3 lessons every jubensha teaches us
I love jubensha for many reasons. It’s a combination of my favourite things: social deception, role play, storytelling, mystery, deduction, and puzzle-solving. These elements can be found in many other well-established mediums, but there is one thing jubensha does something that none of them can.
No-script jubensha? Yes, and it works!
Whenever I feel like reading 5, 10, or 30 minutes might be too much for some people interested in but hesitant about jubensha, I recommend them the only jubensha I’ve played that has NO scripts whatsoever! You start picking up clues and discussing right out of the gate. For those already familiar with jubensha, this structure might feel impossible.
But it works! Let me show you how without spoiling anything you wouldn’t already know in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Why jubensha is NOT like the others - Part 2 (ft. social deception board games)
Sometimes when I describe jubensha, people say: “isn’t that just like X?” Jubensha does indeed share many components of existing entertainment mediums, but the unique combination of them create an entirely new experience.
Let’s take a look at the ways jubensha is different from its closest cousins.
In this part, I’ll compare jubensha to social deception board games like Blood on the Clocktower.
Designing a Jubensha Game? Start here!
I was recently asked about how I start writing a jubensha game and it got me thinking. Perhaps I start with an eccentric cast of characters, or maybe how the murder happens, or even the interesting secrets that a character could be hiding? But after some further thought, I realized the first step to creating a jubensha is much more fundamental:
The Jubensha Structure Explained: Example Game (link to play it FREE inside)
Are you interested in jubensha, but unable to find resources to understand jubensha on a detailed level? The best way to learn about jubensha is to try one yourself, but with the limited English-language options out there costing more than you might be willing to take a risk on, what’s the next best option?
Here’s my solution to that. I’ll walk you through an original beginner-friendly game that I wrote. I’ve made it available for FREE so more people can try jubensha. This guide is spoilers-free so you can still play it afterwards.
Why jubensha is NOT like the others - Part 1 (ft. murder mystery dinner parties)
Sometimes when I describe jubensha, people say: “isn’t that just like X?” Jubensha does indeed share many components of existing entertainment mediums, but the unique combination of them create an entirely new experience.
Let’s take a look at the ways jubensha is different from its closest cousins.
In this part, I’ll compare jubensha to murder mystery dinner parties.
4 essential tips for the new jubensha player
So, you’ve found a jubensha game from the few options out there for English-language games. Congrats! It’s an experience I hope more people get to try.
Through my experience hosting numerous jubensha games, players often ask me questions about the best strategies or what to do in commonly encountered scenarios. Here are some of the questions with my answers.