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I've been called the champion of all things King of Tokyo. But, that might have to change to the champion of most things King of Tokyo. King of Monster Island is a cooperative game set in the King of Tokyo universe and I have a “Would love to love but generally dislike” relationship with cooperative games. In this release the players team up, playing as stand-ins for Godzilla against the stand-ins for Ghidorah (Crystal Dragon, Lithosaur and Lavalord...but only one at a time). One of the keys to base King of Tokyo is that all monsters start with the same powers. You'll find that here as well. (And I really miss the power up expansion cards that make you monster feel like your own). Five monster are included and it's like they brought in the B-team of monsters to save the world. Okay, that's not fair. Megamoth is the Mothra we always wanted in KOT and H.A.D.E.S. is a cool battleship themed mecha. But is it truly King of Monster Island without a Giant Ape and a radioactive breathing Dinosaur?
As with most co-ops, you have one way to win: Kill the Boss, and multiple ways to lose: Any player begins their turn with zero health, Three Pylons are on the board, or there are no minions left in the bag when you need to add minions to the board. Pylons are what the Boss Monster is placing on the board that will summon the “Rest of the Horde” to conquer Earth. Minions are the cannon fodder working on the side of the Boss Monsters since you have to hit/kill them before you can do actual damage to the Big Bad. So, they are constantly going in and out of the bag on the table.
You basically need a Dungeon Master to handle the Bosses turn. They literally suggest the most experienced player run the Bosses turn. “Hang on guys, try not to disengage from the game while I do a few minutes of rolling, moving, adding...No! NO! Do not pick up your phones!” And speaking as the default “Most Experienced Player” I had to put all the plans for what my character was going to do on my turn into the back seat of my brain while I ran the bosses turn and then, chaotic fire drill style, try to get back into the driver seat of my brain to take my character's turn. Now, imagine that in a four of five player game when the boss gets a turn after every player. I get that, for gameplay sake, everyone can't take their turns at once. But the player turn, boss turn, player turn mechanic just doesn't perfectly click for me. This is supposed to be non-stop Kaiju action but the other monsters are sort of standing around taking a smoke break while another player monster attacks...but somehow the evil boss monster get a turn after every player? So, he's four times faster than the heroes in a four player game? Or Five times faster in a five player game? Someone give me a way to sort this out in my head canon.
Since I've touched on the subject of player count, let me say this is best at two or three players. Not only does four or five players make the game “harder” (Those extra boss turns mean that he keeps powering himself up while you have to spread it out and try to power-up, and keep alive, four or five monsters) but it really, really drags the game out. Imagine taking a turn in a five-player game and then realizing that you won't be taking another active turn for another NINE “rounds” (boss and player turns combined). Keeping even the most dedicated team players engaged/interested is nearly impossible.
The traditional King of Tokyo chunky dice are present but with some new faces/actions:
Heart: Choose a monster in YOUR zone to gain one Health. (Can be yourself or an allied monster)
Foot: Movement (you or another allied monster) or deal one damage in your zone.
Paws: Deal two damage to enemies in your zone.
Fame: Used to power up Ally cards.
Wrenches: Used to place and activate support cards (via three and four cost spaces that are found on the board).
Energy: This has a weird multiplier added to it. One Energy symbol gets you one Energy. Two gets you three. Three gets you six. Four Gets you ten Energy and Five gets you fifteen energy. This is key to winning, because players can leave/lock dice on the board for the next allied monster to use and, with the multiplier, this is the obvious choice.
I've played plenty of MMORPG's where you need supporting players to shore up your Damage Dealers and I feel this game really leans into that. Usually one monster will be your tank/damage dealer and follow the boss monster around. The other players will set up that player up to have a massive turn by leaving dice they can use on the board instead of using them on their turn. You know how those 7 energy cards come out in KOT and you think “I really want that card but it's so expensive!” Well, if you can pass a few energy rolls to your Damage Dealer, they can easily pick up that card and maybe even a second powerful card. Buying cards also cycles out Event Cards. When you pull one of these, you do what the card instructs and discard it. But this isn't the traditional “Deck of Many Bad Things” , instead, the event in the deck are “Mostly Good Things and a Few Bad Things.”
There are a few other mechanisms like the Ally Sheets (Being able to activate Earthen allies like a clan of ninjas or a troop of monkeys who will help you and become more powerful the more “Popular” you are) and Support (Human Allies in Naval vessels that you place that you can activate as needed but will need to be recharged with an action before they can help again). All which are very well implemented but the issue is, still, that in order to defeat the bosses, one player will be Batman and everyone else will be Robin(s). I don't think being reduced to a sidekick role, mopping up minions and tossing Batman the Batnuke is what players signed up for.
Honestly, I got a bit excited about the game when I started writing this review and pulled it back out, set it up and, having beat the three included bosses on Normal, flipped over Lithosaur to the Advanced side and went at it. Only a few rounds into the game that 30 health of the boss was looking daunting. And not in a good way, but in a “Oh, this is going to be a long, arduous game” way and I realized I was not looking forward to actually beating (or losing to) the boss. So, I just packed it up mid-game and put it into my for sale/trade pile.
The End.
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No, really, that's it. There is no post credit scene. You're still here? It's over. Go home. Go.
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