Since I've already blathered on at length about my unhealthy Godzilla fetish, and lambasted the hot, smoking pile of debris that was Godzilla: Kaiju World Wars, I can just cut to the chase on this one.
After the Prospero Hall game design group delivered the lite, but spoopy, Horrified and the positively-dripping-with-theme Jaws, I waited with baited breath as Godzilla: Tokyo Clash was poised to wade out of the bay and annihilate my expectations.
So, after a seemingly-endless "Target exclusive" imposed delay, I finally got the chance to test drive it recently and I can confidently say that, unlike Kaiju World Wars, you can, at the very least, play it right out of the box. You might be trolling the Board Game Geek forums pretty quick, but at least you can get started without wanting to stick your face in an Oxygen Destroyer-accented aquarium.
Okay, so what's the emergency broadcast on this one? Well, here's the game's description right from the kaiju's roaring mouth:
"You are Earth’s most fearsome Kaiju – Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Megalon – battling for dominance as the most terrifying monster in Japan! Stomp across the vintage Tokyo cityscape, unleash devastating attacks, and throw trains, tanks, and battleships at your enemies. Master each Kaiju’s unique battle style to gain dominance before the humans drive the monsters from the city! The game features an impressive 3-D table-presence with large-scale figures, buildings, and a modular gameboard so every game is unique!
Need more training to take on those space dragons and aliens? Welp, click on the following link to start working on your Tail Slides, Victory Jigs and self-propelled Jet-Breath!
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PLAY-THROUGH
Before we continue, please permit me a quick aside. So, ever since I started this blog, I've always wanted to include extended examples of play, mainly because I'm the sort of pathetic weirdo who used to enjoy reading the "Series Replays" in The General magazine.
But, more than that, I also want to put my own personal interpretation of a game's rule book on display to (A) honor the designer's intent and (B) help readers do the same. For me, the "winner" of a game always carries an asterisk if there's a monumental transgression of its boundaries. That's why I put so much time and effort into reproducing the narrative of a game from start to finish.
Having said that, I totally understand if folks scroll right past all of this madness just to get to my final thoughts / review. This time out, though, I'd really appreciate it of folks who have already purchased this game and digested the rules will read through this session report as a personal favor to me. Seriously, I really want to know how well I interpreted the rules here.
And now, without any further ado, here's tonight's MST3000-style presentation of:
GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA VS. KING GHIDORAH
Events: "Armored Assault" and "Rush Hour"
ROUND ONE
(1) Oxygen Destroyer Phase: Ignored for Round One
(2) Action Phase
Godzilla uses “Rush” to move 3 spaces. Since this “Momentum” card lets him do another action, he plays “Tail Whip” for 2 Energy, which has an Attack Value of 2. Instead of doing direct damage, he decides to use the card as a "throw”, launching his arch rival King Ghidorah two spaces towards a Military Bunker, destroying it as well as a Small Building en route. (NOTE: since the card wasn’t used for direct damage, King Ghidorah couldn’t have used a defense card.) Wrecking these two structures nets him 4 Energy, plus it lets him take a card out of his Discard Pile and put it back on the top of his deck, so he decides to retrieve the “Rush” Card. (NOTE: since Ghidorah was thrown into a building, he doesn’t suffer any damage.)
Choosing to watch the fracas from the sidelines, Mothra pops on her Walkman and listens to the “Shobijin Song” of her twin fairy guardians on Spotify for free. She then gains 2 Energy and draws a new card.
King Ghidorah plays a free “Mangle” card, which bumps up his, um..."Head Meter" by one and wrecks a Train close to Mothra, scoring 3 Energy.
Godzilla passes.
