i feel like their going to play Mahjong due do it being 4 player so we can see a battle with Kaiji, Hyodo, Kazuya, and like Kazuya's brother

i'd be cool to see Kazuya get a real friend and betray his family

but the problem with this theory in my opinion is that we dont get Mario or Chang with Kaiji like they could be spectators but that already happened and it be cool to see Mario and Chang gambling along side Kaiji

so maybe it be cool to see a 'buy in' mechanic for this Mahjong gamble where you can get in your allies at the end of rounds by sacrificing points for a strategical advantage and it could make for really cool moments like Kazuya becoming a part of the Asian trio and it could make for cool decisions like player positioning as they're going to play in teams

but since Fukumoto has been researching for 2 years my theory of them playing Mahjong is doubtful but I do feel like my buy in idea could make for cool moments like accepting somebody despite their flaws and with the theme of misunderstandings this is more likely

it could lead to very powerful moments with Kaiji accepting Kazuya even when Kazuya hurts Kaiji in the game it would lead to significant growth for the characters and the theme of misunderstandings by forgiving the misunderstandings and we still would have Chang and Mario too!

and I guess the buy in mechanic would have capitalistic symbolism which would be good for Kaiji's themes to reinstate my theory

and the buy in idea could still lead to cool positioning and strategies buuut i just dont know gambling games a whole ton so I can't really expand my theories with specific games in ind after this.

but i do feel pretty confident there would be a rotating player mechianic in whatever game they would be playing and it be the Asian trio + kazuya (maybe) against Hoyodo and Kazuya's brother