Matthew BaileyFor today’s Spooktacular entry, we’re looking at “King of Tokyo: Duel,” a two-player version of the popular franchise by the legendary designer Richard Garfield. My experience with the “King of Tokyo” series has been a bit unusual. I played the original a few years ago—specifically the Black Edition—and, surprisingly, didn’t become a massive fan. I didn’t quite see what made the game so appealing. Oddly enough, my opinion changed recently when I picked up “King of Tokyo: Origins,” a more streamlined, quick-to-start version that Iello released a few months ago. To my surprise, I really liked it.
Played with Jack(9)
“King of Tokyo: Duel” is a two-player-only version, which retains the familiar feel of “King of Tokyo” but introduces some key differences that, personally, I really appreciate. In fact, I think this is a better game overall, especially when playing with just two players.
I’ll assume that if you’re reading this, you’ve either played “King of Tokyo” or checked out my review of “King of Tokyo: Origins.”
Unlike the main game, where players enter and exit Tokyo in rounds, in “King of Tokyo: Duel,” you’re on a city battle map with two primary tracks: the Fame Track and the Destruction Track. These tracks act as alternate win conditions. You’re either trying to pull the Destruction marker all the way to your side or do the same with the Fame marker. There are Power cards here, too, which you can buy in the same way as in the original game. However, there’s also an additional mechanic with Buzz tokens. These tokens are gained from certain card purchases and can be placed on one of the tracks, adding interactive spaces that affect movement along those tracks.
Each turn, you roll dice up to three times in a “Yahtzee”-style manner, aiming to get various symbols similar to the original game: Smashes (damage), Heals, Energy (which you can use to buy cards and abilities), Fame, and Destruction. With three Fame or three Destruction symbols, you can move one space along the respective track, and each additional symbol beyond three allows you to move further. For example, three symbols pull you one space towards your goal, four symbols move you two spaces, and five symbols move you three.
Then there’s the Special Power symbol, which has different effects depending on the monster you’re playing. It might let you gain extra energy, place a special Buzz token, pull markers on the tracks, or deal additional damage.
While the special powers add a lot to the game, we noticed one issue. In the four or five games we’ve played, Meka Dragon seems incredibly overpowered. His ability allows him to multiply all Special Power symbols by Damage symbols, which can quickly escalate, making it possible to deal six damage per turn. Considering most characters have only 12 to 15 health, that’s devastating. We ended up banning Meka Dragon because his ability was simply too strong, making it impossible to recover from the damage he could deal.
The game continues until one player either pulls a token entirely to their side or pulls both tokens into special Spotlight Zones further down the track, or, of course, if one player manages to defeat the other by reducing their health to zero. This structure feels well-balanced, with different characters often favouring different win conditions.
Production quality is excellent; it comes in a small box, which is perfect for this type of game, and the components are really high quality. At around £20 or less, this game is great value for money if you like two-player games.
I’m not always keen on duel games, but this is a great example of how to adapt a game that doesn’t typically work at two players. I’d definitely recommend “King of Tokyo: Duel” over regular “King of Tokyo” or “Origins” if you’re playing with two. I really enjoy the multiple ways to win, and I think it stands out as a strong addition to the series—a definite recommendation!