Unnerved by Ghidorah’s proximity, Mothra spends 2 Energy to play “Gust of Wind." The Great God of the Void has no cards to block with, so Mothra plucks 2 cards from his Draw Deck, keeps “Go for the Throat” as a Trophy and then places “Rush” in the Discard Pile. This effect also moves Ghidorah one space away, so Mothra positions him in the middle of a column of Tanks. #smart
Ghidorah spends 1 Energy to play “Screech", which bumps his Head Meter up by 1 and lets him draw 2 cards. He then Discards “Snapping Jaws.”
Godzilla jumps back in, playing the “Power Up” Enhancement for 1 Energy.
Mothra uses her free, 3-Range “Antenna Beams” on Godzilla, gaining 2 Energy. The "Big-G" plays “Scaled Hide” in response, which nullifies the attack.
King Ghidorah plays another “Screech”, maximizing his Head-O-Meter. He then draws 2 Cards, keeping “Counter” while discarding “Thunder Spark.”
Godzilla passes.
Mothra discards “Stinger Spray” to move 2 spaces with Momentum, dangerously close to Ghidorah. She then drains all of her remaining Energy to play “Poison Scales” for 4 Damage! In response, the King of Terror" plays a free “Counter”, blocking 2 Damage. Mothra still gets to draw 2 cards from her rival’s deck, keeping a 1-Dominance “Gravity Beam” for a Trophy while discarding a 0-value matching version! Ghidorah’s “Counter” now lets him move into Mothra’s space! Ruh, roh!
Her concern is warranted! Ghidorah spends all 3 remaining Energy to “Go for the Throat”! Mothra can’t block this nasty strike, so 4 of her cards are drawn from the top of her deck. Ghidorah keeps “Sky Drop” as a Trophy and discards the rest...but then the “Barrage” kicks in, which lets him take “Gusts of Wind” as a Trophy as well! Yikes!
Godzilla passes.
Mothra passes.
King Ghidorah passes.
(3) Refresh Phase
All monsters draw up to 5 cards. Mothra’s Ability kicks in and she gains 4 Energy (!) from the nearby Tower while Godzilla, still the “King of the Monsters”, draws an extra card!
(4) Event Phase
During "Armored Assault" all of the Tanks move and attack! Each Tank moves 1 space towards the nearest kaiju and then dishes out 1 Energy damage to monsters in their space or adjacent spaces. From the rule book: “if there are ever 2 or more kaiju equidistant from a Vehicle, they move towards the King of the Monsters,” who is currently Godzilla! He gets hit 3 times, dropping to 0 and Ghidorah gets smoked twice. Since the rule book doesn’t explain what happens when Tank damage exceeds a monster's Energy level, I assume that there are no additional ill-effects. I guess? Maybe?
Then the "Rush Hour" Event triggers and all of the Trains move 1 space each! *choo! choo!*
ROUND TWO
(1) The Oxygen Destroyer token moves.
(2) Action Phase
Godzilla plays “Path of Destruction”, moves 2 spaces and eats a Train for 3 Energy.
Mothra plays “Rush” and moves 2 Spaces away from King Ghidorah. She then plays “Gusts of Wind” for 2 Energy, targeting the 10,000 Year Old Dragon, who has no defensive cards. She takes “Unstoppable” as a Trophy, discards “Soar” and then blows him back a space, right into the corner.
Ghidorah discards “Triple Beam” to move a single space back towards Mothra, plays “Thunder Spark” for free to move his Head Meter up by 1, and then picks up a Tank and hurls it at Mothra. The Vehicle is destroyed, gaining the King of Terror 1 Energy. Mothra opts not to play a defensive card, so Ghidorah takes a single 1-point Trophy in the form of “Resilience.”
Godzilla plays the Momentum-licious “Crushing Grip” for free to eat a Small Building, gaining 2 Energy. He then plays another Momentum Card, “Rush”, to move into Mothra's space. He shoves her aside and then blasts Ghidorah with a “Mega Heat Ray”...draining all 5 of his Energy to do so. This blast also flattens a Small Building in the space between them, so Godzilla nets 2 Energy back. He also discards “Power Up”, which results in a whopping 7 damage as well as the freedom to take a bonus Trophy. He helps himself to both “Snapping Jaws” and “Soar” from King Ghidorah's Kaiju Deck!
