The Making of "Meat Karuta" 2: Game Market Exhibition and Sales Figures

In this article, following the previous "The Making of Meat Karuta", I will introduce the production process of the PlayCreate work "Meat Karuta". Onward to the actual Game Market!

■4/22 Printing error discovered & total recall

April 22, 2025

19:52, Docomus discovered a printing error on the back of "Meat Karuta". (See previous article) 19:56, I checked the original data and found it was my mistake, not the printer's. It is still playable as is, but what should I do? If I reprint everything, there are many concerns such as: ・Hundreds of thousands of yen in additional printing costs ・Returning stock from the JELLY JELLY STORE factory and credibility issues ・Will the additional printing make it in time for the actual Game Market? Choosing to reprint is "sincere," but a path of certain deficit awaits. 20:03, I checked the printer's delivery date and price. If I submit the data today, it should arrive around 5/7. If I pack it and send it to JELLY JELLY STORE, it will be in time for the 5/18 release. 20:23,


I decide to recall everything and reprint.

21:30, I created the corrected data and, with a calm heart, transferred the hundreds of thousands of yen for the new order to the printer and completed the submission. It can't be helped.

21:34, I apologized to Mr. Shirasaka of JELLY JELLY STORE and contacted him about the product recall. He actually said he would return the products at his own expense. Too kind...! I must find a way to return the favor.

23:34, while thinking about what to do with the huge stock of printing errors, I came up with the crazy idea of selling them at a special price as a "Secret Cheat Edition! that only those who know about the error on the back will benefit from", and proposed it to Docomus.

Docomus gave me opinions like "The word 'cheat' might be hard to understand" and "Wouldn't a word that sounds more like a meat clearance sale be better?", and this is what it finally became.

The list price is 1500 yen, so let's try selling this as a "clearance item" for 1000 yen. A mysterious resilience that doesn't let me fall without getting something out of it...! I plan to sell it secretly only to those who know at Game Market 2025 Autumn. Number of board games owned: 124

■4/24 Realization of "Meat Karuta" & reaching #1 in the store

April 24, 2025
I received a LINE message from Chika Arakawa, who had been helping me with playtesting. She said she had come up with a new rule called "Meat Karuta". ...Did you say "Meat Karuta"!?

Karuta usually requires "reading cards & grabbing cards", but "Meat Karuta", which is all meat, has no reading cards. She said that problem could be solved by using "flipping cards". You grab the same picture as the flipped card, first come, first served.

When I actually tried it, it was fun. And above all, it is a groundbreaking idea that can solve the fundamental contradiction that "this game is not Karuta but calls itself 'Meat Karuta'".

I thought I had no choice but to include this as an official rule in the product, so I decided to print the 33rd additional card. The cost is going up and up... lol

And on the same day, "Meat Karuta" reached #1 in the popularity ranking of JELLY JELLY STORE, where pre-orders had started! I am very happy.

Behind the scenes, I am in the middle of reproduction, but the release date is May 18th. I vow to deliver the "complete version of the product" as soon as possible.

Number of board games owned: 124

■4/25~ This bag won't line up nationwide

April 25, 2025
"Meat Karuta" is delivered with the finished product in an OPP bag. It is a plastic bag about the same size as the box, and once you get used to it, you can do "bagging -> gluing" in under 10 seconds each.

However, an acquaintance knowledgeable about printing and distribution saw this and told me:

They shared this industry insight with me. Even though I had obtained a barcode aiming for nationwide distribution, I was told that because of the bags, the products wouldn't be allowed in stores as things stood.

I had assumed "Meat Karuta" would be a good fit for Don Quijote, so it was tough to hear that it would be rejected regardless of the game's content. Taping down four corners for each game would mean four pieces of tape per set. Doing this thousands of times would be an enormous task and simply not realistic.

When I looked up solutions, I found that I needed to use "shrink wrap," which involves using a heat gun to shrink the plastic. It was a completely unknown world to me, but I had no choice but to do it.

I hurriedly ordered an impulse sealer, a heat gun, and heat-shrink film. These were all mysterious items I had never heard of or touched before!

Number of board games owned: 126

April 26, 2025
Test-played "Meat Karuta" at a board game gathering. While having veteran creators look at it, I also played other people's new games for Game Market. It goes without saying, but every game was more polished than "Meat Karuta" and impressive.

