by Keith
September 1, 2013Tonight I managed to crack open King of Tokyo to play with my son. I wasn't quite sure what to expect because of the many mixed reviews for the game on BGG. Game reviews are somewhat like movie and reviews and one of the things I really respected about Roger Ebert's reviews was that he was able to simply call a movie what it was and review it in that context. This is something I try to do when I think about game reviews and the reviewer who is evaluating them.
I bought King of Tokyo because I figured that the theme would appeal to my son and he loves rolling dice. This game has both in spades and mechanics that my now 5 year old son can actually follow. It was a lot of fun watching him try to make decisions about what dice to keep and which to re-roll. They weren't always the best choice, but after explaining to him a few of the things he might think about he really developed his own play style.
I also like the visual style for the game and my son really digs it as well. The Yahtzee like mechanics appeal for a light game and the inclusion of the special ability cards makes this one something that one-ups other attempts at dice matching games I've played. And ... by games I've played I mean Yahtzee...
The longer I game the more I realize that I like a little taste of everything. That said, I reserve my more deeply set opinions and critical eye for the genres in which I'm most comfortable. As you know from reading this blog, that's typically historical wargames. That means I'm a little less inclined to give issues in wargames a pass and a lot more likely to give issues in non-wargames a pass.
King of Tokyo falls into the the latter category for me. In fact, I can see a number of weaknesses. The wording on the cards first and foremost are an issue for me because they're simply too imprecise for my tastes. I can figure out what they want, but sometimes I wonder specifically how some of the mechanics and stack.
That brings me to my most proud parenting moment. My five year-old had Wings & Air Drop. He figured out to pay the two energy for Wings and then do air drop to cause me and NOT him 3 damage. I was incredibly impressed and as I ticked off my damage he asked, "Daddy ... was that awesome?" I had to respond ... "yes, that was awesome." He then said, "You're not going to beat me forever in this game you know." Again ... I had to concede, "You're right. You are becoming a good gamer already."
This all took place after he finished me off in Wings of Glory this morning losing NONE of his planes while taking out all 3 of mine. I now have to worry that, like everyone else, I won't pose much of a challenge to him as a boardgaming opponent for much longer! Thankfully I have plenty of years before he'll start competing in some of my more beloved wargames. I do think, however, he's only a year or so out from doing Memoir '44 and the like.
So, King of Tokyo gets a solid 8/10 from me. It's repetitive. I don't understand the whole advantage of being in Tokyo in a 2 player game and the cards are all over the place in terms of play balance. My overall impression, however, is that it's quick to pull out of the closet and get ont he table. It's easy to teach people as you pick it up and play. It's a fun, random, dice rolling great time. I will certainly be playing it again.