F@#$ King of Tokyo

King of Toyko

Plot:  You control the monster, like in Rampage, gaining VPs and doing damage to other monsters wandering around Japan.

Theme:  Decent implementation.  The artwork and power up cards work with the tongue in cheek feel of a monster parody, but the mechanics can be translated to a host of other genre's.

Goal:  You win either by being the first one to get 20 VP or killing all other monsters.




Mechanics:  On your turn roll 6 dice.  You get to keep whatever you want and re-roll the rest, for a total of 3 rolls total.  The results are:

Numbers 1-3:  these require a set of 3 to score VP.  3X1 scores 1 VP, 3X2 scores 2, and 3X3 scores 3.  Any additions to the set of 3 get you a bonus VP, or 4X1 gets you 2 VP, 4X2 gets you 3 VP and so on.

Lightning bolts:  You can buy power ups with lightning bolts, and some require lightning bolts to activate.

Claws:  Claws damage your opponents.  How many opponents depends on your current location.

Hearts:  Hearts heal damage but are location dependent.





Taking and holding Tokyo:

First one to roll a claw takes Tokyo automatically.  Taking Tokyo earns you 1 VP, yippee!
However, all damage rolled now hits you and you can't heal in Tokyo, bummer!
But after taking damage you can leave Tokyo and the monster that just hit you takes Tokyo.
If you start your turn in Tokyo you earn 2 VPs.
If you are in Tokyo, any damage you roll hits everyone else.

Power Ups:

These are just minor things that help you.  Ok, maybe not so minor.  Like rolling an extra die (Extra Head power up) is wicked good.  It also costs 7 lightning bolts.  In general they work like that, the better they are the more pricey they are.

Some other examples (names omitted because I won't remember them anyways...)

Get one of each result, that is 1-2-3-lightning-heart-claw, and earn 9 points.
If you don't do damage on your rolls, earn 1 VP.
Get 2 VP rinnow and discard this card.
Anytime you do damage, you do a bonus point.




Strategy and Tactics:  So much depends on your rolls and the power ups available, so no point in discussing them.  It helps to have a good appreciation on the usefulness of the available power ups.  It also helps to figure out how you are going to win, VP or bludgeoning by midgame.

Review:  This is a good filler style game.  It takes about a half hour to play and is paced well.  While the tactics and strategies aren't deep, they do exist.  It isn't simply rolling dice and hoping.  Having said that, luck does play a huge huge roll.