by mech_gamer
This monster-based romp is fun, quick, beautifully artworked and... deep? Let's see!Luck o' the Die
King of Tokyo is a variant on the push-your-luck style boardgames in the style of Zombie dice but with a bit more substance hiding under the impressive amount of style. There are choices to be made, tactics to choose between (though, admittedly, few) and satisfaction of a job well done to be got from winning. But how much? That's kinda tricky to measure.
On your turn, you roll 6 dice. The sides of each die are as follows: a 1, 2 and 3, an attack symbol (a claw), a heal symbol (a heart) and an energy symbol (an electric bolt). These 'sets' are all worth collecting for different reasons.
The numbers (1,2 and 3) can be collected for straight-forward victory points. A set of three of any number will give you that number of victory points, so a set of three 2s will give you two points. Further 2s will increase this number by one, so five 2s will give you four victory points in total. It's a little counter-intuitive but I presume it's been balanced that way for a reason, and once you've got the hang of it, it's no trouble.
The claws do one damage each to the person residing in Tokyo, unless you yourself are in Tokyo, in which case it damages every other player.
The hearts can be used to heal, but guess what, you can't heal in Tokyo. This makes the decision to leave or continue to fight a tricky one.
Finally, there are electric bolts. These are energy and are used to purchase cards that give the player special abilities. These are a pretty neat addition, and a good mix of cards are almost essential to victory as far as I can tell.
Once you've rolled, you can save or re-roll as many of the dice as you want, to go after particular combinations. After that, you have one more re-roll of any remaining dice you choose. Then you're stuck with whatever you might have rolled.
Attacking & Victory points
Your monster (and there are some awesome ones to choose from) starts the game with 10 health points and, somewhat obviously, 0 Victory points. There is a board, of sorts, though it only contains one spot - Tokyo. If a monster is 'in' Tokyo, then it scores points for every round it survives without being forced to leave. Being in Tokyo has its disadvantages though - firstly, all attacks done by other players are dealt only to you, and secondly you are unable to heal. So time spent in the middle is always going to be limited.
So how do you leave Tokyo? Well, frustratingly, it's really only once you've been tonked on the nose by another monster that you can slink out of Tokyo to lick your wounds, unless you have a special card that allows you to leave early. Each time you are dealt damage by another creature you are given the opportunity to release control of Tokyo to your attacker.
One thing you learn early on is that if you are not going to try and last a whole round (all the way back round to your own turn, when you receive 2 victory points) then you might as well get out of there as early as possible. There is no merit to gritting your teeth until you're one turn away from your points, then getting beaten out at the last minute. Pace yourself.
As far as strategy goes, there seems to be three main paths. The first is to concentrate on rolling victory points, and stay out of Tokyo as much as possible. The second is to fight tooth and nail and see if you can reduce your opponents to rubble/dust/a fleshy skin-bag, depending on their type. And thirdly, you can concentrate on amassing energy and cards and letting those decide your tactics - should you get plenty of attack cards, go with that, and if you get more VP cards, then make acquisition your strategy.
How far does the (cyber) rabbit hole go?
So, how deep is King of Tokyo? It's a good question.
Push-your-luck games usually hinge on one core mechanic - you can roll again, but rolling again means that you have the chance to lose what you've amassed already. Roll 3 more dice, looking for points, but oh no! You rolled a zombie. Game over.
So actually, I think describing KOT as a push-your-luck game may be slightly misleading. The confusion arises because of the "staying in Tokyo as long as possible" aspect. You're "pushing your luck" if you stay too long in the centre. But this isn't really the same thing as the Zombie situation, as in fact you are responding to the situation other people are creating, rather than the truly random rolling of dice.
Let's take an example. Let's say I'm in Tokyo. I have a health of 6, meaning I can theoretically be killed in one good roll from an opponent. I'm hit for 1 attack by Stacy, which brings me down to 5. Precarious. I have to survive Wayne's turn before I can collect my well-earned 2 points for staying in the whole round. I have the opportunity to leave Tokyo. Classic push-your-luck, no?
Except I'm not playing against dice, I'm playing against a person. A quick look at Wayne's character tells me he's on 4 health himself. He's going to be trying to roll hearts, and I doubt that he'd want Tokyo if he could help it. He's not going to be attacking all guns blazing. Also I know that up until now he's been playing quite a Victory point game, collecting his sets of 3s and 2s and trying to stay out of people's way. Nope, he's a safe bet. I'm staying in Tokyo.
Of course, plans like these backfire. But King of Tokyo is a surprisingly human game, a revealing game. I have a friend who doesn't feel that reaching 20 victory points is a proper victory - that the only true way to win is to be last man/monster/rabbit standing. Be wary of making assumptions about anyone who plays with that in mind.
The re-rolling of the dice is an interesting aspect, too. Trying to coax order from chaos lends the game a curated feel, like tending to a weedy garden. It can also lead to unintended actions being taken, as the last re-roll sets the outcomes in stone - there is no ignoring dice after the third roll. An attack that puts you in Tokyo cannot be undone, and this has the interesting side effect of making the final re-roll a process of damage prevention. Do I roll one die and try to get another 3 to get some victory points? Or do I instead re-roll all the 3s I have already acquired in the hope of something better? But then, I'd really rather not attack, as I don't have the health to be in Tokyo.
So, as for how deep the rabbit hole goes, it's a moderate depth, deep for a dice game, shallow for a boardgame. But it's a rather excellent combination of both.
Personal Opinion: I like King of Tokyo, and if I had the choice of throwing dice around in this or cards around in Munchkin, I'd go for KOT most of the time.
An issue is that, though in general a good addition, the power cards can slow down a game that works best at a lightening-pace. For example, one card allows the player to re-roll any die of his opponents he chooses. This is a great idea and works nicely thematically, but it slows down the game to the point where it changes the experience. Add three or four of these types of power, and the game has transformed from a stream-lined roll-fest into accountancy.
The power cards are a necessity to ensure the game has any longevity and so this is a small issue. They add layers of strategy, and are no doubt a good thing. I just dream of the days when I didn't realise quite how powerful they were, and was happy to think King of Tokyo was simply a game of bopping robots over the head with well-rolled dice. Halcyon days.
To see a lovely version of this review with pictures and what-not, please check out mechanicalgamer.tumblr.com