Among them, Kumashiro shared a lot of valuable board game information, such as:

・It is said that on the day of Game Market, you sell about three times the number of pre-orders.
・Why only Sunday? Saturday actually sells better than Sunday.
・While decorative boxes are expensive, DVD-case-style plastic cases are convenient because even if you have excess stock, you can just replace the cover art and reuse them.

So there are fewer customers on Sunday...!

■ 4/27~ The Road to Heat-Shrink Wrapping

April 27, 2025
The set of tools for heat shrinking arrived, so I tried it out immediately.
Perhaps the temperature was too high; the plastic tore, and eventually, it even started getting holes.

On top of that, the packaging that took 10 seconds with OPP bags now took over a minute. This might be harder than I imagined...

Number of board games owned: 128

April 28, 2025
I heard that some circles at recent sales events support electronic payments. I rarely use cash myself, so it would be convenient if people could pay with electronic money.

So, I applied for Recruit's AirPAY. If this application is approved, I should be able to use various electronic payment methods at the Game Market venue!

Number of board games owned: 132

April 30, 2025

I'm still struggling with the shrink wrapping. I've gotten a little better, but the "wrinkles" are terrible, and the plastic is sticking out. I'll try purchasing a different film to test.

Number of board games owned: 135 (one of the additions is a game included with Weekly Shonen Jump)

May 6, 2025
The shrink wrapping I've been doing constantly has improved somewhat. About 15 seconds.

However, I later discovered that by continuing to apply hot air, the surface of the desk had melted and discolored. It was a brand-new desk I had just bought for playing board games, but it melted before I could even play with anyone... lol

Number of board games owned: 141

■5/7~ Finally complete! ~And on to publicity

May 7, 2025
Corrected printing is complete. The bonus additional cards have also been printed, and with this, the complete version of "Meat Karuta" is finished! This is the complete version that I delivered to everyone at Game Market.

And during the reprinting, I secretly added the name of Mr. Shirasaka from JELLY JELLY CAFE, who was a huge help, to the special thanks. Huge thanks.

By the way, I'm not sure if it was the right management decision, but I actually increased the number of copies during the reprint and printed "XXXX copies." My first time hitting four digits. Shrink-wrapping is a pain, and there's a very real future where I'm stuck with inventory and crying.

In the stock market, "buying more to lower the unit price" during a crisis is called 'nanpin' (averaging down), and it's generally considered a taboo, but I wonder...


Number of board games owned: 142

May 9, 2025
Thinking that "video is the way to go for board game publicity," I filmed from overhead. Ideally, I should have included proper narration, but I didn't have the bandwidth for that. Video promotion is definitely a task for next time. The PV for "Sonic Hanten" that I saw at Sugorokuya was incredibly well-made.

There was also a stream by Kitakoshi-san that day, which I watched in real-time. Thank you for introducing it.

May 10, 2025
Participated in the "Board Game Mutual PR Meeting in Sumida Industry Hall." It's a meeting where many creators play each other's games right before Game Market. Since people in the same situation gathered, there was a great sense of camaraderie.

In the midst of that, I received an amazing idea from Igaku Game Lab who played 'Kami-niku Suijaku' (Meat Concentration): "Couldn't you play a naming game like Nanjamonja with this? Everyone is already naming them and taking them on their own anyway."

Indeed. One set of Meat Karuta might not be enough, but if you gather 60 cards from two sets, there's a possibility you could play something like Nanjamonja...! As expected, advice from fellow creators is amazing. I want to keep striving and improving together.

Number of board games owned: 148

May 14, 2025
Held my first giveaway campaign on X. I forced myself to use emojis I'm not used to. I'll keep working hard on the things that everyone else is doing.

By the way, I sent the product to the one randomly selected winner, of course, but since there were also applications from board game cafe managers, I sent "Meat Karuta" to two additional managers regardless of the drawing. I hope many people get to play it at their shops.

Number of board games owned: 152

May 16, 2025
Thinking I needed a poster to stand out at the Game Market venue, I printed one using a convenience store poster print service. I made it by cutting and pasting with scissors and tape. It's finally time for the real thing.

Number of board games owned: 153

■ 5/18 - First Game Market and Sales Figures

May 18, 2025
The day of PlayCreate's Game Market debut finally arrived (Sunday only).

■ Setup
I signed up for the low-cost booth plan (9,900 yen), so naturally, I was in a very remote corner, and the table was only half-size. I wondered if anyone would actually find us. We were in the orange section of the map below.

