Money is needed for a lot of things in Like a Dragon: Ishin, but you will likely find yourself running low on it, as you progress through the game. You may be puzzled as to ways you can make money in the game, since there doesn’t seem to be a spectacular way to earn a lot of it in a short time period. This page will look at some ways to make a lot of money in the game, throughout the various stages.
Wood Cutting Minigame¶
At the beginning of Chapter 2, you will be able to start exploring the Fushimi section of the map, which is the first area. Towards the southwestern corner of the map, there will be an old man that gives you The Wood Cutter Substory. This will open up the Wood Cutting minigame, where you need to time your button press to chop some logs. The speed will gradually get faster, as long as you continually hit each log. If you miss, then the speed resets, but you can still keeping cutting the logs. After the initial 20 logs as part of the Substory, the max you can chop is 100 for each session.
(1 of 2) Speak to the man on the ground to start the Substory to unlock the minigame
Speak to the man on the ground to start the Substory to unlock the minigame (left), Wait until you see the axe glow before hitting the button (right)
The upside of doing this minigame is that the old man pays you 100 Mon for each log you chop, so if you manage to get 100 logs in the session, then that equals 1 Ryo for each time you attempt the minigame. However, you can get even more out of him, as once you max his Bond gauge, he will increase the price to 150 Mon for each log, meaning you will earn 1 Roy 5000 Mon for each session. Just note that after a certain point in increasing his Bond, the old man will go away, so just head back to the Teradaya inn, enter it and exit to find the old man back again. This minigame is pretty nice for the beginning of the game, although you only need to reach Chapter 3 to unlock the better money making methods.
Playing Poker¶
One of the first methods you can use to make money in Like a Dragon: Ishin is to play Poker. You first get access to this minigame in Chapter 3, once you can get to Rakunai/Rakugai, making this a pretty good method for the early/mid game. On East Shijo Street, there is the pawnshop and just south of that will be a Gambling Den, which is where you will be able to play Poker. Before doing anything, make sure you have about 2 ryo on you, as you will need to purchase some Wooden Tags before you’re allowed to gamble. It costs 1 ryo to get 100 Wooden Tags, plus you need a minimum of 100 tags in order to even play the low bet option of Poker, so it might be a good idea to purchase 200 Wooden Tags to begin.
(1 of 2) The Gambling Den’s location on the map
The Gambling Den’s location on the map (left), You will want to be playing High Stakes once you’ve gotten enough tags (right)
Once you have purchased 200 Wooden Tags, it’s probably a good idea to save your game, since you never know if you’re going to go on a losing streak or not. Keep playing the low stakes version of Poker, until you reach about 2,000 or so wooden tags, then save your game once more. With that out of the way, it’s time to move onto the high stakes version, where the bets are 50/100. The computer opponents here seem to do a little better than on the lower stakes, so it’s possible you may need to reload more often, especially at the beginning, when you’re trying to accumulate more tags. Note that the buy-in rate for high stakes is 1,000 tags, so if you dip below that amount, then you will be kicked from the table.
Eventually, you will be winning a lot of tokens from the high stakes poker, and you probably want a good nest of about 8,000 tags or so, as a baseline to keep so you can keep playing Poker at a later time. Anything above that can be turned in to buy Platinum Plates from the nearby vendor. These cost 1,500 wooden tags each, and can be sold at the pawn shop just north of the den for 3 ryo 7500 mon. Considering both places are so close to one another, you can get some good money earlier on in the main story.
Chicken Racing¶
Chicken Racing is another form of gambling that you unlock at the start of Chapter 3, and is definitely the best method to making money, until the end game. This place uses the same Wooden Tags as the Poker minigame above, so it might be easier to start out with Poker, until you’ve gotten a good 10,000 or so tags. There is a reason for this, too, since to get the most out of the Chicken Racing, you will need a total bet of around 6,900 Wooden Tags. After passing through the northern gate in Fushimi, head east at the first intersection, then stop at the second one. There will be a purple building marked on your map there, which is the Chicken Racing building, and its entrance is on the northern side.
You might be a little confused about the UI for Chicken Racing at first, but you only really need to focus on a few things. Looking at the main screen, just focus on the Condition, Prediction and Payout. The Payout is probably the biggest thing to focus on, since that determines the odds of a chicken winning. The lower the number for Payout, the higher chance that the chicken will win. Using that knowledge, look for the two chickens with the lowest Payout, as those will be the ones you will bet on.
(1 of 4) Look for this building with the blue curtains marking the entrance to Chicken Racing
Once you’ve picked your two chickens, select the Dividend List to see more charts. For a more in-depth look at everything, check out the How to Win at Chicken Racing page, since this will be a little more brief in the explanation. Locate the two chickens on the first page of the Dividend List, and place the max bet of 300 on them. For Quinella, you will want the combination of the two chickens. Cycle to the next page, then bet on both combinations for the Double Exacta (1-2 and 2-1, as examples), then move onto the last page. Here, you will want to place a max bet on all options that start with your two chosen chickens.
As an example, you picked Chickens #4 and #2, so on the last page, you will place bets on all options that start with 2-4 and 4-2. In total, you will need 6,900 tags for each race to bet. If you lose the race, which can happen, then you simply reset and try again. Should you happen to win, then you will likely be getting at least 30,000 tags, and maybe even up to 50,000, depending on the odds. Just make sure you save after winning, so you don’t accidentally lose all of the tags you’ve gotten. With your Wooden Tags, you simply go back to the Gambling Den, where the Poker game is, and get the Platinum Plates to sell for money.
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