King of Tokyo Board Game

by Gary Sonnenberg

(Waukesha, WI)

King of Tokyo Board Game
Board game manufacturer:
IELLO
Number of players:
2-6
Ages:
8yrs+
Time:
30 mins

Quick verdict

King of Tokyo is a lighthearted romp that pits players against each other as monsters who must use Yahtzee-style die-rolling to score points or defeat all other monsters. The result is a quick, easy to learn and teach game that can be fun for all ages and experience levels.

The game and gameplay

In King of Tokyo, players each choose a monster, and the battle for Tokyo begins. On a player’s turn, they roll 6 dice. They can choose any dice they would like to keep and then have two opportunities to reroll the remaining dice. The dice are custom dice that have 6 different faces.

Three of the faces have the numbers 1, 2, and 3 on them. If players roll at least 3 of a kind of a given number, they get that many victory points (i.e. if you roll three 2’s, you score 2 points). Additionally, if you roll more than 3 of a number, you score an additional point for each extra die (i.e. if you roll four 2’s, you score 3 points, if you roll five 2’s, you score 4 points).

One of the faces has a lightning bolt symbol. When players roll this, they collect one energy cube per lightning bolt symbol. Energy cubes are used to buy cards that give players special abilities.

Another face shows a claw symbol. This side is used for attacking other monsters. If a player is in Tokyo, they attack all players not in Tokyo. If a player is not in Tokyo, they attack the monster who is in Tokyo. When the monster in Tokyo is attacked, he can choose to yield Tokyo to the monster who attacked him.

The final face is a heart symbol. This is used to heal the damage from attacks. Each player starts with 10 hearts, which they quickly start losing. A player cannot heal if they are in Tokyo.

When a player enters Tokyo, they gain a victory point. If a player remains in Tokyo for an entire round, they gain 2 victory points at the beginning of their turn. The winner is the first player to 20 victory points or the last monster standing.

Sounds simple, right? Well that’s because it is. The mechanics of this game are really easy to teach and learn. So what makes it worthwhile? Aside from the quick playtime and the ease in bringing this game to the table, the simple answer is: the cards.

The cards help add flavor to King of Tokyo board game, both from a thematic point of view and a mechanical perspective. The cards could simply say something like “Roll an Extra Die each turn” or “All other players lose 5 VP” and this would add enough variety to keep the game interesting after multiple plays.

However, the developers went above and beyond and added thematic text and graphics to the cards. The graphics are well done and add to the B-movie feeling of the game.

Pros and cons

Pros: Quick playtime, easy to learn and teach, fun for all ages and experience levels, great artwork and theme, cards add variety and replayability

Cons: High cost for a short game, very confrontational, players can be eliminated

See more fun and easy dice games

The verdict

King of Tokyo is a board game that is easy to get wrapped up in without taking it too seriously. Even though you’re just rolling dice and buying cards, it’s easy to feel like you’re duking it out with big bad monsters. For those who aren’t fans of confrontation or player elimination, this may not be your first choice, but if those things don’t bother you, this is a solid choice for gamers of all backgrounds. The cards are really what make this game shine, as they add both flavor and variety that makes each game fresh and help add to the “just one more game” feeling. This is a game you will be playing a lot more than “just one more game” of.

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