King of Tokyo is a game from Richard Garfield, designer of Magic: The Gathering and Android: Netrunner.
In King of Tokyo, mutant monsters, gigantic robots, and other aliens are happily whacking each other in a joyous atmosphere in order to become the one and only King of Tokyo.
When it is your turn to play, you throw six dice. Each die bears the following six symbols: 1, 2 or 3 Points of Destruction, Energy, Healing, and Whack. In three successive throws you are going to choose whether to keep or discard each die in order to come up with combinations that will enable you to win destruction points, hoard energy, restore your health, or whack other players into understanding Tokyo is YOUR territory. The fiercest player will be crowned King of Tokyo... and will end up facing all the other monsters alone!
Top this off with special cards that you can purchase with energy. These give you a permanent or temporary effect such as the growing of a second head which grants you an additional die, body armor, nova death ray, and more.... and you hold one of the most explosive games of the year!
In order to win the game, you must either destroy Tokyo by accumulating 20 destruction points or be the only surviving monster once the fighting has ended.
*NOTE*
On the 5th anniversary of the release of the best-seller by Richard Garfield, King of Tokyo gets a facelift with a new version, entirely redone by a group of artists* lead by Régis Torres, who previously illustrated the Halloween expansion pack and King of New York.
In addition to these exclusive illustrations, this new version will have a new rulebook that was reworked to be clearer, as well as two new monsters: the ever-so-popular Space Penguin (the original version, highly sought-after by players, was only available through tournaments) and Cyber Kitty.
The King, Gigazaur, Meka Dragon, and Alienoid, still defending their territory, have also benefitted from a makeover. The changes are purely aesthetic changes: the rules of the game and Power cards remain unchanged.
*COMPATIBILITY WITH THE EXPANSIONS*
Unfortunately, the publishing house weren’t able to keep the card backs on the Power cards (they hosted the old box cover, which is different in this new version). To make sure the original version is compatible with future expansions, or the existing cards (promos or cards in the Halloween expansion pack) with the new version, the publisher will soon offer, at a reasonable price, card sleeves that fit the game’s theme.
The existing Evolution cards are completely compatible with the new version (by giving the new monsters the Evolutions of the monsters they replaced, or by using a dealing variant for the Evolutions – drafting or random distribution). A new version of Power Up! is already planned, with Evolutions for the new monsters, as well as Evolutions that let you use the King of Tokyo monsters in King of New York.
All the other contents, and notably the monsters, is and will remain entirely compatible between both versions and all expansions.