I found my table at the venue and set up the yellow tablecloth I had made earlier. I wanted a fun color, so I swallowed my pride and chose "super flashy yellow," but it was easy to see from a distance... I think.

I had my long-time friend Tantan (Yuichi Tanizawa) help me as a sales clerk. Tantan is a veteran with a Level 99 convention experience, including working as a sales clerk for Team Shanghai Alice, so I felt super relieved.

■ Opening
To my great delight, customers came by non-stop from the 11:00 opening. We sold over 50 units in the first 50 minutes. Kuroken from the booth next to us was surprised, saying, "Your pace is fast!"

It made me happy to see so many customers looking at "Meat Karuta" with surprise or laughter. It is strange, after all... There was even a family where a little girl played with "Meat Karuta" and then came back an hour later to buy it. I am grateful to every single customer...

However, because customers kept coming, I didn't have the luxury of walking around to other booths, and I barely managed to buy the games I had reserved before the "reservation cancellation time." I didn't even have lunch, just eating a rice ball while standing. Whenever a customer came, I quickly hid it to serve them.
I regret that I couldn't visit the booths of the creators I had met at the playtest event. I didn't even have time to check Twitter, so it seems there are many challenges in running a booth.

■ Tips for a Standout Booth
Looking at other booths, many shops had "promotional banners" taller than a person behind them. Some even built panels that looked like a "giant gate," which was a good lesson. I suppose the key is to build it without extending beyond your own booth space.

I have absolutely no skill or experience in decorating a shop, but if I'm going to get serious, I might need to do something like this "gate." The road to becoming a master is long.

■ The Importance of Flyers
There was a corner for free flyers, and it was bustling. I only found out from Mr. Yonemitsu's blog two days before the event that "it's good to make flyers," so I didn't have time to prepare them. I definitely want to have flyers ready for next time.

■ Game Market Challenge
Coincidentally, card games with 36 cards or fewer were included in the recommended category by the organizers called the "2024 Game Market Challenge," so I gave two copies of "Meat Karuta" to the staff, and they placed them in the promotional corner.
However, there were very few people at the Game Market Challenge sample table to begin with, so it didn't seem to have much promotional effect. Maybe I don't need to force myself to make games in the Game Market Challenge format.

■ Customer Flow Changes in the Afternoon
After 13:00, it seemed the entrance was changed to the back, which altered the flow of customers in the aisles.

Our booth (red) was facing away from the entrance, so our poster was completely invisible to those entering. Around 15:00, I realized the direction of the foot traffic was different from before, so I printed an A3 sheet at a convenience store and stuck it on the back of the poster (the side visible to entrants), but it was too small to make a difference.
In times like this, a "promotional banner" taller than a person would have been visible from the entrance. This is a task for next time.

■ Physical Condition
Counting from the setup, I was standing for 7-8 hours. (Booths where the staff is sitting are a bit harder to approach, so sales might drop.) Fortunately, my stamina was fine, but I might be better off exercising regularly.
And my voice. I had been saying "Please take a look!" to passersby 2 meters away for about 4 hours, and by 15:00, my throat was damaged. I'm too weak... For someone like me who doesn't usually use their voice, having "throat lozenges" might be essential.

■ Results
In the end, the sales of "Meat Karuta" were 154 units. It didn't sell out. By the way, Mr. Shirasaka from Jelly Cafe predicted 150 units as of 4/21. That's quite close. Amazing.

It's not an explosive number, but I'd like to think that for a first-timer in a corner spot on a Sunday, I did my best.

Also, at the same time, at the online shop JELLY JELLY STORE, hundreds of units in stock sold out. A miraculous result of being #1 for 25 consecutive days from the first day. I think I can say I did my best here.

And so, PlayCreate's first Game Market came to an end.

Number of board games owned: 168 (an increase of 15 all at once!)

■ May 21st and beyond

May 21, 2025
The Game Market is over, but the activities continue. I delivered the restock of "Meat Karuta," which had sold out, to JELLY JELLY STORE. Play Create will keep working hard from here on out.

Number of board games owned: 174

May 22, 2025
Before my "public relations and promotion mode" ends and I return to my closed creative state, I recorded the secret story behind the birth of Play Create and the secret story behind the birth of Meat Karuta on note. Honestly, I think the promotional effect would have been higher if I had published the article "

The Making of Meat Karuta" before the Game Market, but it wasn't possible in terms of time. I'll do my best next time.

What happened after that? (Added on September 23, 2025)

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