
Mechanisms
- Set Collection
- Release
- 08/2027
- Publisher
- Wonderful World Board Games
- Designers
- Wei Chang, Phar Lo
- Languages
- English
- Age
- 12+
Onsen is a 1–4 player tile-drafting and set-collection game where you race to build the most beloved hot spring resort in Japan — one carefully timed placement at a time.
As the resort's manager, your job is simple: keep every guest happy. Each round, players draft a trio of : tiles – a scented water tile to fill the pools, a guest tile to seat around the edge of your onsen pool, and a special item that provides different abilities. Guests score based on the scents arranged along their row or column, but there's a catch: each guest only arrives on a specific turn. Place them too early, and they show up to an empty pool. Too late, and the moment's already passed.
Marking the passage of time is the shishi-odoshi — a beautifully crafted bamboo deer scare that tips and clacks with every strike. Each strike triggers scoring. When the game ends, whoever has earned the most points takes home the win.