Top Board Game Manga Recommendations

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e

Also known as Classroom of the Elite.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Slice of Life , Thriller

Students of the prestigious Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School are given remarkable freedom—if they can win, barter, or save enough points to work their way up the ranks! Ayanokoji Kiyotaka has landed at the bottom in the scorned Class D, where he meets Horikita Suzune, who’s determined to rise up the ladder to Class A. Can they beat the system in a school where cutthroat competition is the name of the game?



Includes Volumes: 4.5, 7.5, 11.5
Included Chapters: 14 Prologues, 13 Epilogues, 1 Extra

Tags: School , Primarily Teen Cast , Male Protagonist , Anti-Hero , Philosophy , Battle Royale , Ensemble Cast , Politics , Survival , Revenge , Conspiracy , Heterosexual , Fugitive , Denpa , Boarding School , Seinen , Coming of Age , Classic Literature , Bullying , Torture , School Club , Rehabilitation , Disability , Board Game , Delinquents , Tsundere , Yandere , Kuudere , Martial Arts , Athletics , Love Triangle , Suicide , Female Harem , Tragedy , Teacher

3-gatsu no Lion

Also known as March Comes in Like a Lion.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life

Rei Kiriyama is a child prodigy. Rei Kiriyama is also an orphan who lives alone in an empty apartment. Rei Kiriyama is a teen working in an adult's world. Life is complicated for Rei. He's an up-and-coming shogi player on the verge of turning pro, but he has no homelife, or much of a life period,outside his board game, but thankfully with the help of some life-long friends he has an opportunity start all over again.

Note: Won the Grand Prize at the 4th Manga Taishou Award in 2011, the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in 2011, the Grand Prize at the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2014 and the Grand Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2021.

Tags: Coming of Age , Philosophy , Family Life , Seinen , Rehabilitation , Shogi , Found Family , Male Protagonist , Iyashikei , Bullying , Food , Tragedy , Heterosexual , Age Gap , Adoption , School Club , Love Triangle , Board Game

Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru

Also known as When Will Ayumu Make His Move?.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Romance , Slice of Life

Ayumu is in love with his senpai Yaotome, but he's sworn not to confess his feelings until he can beat her at the board game shogi… The problem is, his love is obvious to Yaotome, and she can't stop trying to trick him into breaking his vow!



Notes:
- Includes 15 extra chapters.
- The manga is based on a series of comics the author previously released on Twitter.
- Ranked third place in the 2020 Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Awards comic category.

Tags: Heterosexual , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , School Club , Shounen , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Shogi , Slapstick , Primarily Teen Cast , Tsundere , School , Love Triangle , Board Game

Hikaru no Go

Also known as Hikaru no Go.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Psychological , Sports , Supernatural

After stumbling across a haunted Go board, irresponsible Hikaru Shindo discovers that the spirit of a master player has taken up residence in his consciousness. In his pursuit of the "Divine Move," Fujiwara-no-Sai awakens in Hikaru an untapped interest and genius for the game, and soon the schoolboy is chasing his own dream--defeating the famed Go prodigy Akira Toya!



Note: There are 197 chapters total in the original release.

Tags: Go , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Ghost , Shounen , Tragedy , Board Game , School Club , School , Primarily Male Cast , Work

No Game No Life

Also known as No Game, No Life.

Status: Cancelled
Genres: Adventure , Comedy , Ecchi , Fantasy , Supernatural

NOW, LET’S BEGIN OUR GAME!

Social-phobic Sora and shut-in Shiro form a genius gamer sibling duo. The two find the world to be a lousy game…until someone claiming to be God transports them to a world where everything is decided by games!

Will these two failures at life become the saviors of a strange, new world?



Tags: Isekai , Video Games , Hikikomori , Male Protagonist , Board Game , Seinen , Politics , Nekomimi , Primarily Female Cast , Ensemble Cast , Class Struggle , Gods , Elf , Gambling , Meta

Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological

While mahjong is a game that is often played with family and friends, it is also a game that is played in the darkest corners of society. Nangou is a compulsive gambler who has accumulated debt over three million yen. In a last ditch attempt to clear his record, he decides to wager his life on a game of mahjong with the mafia. Unfortunately, as the game progresses, Nangou only moves further from the prize and closer to death.

