Welcome back, ladies and gents, to another edition of
Tabletop Spotlight. Due to demands on my time in the real world and the busy
holiday season, I will be transitioning my posts to a biweekly schedule, still
on Tuesdays. I promise to make the wait worth it! :)
Today’s spotlight shines upon a newer game that’s out, and
really causing a commotion! It was featured most recently on Wil Wheaton’s “Table
Top” youtube series, and it was an instant favorite for me when it came out in
2011. Head for the hills, because today we’re talking about King of Tokyo.
King of Tokyo is a fast-paced dice fighting game for 2-6
players by Richard Garfield. Notable for his contributions towards Magic: The
Gathering, the Netrunner card game, and Robo Rally (a personal favorite),
Garfield strove to make a quick, dice-based family game that has a high replay
value. King of Tokyo fits the bill perfectly. Players take on the mantle of
iconic (non-trademarked) movie monsters and do their best to trash Tokyo and
each other all the way to victory.
The game is played by rolling the monster dice up to three
times to rack up either victory points or monster bashing fists. You can also
earn currency with your rolls to buy power-up cards on a public market to make
your monster even more terrifying. Players roll the dice and attack whichever
monster currently has control of Tokyo; if you are the one leading the pack,
then you are attacking everyone else simultaneously. Talk about drawing
attention to yourself! The first monster to earn 20 victory points OR the last
monster standing will be the victor.
What’s cool about this game is just how fast things can
change. If you are in control of Tokyo, you earn the most points and damage all
the other players. However, you are also the biggest target on the table, and if
you drop to zero health, you’re out of the game for good. Finding a balance
between stomping on humans inside Tokyo and strategically taking power over
another monster is the key to victory. For being a simple dice game, you sure
can make some enemies!
For those gamers who need a little more depth to the game,
the item cards are the way to get more bang for your buck. You have to roll the
energy to buy them, but the items can do anything from give you defensive capabilities
against other monsters to forcing other
players to reroll healing throws. Yeah. It’s kinda evil, but totally
awesome. There is also a variant gameplay version inside the rules that can
make things even crazier.
If you’re a fan of monster movie lore or have a quick twenty
minutes to burn playing a board game, King of Tokyo will not disappoint. It’s
an excellent find when you can find a good dice game that moves fast but keeps
you coming back for more. I recommend taking it for a spin the next time you’re
in a game store near you.
No comments:
Post a Comment