With Godzilla: King of the Monsters hitting theaters May 31, 2019, we’re in the mood to make like our favorite kaiju (“strange beast”) and terrorize the nearest city. From wreaking havoc downtown as citizens scatter and hide, to battling other monsters in order to stake our claim as the biggest and baddest, we can get our fix of city-stomping action right on our very own tabletops.
Check out these games that feature giant monsters duking it out to see who is the greatest boss monster of them all!
King of Tokyo
Like Godzilla tormenting Tokyo throughout so many of the classic kaiju films, you and your opponents will stomp your away around the city in an attempt to be crowned King of Tokyo. Taking the classic Yahtzee roll-up-to-three-times-and-score-the-results mechanism, you’ll toss a fistful of big chunky dice to deal damage to your opponents, heal yourself, and/or gain energy cubes. Those energy cubes come in handy since they’ll allow you to gain cards that give you additional abilities and bonuses, from dealing extra damage to your opponents to gaining valuable victory points. There are two ways to become the King of Tokyo: be the last monster standing or be the first to score 20 victory points.
King of New York
King of New York is to King of Tokyo what The Empire Strikes Back is to Star Wars: while the original set the tone and established its universe, the sequel took everything and made it better. This time, you and your fellow giant monsters are in New York. However, there’s more to think about since you can knock down buildings for extra points, move throughout New York’s different boroughs, and deal with the military taking shots at you and all of the other beasts demolishing the city. Along with a fun superstar card that can be passed among players for extra points, King of New York takes the basic roll and re-roll mechanism of the original and makes it into something a bit meatier for more diehard gamers.
Terror in Meeple City
This dexterity game was formerly known as Rampage before lawyers from the classic video game got involved. Terror in Meeple City has you and your fellow monsters literally destroying a city: in this case, you’re crashing through the various buildings and meeples on the game board. Flick your monster’s feet disc to try to knock over buildings, which will spill innocent meeples everywhere. You’ll eat those meeples for points, hoping to collect a complete set of six different colors (variety is the spice of life, after all). Each monster has an ongoing special power as well as a one-time superpower that’ll help you demolish and eat more of the city, and every player has a secret objective for more points. Rawr!
GKR: Heavy Hitters
Among the great giant monster movies is Johnny Socko and his Flying Robot, aka Giant Robot for those of us who used to watch Saturday morning monster movies. In GKR: Heavy Hitters you control a big ol’ robot fighting other big ol’ robots. These Heavy Hitters are matched with three robotic support units: Combat, Repair, and Recon. You’ll use your entire team to power your Heavy Hitter and outwit your opponents in this game of deckbuilding and card management. Only the strongest and smartest will bash their way to victory.
What are your favorite monster games? Tell us in the comments!
WANT MORE MONSTER MADNESS?
- A Godzilla For All Seasons
- Let’s Get Ready to Robot Rumble with Critical Mass
- WATCH: Wil Wheaton and Friends Play King of Tokyo
Image Credits: Ruel Gaviola, Crytozoic Entertainment
Ruel Gaviola loves board games, books, food, travel, Star Wars, and date nights with his wife. He writes about games for iSlaytheDragon, podcasts about games for The Five By, and his name rhymes with Superman’s Kryptonian name. Follow him on Twitter and read his blog here.