Konnichiwa! We’re Ai and Shawn from Mugen Gaming, and we’re incredibly excited to share a big announcement:
We’re localizing the Sword World RPG into English for the very first time!
A Special Announcement From Yasuda-san and Group SNE
Sword World RPG, which may not be familiar to many of you, has been widely played in Japan as a representative fantasy role-playing game, much like D&D holds a prominent position in the United States. We are truly delighted to be able to bring this English version to your hands.
Hitoshi Yasuda, Group SNE
Sword World is a really strong flexible system that allows for you to create the story that you want to tell.
What Is Sword World?
Sword World is the most successful and long-standing tabletop RPG in Japan. Originally created in 1989 by Group SNE, it has been in continuous publication for nearly 40 years and has profoundly shaped Japan’s fantasy and gaming culture.
The game takes place in a rich, dynamic setting — a world literally created by ancient sentient swords known as the Swords of Genesis. The setting is filled with magic, guilds, ancient ruins, and dungeons shaped by mystical energies and magical technology. It’s inspired novels, anime, video games, and more across Japanese media.
What Makes It Special?
The system uses a 2d6 structure, making it easy to learn and accessible for new players — while still offering tactical depth and advanced combat options for those who want them.
You can play it fast and light or take a deeper, more strategic approach.
One of our favorite features is the multi-classing system. Rather than locking you into rigid roles like "warrior" or "mage," Sword World encourages you to build flexible, party-supportive characters. It’s a system that promotes teamwork and collaborative storytelling, rather than focusing on individual heroism, although there's always space for heroic moments.
Why We're Bringing Sword World to You
Our mission at Mugen Gaming is simple:
Bring the incredible creativity of Japanese RPGs and board games to new players in the English-speaking world.
We started over a decade ago, running game nights in Kansas City bars and restaurants just to share our love of the hobby. Eventually, that led to opening our retail store, Level One Game Shop, which we’ve operated for 10 years. Through the store, we’ve built deep ties with the tabletop community — and with the game industry itself.
Our journey brought us to events like Tokyo Game Market, where we discovered just how rich and underappreciated the Japanese game design scene truly is. It’s full of innovative, creative, and beautifully crafted games — and we realized many of them weren’t reaching players outside of Japan. We wanted to change that.
How We Met Group SNE
Our first encounter with Group SNE was serendipitous — at a subway station in Essen, Germany, during the Spiel convention. Ai began chatting with a group of Japanese travelers who turned out to be game industry veterans, including legendary RPG creator Hitoshi Yasuda.
From there, we built a relationship through events like Gen Con, BGBE Japan, and Tokyo Game Market, sharing ideas about how we might bring Sword World to a global audience. That conversation has now turned into a collaboration — and this project.
Why We Believe We Can Do This Right
We’ve worked in every corner of the tabletop world:
- As a retailer, we know what players want and how to connect games to communities.
- As a publisher, we understand localization, logistics, and game production.
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As fans, we care deeply about quality, accessibility, and presentation.
We’ve built an experienced team for this — translators, editors, designers, and community leaders — to ensure we bring Sword World to life in a way that honors its legacy and sets it up for long-term success in English.
About the Crowdfunding Campaign
We’ll be launching a crowdfunding campaign in 2026, beginning with the Sword World 2.5 Deluxe Rulebook — a recently released core book in Japan that combines the first three rulebooks into one streamlined volume.
Our plan is to fully localize this Deluxe Rulebook into English, and then follow with additional content that helps new players dive into the world and system.
But this isn’t a one-and-done project.
Our goal is to support Sword World long-term, with expansions, adventures, and community resources that will keep the game alive and growing in the English market for years to come.
How You Can Get Involved
We’re just getting started — and we want you on this journey with us.
🎲 Sign up with your email at SwordWorldRPG.com
When you do, you’ll receive a free 60+ page one-shot PDF, complete with basic rules, pre-generated characters, and a full adventure to try out the system. It’s a work in progress as we learn how to best represent Sword World in English, so please give us feedback if you have any for us!
You'll also be the first to hear about our community efforts, development updates, and any other news we can share.
📣 Share the news with your friends and your gaming community
Let others know about Sword World, especially those looking for something fresh and meaningful in the RPG space.
❤️ Support the campaign when it launches next year
If you believe in this project, your support will help us bring this incredible game to life for new players around the world.
Thank you for your support — we truly hope you’ll join us in bringing Sword World to the global stage.
This system, this world, this legacy — they deserve to be discovered.
Let’s tell these stories together.