When all hope seems lost, the game parlor is suddenly intruded upon by Shigeru Akagi, a young boy on the run from the police. Desperate to turn the game around, Nangou hands the game over to Akagi after teaching him a few of the rules. The mafia can only smirk as Akagi sits down to play. However, they soon come to learn that Akagi is a natural born gambler. An imposing figure who does not fear death. One who is destined to become a legend.



Tags: Gambling , Mahjong , Death Game , Male Protagonist , Philosophy , Seinen , Kaiju , Primarily Male Cast , Anti-Hero , Yakuza , Tsundere , Time Skip , Historical , Afterlife , Gods , Demons , Board Game

Tobaku Datenroku Kaiji

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Thriller

Itou Kaiji, now free of debt but without a penny is leeching himself in Mr.Sakazaki's new house, despite all the flirtings (extreme torment for Kaiji) from Sakazaki's daughter, Mikoko. Sakazaki attempts to kick Kaiji out, even by offering a farewell 'we never knew each other' money of 3000000 yen. While Kaiji ponders himself on the decision, he is visited by Miyoshi and Maeda, two of his 'allies' he had saved from the last part of the series.

Tags: Gambling , Mahjong , Seinen , Survival , Primarily Male Cast , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Board Game

Saki

Also known as Saki.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Ecchi , Slice of Life , Sports

Saki's never been a big fan of mahjong. A lifetime of being forced to play with family at holidays (and losing her money as a consequence...) has left a foul taste for the game in her mouth. When she's convinced, though, to play a game with her classmates, she discovers that not only has fending off her family left her with an uncanny ability for the game but, more surprisingly, that it can even be fun!

Is this revelation enough to cleanse Saki's distaste for the game? Can her classmates convince her to join their club, or is there just too much baggage to make it worth her while?



Tags: Mahjong , Primarily Female Cast , Female Protagonist , School Club , Super Power , Ensemble Cast , School , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Magic , Yuri , Seinen , Gods , Shrine Maiden , Board Game , Time Manipulation

Ten: Tenhou-doori no Kaidanji

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological

Takashi Ten is living his life as a rep mahjong player. A kind person at heart, he also possesses an ingenious talent in mahjong. One day Ten meets Hiroyuki Igawa, a student player who 'plays by logic'. Hiroyuki is overwhelmed at Ten's playing style which involves anything besides logic, and soon becomes one of his close friends.

Being the rep player he is, Ten had to play against some Yakuza. The chance of victory seemed to be on Ten's side, but then the yakuza decide to call their secret weapon, a legendary rep player called...

Tags: Seinen , Mahjong , Gambling , Yakuza , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Time Skip , Kuudere , Primarily Male Cast , Suicide , Tragedy , Amnesia , Board Game , Golf

Gakkou Gurashi!: Otayori

Also known as School-Live! Letters.

Status: Finished
Genres: Horror , Mystery , Psychological , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Now that the apocalypse is over, the former School Living Club members moved on to new stages in their lives, walking different paths. Letters help them remember the past, live for the present and stay connected with each other.



Tags: Primarily Female Cast , Time Skip , School , Ensemble Cast , Writing , Work , Coming of Age , Survival , Seinen , Tragedy , Disability , Zombie , Board Game , Teacher

Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama

Global political figures such as The Pope, Kim Jong Il, George W. Bush and recent Japanese Prime Ministers play riichi mahjong against each other.

Included one-shots:
Volume 3: Ritz season.1
Volume 4: Oretachi Kenou Shineitai
Volume 11: Ritz season.2
Volume 12: Lacross Shoujo Katagiri Ririn-san wa Totemo Moteru
Volume 13: Ritz season.3

Tags: Seinen , Gambling , Mahjong , Parody , Politics , Death Game , Satire , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Super Power , Military , Robots , Surreal Comedy , Aliens , Space , Board Game

Ryuuou no Oshigoto!

