Matthew BaileyDisclaimer: this review goes a little bit off track a few times as I ramble about Godzilla films and other kaiju board games. this review goes a little bit off track a few times as I ramble about Godzilla films and other kaiju board games.
Over the summer, alongside playing a lot of board games, one of the things I’ve been doing with the boys is widening their film horizons. Every few days we’ve been watching mostly blockbuster-style action films, and recently the boys (especially Henry) have become absolutely obsessed with Godzilla and all sorts of other kaiju.
So naturally, here we are looking at Godzilla: Tokyo Clash, an arena battle game for two to four players where you get to stomp around the city as either Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Mothra or Megalon.
First off, the components. For the price, it’s a really solid package. You get four chunky miniatures of the kaiju, which look great on the table. Unsurprisingly, Godzilla was the favourite, though King Ghidorah made a big impression too. Mothra, as ever, is a fan favourite, and then there’s Megalon. I’ll be honest, having Megalon as the fourth option felt a little unusual to me, but that’s probably because most of my kaiju knowledge is from the Western Godzilla films. I’ve seen the original 1950s film, Shin Godzilla, and Godzilla Minus One, but there’s a big gap in my knowledge of all the Showa-era monsters in between.
So how does it play? At its core, it’s a big kaiju brawl. Each player chooses their monster, gets their own deck of cards unique to that kaiju, and sets up on a modular board filled with city tiles. On your turn you play cards that let you move, attack, or throw your opponents around the city. Attacks can smash other kaiju or destroy buildings, and the fun of it is in the sheer chaos of monsters flying into skyscrapers and chucking each other across Tokyo.
As you cause destruction, you gain energy. This is the game’s main resource, used to fuel bigger, nastier cards from your deck. There’s also a clever system where the city tiles can be destroyed and replaced with rubble, so the map evolves as the fight goes on. No two battles look the same by the end.
The objective is to rack up dominance points, which you get from beating down other kaiju, completing certain card effects, or causing massive destruction. Whoever has the most dominance when the event deck runs out is declared the king of the monsters. It’s not a complicated system, and once you’ve played a round or two it flows along quickly, especially as the action escalates when everyone starts pulling out their stronger cards.
The game itself is definitely fun. It’s great throwing these iconic monsters into each other and knocking chunks out of the city. But there’s something about it that doesn’t quite reach the heights it could. The individual card decks don’t always capture the personality of the monsters as well as I’d like. Godzilla, Ghidorah and Mothra should all feel hugely different, but in practice they’re not as distinct as I’d hoped. Likewise, the building destruction mechanic (where buildings become resources) is clever, but it feels a little bit off and never quite clicked with me.
The boys enjoyed it more than I did, but I think that’s because they’re in their kaiju-obsessed phase. They loved the minis, they loved the theme, and honestly if your kids are really into Godzilla then this will probably go down a treat.
I am not normally a big expansion fan but if ever there was a game screaming out for expansions this is 100% it but as it is from the largely defunct Funko games divison that is likely never gonna happen.
For me though, it’s a middling recommendation. I love Godzilla, I love Japanese kaiju mythology, and I wanted this to be brilliant. It’s good, but it’s not quite Unmatched levels of brilliant. Fun fact: Restoration Games got the licence for Godzilla and King Kong in Unmatched, but it didn’t playtest well, and it never happened. There is a Godzilla vs Kong game currently on Kickstarter, but it’s unbelievably expensive and I can’t justify spending hundreds of pounds on it.
So overall, Godzilla: Tokyo Clash is decent, and in the right group it could really hit. The boys liked it more than me, but if you’re a kaiju fan and love the idea of a monster battle arena, it’s worth a look.