Irked by her proximity to Godzilla, Mothra uses the Momentum Card “Rush” to wing away and then singes the current King for a single point of Damage, gaining 2 Energy in the process. Godzilla doesn’t have a defense card, so Mothra claims a Trophy from him...as well as the “King of the Monsters” Token!
Still pissed at Mothra, Ghidorah uses the zero-cost “Rush” with Momentum to move into his rival’s space. Using a combination of flight and his grasping jaws, he snatches Mothra out of the air and power bombs her into an adjacent space. This requires a Throw, so he discards a “Triple Beam” card in order to do so. (Rules question: can you throw an opponent into the same space? If so, do you destroy any Vehicles or Small Buildings present there?) He gets 2 Energy for destroying the neighboring Military Bunker and also recovers a card, so he retrieves “Unstoppable” from the discard pile and adds it on top of his Kaiju Deck!
Godzilla plays the “Amphibious” Enhancement with his 2 remaining Energy.
Mothra passes.
Ghidorah, just 1 Energy shy of a “Triple Beam”, is also forced to pass.
All monsters then pass, ending the round!
(3) Refresh Phase
All draw cards back up to 5, but the current “King”, Mothra, draws up to 6.
(4) Event Phase
During "Armored Assault" four Tanks converge on Godzilla but he has 0 Energy, so I presume that there’s no effect? Three attack Ghidorah, draining all of his remaining Energy! Then the 2 remaining Trains move during "Rush Hour." Finally, Mothra’s Special Ability kicks in, so she gains the benefits of the nearby Tower...scoring another 4 free Energy!
ROUND THREE
(1) The Oxygen Destroyer Marker moves!
(2) Action Phase
As the new “King of the Monsters”, Mothra goes first! She spends 3 Energy to play the Range-1 Card “Sky Drop”! Ghidorah responds with “Unstoppable”, which gives him 3 Defense (2 + 1 per “Head” advancement). He takes a net 1 Damage, so Mothra keeps “Counter” as a Trophy. She then hurls Ghidorah two spaces away from her, smack dab between herself and Godzilla.
Monster Zero stress-eats a Small Building for 2 Energy via the free “Mangle” card. It also ramps up his Head Meter by 1.
Hurting for Energy, the Big G discards “Bellowing Roar” to pick up a Tank and huck it 2 spaces (thanks to his Special Ability) into a Tower! That's a net 5 Energy gain!
Ghidorah is also in rough shape, but doesn’t have a lot of options so he decides to pass!
Showing no mercy, Godzilla spends 2 Energy for his patented “Tail Slide”and kangaroo boots Ghidorah. The three headed dragon was just playing possum, however, and drops “Unstoppable” on the table for free, which gives him a total defense of 4 (2 + 1 for each Head) so the attack is completely blocked!
Taking advantage of the confusion, Mothra’s nearby baby caterpillars start to carpet bomb the area with their “Silk Spray”, inadvertently snaring Godzilla. The Big G is also ready and the gossamer threads are immediately shredded on his “Scaled Hide."
Sick of being picked on, Ghidorah drops his “Fury” card to electric slide (with Momentum) out of this contested spot. He then turfs his last card (“Triple Beam”) to yeet a Tank into the Tower close to Godzilla, scoring 5 Energy points!
Annoyed by the attempted wrangling, Gojira spends 2 Energy to blast his Range 2, 4 Damage “Heat Ray” at Mothra. She get clobbered and “dies”, but plays the “Rebirth” card to reduce the damage to 1. Godzilla takes a 1-Dominance Trophy card (another “Rebirth”, coincidentally) as well as the “King of the Monsters” token from Mothra, who re-appears freshly hatched in an isolated corner of the board.
