When we first reviewed Tokaido back in 2018, it was already 6 years old and board gaming was entering a Golden Age with innovative new games being released weekly and entirely new mechanics emerging all the time. Somehow, even then, Tokaido quietly fulfilled a constant need — offering gateway gamers a super relaxed and non-confrontational way to experience modern gaming. Now, in 2025, Stonemaier Games has picked up the rights to Tokaido from FunForge, and their new edition is available now.
Stonemaier is well known for its fantastic build quality, commitment to environmental causes and clear, straightforward rules. Tokaido was already a straightforward game with nice production, and having read a few blogs from Stonemaier President Jamey Stegmaier, it seems he made a conscious choice to retain most of the visual design from the original game. Stonemaier chose to include an automa mode in the new version, but Stegmaier explained at length that he wanted to ensure it was fully compatible with FunForge editions of the game (which it is).
The production remains at least as good as the original FunForge copy that I had years ago, although I upgraded my copy to a painted Kickstarter edition of the game (complete with painted miniatures and expansions) a few years ago, and so I can’t make the direct comparison between the original and new copies except in memory.
Either way, the new edition of Tokaido is a really nice product, presented in a slim box with a clean white design and the same uniquely cartoonish art style as the original. Inside the box you get cardboard coins, thick card player boards, several tokens and meeples and several decks of cards that associate with the gameplay.
There is also the automa which consists of two decks of cards and a couple of guides. The rules are brief and full of examples, with my only very minor complaint being that there’s not much space between headings, so you get a lot of information in a smallish space which can be a bit confusing. As I generally knew what I was looking for, it wasn’t an issue, but you opened the book and wanted to find the rules for visiting a farm, for example, you might have to search for a moment or two.
With all that said, let’s recap what Tokaido is all about. I am probably not going to go into the same detail as I went into back in 2018 as you can always just go and read that our thoughts (and perhaps you should, to see how my thoughts have changed) but in short, Tokaido is a game about taking a journey across Japan’s famous East Sea Road between Kyoto and Edo (aka: Tokyo).
Along the way, you’ll visit hot springs, collect souvenirs, have encounters and paint several amazing pictures to treasure for a lifetime. You’ll also engage in occasional work at farms to earn a few coins, and if you want, you can spend them not only on souvenirs but also on making donations at the temples, or buying meals along the route.
Each and every action you take in Tokaido is simple and leads to points. You can choose to move as far as you like along the path, but you have to accept that if you skip too far, your opponents will be able to take multiple turns until they catch up with you. This creates a healthy tension because sometimes, there’s a good reason to move to a specific space first (and often this will block it for others) but as I’ve just said, you can’t just rush ahead. In any case, all players must stop and wait at each of the inns along the board, with whoever arrives first getting the pick of the meals on offer before those who arrive after them.
The movement mechanic is essentially Tokaido’s entire party trick, but when you reach a destination, it’s what you do there that will score points. Souvenirs, for example, feature different symbols and the more variety you have at the end of the game, the more you score. Temples allow you to score points for how many coins you’ve donated (one point per coin) and at the end of the game, whoever donates most gets a bonus. Panorama cards come with increasing point values as each new section is added, but there are also achievement points for being the first to complete each picture.
Tokaido is therefore essentially a set collection game in the main, with the vast majority of your points coming in the form of the card sets you create. There’s gamesmanship to be had not only in your choice of how far and where to move, but also which sets to invest in. If you end up competing with another opponent for the same things, the game is much harder, but diversify into too many different areas and you won’t have the potential to reach high scores in any one.
What players still love about Tokaido after all these years is how lovely it looks, how unique it feels to play and how it really does evoke the idea of a spiritual journey across Japan. The art has never really been matched by any other game, and the design and layout of the board remains one of the most beautiful in any game. The cards that you draw are almost all unique (even if some of the symbols are identical from a set collection point of view) and again, there’s a sense of occasion about the whole thing.
Tokaido is also a very casual, light game. You will compete with each other for cards and position, but I can’t think of any situation where you directly steal from or interact negatively with other players, and this, along with the light ruleset, make Tokaido an ideal family weight or gateway game. The new Stonemaier edition makes very minor quality of life changes and keeps Tokaido in print, but I’m glad that Stegmaier and his team decided not to make sweeping changes or re-design a game that was already nearly perfectly formed.
Having said that, remember that Tokaido is extremely light, and it lacks the crunchy decisions and strategic nuances of larger, heavier games that might appear more to some.
Tokaido is available now, including from Amazon.
