King of Tokyo: Duel – Board Game Review

Roll dice, play power cards, and dominate Tokyo to win the ultimate Kaiju battle with King of Tokyo: Duel.

Overview:

In this 2 player spin off of the King of the Hill classic that is King of Tokyo, players compete to gain control of Tokyo in both fame and destruction in the ultimate Kaiju game of tug of war.

Components:

The components in King of Tokyo: Duel are great, and akin to the quality you come to expect from any “King of…” game.

Rulebook

I want to give the rulebook a little shoutout, not only is it easy to understand and quick to learn how to play, the cover depicts a comic book cover which I just love, featuring the new art commissioned for the game.

Game Board

The King of Tokyo: Duel game board is really high quality, featuring intricate artwork of Tokyo’s landscape from a birds eye view. With the iconic Tokyo tower the board has 15 spaces for both the fame track and destruction track with clever spotlight zones included in the artwork that also plays a part in the actual gameplay.

Monster Boards

Can there be a King of Tokyo game without the iconic monster boards? In the Duel version of this game are 6 of the classic monsters from the original game, each reinvented with updated artwork that looks out of this world, the sheer quality in the artwork is amazing. Each of the monsters comes with a unique ability that can be enacted based on certain dice rolls. The game also integrates levels of difficulty based on the monster you choose with certain monsters starting with different levels of health.

Dice

The dice are my favourite thing about the King of Tokyo games, the feel, the bulkiness, the clattering when you roll to me is iconic with these games. Firstly, I love the colour of these dice, they’re almost a light pink colour and seem to fit perfectly with the colour palette of the game as a whole.

As you’d come to expect with Tokyo games the dice are all custom engraved featuring classic and new symbols for gameplay.

Action Cards

The game comes with 50 action cards, each with unique artwork. The only thing I would like to see is linen finish on the cards however this is more of a personal preference rather than a downgrade.

Life point trackers

I really like the dials in King of Tokyo to keep track of health, in this 2 player variant instead of this being integrated with the monster boards, these are separate disks. This is due to the different monsters having different starting health for increased difficulty levels.

Buzz Tokens

An added twist to the original, the action cards in King of Tokyo: Duel depict buzz icons. When purchased these cards allow the player to place the matching buzz token to the game board, either extending or shortening the track. Landing on these spaces may also provide the player with a buzz bonus.

Dice Tokens

These are standard punchboard material similar to the buzz tokens, players can gain these to spend in order to roll extra dice.

Energy Cubes

Again, another classic King of Tokyo component. These green resin cubes are as per the original components from the standard game.

Fame and Destruction Markers

New to the Duel version of this game comes the Fame and Destruction markers, these are what players are pulling their tug of war to win the game. These components are made of wood, a material that is new to the King of Tokyo games I have played, however the quality is incredible. The destruction marker specifically depicts a building split in two and is just really well produced. The quality of the wood used and the painted details are exceptional.

Insert

I want to start paying attention to when games have a good insert. The insert for this game is a standard vacuum sealed hard plastic insert however it is designed exceptionally well, all the components are easily accessible and are stored in a way that they don’t fall out of place when being stored.

Gameplay:

To begin players choose their chosen monster, Gigazaur and Alienoid are recommended for the first game, take their life point tracker and set to the appropriate health and place the fame and destruction makers on the board. Players will also shuffle the power cards, forming a face down deck and drawing the top 3 to create the market.

To determine who goes first, both players roll all six dice. The player with the most smash symbols goes first. Players then take turns, with their turn consisting of;

Roll Dice: Players can roll dice up to three times, setting aside or rerolling dice as needed similar to the original game. However, on their first roll of the game, players can only roll 5 dice. As the game progresses, they can roll all six dice as normal or even up to eight by discarding their dice tokens.

Resolve Dice: Once they have settled on the dice they have rolled, players resolve the symbols on their dice. Smash deals damage to their opponent, heal regains hearts, and energy collects cubes which players can spend for power cards. New to King of Tokyo: Duel, fame and destruction dice move their respective markers on the board. For every 3 fame or destruction dice rolled, move the corresponding marker 1 space. For any additional matching symbols rolled, move the marker 1 extra space. Additionally each monster has a unique special power, which can be activated by rolling the correct amount of special power dice which are symbolised with an exclamation mark. For example, Gigazaur can pull fame or destruction markers by simply rolling two special power dice while Alienoid can substitute dice for any symbol.

Buy Power Cards or Gain 1 Energy Cube: Players can buy any of the available power cards at the top of the board that they can afford. Each time a card is bought, cards slide to the right with a new card being drawn. The card in the furthest right space of the board always costs 1 less energy than shown on the card. Players may also discard all 3 face up cards to draw new ones by spending 2 energy cubes. Power cards include effects that players can either keep until the end of the game or discard where the power must be resolved immediately. In KoT Duel, power cards also feature buzz icons that can either extend or shorten the fame or destruction track, these tokens may also have a buzz bonus, pulling either the fame or destruction marker onto these spaces applies the effect depicted on the token.

The game can end at any point if a player fulfills any of the below victory conditions;

• Their rivals’ health is depleted.
• Both the fame and destruction markers are on a space in the Spotlight Zone on their side of the board.
• One of the fame or destruction makers reaches the Victory space on their side of the board.

Replayability:

For a small 2 player game, King of Tokyo: Duel packs a bunch of replayability. Firstly, the 6 monster boards, with differing levels of difficulty each with a unique special ability, allows for a whole load of match ups in the heart of Tokyo. Secondly, the 50 different power cards allow for a wide range of special powers that can be enacted. And finally, the addition of the buzz tokens means the board is constantly evolving which overall ensures a unique player experience each time.

Pros:

The game offers a solution to the issue the original King of Tokyo had this player count. Replacing the king of the hill mechanic with this tug of war version makes this version so much more enjoyable for 2 players.

The components are the quality you’d come to expect from the ‘King of…’ series of games. Despite this being a smaller, more compact 2 player version, no expense was spared to ensure the same quality was achieved.

For the size of the game it offers a satisfying bit of table presence, the revised artwork, the board, the buzz tokens the monster boards. There is a lot of real quality in the same details of this game.

Cons:

My only con with this game, I miss the monster standees. I know it doesn’t need them and they will increase the box size above what it needs to be, however I am sorely tempted to print some miniature monsters to add a bit of flare to my next game night.

Final verdict:

I love this game, which is unsurprising considering the original is a favourite of mine at higher player counts. Not only does this 2 player version offer different mechanics that work for this smaller player count it doesn’t detract too much from the original concept and makes for a much more entertaining match up between monsters. The components are quality, the revised artwork is exceptional. If you’re a fan of any of the ‘King of…’ games, you HAVE to add this version to your shelf.

This game was kindly gifted by Coiledspring Games, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

About this game: