by stevelabny
This is wrong on a lot of levels and what seems a simple game at first glance reveals itself as slightly deeper after a game or two.It almost sounds to me that either 1> you are giving points out just for numbers on dice and not for 3-of-a-kinds or 2> your group decided early that buying cards was a bad strategy so none of you do it.
You can only attack if you roll claws, you can only score points if you roll 3-of-a-kinds of numbers. First - claws are easier to get, second - a Tokyo "Strategy" IS a points strategy. you get 2 points for staying a round in Tokyo. Third, slightly contrary to the theme, most people AVOID Tokyo as best they can early in the game (which can lead to it actually becoming a good spot to steal early points)
An attacker in Tokyo will re-roll all hearts, keep all claws and energy, and only try for points if they come up. A point-guy out of of Tokyo who is not keeping claws, will try for points, but have to keep hearts to not slowly bleed out. The math advantage is for the guy in Tokyo. Even just getting 1 or 2 claws means the "points guy" (and everyone else) need 1 or 2 hearts to balance it out. Which now means you're looking for a 3-of-a-kind on 4-5 dice instead of 6 to score ANY points. Meanwhile, Tokyo attacker gets 2 points for being in Tokyo and still has 4-5 dice for energy or points too.
The game is a careful push your luck of when to take and leave Tokyo while maintaining your health while trying to eek out points or do massive damage (which is usually done by some claws + some cards not just lots of claws)
I think your groupthink broke the game.