Nanjamonja · Play notes
I love a card game called Nanjamonja, made by a Japanese game shop called Sugorokuya. You give your own made-up name to each of 12 mysterious creatures the first time it appears, then race to shout that name the next time it shows up. The rules are almost nothing, so why does it make everyone laugh this hard? Here is what I have noticed from actually playing it.
The first time was at a bowling alley in the basement of the EST building in Shibuya. A group of us from a club were waiting for a lane, and someone had brought Nanjamonja along. That was the start — we kept coming back to it after that.
On paper it sounds thin: flip a card, and if the creature is new, give it any name you like. Flip it again later, and be the first to shout that name. That is the whole game. But in practice, the fun does not come from the rule itself — it comes from who named what, and how.
Put together, I think what Nanjamonja really tests is the combination of naming sense and recall speed. As a card game that puts your naming sense on the spot, I have not found anything that does it better.
After enjoying it with the club, I bought my own copy of Nanjamonja Green (“Midori”). Just laying it out with family or friends reveals everyone's naming sense in the room, which makes it a good icebreaker even when some people at the table have just met.
There are two versions, White and Green, with different creature designs. Owning both lets more people play in one sitting.
Until I looked into it, I had no idea Nanjamonja was not a Japanese original. It began as a Russian card game called “Toddles-Bobbles” (the Green edition), first published in 2011 and designed by Alena Lebedeva. In Russia it was recognized by a children's psychology center.
Sugorokuya published the Japanese version in 2016. Where the overseas editions were numbered, the Japanese release renamed them by color — “White” and “Green” — and reworked the creature designs and overall feel for a Japanese audience. In other words: the core idea came from Russia, and Sugorokuya is who turned it into the finished game and brought it to Japan. That is not just a translation — it is a real localization job, and a good example of one.
Nanjamonja aside, Sugorokuya is a shop that brings board and card games into Japanese households. If you enjoyed reading this, their official channels are worth a look.
I also happen to make Namaegao, a face-and-name memory app. Repeatedly experiencing how much fun there is in naming and calling out a name in Nanjamonja is part of what led there. Namaegao has its own original rules and creatures — it is not an imitation of Nanjamonja — but the idea that naming and recall carry their own fun genuinely traces back to Nanjamonja. I wanted to put that thanks in writing.
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