Undaunted, Mothra turfs a “Silk Spray” card to move 2 spaces northwest and then fires her 0-cost “Antenna Beams” at Godzilla, which are Range 3, Damage 1. This gives her 2 Energy and a possible Trophy, but, since the randomly-drawn “Crushing Grip” is a 0-Dominance card, it’s just thrown into ‘Zilla’s discard pile. (NOTE: even though Mothra didn’t take a Trophy, she still technically“damaged” Godzilla so she takes the “King of the Monsters” Token away from him!)
Completely out of cards, Ghidorah passes. Godzilla and Mothra both follow suit.
(3) Refresh Phase
Godzilla and Ghidorah both draw up to 5 cards while "Queen" Mothra, draws up to 6. Mothra’s Special Ability then kicks in and she gains 2 Energy from a Small Building in an adjacent space.
The Tanks move and attack during "Armored Assault". Godzilla looses 2 Energy, so he’s tapped out and Ghidorah also loses 2. Neither Tanks nor Trains are added, but the Trains do move a space during "Rush Hour."
ROUND FOUR
(1) The Oxygen Destroyer marker moves on!
(2) Action Phase
Mothra spends 2 Energy to bring in the “Protector” Enhancement.
Ghidorah “Screeches” for 1 Energy, ramping up his “Head-O-Meter” to the highest mark. He then draws 2 cards and chucks out “Snapping Jaws.”
Godzilla throws out “Power Up” to move 1 space northeast with Momentum. He then discards “Mega Heat Ray” to shot-put a Tank into a neighboring Radar Dish, which nets him 3 total Energy. This also lets him peek at Mothra’s top card.
For 2 Energy, Mothra plays the “Resilience” Enhancement.
Ghidorah drops the free Momentum card “Rush” and charges at Mothra. He then plays another zero-cost card: “Thunder Spark." Mothra responds with a free “Dodge” which nullifies the attack, but Ghidorah gains 2 Energy since Mothra played a Defense Card.
Godzilla pays 1 Energy for “Victory Pose” and wades into Tokyo Bay. He then retrieves the “Rush” card from the discard pile and adds it to his scaled hand!
Mothra discards “Supersonic Flight” to move a single space south east. Her “Protector” Enhancement then lets her gain 2 Energy for the 2 Small Buildings in that space!
Ghidorah spends 3 Energy for the “Fury” Enhancement!
Godzilla decides it’s time for a big-time flex, spending 2 Energy to blast Ghidorah with a “Heat Ray”, which is Range 2, Damage 4. Ghidorah responds with a free “Unstoppable”, which provides a huge defense of 5 from a base of 2 and then +1 per Head!
Sensing an opening, Mothra comes at Ghidorah with her “Stinger Spray”, which cost 2 Energy, Range 1, Damage 1. Poor, beleaguered Ghidorah has no defense cards left, so Mothra takes a Trophy. The Attack triggers again, and, since it also can’t be blocked, Mothra collects another card but the “Triple Beam's” Dominance value is “0”, so it's just discarded.
Ghidorah exhausts his last Energy to gain the “Taunt” Enhancement.
Godzilla decides to bide his time and passes. Mothra and Ghidorah do the same!
(3) Refresh Step
Godzilla draws up to 5 cards, Mothra draws up to 6 and Ghidorah pulls 5. Mothra then gets 4 Energy from the folks in the nearby Tower cheering her on!
(4) Events Step
"Armored Assault": one Tank moves to protect Mothra, while the others close in on Godzilla and Ghidorah. But, since neither have any energy, the point is moot. "Rush Hour": the Trains move!
ROUND FIVE
(1) The Oxygen Destroyer marker shifts one space ahead and, thanks to his “Amphibious”, Godzilla gets 2 Energy for starting his turn in the water.
(2) Action Phase
The Peanuts perform an extended dance mix version of their “Shobijin Song” for free, which nets their patron kaiju 2 Energy and a card draw!
