Visiting CEATEC this week? Head to Hall 6, booth 6H002, where JEITA’s Semiconductor Industry Game of Life (PDF) turns a potential career in chips into a walk-through board game. Created with cooperation from Takara Tomy, the activity offers a playful break from product demonstration and gives students a different way to explore the industry.
JEITA is the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association. CEATEC is already open to the public, including students, with free admission and advance online registration required.
The show runs through Friday, October 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, at Makuhari Messe. Visitors do not need to wait for a separate public day.
The game follows a familiar formula: spin the wheel, move the indicated number of spaces, and follow the instructions where you land. Here, you walk along the oversized board yourself. The spinner also determines your semiconductor employer and job role, while events along the route introduce experiences from a simulated career. This year adds “miracle cards,” highlighting possibilities enabled by semiconductors, alongside company and job-role cards.
According to the booth’s instructions, players keep spinning and advancing toward the finish, but must stop at any space marked “STOP,” even when their spin would take them farther. Anyone can participate, although students may receive priority. There is also a prize opportunity: students who complete the post-game questionnaire enter a drawing for gifts. The signage does not specify the prizes.
Ubergizmo’s U.S.-based co-founders tried the game in previous years and found it fun. For visitors curious about semiconductor careers, it is an approachable reason to stop by and an opportunity to connect the technology inside everyday devices with the people who develop it.
The surrounding JEITA Semiconductor Forum brings together Kioxia, Sanken Electric, Sony Semiconductor Solutions, Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage, Nuvoton Technology Japan, Micron Memory Japan, Mitsubishi Electric, Renesas Electronics, and ROHM. Their exhibits provide a chance to explore actual semiconductor technologies alongside the game.
First introduced in 2022, the game returns for its fifth edition. JEITA’s goal is to make semiconductor careers more accessible to the next generation as the industry faces a shortage of specialist talent. Approximately 900 students played last year.
JEITA’s Life-Size Board Game Lets CEATEC Visitors Try a Semiconductor Career
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