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I realize by saying that I'm at risk of stereotyping JP game designs as not being thought through or playtested sufficiently, but that's not what I'm saying. I have no idea what level of playtesting these games have been put through, and it doesn't matter since in the end you have the final design that you can play for yourself to see what you think of it.
What I'm getting at is the notion that many JP game designs seem to consist of a single idea or hook that's been encapsulated in physical form and presented to potential players. I'm a huge fan of old-school designers Sid Sackson and Alex Randolph and present day designer Leo Colovini because most of their designs work along these lines, and I'm a huge fan of JP games for the same reason. When I walk through Tokyo Game Market, I feel like I'm walking through an idea factory. Each game embodies the idea at its core, and I can experience that idea in its most direct and purest form via that game.
Fruit Friends, a.k.a. くだものフレンズ, is a card game for 2-5 players from designers Takaaki Sayama and Toshiki Arao and publisher Comet that matches this style of design. Three times during the game, you divide a hand of cards into three pairs, with two of those pairs being taken by other players and the third pair going to you, then you score. That's it — short and simple, with you playing the odds and hoping to read what other players might do and might want to take home for themselves. Sometimes you get lucky with the card mix, and sometimes you're stuck with far too many bananas — a bit like life, I suppose.
With two players, you modify the game somewhat, with your opponent taking one pair for themselves, then tossing a second pair. What you'll take home is in the hands of your enemy, except that it's sort of in your hands since you're the one who divided the cards into pairs in the first place — except that you had no say in which cards you'd get, so fate is playing a role as well. Again, a bit like life. Everyone and everything plays a part, and sometimes you're just up against too many bananas with nowhere else to turn.
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