JISOGI: ANIME STUDIO TYCOON Reprint

Project Introduction

JISOGI: Anime Studio Tycoon is back! Designed by Esper Game Studio with stunning art by Eisuke Gou and Senkawa Teien, our 2025 release quickly sold out globally. To meet the incredible demand, we are excited to announce a "Version 1.5" reprint. This edition is very similar to the original Founders Edition, but it features updated rules and components, allowing us to offer a more affordable price point for new players who love board games and anime.

Based in Japan, our team has strong connections in the Anime industry, hanging out with producers and artists from many studios. We heard their wild stories about the ups and downs of the business, and that is what inspired us to create this game.

"JISOGI" comes from 自転車操業 - jitenshasōgyō, an expression that refers to barely keeping a business going (an analogy that a bicycle collapses when its wheels cease rotating).

LANGUAGE VERSION: ENGLISH
(We won’t be reprinting the Japanese version)

日本のファンの皆様へ

いつも多大なるご支援を賜り、誠にありがとうございます。 今回のキャンペーンは、『JISOGI』英語リプリント版のみを対象としております。 

『JISOGI: Founders Edition』英語版は完売しておりますが、日本語版は現在もEsper Gamesのオンラインストアにて販売中です。 英語リプリント版（「Edition 1.5」）では、価格を抑えるためにルールの更新およびコンポーネント仕様の変更を行っております。これに伴い、「Founders Edition」をお持ちで最新ルールでのプレイをご希望の方向けに、「JISOGI 1.5 アップグレードパック」を発売いたします。

 本パックは、日本語版・英語版の2言語展開となり、公式オンラインストアおよび今後のイベント会場にて販売予定です。 オンラインストアでの予約受付は、両言語版ともに2月17日より開始いたします。 詳細は公式Twitter（X）アカウントをご確認ください。

What has changed?

JISOGI rules have been thoroughly revised based on your feedback and constant playtesting. We’ve improved game balance, refined the UI, and made the rulebook even easier to understand for both multiplayer and solo mode.

Refining the gameplay led to a few component changes. The Trend board and Opportunity board have been combined into a single board, as these two aspects are relevant in the same phase of the game. This also helps save table space!

We also re-worked several Genki Staff card skills. We improved their graphic design, increasing the font size on cards for better readability. Out of 52 Genki Staff cards, 31 have been changed in one way or another. We’ve also replaced 2 new Network cards, updated the 4 Player Aid cards, and reworked the 2 Solo Challenge cards.

Big price drop

The Kickstarter discounted price will be U$D 51 / JP¥ 8000. To achieve this price point, we removed a few deluxe components that our players felt were not that important. We worked very hard to keep the essence and charm of the original design, consulting with our customers, partners, and factory. Rest assured, this will still feel like a deluxe product. By the way, we are keeping the fan-favorite metallic foil on the Trend Cards! (It was non-negotiable for us too; they are just too pretty and shiny!)

Inside the box

The Upgrade Pack

For our Founders Edition owners who wish to play with the updated rules, we are releasing the "JISOGI 1.5 Upgrade Pack." This will contain everything you need to catch up on the updates from the new edition, including all cards, the brand-new Opportunity board, and a completely revised Rulebook.

In this guide, you can see a detailed explanation of all changes. Additionally, a Print-and-Play version is available to download for free, which already hosts the 1.5 rulebooks for curious players. 

This pack will also soon be available in both Japanese and English via our online shop and at future events. 

"JISOGI: Pitch Room" Game Mode

The JISOGI 1.5 Edition rulebook will now include the full rules for the Pitch Room Alternative Game Mode. Originally released as a free "DLC" on our website a few months after the game's debut. Because this mode uses the existing components from the base game, we decided to fully integrate it into the new rulebook!

From the very beginning, we wanted JISOGI to capture the wild creativity of anime. We filled the game with flavor text to give the mechanics character, but also because we knew many players love the side stories that emerge during play.

What surprised us most was how often players would pause the main game just to read their anime stories out loud. These storytelling moments became highlights at many tables, but they weren’t fully supported by the original rules until we imagined this new mode.

In Pitch Room, the focus shifts from studio management to a high-stakes creative meeting. Players debate the studio’s next big project by pitching a script composed of a Setting, Plot, and Twist. At the end, the group votes to decide which idea is the most captivating!

Why Kickstarter?

There are several reasons why we chose Kickstarter as our primary platform, but what’s in it for you? There are two main reasons:

First, it guarantees your copy. This campaign functions as a pre-order, ensuring you receive the game directly at your door. Shipping is scheduled to begin between May and July, depending on your region. By pre-ordering on Kickstarter, you secure your copy early, receiving it before it hits store shelves.

