Kido Butai: Japan’s Carriers at Midway

About this board game

Kido Butai: Japan’s Carriers at Midway is a solitaire board game for one player, designed for a play time of approximately 90 minutes. Set during the pivotal Battle of Midway, it places you in command of the Japanese Tenno’s strike force.

Your mission is ambitious but clear: destroy the American base on the atoll and sink any carrier you encounter. At the same time, you must preserve your own strength, creating a difficult balance between attacking decisively and protecting the force under your command.

• Command the Japanese perspective in a solitaire game.
• Attempt to destroy the American base at Midway.
• Seek out and sink opposing carriers.
• Preserve your own strength while carrying out the operation.

The game draws on the dramatic events of June 4, 1942. At 1020 hours, Japanese naval aircraft still ruled the skies over the Pacific; within ten minutes, U.S. dive bombers had sunk three of the four carriers that made up Kido Butai, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s main strike force.

That sudden reversal followed the force’s devastating attack on Pearl Harbor only six months earlier. Kido Butai: Japan’s Carriers at Midway presents this historical crisis as an entertaining challenge, using simple yet elegant mechanics to frame the decisions of a commander fighting to keep the imperial sun shining.

Released in 2016, the game asks whether you can complete Japan’s objectives while retaining enough strength to survive the battle. Its focused solo format makes the Midway campaign a direct test of judgment, priorities, and endurance.