Abstract Strategy · Action / Dexterity

Donjara

Donjara (Jarapon) is a Mahjong-like family game series first released in 1980. Each version has a different theme, usually from a manga or an anime series (e.g. Gundam or Spy x Family), a movie franchise (e.g. Godzilla) or things like the Sanrio Characters (Hello Kitty!) or Chiikawa. The rules for each version are the same except for some minor differences and the scoring for sets.

2–4 players60 minages 5medium difficulty

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About the game

What is Donjara

The setup is like in Mahjong except each player holds 8 tiles instead of Mahjong's 13 tiles. Each turn a player picks up one tile and discards one. The goal is to collect a winning hand, a "yaku" of 3 sets of 3 tiles. Different combinations score differently. The original version of the game was called Ponjan (Punch game), as you could "Pon" like in Mahjong. The same rule applies to the currect versions of the game. The difference to Ponjan is that in Ponjan you try to collect 3 sets of 4, instead of 3 tiles. Additionally, Jarapon published by Epoch has numbered tiles, making sequences possible, depending on the rules used. The game can be player by 2-4 players, is easy enough to teach anyone from 4 years olds to grandmothers but exciting enough for anyone to have some casual fun.

The sets come with 83 tiles plus a blank extra tile. Different versions can come with point tokens or scoring sticks. The NEO series of games that first came out in 2022 come with a board with detachable frame for easy storage, transfer and set-ups for different player counts.

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