A Machi building game of forests, mountains, and undeniable charm. Your currency? Potatoes.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
A new surprise, exclusive add-on, and an interview with Kumagera!
4 months ago
– Tue, Apr 28, 2026 at 07:18:33 AM
Dear spud-farmers,
More than 3450 of you have already decided to join us, with only 7 days to go! Thank you for all your support so far!
A new Surprise - Art Print Hokkaido Animals
Free Backer Gift Unlocked! This beautiful art print of the Animals of the Yotei area by artist Maria Kato will be added for free to your pledge!
One of the things that makes Yotei feel so special is how deeply it is inspired by real life in Hokkaido - from the landscapes to the animals and even the small seasonal signs locals pay attention to.
On this print you can find the Itou, also known as the Sakhalin Taimen, which is the largest freshwater fish in Japan and can only be found in Hokkaido. Another local symbol is the Ezo Shika, or Ezo deer, a native deer species unique to Hokkaido. One fascinating detail about them is that they shed their antlers every year! And then there’s one of the most charming signs of winter - the Yuki Mushi, or “snow bug.” These tiny white insects appear in autumn, usually one to two weeks before the first snowfall. Because of this, locals often use them as a natural sign that snow is about to arrive. Fittingly, they even look like tiny snowflakes floating through the air!
New Limited Add-on - Yotei Art Book!
Kumagera has created a gorgeous art book, where you can discover the world behind the game! 200 copies are available as an add-on during this campaign. Shipping will be calculated in the pledge manager.
"The book is very important to us because it's a bridge between our game and the actual community. People who read the book will get to peak in the actual Yotei area, get to know the people there. I hope people will feel the real charm of our home!" - Jin & Maria.
When part of the Mighty Boards team went to Japan, they sat down with illustrator Maria to talk about the world behind Yotei. Discover why they chose to live in Niseko, what makes the local community so special, and what exactly a mushroom lady is!
From everyday life in Hokkaido to the real people and places that inspired the game, this interview gives a deeper look into the charm and heart behind Yotei.
About the Wooden Characters and Potatoes
We have carefully considered your requests and had discussions with Kumagera about a potential add-on for both the wooden character tokens and the wooden potatoes.
Why didn't we include wooden character & potato tokens in the Deluxe Edition:
In our focus group testing, the initial wooden character tokens all being the same colour resulted in players often mistaking which one was theirs. Since this creates confusion during gameplay, we corrected this issue by creating different coloured cardboard standees. The wooden potato tokens also had some issues with removal from their wooden punchboard, due to their thickness. Going forward, we would like all versions of Yotei to avoid having these issues.
Why we can't offer these as potential add-ons:
These extra addons, unlike the other addons we are offering, are not part of Kumagera's 'regular' production schedule. Therefore their inclusion into this campaign would have created delays and complications to our already complex logistics and supply chain (due to the multiple batches we are planning). We do not want to make unplanned additions which might jeopardise the agreed Kumagera production, or which might result in disruptions to the fulfilment process.
It is important for us to offer a product that is clear and consistent in its looks as well as its level of quality. We consider the components which are already in the Deluxe edition of the game to offer the best experience possible for the players, whilst retaining the unique characteristic touch of Yotei with the incorporated wooden components. Most of all, we want to avoid disruptions to our promises to you, our backers. We hope you understand our position, which was made with the best interest of the game and its players in mind.
Backers of the Wooden Box Edition - we need your name(s)!
The Exclusive Wooden Box Edition will be delivered with Batch 1 ONLY if we receive the name you want printed on it by the 8th of May 2026. You can send your name(s) to us directly on Kickstarter or contact us on [email protected]. Should we receive this information after this date, the reward will be delivered in Batch 2 latest by April 2027.
Until the next update!
Your Mighty Boards & Kumagera Team.
A Second Surprise and New Add-on Drops
4 months ago
– Tue, Apr 21, 2026 at 06:45:11 AM
Dear Potato farmers,
Almost 3000 of you have already decided to join us in this first week! Thank you for all your support so far!
A Second Surprise: Art Print "Self portrait Maria"
Free Backer Gift Unlocked! This beautifully illustrated self portrait by Yotei artist Maria Kato will be added for free to your pledge.
Yotei illustrator Maria told us that when she draws people, she often unconsciously ends up drawing versions of herself in different forms. She drew another self portrait in 2015 with the same concept and similar colors.
"10 years ago I was uptight, in a sad place in my life. Now I’m relaxed, embracing the chaos. It was a coincidence that I ended up drawing such similar piece. I was almost done drawing the illustration when I first noticedI had drawn something with the same theme of clutter chaos and with similar colors from exactly 10 years ago. Now these two pieces are symbolic to me, and it feels like I’ve reached some sort of milestone 🙂" - Maria Kato
New Add-on Drops Incoming - Mark your Calendars!
