by AzureiX
Before I get into how the session went and what transpired, I just wanted to share with everyone that this was the first game that I introduced to four other guys who aren't really board game fanatics along with We Didn't Playtest This At All (that doesn't count as a board game though).So I let them pick which character they would like to be in the first game. We didn't use the Power Up! expansion because I wanted to make sure they grasped the game prior to introducing them. They said that I should have introduced it into the game in the beginning since it wasn't hard for them to pick up, but they still had a lot of questions during gameplay. Ha.
Game 1
Me - Cyberbunny
Friend 1 - Meka Dragon
Friend 2 - Pandakai
Friend 3 - Gigazaur
Friend 4 - Kraken
In the first game, I basically explained the rules to them and let them get the hang of the game prior to the expansion. They grasped it pretty quickly. I thought that maybe I could abuse the chance of rushing into Tokyo since Gigazaur was the first person to go. The turn order went: Gigazaur, Kraken, me, Meka Dragon, and then Pandakai last. Everyone seemed intent on staying out of Tokyo, but as soon as Pandakai's turn came, he rolled 5 claws (prior to this, Meka Dragon only rolled 1 claw and took Tokyo Bay). That was too damaging; I had to absolutely vacate Tokyo. Combined with dice rolls like that, I had terrible luck when I needed to roll hearts. I was soon defeated at the hands of an unwanted claw from Gigazaur when he chose to last reroll his die while in Tokyo. Kraken won that game by playing passively and staying out of Tokyo.
Game 2
Same roster.
This time, I introduced the expansion to the game to see if things would change up. I was off to a great start. Kraken had purchased an early helicopter evacuation which made the rest of us lose 5 victory points. The only person that had points leftover was Gigazaur with 2 measly victory points. The game progressed until I, again, was defeated by some lucky claw rolls. Pandakai had dealt 6 damage to everyone in one turn by being in Tokyo, which was enough to kill me.
Meka Dragon won that game by being at 19 points, and he acquired the last one when Kraken, a half-sleepy player by 11 PM, decided to give up Tokyo and allowed Meka Dragon to enter it granting him the final point to 20 victory points.
All in all, this game is a lot of fun with the right company. I haven't found anyone who would be willing to make monster noises with me when playing though. I don't think it's childish. I think that it should be a written rule that you absolutely HAVE to make monster noises when taking Tokyo and yielding Tokyo. Haha.