Imjin War at the Seoul Board Game Festa

At the Board Game Festa on April 11, the shelves at SETEC held rows of boxed games. Farther in, the boxes were open and their cards and pieces were spread across demonstration tables. In the designers’ area in Hall 3, Touch & Feel had laid out a map of the Korean peninsula. The game was Imjin War.

Putting the Imjin War on the map

Players command either the Japanese forces or the allied Joseon and Ming armies. Routes connect provinces and strategic locations. A history book can tell you when a capital fell or was recovered. A game has to decide what happens in between. Which road do the troops take? Where do they stop, and how do they stay supplied as they move farther from the rest of the army?

The designers use cards for orders and events. Their notes also mention sieges, public sentiment and the timing of Ming intervention. On the demonstration board, public sentiment has its own numbered track. A glance at the map shows who controls an area. The track adds a separate question about what has changed besides control of the ground.

Starting with one campaign

Touch & Feel lists the game for two to four players and gives a wide playing time of 30 to 210 minutes. A short introductory scenario teaches the system before players move on to larger campaigns. One published tutorial covers the 1593 recapture of Hanyang.

The game shown in April was in development. Later materials still identify some of the art on the map, cards and tiles as provisional. Even at that stage, the arrangement of the board made the design clear. Units and locations fill the centre. The edges track conditions that change over the course of the campaign.

What a demonstration table can tell you

A box on a shelf tells you how many people can play. A table with the game laid out shows how an order carried out in one place changes the situation somewhere else. For a historical game, that is where the designer’s interpretation starts to come into view. Which parts of the war become things the player has to decide?

The second Board Game Festa of 2026 runs on November 21 and 22 at SETEC in Halls 1 and 2. Imjin War appeared at the April event. Its participation in November has yet to be confirmed.