During this campaign, we are dropping limited amounts of Hokkaido Wooden Add-ons. Pins, stickers, magnets, ... all made by Kumagera in Japan. We selected sets that represent the region and the game best. Each set is limited to 100 copies, and will drop on specific dates, always at 10am EST / 4pm CET. Up next:
In the Why Back Now section the campaign page, you can find the full overview of the upcoming add-on drops until April 29th. You can also find more information about each Add-on Pack in the Add-on section on the campaign page, underneath the Pledge Levels section.
We will not be sending Kickstarter updates for every drop (as we don't want to spam your mailbox), so make sure to pin these dates in your calendar not to miss the drop! After all, these limited add-ons are first come, first serve!
What's your favorite?
Note: The possible wooden characters & potatoes add-on is still under consideration and we'll be updating you on that front in another update.
Until the next update!
Your Mighty Boards & the Kumagera team.
A first surprise, Artist Diary and the hottest game on BoardGameGeek!
4 months ago
– Thu, Apr 16, 2026 at 07:03:24 AM
Dear Potato-lovers,
48 hours in, more than 1740 of you have already decided to join us, and we've been the hottest game on BoardGameGeek for 2 days in a row now! Thank you so much for all your support!!
A First Surprise: Hokkaido Wood Starting Player Tokens
Free Backer Gift Unlocked! These Real Hokkaido Wood Starting Player Tokens will now be part of your Deluxe Edition. They are based on the actual kei trucks - also known as the Japanese mini truck, or keitora - used in Japan. When playing, you can use your favorite to use as the Starting Player Token in your game!
Hokkaido wood in a kei truck - to become a kei truck (starting player token) made of Hokkaido wood!
What about Wooden Potatoes?
We know a lot of you are asking about wooden potatoes. The reason for not including this in the Deluxe is - without going into the technical details - that these components would not be feasible to manufacture in large quantities. Using the wheat straw based bio compound, the potato tokens look like the real deal, and they have been tried and tested: they do not roll around or spread all over the playing area. Their geometry also allows them to fit into the bidding boxes more comfortably. But since so many of you are asking about this, we're talking to Kumagera to potentially add them as an add-on which will be sent in Batch 2. We will provide you with an answer in one of our upcoming updates!
Mark your Calendars: Limited Add-ons will drop on specific dates at 10am EST
During this campaign, we will drop limited amounts of Hokkaido Wooden Add-ons. Pins, stickers, magnets, ... all made by Kumagera in Japan. We selected sets that represent the region and the game best. Each set is limited to 100 copies, and will drop on specific dates, always at 10am EST / 4pm CET.
We will not be sending Kickstarter updates for every drop (as we don't want to spam your mailbox), so make sure to pin these dates in your calendar not to miss the drop! After all, these limited add-ons are first come, first serve!
In the image above, you can find an overview of the upcoming add-on drops until April 24th. You can find more information about each Add-on Pack in the Add-on section on the campaign page, underneath the Pledge Levels section.
Make sure to put a reminder in your calendar if you'd like to grab a set! We will announce the new dates in an update next week.
Meet the talented Artist of Yotei: Maria Kato
Yesterday was World Art Day! There’s no better day to highlight the beautiful work of talented artist Maria Kato. She is the illustrator of Yotei, and she was so kind to write up an Artist Diary about how the game came alive! You can read it here.
Until the next update!
Your Mighty Boards & the Kumagera team.
Funded, Designer Diary and Wooden Add-ons!
4 months ago
– Tue, Apr 14, 2026 at 12:02:09 PM
Hello Machi-builders!
We're funded so fast! After an unexpected technical issue on Kickstarter's side, we had to postpone the launch of the Yotei campaign a couple of hours, but we're now live and already funded! THANK YOU so much!
More than 700 of you went ahead and blasted way past that funding goal! Thank you! We can't wait to show you all that Yotei has to offer!
Yotei is a game about a real-life place and its people ❤︎
Yotei is the creation of designer Huy Pham and the team at Kumagera. The beautiful surroundings and real-life people of Hokkaido inspired them so much that they decided to make a game about it... and so Yotei was born!
Talented illustrator Maria brought the beauty of the region to life on the Yotei cards... take a look!
...and Mighty Boards went to visit!
The Kumagera team lives at the foot of Mt Yotei in Hokkaido, Japan, and two of our team went all the way from Malta to Japan to visit Yotei, film content for the video and launch the kickstarter together!
You can read all about it in their blog posts about day 1 and day 2!
Limited Add-ons available in this campaign
During this campaign, we will drop limited add-on packs made of local Hokkaido Wood, produced by Kumagera! These are limited to 100 copies each and will drop at specific dates and times, as announced on the page. Don't worry, we will announce them in these updates and on social media too!
The first available add-on is a set of these adorable Yotei Character pins! They are limited at 1000 copies and are available at 20 euros.
Next drop will be Friday April 17th at 10am EST / 4pm CET !
Designer Diary Yotei
The designers were so kind to share the process with us of how the game design came to be. You can read all about it in the Designer Diary on BoardGameGeek!
Help us spread the word!
It would be lovely if you could help us share the love! Share the page, talk about the game online and on BGG, and pass it along to your friends!
