by Lowell Kempf
While I have turned in my Cult of the New card and I haven’t played too many games that have come out in the last year or so, I still keep my ear in and at least try and pay attention to what games are coming out. After all, while playing games is my actual hobby, it’s still really interesting to keep track of what’s going on in the industry.Thus, I had been hearing about King of Tokyo for months. The other night, I finally got a game in, albeit only two-player and that was just so my friend Nate could teach me the game.
I’m willing to bet that almost everyone reading this is more familiar with King of Tokyo and how to play it than I am. Not only have I only played it once, playing as a two-player game was probably the absolutely worst way to play. (Still, got to see the game in action so whoo-hoo :D )The game is definitely not suited for two-players. Still, I always try to include at least a little mechanical commentary so here goes: King of Tokyo is Yahtzee with a giant monster a la Godzilla theme and special powers.
While I really have to play more King of Tokyo and, more importantly, play it with more people, my initial impressions of it were positive. The game play was quick and intuitive and the pieces were nice looking, particularly the big, chunky dice. I wouldn’t have minded miniatures but the cardboard standies are pretty solid. And, Yahtzee and all of its children, while not Advanced Squad Leader, does offer some genuine choices. Since the choices in King of Tokto include pounding the stuffing out of the other monsters, there’s even some fun, take-that interaction.
So, first impressions are pretty good. I have to admit that it’s not high on my list of games to pick up, since I already have quite a few quick dice games that are a lot more portable than King of Tokyo, but playing it with more people and having more of a chance to explore the special powers might make me reassess that. King of Tokyo clearly has more meat on it than Zombie Dice and it might have enough to make the difference.
If I were to get it, the expansion which gives each monster their own deck of specially-themed potential powers seems like a must. After all, the theme is what really helps King of Tokyo stand out in a sea of dice games, with the need deck of powers and colorful standies. I don’t demand theme from a game but I do appreciate it when a game embraces its theme and King of Tokyo definitely does that. The Power Up expansion sounds like it adds an extra gooey sweet layer on top of the already rich theme. (Although I do have a philosophical distaste for games that need expansions to complete them. Still, giant pandas help forgive a wealth of sins.)
One thing I can’t help but do is compare King of Tokyo to Monsters Menace America. Which, to be honest, I really shouldn’t. In almost every aspect except theme, the games are nothing alike. Monsters Menace America is, at its heart, a relatively simple war game that takes a couple of hours to play. I have been assured by people that have played it seriously that it has a surprising degree of strategy and you need to go into it with the long game in mind.
However, I can’t help but believe that a lot of people are going to go into both games with the same expectations since both games are about giant monsters. And, as much as I do enjoy Monsters Menace America and as unreasonable as it is to compare the two, I am pretty sure folks who are just looking to smash stuff as Godzilla or King Kong or MechaBunny will happier with King of Tokyo.