Second, it directly supports our growth. Direct sales through Kickstarter allow our young company to retain significantly higher profits compared to traditional retail channels. For an indie studio like ours, this margin is what makes our business viable. Your support enables us to hire more artists, enhance production quality, and lower shipping costs. Most importantly, it gives us the freedom to create, test, and release new content, like the "Pitch Room", and dedicate the time needed to listen to player feedback and refine our rules, as we have done with this 1.5 Edition.

Retail & Language Versions

We are excited to officially announce that the game will also be receiving a wide retail release. We are pleased to share our new partnership with Good Games Publishing (Australia), who will serve as the global English-language distributor for JISOGI 1.5. We anticipate the game reaching retail stores worldwide in Q3–Q4 2026. For retailers interested in selling our game, we kindly ask you to reach Good Games Publishing directly, as they will be the ones handling this distribution.

We are also happy to welcome several new localization partners. Thanks to these collaborations, JISOGI 1.5 will be released in French (Don’t Panic Games), Korean (Asmodee Korea), Spanish (Synergic Games), and Thai (Siam Board Games). The Spanish and Thai versions are also going have their own crowdfunding campaign running very soon!

The current Kickstarter campaign is for the English language version only. We understand that many players prefer to play in their native language; if your language is represented by one of our partners, we suggest seeking more information on their social media. 

Game Mechanics

We’ve playtested with board game enthusiasts and anime industry insiders to strike the perfect balance between mechanics and theme. We're proud to say the game engages both groups—easy to pick up for casual players, with plenty of depth for experienced players to develop advanced strategies!

Artists

For this project, we are very proud of our artist selection. We gathered many talented and experienced professionals with many years of experience in the industry. They not only provided us with beautiful art pieces but also shared invaluable insight into the production process of Anime and the real people behind it.

Videos

[Add-on] Eldertide: A Thousand Lights

Last year, we published a successful crowdfunding campaign for the gameEldertide: A Thousand Lights. This is the first game of a trilogy of games set in this same world. Eldertide is our first original IP, and we are extremely excited about the development of this project!

In this pick-and-deliver board game, with elements of market fluctuation and civilization-building, each player controls a Foundation Ship, sailing across several Ports to collect and transport resources. These resources can be either exported for immediate points, or invested in constructing Facilities on the player’s own Outposts, leading to more explosive endgame opportunities. The Storm acts as a hindrance, breaking Ports that can later be rebuilt, and posing a direct threat to ships themselves. Careful route planning and resource management are essential to succeed.

We are offering this game for its Late Pledge price as an add-on during this campaign. Both games will be shipped together, and you can expect to save a lot on the shipping cost of the second game when pairing them.

Shipping

For this campaign, shipping will be charged at a later date through our Pledge Manager. With more distribution experience under our belt, we are proud to offer very competitive shipping rates! Since games are shipping very soon, we do not expect price fluctuations from what is shared here:

While we strive to deliver our games to players worldwide, we have encountered significant logistical difficulties in certain regions that are beyond our control in past campaigns. These issues cause frustration and delays for both our backers and our team. As a result, we have made the difficult decision to only ship to limited regions.

Backers in regions not included in this campaign, who own the Founders Edition of JISOGI and want to acquire the Upgrade Pack, can do so via our e-commerce shop in the near future. Please subscribe to our newsletter or follow our social media for news regarding this offer.

As always, we will keep you fully informed of any shipping updates or changes through our regular campaign posts.

Project Timeline

The development of JISOGI 1.5 is complete. Manufacturing is scheduled to begin in early March, shortly after the end of the Chinese New Year holiday. If everything stays on track, we expect the games to be on the water and heading toward their respective fulfillment hubs by mid-April. Our current delivery estimates are May for select regions in Asia, June for the United States, July for Europe, and August for the rest of the world.

While these dates are based on our experience with previous productions, international manufacturing and distribution can be unpredictable. We are partnering with reliable factories and logistics companies to ensure we stay on schedule, and we will, of course, keep you updated immediately if any changes occur.

The Team

Esper Studio is based in Tokyo, Japan, where our core team of artists and project managers operates. Yet our reach extends far beyond. We take great pride in bridging Japan’s brilliant but often hard-to-access creator community with a talented group of game developers and graphic designers in Brazil, and a trusted network of suppliers across East Asia. Every part of this multicultural collaboration adds to our unique identity, where creativity is born from diversity.

EXTRA CREDITS

Kickstarter page design: Solitude

Anime Opening Video: Daren

Voice Actress: Minamo Aoto

3d Model: AKA Virtual

Artists links
Eisuke Gou | Senkawa Teien | Thomas Romain | Kenji Loo | Ivan Inagaki | Yu (Arcadia) | Sushizawa | Pancho Usagi

Esper Game Studio
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