King of Tokyo board game review

I’m a bit of a Kaiju junkie. I was introduced to Godzilla a.k.a. “the King of Monsters” quite young, it was at a sleepover at a friends house early in my elementary years. The giant monster stomped into my imagination and his atomic breath seared away preconceived notions of what a monster could be. The actual memory of the party is fuzzy, I forget who the other kids where at that party, but I vividly remember the movie and my own atomic/technicolour breath from overeating candy.

When a game called King of Tokyo showed up on my suggested board game list I was more than interested. It took me a while to convince my wife to play it. The wife just doesn’t have the same love for city stomping killer Kaiju that I do. She finally played at this year’s GameALot and we both loved it.

In King of Tokyo each player selects a knock-off style Kaiju monster: Then they compete to become the King of Tokyo. A player wins when they reach a total of 20 points or if they knock out all other monsters.

Each player rolls 6 dice to determine their actions for a turn. They can keep as many as they want and re-roll the rest up to two more times. Claws deal damage, either to the monster in Tokyo or to all other players if you are in Tokyo. Hearts regenerate health but only if you are not in control of Tokyo. Lightning bolts build energy which can be used to build up powers. Or there are three point value numbers of 1, 2 or 3. Any roll of 3 or more of a single number can give you that victory point number, plus an additional point for each of that number above the triplet.

The rules are very simple so new players can pick up the game quickly. I find it is a great entry level game that can still be fun for more advanced gamers. There are several elements of strategy that make the game interesting. Staying longer in Tokyo allows you to build victory points faster and allows you to damage all players outside Tokyo, but staying out of Tokyo allows you the option to heal damage and makes you less of a target for other players. Knowing when to take over the city or when to leave is very important. The purchasing of powers will allow a player to customize their monster and make each game variable and dynamic. Finally there is a strategy in selecting which dice to keep and which to re-roll; do you want to build points, build energy, heal or attack?

Of course there are a couple of drawbacks. In the base game while the monsters are varied in creative artwork and look really cool, they don’t actually vary in play style. Each monster plays identically and only gains powers available to all players for purchase. Nothing is really monster specific. Also the dice rolling creates a very random game that sometimes makes it difficult to really get the strategy element you want going. The upside of that is it negates a little of the veteran player advantage.

The game is for 2 to 6 players but it loses a lot with fewer players. It just feels better with all 6 players to get the real dynamic Kaiju brawl going. It is still fun but the wild unpredictable nature of the game really comes out with more players. The play time is about 30 minutes. I find that the game moves quickly and keeps players involved nicely as each player’s choices can drastically change what is going on in the game.

To sum up I think King of Tokyo is an ideal game for any group. The rules are easy to learn allowing players to jump into play and get to fun quickly. The theme is fairly universally known so even players who aren’t as into the genre (like my wife) will still understand it and can still have an enjoyable game. King of Tokyo is great for kids and adults so I really think it should be on your shelf. There are expansions that I will get into next week.

Until next time, I recommend you roar into your local gameshop, smash some cash onto the counter and stomp on out with King of Tokyo in hand.

Citadels Game Review

I like a game of political intrigue, where the ability to analyze and predict the other player is an asset. Citadels is one such game.

In the game Citadels you are a group of nobles amassing gold in order to be the one to build the best districts in a new medieval city. When a player has completed 8 districts the game ends and whoever has the most points from their district wins. Each turn players select roles then proceed in numerical order of roles to play special abilities and spend gold. The basic rules are beautifully simple but the roles make the game much more complicated and fun.

There are eight roles to choose from. For example: you have the King who gets to select his role first next turn, the merchant who earns extra gold, the assassin who can kill a character for a round (forcing them to miss a turn) and others. However role selection is done without other players seeing what you selected. Starting with the King each player selects a role, then passes the deck clockwise around the table. This way you only know your own selection, which cards have been drawn before your selection, and which were passed along. It is up to you to read the other players and deduce who drew which role.

This brings in some serious intrigue into the game. Do I select the thief in order to rob a player with stacks of much needed gold? If so which role would that player select? Or would he figure out that was my goal and select another role to avoid me? Or do I select the merchant to earn gold on my own? If I did that would another person select the thief thinking the player with stacks of gold selected the merchant causing me to be robbed instead?

It is these player choices in the game that decide the outcome. There are no dice. The only luck comes from what districts are drawn and available for purchase. The fun of the game comes from the ability to analyze, bluff, outmanoeuvre, intimidate and strategize. The joy of outwitting an opponent and the surprise of opponents’ cunning plays all work together to provide a medieval and intellectually stimulating game.

Unfortunately Citadels can be overcome with analysis paralysis. Players can sit during the role selection phase for a painfully long time frustrating themselves and everyone else trying to figure out which role to select. Players overanalyze the situation and become afraid of taking any action. This can bog the game down and take everyone out of the fun.

To sum up Citadels is a good game for people looking for a little political backstabbing and strategy. I would recommend Citadels for players who want to do away with luck to totally rely on their cunning, instinct, and insight into their fellow players. This is a great game for outwitting and bluffing. It can be bogged down by analysis paralysis so if you aren’t willing to gamble with your fate and make snap decisions this might not be the game for you.

Make sure to buy the most recent edition which has that purple icon in the bottom left corner. It includes expansions which allow for different roles to be included.

Lunch Money game review

I had heard whispers in gaming groups of a game of childhood fights. Having been in a few schoolyard scraps I needed to find out how this translated to a game. Today I’m going to review the card game Lunch Money.

I gave this game a try back at GameALot this year. I have to admit the game did look intriguing. The artwork on the cards is darkly beautiful. Images of the creators own children coupled with odd quotes really sell the idea of a schoolyard fight.

Game play is supposed to be quick and dirty as a schoolyard fight should be. But new players all had an issue with knowing what their cards could do. Card type is determined by colour and you have to remember the colour scale to understand your cards. There are also no descriptions on the cards on what exactly the cards do. Players were constantly referring back to the rules in order to understand the special abilities or requirements of cards. For instance certain cards require you to play a “Grab” card first while others are specialized attacks. This kept bringing players out of the game causing play to grind to a halt. Gameplay would flow considerably faster if more information was included on the cards.

I managed to have some fun but the theme of the game won’t be fun for everyone. It’s a bit immature and people sensitive to bullying aren’t going to be happy with it.

To sum up I don’t recommend the game for two reasons. First is the theme isn’t fun for everyone and game night shouldn’t be about triggering childhood trauma memories. My other issue is with the lack of information on the cards causing players to repeatedly refer to the rules. I wouldn’t be playing the game often enough to memorize all of the cards and this completely ruins the flow of the game. If this issue was fixed in a future edition I could recommend this game to players who survived schoolyard scraps rather unscathed. I  definitely recommend keeping this game away from kids.

Until next time, save your Lunch Money… er that is game money, for a game with better card/rule design.