King Ghidorah discards a “Counter” card to move into Mothra’s space, destroying a Small Building there thanks to his “Fury” Enhancement. This gets him 2 Energy.
Godzilla keeps hamming it up like Hulk Hogan, doing another “Victory Pose” to move 1 space and add “Path of Destruction” back into his hand.
Sensing an encroachment, Mothra hits Godzilla with her Range 1, Damage 4 “Poison Scales” attack for 4 Energy. Godzilla responds with “Dorsal Plates”, blocking 3 out of 4 damage. One hit still gets through, so Mothra takes a 1-Dominance “Rush” card as a Trophy...but since the attack wasn’t fully blocked, she also takes his “Amphibious” Enhancement! Brutal!
Ghidorah discards “Gravity Beam” to pick up a Tank and hurl it into the adjacent Tower, picking up 5 Energy worth of destruction points!
Speaking of, Godzilla plays “Path of Destruction” to waddle directly into the fray and stomp the crap out of a Small Building for 2 Energy.
Them l’il twin runts just keep caterwauling their free “Shobijin Song”, which lets Mothra pick up 2 Energy and another card draw!
Ghidorah finally snaps and “Goes for (Mothra’s Hypotherical) Throat”, a 4-cost / 4-Damage melee attack. She responds with a “Dodge”, but still takes 2 Damage. First her “Resilience” kicks in and she looks at the top of her deck, which turns out to be a valuable “Rebirth.” She discard this card; a solid move, since the next two card draws are both valued at “0” and are immediately chucked out! Nevertheless, Ghidorah’s “Barrage” power still kicks in and he ends up taking a 1-point “Rush” card out of Mothra’s hand as a consolation prize...as well as the “King of the Monsters” title!
Godzilla then flies into his arch-rival, spending 1 Energy to attempt a “Body Slam” on Ghidorah. The space dragon is ready, though, tabling “Counter” for free to gain a 1-Head power up, and fully blocking the attack! Since Ghidorah was just targeted, he gets an Energy thanks to “Taunt.”
Mothra counter-attacks Ghidorah, launching a “Stinger Spray”. Again, he’s defenseless, so Mothra draws a Trophy Card but, since it’s a 0-Dominance “Unstoppable” card, it’s turfed. “Taunt” gives the defender another Energy. The attack goes off again, but this time the Trophy (a 2-Dominance "Fury") is stockpiled. Once again, Mothra takes back the “King of the Monsters” token.
Ghidorah decides that discretion is the better part of valor and uses “Rush” to move 3 spaces away, crushing a Small Building upon his arrival thanks to “Fury”, gaining 2 Energy in the process.
Godzilla gives chase, using “Rush” to move 2 spaces for free and then playing “Body Slam” for 2 damage. Bad luck for the Big-G though, as both of the cards he draws for Trophies turn out to be zeroes! At least he gets to use the card’s secondary effect: to throw Ghidorah up to 2 spaces away, so he gorilla presses him into the adjacent Radar Dish for 2 Energy and then peeks at the top card of his enemy’s deck.
Mothra takes advantage of this and plays “Supersonic Flight” for 2 Energy, moving three spaces towards the distracted Godzilla. This generates 3 damage, which he has no defense for. As a result, she captures a sneaky 2-point “Power Up” Trophy!
Ghidorah and Godzilla both pass, but Mothra uses “Rush” for free to move adjacent to the last standing Tower! After collecting 2 Energy from the 2 Small Buildings in this space thanks to “Protector,” Mothra and all of her opponents pass, ending the round!
(3) Refresh Phase
Godzilla draws 5 new cards, Mothra gets 6 and Ghidorah gets 5. Then Mothra gets 4 Energy for defending the remaining Tower!
(4) Event Phase
During "Armored Assault", one Tank moves into Mothra’s space, one moves towards Godzilla and the final (incredibly brave) Tank moves into Godzilla’s space, reducing his Energy by 1. Since there are only 3 Tanks remaining and 3 kaiju, both Godzilla and Ghidorah get to add 1 new Tank each to the board, very close to the far edge. Then the Trains move during "Rush Hour"!