Also known as The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done!.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Slice of Life

The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done! is a story about a teenage boy named Yaichi Kuzuryu who happens to be the strongest shogi player in history, holding the top title of “Ryuo”(Dragon King).
One fateful day, shogi-loving elementary student, Ai Hinatsuru, appears before him claiming that he promised to be her master. But was such a promise really ever made? Thus began their master and disciple relationship!



Tags: Shogi , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Ensemble Cast , Female Harem , Time Skip , Educational , Work , Board Game

81 Diver

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Ecchi , Romance

Kentarou failed at entering the professional league of shogi board game competition. However, he continues to play the game for a living by gambling at amateur shogi clubs. His encounter and defeat by the shogi player known as Akihabara's "Ukeshi" shocks him and, combined with his financial crisis, reinvigorates him to take shogi more seriously. He also finds out by chance that the Ukeshi offers a part-time maid cosplay house cleaning service, another side of her which further intrigues him.



Tags: Shogi , Gambling , Seinen , Cosplay , Board Game

Futari no Taisei

Also known as Double Taisei.

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Sports

Genius shogi player Taisei Amado has a secret...Kentaro Fukuda, the creator of Devilyman and Shinigiwa, brings his beautiful art to a shogi story that you won't be able to put down!



Tags: Shogi , Dissociative Identities , Male Protagonist , Shounen , Board Game

Shion no Ou

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery

Yasuoka Shion lost her parents, and her voice, when she was young...in a murder.

She was found amidst a blood-soaked room, and the only hint for the suspect was a Shougi board and one piece: the King. Now, Shion steps into the world of female professional Shougi players. As her popularity and fame slowly rises, so do the questions about her past, particularly the murder case that was never solved.

Tags: Shogi , Seinen , Female Protagonist , Adoption , Disability , Board Game

Shinohayu: the dawn of age

Status: Releasing
Genres: Slice of Life , Sports

A prequel to the Saki series, focusing on the childhoods of future professional mahjong players and their peers, among them Shino Shiratsuki, a young girl with an affinity for the 1-sou who is seeking out her missing mother.

Tags: Female Protagonist , Primarily Female Cast , School Club , Mahjong , Time Skip , Yuri , Super Power , School , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Seinen , Board Game

Ryuuou no Oshigoto!

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

16 year old Kuzuryuu Yaichi has fallen into a slump after winning the major shogi title "Dragon King", the pressure of his losses continue until an elementary schooler called Hinatsuru Ai, with an extraordinary shogi talent, arrives at his doorstep.

Tags: Shogi , Coming of Age , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Board Game

Hoshizora no Karasu

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Romance , Sports

Karasuma Waka is a 13 years old girl who adores go. She received this passion for the game from her grand father, a professional go player. She loves go so much that she even forgets to get her hair cut! However, her mother doesn't allow her to play go, since she has a bad image of her father, who once left to play a game while his wife was dying.

One day, Waka sees a game of a very strong professional player called Sagisaka Souji. Impressed by his style, she decides to become pro despite the objection of her mother. The young girl proposes her a bet: if she wins the next tournament, her mother will allow her to become pro, otherwise she will abandon her dream. Can she win her bet and realize her dream?



Tags: Shoujo , Go , Female Protagonist , Board Game

HERO: Akagi no Ishi wo Tsugu Otoko

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological

Set in 2002, 3 years after the death of Shigeru Akagi. Hiroyuki Igawa, following the advice Akagi gave him on his deathbed, runs into his old friend Ten while visiting his grave. Hoping to put his own abilities to the test, Hiro challenges Ten to a game of mahjong, but Ten disappears right as their match reaches its climax, and thugs looking for him wait right outside the parlor. They take Sawada hostage, and Hiroyuki is given only a week to find the seemingly abducted Ten.

Tags: Gambling , Mahjong , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Board Game

Houkago Saikoro Club

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

Kyoto in Spring. Aya is a high school girl who’s just moved to a new town. Miki is her shy classmate, and her first friend. One day after school Aya and Miki follow the committee president Midori to a specialty board games store. The Dice Club. Without thinking they try out a German board game together. These girls, who are searching for fun, soon fall into the exciting world of games.

Tags: Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , School , Shounen , Board Game