. Points are tallied via total prizes won, charmed villagers, and bonus multipliers earned if a villager’s preferred fireworks arrangement matches the final display card.
On the production front, the campaign replaces standard cardboard dividers with high-value traditional lifestyle components. Rather than deploying a typical paper grid, the deluxe editions include a traditional furoshiki, a beautifully patterned Japanese wrapping cloth, engineered to serve as an alternative fabric village centre playmat. Beyond the core physical box, production partnerships include plushie development by CuddleCore, adding a soft-line physical component layer featuring folk criteria and custom creatures like the Maneki Neko and Scoop the Goldfish.
Reward Breakdown
- Pledge $1 (approx. £1): Support without a reward. A basic entry tier to follow the campaign updates and back the project out of baseline interest.
- Pledge $10 (approx. £8): Retail Tier. Reserved strictly for verified US retail stores, requiring a deposit to secure case-quantity wholesale orders (minimum 6 Standard Editions) at a 50% MSRP discount.
- Pledge $29 (approx. £22): Festival Ticket. Provides one physical copy of the En-nichi Standard Edition containing all core components and unlocked stretch goals.
- Pledge $109 (approx. £82): Matsuri Bundle. Includes the Standard Edition of the core game, the Festival of Flavors expansion, a choice of one custom CuddleCore character plushie, and four thematic enamel pins (Kitsune, Ramen Shiba, Takoyaki, and Ramune).
- Pledge $119 (approx. £90): Deluxe Bundle. Features the En-nichi Deluxe Edition, the Festival of Flavors expansion, and the dual-purpose traditional fabric Furoshiki Playmat packaged together inside a single carrying bundle.
- Pledge $269 (approx. £202): All-In. The ultimate collection tier containing the Deluxe Edition, the Furoshiki Playmat, exclusive Art Prints, eight unique enamel pins, the Maneki Neko plushie, and the Scoop the Goldfish plushie.
The project is structured under Kickstarter’s traditional all-or-nothing framework, meaning manufacturing will proceed only if the current pledge thresholds are met. The funding period officially closes on Thursday, 13 August 2026 at 3:00 PM BST. Mugen Gaming estimates that final physical manufacturing and global shipping fulfilment will be completed concurrently by November 2026.