ROUND SIX
(1) The Oxygen Destroyer token moves 1 more space, crossing past the destroyed Small Building meter. This is the final Round!
(2) Action Phase
Mothra starts, using her attack value 1, Range 3 "Antenna Beams" to target Ghidorah, gaining 2 Energy in the process. Again, he catches Monster Zero without any defense cards, scoring a quick 2-point Trophy in the form of “Screech.”
Ghidorah jets away via a “Soar” card, landing next to the last intact Tower. He peeks at his top card but keeps it.
Godzilla plays “Path of Destruction” for free, mashing a Small Building en route for 2 Energy.
Mothra is suddenly feeling very trapped and plays “Rush” to move 3 spaces away with Momentum. She ends up in a space with one intact Small Building, so “Protector” gives her 2 Energy. She then spends that much to play the Range-2 card “Gusts of Wind” on Godzilla. Sadly, the Big-G also has no defense card, but since both random draws have 0 Dominance, the attack is a wash.
Ghidorah attempts a last ditch, "Hail Mary" series of moves, starting with the 0-cost “Mangle.” This lets him eat a Train for 3 Energy and crank up his Head Meter.
Godzilla pivots, spends 2 Energy and then scotches Mothra with a 4-Attack, 2-Ranged “Heat Ray”, which she can’t defend against. She then activates her “Resilience” Enhancement, looks at the top card and then returns it to the deck since it has 0-Dominance. He still gets a 2-point “Sky Drop” Trophy card out of the deal and the rest are discarded. He also picks up the "King of the Monsters" token!
But “THE PEOPLE’S MONSTER” ain’t licked yet. She calls upon her larvae to blast the giant reptile with a Range 2, Attack Value 1 "Silk Spray" bukkake. Since he has no recompense, Mothra then uses the card’s text to root through his hand and turf a critical “Tail Whip” Card! Again, she wrestles the "King of the Monsters" title card back!
Ghidorah jettisons a “Triple Beam” card (!!!) to move a single space! He then plays “Thunder Spark”, even though he has no valid target. (NOTE: Is the legal? I have no clue.) This gives Monster Zero the chance to crank his Head Meter up to the max!
Godzilla is now completely stuck since he’s 1 Energy short of a “Tail Slide.” With no other option, he uses “Rush” to move two spaces southeast and then throws out “Tail Slide” to biff a Tank at Mothra. Since she has no defense, Godzilla gets a Trophy but, of course, it’s a 0-value “Antenna Beams” card. Oh well, at least he takes back the "King of the Monsters" token!
Mothra has her revenge, throwing out “Stinger Spray” to move 2 Spaces towards Ghidorah and then spending a whopping 4 Energy for a nasty "Poison Scales" attack, which is Range 1, Attack Value 4. Although the tri-headed dragon gains an Energy thanks to “Taunt,” he also has no way to block the hit, so she turns up 4 cards, takes the 4-Dominance “Unstoppable” as a Trophy and also takes the “Fury” Enhancement Card as well! Damn, Mothra is a friggin' beast!
In the last play of the game: Ghidorah spends 4 Energy for his insanely-powerful “Triple Beam” attack. This results in a total of 6 (!!!) damage thanks to his Head Meter being at full and the Barrage kicking in! Before the potential Trophy is picked, however, Mothra uses her “Resilience” Enhancement to look at the top card of her deck. It’s a juicy 3-Dominance “Supersonic Flight”, so she puts it into her Discard Pile. The Triple Beam’s text allows Ghidorah to take “2 additional Trophies” so he ends up with “Gust of Wind” and “Silk Spray” for 3-Dominance each and “Poison Scales” for 1. Not a bad haul!
