Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Game Review - King of Tokyo



King of Tokyo
Number of Players
2 - 6
Play Time
30 Minutes
Ages
8 Years and up


This week I go back to the lighter side of things and take a look at King of Tokyo.

King of Tokyo is a game where the players take the roles of various different giant monsters that are all trying to be the one who ends up in control of Tokyo and destroy the other player’s monsters in the process.

King of Tokyo has elements of dice rolling and card drafting in it.  The players take turns rolling six dice taking the results that they want rerolling the ones that they do not want twice after the first roll.  After the second reroll the effects from the roll take place.

The dice have the following symbols:  1, 2, or 3 points of destruction which are given to the player if they get a set of three or more in their turn, Energy which give one energy point for each one rolled and can be used to buy mutations, Healing which heals one point of damage to a monster for each one rolled, and Whack which causes one point of damage to the monster in Tokyo if the player is outside Tokyo or one point of damage to all the other players if the player is inside Tokyo for each one rolled.

The players are divided into two groups the player or players inside Tokyo and the players outside Tokyo.  If a player is inside Tokyo their attacks affect everyone outside Tokyo and they get 2 points of destruction per turn they remain in Tokyo, but they cannot heal any damage they take.  They may retreat from Tokyo when they take damage from another player and the player that damaged them then takes their place inside Tokyo.

The players outside Tokyo on the other hand only damage the player inside Tokyo.  The big thing that they can do that the player inside Tokyo cannot do is heal with the Healing rolls, which is important to their survival.

One of the important and in some cases unbalancing parts of the game are the mutation cards.  There are always three face up mutation cards the cost between 2 – 7 Energy to purchase.  The mutations have a variety of different effects on them that allow the player to do special things like reroll dice, cause extra damage to the other monsters, and give them extra destruction points.  A player my purchase one of these cards with their stored Energy during their turn.  Some of the effects of the mutations are obnoxious and in many cases are guaranteed game winners.

The game ends when one of the players scores 20 Destruction points or all but one player has been eliminated.

I cannot say that this is one of my favorite games.  I can see why it is popular as a light game and can be fun because of the press your luck element that many gamers enjoy.  Part of my bias has to do with my not having figured out a decent strategy to follow.

I have tried the hold back and bide my time trying to build up my power method without success.  I have also tried the aggressive all out attack method with no success as well.  There is a definite luck element involved in the game as the players’ actions revolve around dice rolling and the drawing of cards from a deck to determine what mutations are available at any given time.  Even with that high element of luck I feel that there is an underling strategy that is eluding me.  This is mostly because the same players seem to keep winning the game.

If you are looking for a light game with a high luck element or a press your luck game then you should definitely take a look at King of Tokyo and its expansions.  If you like your games less luck driven then this is not the game for you and you should look at a game like Bazaar as an alternative.

If You Are Interested In Purchasing This Item:



                   

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