by Geeky_Farmer
My goal is to review games from my point of view, which is a newer inexperienced gamer. I also am going to try to review games after my first or second play, because that is how long a new gamer will usually give a game before they decide if they like it or not. This may not be fair to the game but often happens.Last night I was with a group of very experienced gamers. We were waiting for a sixth to show up so we had about half an hour and the game which was pulled out was King of Toyko.
I was eager to play the game because I had heard a bit about it and had been wanting to try some dice games. The basic rules were explained and we were off. My first impression was that the dials on your scorekeeping card went the wrong way! I do not think this is just me because I noticed a couple other players move theirs and then reverse them during the game, but this is a minor issue...
I am not against dice games, especially with rerolls, the luck factor tends to fade out. I went second and ended up in the second space in Toyko, so I was immediately taking damage. By the time it was my second turn my life was down by half. The player who came after me died before her third turn. I by that point I only had 3 life but had managed to collect enough energy to buy a card that let me use an extra dice! AWESOME! I might be OK.
I got to use that dice once before I was also out. The last three players had about 15 more minutes, until one managed to kill the others and win.
For me, I do not tend to like games with player elimination included. For new players I believe it can be disconcerting. My rolls had been pretty average, and I had been getting help from the first player eliminated (who plays the game a lot and commented that often this early, undeserved, elimination occurs) so I do not think I had made any major mistakes. I realize that often new players think this, but I talked with the other players and they agreed that my rerolls and moves were all reasonable.
For new players I think games where bad luck in an early round will almost certainly kill you, is typically a turn off. New players often expect to lose, but because they messed up, not because they could not roll anything that helped them!
I, as do many inexperienced players like playing games to the end, even if I know I have no chance of winning (which is often.) Sitting at a table watching others play is a bit of a turn-off, one of my favorite things about Euro-style games is that everyone usually gets to play until the end.
I did not enjoy this game. If someone in a group wants to play it I will not say no, because the game is pretty quick, but I did not enjoy playing it.
That being said, I think the game is easy to teach & quick; both of which will appeal to newer players. Lots of people probably are used to games where they get kicked out, so this may not bother them like it does me. For very new players rolling dice is a more comfortable mechanic then say, worker placement, and that is good.
Thanks for reading!