by tadzi
Remember those not-so-much distant times, when you could become hyperinteligentn hare or mutated giant kraken and ravage your neighborhood? Who would not remember, right? King of Tokyo game became a hit worldwide. Well, today we do our review a bit differently, because we received in our hands a re-release targeted for year 2016! Author therefore remains Richard Garfield, nor do change name of the publisher IELLO. Distribution of this new product is done by Esdevium Games.
Maybe it does not look like it, but it’s been five years since the original box was released. And for the fifth anniversary, we got a newly beautifully painted box of the same size. Will this be a good addition to collection of every fan and have a space beside its younger brother King of New York, who is also awaiting a review in our newsroom?
Illustration are this time work of Régis Torres. That name probably will not say anything to you at first, but he is the man standing behind graphics for King of Tokyo – Halloween expansion and also pictured whole destruction of American city in King of New York.
Some of our readers will probably not be aware, how it all plays. It’s simple and addictive. The players are fighting for supremacy over a city. One monster is always inside and spreads destruction (= receives victory points), while everyone else is standing on the edge and giving it their best to get jostle him out of there. To do this, they use primarily brute force, but also many other skills gathered from bought cards.
They whole game is driven by dice. All the participants take turns in roling and results can be re-rolled several times in order to get the best combination of symbols possible – these can then be used to attack, purchase card of capabilities, but also directly to obtain victory points. Its all up to player’s tactics and luck. When the monster lasts the whole round inside a city, it gets a set of points. And time goes by, players gain hearts, points and are disappearing (elimination is an important part of gameplay), the end is getting near. It happens, when one of the participants earns a set number of victory points or only one monster remains standing.
So what this anniversary edition brings as its benefits and should you exchance it for the old one? First of all, there are brand new illustrations. Not just on the box, but above all on the cards! Graphics come really in different color pallette and each one is truly an original. Opinions on this comparisons differ even among our players and in the end, it all gets quite individual. New images are fabulous, but maybe less appealing at first glance. You will learn to love them.
But if you have some expansions to the original game (Power Up or special ones), we have bad news for you. Rear sides of cards is not the same as the original and therefore is not compatible and new cards cannot be combined with these older boxes.
Fans cyber rabbit (me, for example) will also get sad now, because it was replaced by a cyber cat! It looks very impressive. Base game now includes also space penguin (instead of Kraken). Monsters thus partially changed, but even the old heroes have at least a new look. And this rework of graphics on their point board is for the best, when compared side by side.
Dice received only cosmetic change in the form of rounded edges, which are said to be less chippy (not that we had some personal experience with that). If the game is met by inexperienced newcomers, they surely will appreciate enhanced rulebook.
In terms of gameplay, you should not expect anything new. The game is played exactly the same way. Overall, it only depends on the tastes of each player, whether he likes more accurate and detailed graphics of the original game or crazy new illustrations, that are more devoted to various monsters. But if you like the older versions and do not own it, then you should probably buy it in a hurry. King of Tokyo remains one of the rulers of party entertainment, there is no question about that. And if your battles will be reigned by cyber rabbit or cyber cat, its really about globel perspective and it really does not matter. Importantly, the King of Tokyo is still a great game even in the new edition!
Original review posted on DeskoveHry.com with more pictures:
http://www.deskovehry.com/en/review-king-of-tokyo-2016-compa...
You can find more our reviews not only on our site, but also on DeskoveHry.com GeekList:
https://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/153566/reviews-made-d...