by trenttsd
King of Tokyo is a very thematic dice-rolling game for two to six players, designed by Richard Garfield and published by iello games. In the game, you take the role of a monster who yearns to devastate Tokyo a la Godzilla in the classic 1950s and 1960s films. During the game, you earn victory points, which equate to how much you're actually devastating Tokyo along with how horrible of a threat you appear to be. In the game, you earn these points by rolling six dice each turn - you're allowed two re-rolls of any dice you don't like. These dice have different powers - a claw means you do a single point of damage to the monster in Tokyo (unless you're in Tokyo, in which case you damage all monsters outside Tokyo), a lighting bolt means you receive an energy cube with which to eventually upgrade your powers, a heart allows you to heal, and numbers (when rolled in identical sets of three) earn you victory points directly. Taking Tokyo (when the monster currently in Tokyo decides to leave after you've dealt damage to him) and staying in Tokyo also earn you points, but if you run out of life points, you lose! This is a very thematic, very fun, and very quick dice-chucking game.Ten Things to Like About King of Tokyo
1. The art is incredible.
The art for this game is simply impressive. It's wonderfully executed and feeds into the tongue-in-cheek monster movie mayhem of the game's theme. Each piece is a colorful nod to the heyday of monster movies and many pieces are directly reminiscent of specific scenes and monsters from those old movies.
2. The variable creature powers are distinct and interesting.
The lifeblood of this game, in my opinion, comes from the creature power deck. The abilities you can add to your creature are widely varied, incredibly flavorful, and often result in the best stories you can tell about the game later on. The creature power cards are essential to making this game enjoyable, and the creators really knocked it out of the park with them. I would happily pick up an expansion of just a big handful of additional power cards.
3. The turns are fast, leaving little downtime.
On a given turn, there aren't that many major decisions to make. You roll six dice, choose some to keep, re-roll the rest, choose some to keep, then re-roll the remaining ones. You might be able to buy a power card and, rarely, there might be a chance to use a power card's ability. The turns go by quickly, particularly when you consider that people are going to be attacking you, so you have to pay enough attention to lower your health dial at the very least.
4. It has a high "fun" factor.
"Fun factor" is a hard thing to pin down. It's one of those things where you'll know it if you see it, and the first several games of King of Tokyo have it. Most people who try this game will find themselves laughing, hooting, and hollering as the game progresses, cursing their die rolls and taunting others with the crazy power that their monster has. It's just a lot of fun.
5. Every decision is crucial, but some even more crucial.
There are no wasted turns in this game. Every turn is vital to how the game ends up, and so every choice you do make is absolutely vital. There are almost no turns where you feel like your decisions don't really matter. At various bottlenecked points in the game, every choice is absolutely crucial, as even keeping one wrong die can mean the difference between winning and losing.
6. The "press your luck" aspect is highly satisfying.
Much of this game centers around pressing your luck, and that mechanism is very satisfying here. Do you reroll four die on your third roll so you can try to get another three? Do you stay in Tokyo at five life with just one more person to roll before your turn? You have to press your luck and (somewhat) play the odds to win at this game.
7. Players aren't overloaded with options, so analysis paralysis largely disappears.
The number of choices you have to make on a given turn is a small one. Although the choices are crucial, there aren't a lot of choices, so most players will not get locked down into analysis paralysis while playing this game. The game is straightforward and doesn't overload the player at any point.
8. The components are very well-produced (particularly the current edition).
The chunky engraved dice are wonderful. The character figures are big and colorful. All of the art is thematic, bright, and engaging. The cards are easy to read and understand (mostly). The stuff you get in the box is well made and enjoyable.
9. It's very simple to teach and set up.
I can teach King of Tokyo in about a minute. The game can be set up in about that length of time as well. This is a great game to pull out and get started quickly for an enjoyable time, even with completely new players.
10. The gameplay encourages "stories."
The mix of pressing your luck with the dice, pressing your luck by staying in Tokyo, and the wildly varying power cards create a great story to tell after almost every game. "Do you remember that time Joe rolled six claws and killed everybody but John, but then John took two turns in a row and slaughtered Joe?" These stories come up again and again because of the mix of mechanisms and components in the game.
Five Things to Disike About King of Tokyo
1. The variable powers are nowhere near balanced.
Even powers with the same cost are completely different in power level. This doesn't entirely break the game, but it does mean that there will be times where a player can get a ridiculously good power card, then the next player - with even more energy - can't get anything worth playing. Some of the cards should have cost as much as 3 energy more, while others could have had their cost cut substantially.
2. The dice rolling mechanism doesn't have tons of replay value.
The replay value in this game comes almost entirely from the cards. The dice rolling mechanism alone makes for a Yahtzee-lite experience which doesn't hold up over time. The life of this game purely relies on that deck of cards, and when that deck of cards can so easily frustrate you, it reduces the lifespan of the game.
3. The two player game is less than fun.
This game shouldn't be played with two players. The bonus for staying in Tokyo becomes tremendous because a player can stay in Tokyo for many turns. If they can also earn a card that restores some health, they can spend the entire game in Tokyo - I've done this. Even if that doesn't happen, the long spans of the other player waiting for a shot at Tokyo makes for a less than fun experience.
4. The rules are lacking in places.
While the rules do explain enough to get you started, there are some serious rough patches. There are many individual power cards that could use some additional clarification in terms of how they work, but the manual doesn't provide any such clarification. Not only that, the language is stilted in places, particularly when describing how to play with five or six players.
5. Player knockouts can last for a long time.
This is a game with player elimination, and players can be eliminated pretty quickly. I've seen players knocked out before their third turn before, well before the halfway point of the game. If you're knocked out, you're out of the fun, and it's never fun to see someone sitting there twiddling with their phone for fifteen minutes while everyone else is enjoying a fast-paced game.
Who Would Like This Game?
I like this game, but it's already feeling a bit played-out to me. My son loves this game, so it will likely remain in our collection for his sake. I'm hoping that expansions will add more life to the game or at least a bit more balancing to the power cards.
People who will like this game include:
Thematic game fans - This game is very thematic. It does a great job of recreating the feel of the classic monster movies from the 1950s and 1960s. The idea of smashing other monsters and wrecking downtown Tokyo is conveyed wonderfully in the art of the game.
Lighter game fans - This is a pretty light game. I group it in with other filler games. People who prefer lighter fare will have a strong likelihood of enjoying King of Tokyo.
Fans of games with variable powers - Since the monsters can develop strange and unique powers, players who enjoy the process of evaluating those powers and assembling a unique character will get many plays from King of Tokyo.
A Video Review
I also posted a video review of this game, which touches on many of the points described above in a reasonably short package. If you want a good glimpse of the game components, this is worth watching.
Youtube Video