Dokapon Kingdom is the definitive board game for Wii. Yeah, it came out on PS2 first but that doesn't mean it's not still amazing.

Dokapon Kingdom and Fortune Street are both awesome games, but feel pretty different.


Dokapon Kingdom feels very random when you are learning the game, but it's a long game and random streaks tend to even out enough that the choices and strategies you pursue become more important than simple luck. It lacked online multiplayer modes, but is much more spiteful so playing with friends in the same room is better anyway.


Fortune Street feels more familiar, but has enough depth and options to keep your interest fresh for a long time. Not sure it was ignored so widely - maybe too late in the lifecycle, maybe people thought it would be a Mario Party knock-off (it isn't!), or maybe digitized board games just aren't very appealing.


Fortune Street is definitely a hidden gem for the Wii library though.

And it had online, too! Too bad people who swore that they want online multiplayer mode in their Wii board games conveniently ignored it.

What good is the online for Fortune Street now? It barely had a life post release either.

My preference for Dokapon Kingdom is just cause I love RPGs

I'd have played Fortune Street online except I didn't know enough people who owned it to arrange it. Plus, when I did look into an online community for it, I discovered there were some sort of tricks to the game that people had discovered which made it like snaking in Mario Kart DS. I didn't feel like playing games where that was all everyone was doing.

That said, I cracked the game open with some friends of mine and we had no idea what it would be like or how it worked and we went right into the deep end with the stock market and all. And we loved it even as we were trying to figure it out on the fly. It was so good it inspired one of those friends to immediately get it for his Wii. He and his wife then played it with another couple who also then picked it up. We all then started having a lot of Fortune Street parties. I kept showing it to other people and explaining it to them and we were all hooked on it. Every time we got together with each other, it was pretty much the one game we would play. However, after about a year, some moved away and then it all just kind of faded but it was a great ride for awhile. I haven't played it now in almost 2 years.

Still, welcome to the Fortune Street train, Neal. This is one of my top Wii games and experiences. Up there with Kirby's Epic Yarn. I'd love to see a sequel with this.

One thing I also wanted to mention was how diabolical the stock market can be. You mention

Often when a player started getting all the pieces for a set and started buying stocks before building anything, other players would also invest stocks in the property. That then made it hard for the owner of the properties to build anything on them because it would also make his competitors rich and then they could pull out their money and deplete the stocks to invest somewhere else where he had no money. You could have some games of chicken with people not building anything because they didn't want to enrich other people or owned enough stocks. Even then, without buildings, as people buy or sell their shares in those properties, it could raise and lower everything causing ripple effects.

Look at me blather on about this game. I love it and wish we'd see a sequel for it released. It completely trumped any Mario Party game released on the Wii and I even liked it more than Mario Kart Wii. It is my favorite Wii multiplayer game.

Obviously it doesn't exist now.

But people told me that online is the most important feature of board games in 2011 and that millions of gamers who are tired of local multiplayer would buy any party board videogame with online.

Are you implying they were facetious?

Those people are dumb. I play board games with my friends all the time because my community is close to home.

I almost bought this game several times, but ultimately didn't because I knew my wife wouldn't play with me (she hates monopoly) if I'd have known it had online I would have bought it. It there a decent single player experience?

I have this game, it's okay. Like Monopoly, it takes a long time to get through one game, definitely several hours at least, so I never bothered to even suggest it over other party games like Mario Party and Mario Kart. I only ever played it with one friend, who was into it more than I was, but we still had some fun and tried to collect all the outfits. I found that the addition of the stock market makes it less luck-based than Monopoly, but still felt that overall, luck determines the winner since everything is determined by the role of the die (or the chance cards, some of those are ridiculous). But I guess luck with a side of decisions on playing the odds is what makes a good board game.

I also have Dokapon Kingdom, but have only ever played one game in that. One quick, easy, 30-hour game. Nope, not a typo for 3. 30 hours. Far from one sitting of course. That game is way too long to even suggest it to party game fans. It also still felt like luck was the biggest factor, though I do think there can be some strategy and planning in playing the long game. The problem is, you need to play it once before you even know what can happen, especially events later on in the game, and knowing what all the classes do. The whole Darkling thing is also way too powerful, to the point where trying to get into last place can even be a good strategy.

I agree that the biggest problem with Dokapon Kingdom is the length of the game - especially because some of the depth only comes out after you've played a few games and have a better feel for different classes and strategies. The first game through requires a bunch of sessions with your friend(s) and ends up being largely a chance to grief each other without fully understanding what the larger implications (if any) are for your actions...


But I still loved it.  ;D


I guess the game got a reprint? Pricing was crazy for a while - "don't buy because it's certainly not that good" kind of crazy - but seems to have come back down. If you can grab a copy for less than $20 and have a friend who enjoys griefing, I'd still recommend it.