All Monsters pass. Godzilla draws 6 cards while Mothra and Ghidorah both take 5 each. The Tanks move, Ghidorah gets hit once, Godzilla three times.
END OF GAME DOMINANCE VALUES
Godzilla - 9 + 2 for the "King of the Monsters" Token = 11
Ghidorah - 13
Mothra - 18
MOTHRA WINS!!!
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Post-Match Commentary
Godzilla always seemed to be Energy-starved, so "Amphibious" would have been a good thing to get out early. Notwithstanding the fact that he shouldn't have pulled his punches on Mothra, the Big-G also seemed to pick the worst possible times to attack and had precious little luck reeling in good Trophies.
Despite the fact that Ghidorah was mercilessly picked on for the entire game, he acquitted himself rather well! A successful Monster Zero player will be patient, ramping up that Head Meter to launch some insanely vicious attacks.
Finally, Mothra executed a fine "float-like-a-giant-butterfly, sting-like-a-murder-hornet" strategy, staying mobile, keeping the Energy flowing and sneaking in with some timely strikes. Her Enhancements are also obscenely good, with “Resilience” stingily denying Trophies and "Protector"insuring that she's always juiced up to the gills!
***
REVIEW
PROS
- The production values of the game are bafflingly good, especially considering the price point. The kaiju minis and Large Buildings are spectacular and the gauge of cardboard used for the city tiles is stellar. Bonus points for the retro art style...it really evokes the goofy Showa-era of Godzilla movies, which I adore.
- Since players can normally only do one Action per turn, the game plays fast and furious. The Discard Actions also ensure that you're never totally stuck.
- Between their customized decks, Discard Actions and Special Abilities, each kaiju plays quite different from one another. Mothra is agile and loves to strike from a distance, Ghidorah is all about powering up for wide swaths of devastation and the Big-G is a well-balanced beast with a nice assortment of pummeling, grappling and ranged attacks.
- Timing, observation and memory are all come into play, especially in a 3-4 player game. Swooping in when you know a rival is defenseless is clutch to picking up some easy Trophies.
- Since Godzilla and company are essentially indestructible, I really like the Energy / Trophy system of damage. Not only does it reduce your monster's effectiveness in battle, it's also an elegant way to keep track of who's winning.
- The inability to target buildings for attack might seem contrary to the theme, but I actually see this as a "PRO", since the designers likely wanted to ramp up player interaction. Otherwise, the kaiju would just spend the first few turns stomping around the board, wrecking shit for Energy and barely casting side-eye's at each other. This might still be on-brand, but it doesn't make for as fun or interactive experience. Besides, each monster deck features plenty of specific cards that you can play to trash Vehicles and Buildings.
- Thematically, the game is wonderful. Even though the rules have their issues (see below), it's easy to get into and kaiju fans will be positively giddy with excitement the first time they judo-throw a rival across the map and into a Tower!
- Words can't describe how much I wanted to give this game a perfect score but, alas, I can't. Sure, the rule book technically lets you play the game, but, as this constantly-expanding forum on Board Game Geek will attest, you're probably going to be spending a fair bit of time looking for rules clarifications. This is why I asked readers who've already played to game to read and rate my play-through. I'm still not sure how well I interpreted the rules as presented. As a professional writer, editor and board game instructor (Yes, I'm serious about that last one), I'm always obsessed with clear and effective language, which is why I'm always flummoxed when I encounter rule books like this. Like I've said so many times before: there's a lot of design excellence in the board gaming hobby, but it often gets lost in the pops and buzzes of poor communication. And, frankly, that's a real shame because if Godzilla: Tokyo Clash gets a 2.0 rule book and a few key expansions, it'll be this G-Fan's dream game!
- Granted, the Tanks, Jets, UFO's, Trains, Battleships, Small Buildings and Lightning Generators are all chits, but I'm sure this kept the cost of the game from being prohibitive. For the record, I used miniature Tanks from my copy of Axis & Allies and Trains from Ticket to Ride!
