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Review: King of Tokyo

Posted by Jim {Power Gamer} | 29-Mar-12 | 15 comments

King of Tokyo

Tokyo has been besieged by monsters and you are one of them! Revel in this theme-heavy game and use your dice to defeat your opponents to be crowned the King of Tokyo!

This is a perfect light game. It is easy to learn, easy to teach, and a great deal of fun. You can play it with non-gamers, or as a break between heavier games.

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Comments (15)

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7
Miniature Painter
Intermediate Reviewer
Master Grader

Love this game and it is such light fun!

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8
BoardGaming.com Beta 1.0 Tester
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@whatawhale

lol @ the newbie comment. At least that’s a quick reshuffle at the beginning of the game, not 2/3rds of the way through where you find out they’ve been playing completely wrong and essentially cheating unintentionally. πŸ™‚

Bang! will definitely still be a staple at my table, the wild west theme is too enjoyable to give it up, but this game seems great and I’m definitely going to introduce it to my friends and family when it gets a reprint (hopefully soon)

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8
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Without looking up the game, I can see how a game called “Lifeboats” would be sinister and cruel. I believe I need to look into this game further. πŸ˜‰

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9
USA
Platinum Supporter
Petroglyph
BoardGaming.com Beta 1.0 Tester

Speaking of games with player elimination. One of the cruelest games is Lifeboats. I highly recommend it. πŸ™‚

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6
Count / Countess
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@bobb

Dieing before you have a turn seems highly unlikely. Unless some managed to buy and use a card that did bonus damage.

Once the game gets going…
If you play with a lot of players and people go hardcore claw, then a lot damage can happen before you have your next turn.

Another reason why it’s better than Bang! is that you don’t have that problem of a newbie saying, “My role card says Renegade what does that mean…”

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10
Critic - Level 5
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Marquis / Marchioness

bobb33z3r

My main reason for the comparison here was due to Bang being the primary game that comes to my mind for games with player elimination where you may be dead before you get to take a turn.

Beyond that, they both play a good number of players and allow you to attack your fellow gamers, but the comparison was more due to the above. Given the choice, I’d take King of Tokyo over Bang any time I was able for the quicker play time, lower downtime if you are eliminated, and because in my experience, though having similar amounts of luck, people tend to get more upset when losing Bang, and more arguments tend to break out.

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@ Andy

Curious that you chose Bang! as your point of comparison. Is that because they play similar or because they’re both similar social type games? Just curious why that was the game you mentioned. Thanks!

@ Granny

You’re cruel…. πŸ™ πŸ˜‰

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10
Critic - Level 5
Professional Advisor
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Marquis / Marchioness

Greg,

Wow, I’ve never seen anywhere near that much damage get dealt before someone takes their 1st turn. Was everyone rolling for energy and buying attack cards? Are you sure you’re playing where someone has to already be in Tokyo for their claws to cause damage to the other players?

I’ve thought one of the plusses of King of Tokyo over Bang (and I would say there are many!) is that they pretty much removed the issue of losing before you get a turn.

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7
Advanced Grader
Movie Lover
I'm Completely Obsessed

Yes, it’s fun, it’s easy, it’s fast, but the player elimination can be brutal!! My first time playing, I was down to 2 before I even got a hold of the dice, I was out within 5 minutes. That being said, I’d still like to pick up a copy when it comes available again.

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6
The Gold Heart
Plaid Hat Games fan
Sentinels of the Multiverse fan
Bronze Supporter

I wish I could get a copy of this – my son and I are huge Godzilla fans and the Kaiju Wars I got him for his birthday was not that great ( Although the minis are cool.) ahem… reprint… ahem…

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10
Jungle Elves - Summoner Wars
BoardGaming.com Beta 2.0 Tester
Summoner Wars Fan
Unicorn Clan - Legend of the Five Rings

I’ve been looking out for a copy for awhile now, as well. Still looking…

But now I know I just need to help this really nice granny cross the street, and I’m sure she’d be happy to give me one of her copies. πŸ™‚

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9
USA
Platinum Supporter
Petroglyph
BoardGaming.com Beta 1.0 Tester

@bobb I bought them all! Mwahahahahahahahah! No, the first printing sold out, and it’s taking awhile to get back out there (iello is slow). Its’ worth the wait … one of my favorite family games… easy.

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Count / Countess
BoardGaming.com Beta 1.0 Tester
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Cryptozoic Entertainment fan

@bobb
I think they didn’t anticipate its popularity.
I know that some game stores are still able to order a copy, I think they are doing a reprint?

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Is there a reason for it’s rarity? I’m very interested in this game as well.

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8
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This is a game I have been looking for, but it is really hard to find. eBay has it once in a while, but for like twice its cost. Fail.

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