
- BGG rank
- BGG #38
- BGG rating
- 8.0
Wingspan
- 1–5 players
- 40–70 min
- Complexity 2.5/5
- 2019

Rules assistance for Japanese: The Game – Animals Expansion
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Japanese: The Game – Animals Expansion is an expansion for Japanese: The Game released in 2016 for 1–6 players and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Bernhard Hamaker and its main mechanics are Hand Management.
A lot of people don't know how awesome and complete the Japanese list of animal sounds is. Rabbits, dragonflies, and foxes actually say something in Japanese, and their sounds will be on the cards!
Japanese: The Game – Animals Expansion supports 1–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The catalogue lists Japanese: The Game – Animals Expansion for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Japanese: The Game – Animals Expansion belongs to these categories: Card Game, Animals, and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Hand Management. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Japanese: The Game – Animals Expansion are: Bernhard Hamaker. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Japanese: The Game – Animals Expansion as an expansion for Japanese: The Game. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Japanese: The Game to use it. Check that your edition of Japanese: The Game is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.