Jishaku Attraction Hard to Resist

CanCan, 16 July 2008,
Categories: Giveaways, Reviews, Toys

It seems that a lot of wonderful things that we love in the United States have come to us from Japan: Hello Kitty, sushi, Iron Chef, Sudoku, Sony…the list is quite lengthy. Now, there is another innovative product from Japan making it’s way into American game cabinets, JISHAKU!
Jishaku is a strategy game with an element of surprise! There are three variations of play, but in my favorite, called I’m Out, players take turns placing game pieces in various sections of the playing field without touching another game piece. This proves to be a big challenge, because Jishaku game pieces are finely polished, very strong magnets made of hematite, which JUMP to life with no warning!
I was going to make a video because the excitement of Jishaku is difficult to express in words, but a few other people beat me to it. View this video for clips of many different people (including a Jack Sparrow impersonator?) playing Jishaku! Here is a close up video of the Jishaku game board in action (video made by the gang at ZRecs).
Jishaku is easy to understand, fun to play, and difficult to master. The game is recommended for 2 to 6 players, but I have enjoyed some Jishaku solitare by trying to fill the game board by myself without a magnetic catastrophe. For safety reasons (swallowing magnets is extremely dangerous), Jishaku is a game for ages 8 and above, but Jojo was so enamored by the magical magnet game that I have let him play with us (under close adult supervision). Jojo is a child who normally has difficulty sitting still, but he can experiment with the Jishaku magnets for a long time without losing interest. Usually it is MY idea for him to stop playing Jishaku, but I am glad that he is interested, since Jishaku is a good introduction to scientific concepts like magnetism and polarity.
I work with a lot of Internationals, and Jishaku is a game that we can all enjoy because it doesn’t involve a lot of talking. When I played Jishaku with one friend, she taught me how to say words relating to magnets in her own language, so it opened the door to some interesting conversation.
Jishaku is also useful for the times that I am in charge of doing an “icebreaker” for meetings with my English speaking colleagues (who all know the same language but just don’t want to talk to each other: ironic, isn’t it? Six years ago we played RISK and things got quite ugly). Though speaking is not required, I have not yet seen Jishaku played without bubbling excitement and surprised exclamations! Jishaku is probably the only board game where it is actually fun to be a spectator while someone else is playing.

Jishaku is available for purchase here, and until July 31, you can use the coupon code WINMAMA for 10% off!

Would you like to win a Jishaku game for your family? Just visit the Jishaku website, then comment here with your favorite (or least favorite) game to play.
To get an extra entry, leave a second comment with a story about a time you played a game. (It is painful to go in to detail, but the RISK fiasco mentioned above involved throwing dice AT PEOPLE’S HEADS! I was scared!)

One winner will be chosen by random integer selection.

This contest will close on July 24, 12 midnight.

*Congrats to Smellyann , who said...This looks like such a fun game! I hope I win it. My favorite game is Monopoly, but with the kids I also love to play Hullaballoo! *

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