A beloved Japanese card game will be getting a Pokémon-themed adaptation. Pokémon Taruka is a reimagining of a classic Japanese card game called Karuta, and will be sure to delight both Japanese fans and overseas collectors.
Karuta is a card-matching game which, unlike many of its Western counterparts, must be played with three people. One of the players uses what’s called a ‘reading deck’ and acts as a sort of umpire as the other two players attempt to use the third player’s card prompts to guess which card they should grab.
As you can imagine, the colourful, distinctive designs of Pokémon allow for a far more vibrant and exciting version of the game compared to traditional sets, which tend to use more conventional Japanese artwork. Eagle-eyed readers will also notice that ‘Taruka’ is a reversal of ‘Karuta’ – this is because Pokémon Taruka has players read the cards backwards, adding another layer of complexity to the game.
Pokémon Taruka is set to be sold in Pokémon Centre stores on 19 July. While it seems unlikely that the Japanese language-only game will be sold outside of Japan, overseas collectors may well be able to get their hands on the game through Japanese resale websites (such as buyee), which allow overseas consumers to quickly and easily get their hands on products usually only sold in Japan.
For those of us outside of Japan, Pokémon Taruka affirms the Pokémon Company’s enduring commitment to fashioning charming adaptations of pre-existing games. It may be a long shot, but many of the best board games are screaming for Pokémon adaptations. Wingspan seems like it would be perfect for the treatment, given its emphasis on creature rearing and gorgeous artwork.
Additionally, Western Pokémon fans have plenty to look forward to in the form of Pokémon Black Bolt and White Flare, a new Pokémon TCG set which released on July 18.
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AloJapan.com