Gionbana

Overview

Gionbana (loosely translated to "Gion Flower") is a hanafuda card game published by Nichibutsu for the Super Famicom exclusively in Japan on December 16, 1994.

Named for the geisha district of Gion in Kyoto, Gionbana is a successor to the 1989 arcade eroge of the same name, removing some of the arcade elements (including the power-up system) and all erotic elements while adding a variety of new game modes.

One of the game's main elements is its sugoroku modes (one-player "Battle Mode" and multiplayer "Party Mode"), where players race each-other to the end of the board while using games of Koi-Koi to determine who goes next and how many points they transfer (which can lead to an early game over). It also includes Free Battle and Tournament modes, which not only use Koi-Koi, but also Hana-Awase and Oicho-Kabu (the latter with either hanafuda or kabufuda cards).

The game received a sequel for the Sony PlayStation, also named Gionbana, a year later.