We’re getting an official One Piece board game later this year. Artist Eiichiro Oda’s creation is one of the biggest anime and manga franchises ever, with over 1,100 episodes, 108 manga volumes, and even a positively reviewed anime Netflix adaptation, it’s a juggernaut of Japanese media. Now, it’s getting a fresh tabletop game, titled Luffy’s Bento Panic.
In development by tiny Ohio-based studio KessCo (the team behind the well-received 2022 coop board game Mega Man Adventures), this is a light-hearted party board game for three to nine players, where fans can play as the famous Straw Hat crew and fight over their favorite foods.
Announcing the game in a recent press release, Kess doesn’t give up much detail on the rules, except that they’re simple – and we can believe that, since the firm says you simply “point to grab food”, and the one who eats the most of Sanji’s delicious cooking wins.
But you’ll also all be competing with Luffy somehow for all those lovely treats – as fans will know, Luffy’s stretchy stomach knows no bounds, and he’ll snap up any rogue morsels given half a chance.
Luffy’s Bento Panic will make its debut at the Gen Con games show in Indianapolis, USA from August 1 to 4, with con guests able to pick up a copy of the game ahead of its retail launch later in the Fall.
The announcement comes after a period of massive growth in popularity and sales for the One Piece trading card game, which launched in December 2022 and is already a sensation in the West, occasionally even outselling big players like Wizards of the Coast’s behemoth Magic: The Gathering.
More and more smash hit anime franchises have been making the hop into tabletop gaming in recent years – though most of these adaptations have been card-based. The stylish cult classic Cowboy Bebop has an excellent deck building game called Space Serenade, where players make their way between Earth, Mars, and Ganymede pursuing bounties.
Attack on Titan: The Last Stand is another standout anime game, where one player controls a titan and the rest of the group work together to bring it down. This one stands out for its 3D vertical board, which players can work their way up to attack the rampaging monster.
And we don’t need to tell you how popular trading card games like Pokémon and Yugioh have been for the last two decades and change.
For more new tabletop releases, bookmark our board games news page – or to find the absolute top tier choices, read our guides to the best board games and our favorite board games for couples.