King of Tokyo

King of Tokyo, designed by Richard Garfield, is a fast, loud dice game for two to six players. Each of you is a giant monster fighting to rule Tokyo. You win by scoring 20 victory points or by being the last monster still standing. The engine underneath is pure push-your-luck: roll, keep, reroll — then decide how much damage, healing, points or energy you want out of the throw.

The dice and how you roll

You roll six custom six-sided dice. Their faces are:

• 1, 2 and 3 — number faces, for scoring victory points.
• Energy (a lightning bolt) — collect energy cubes.
• Attack (a claw) — deal damage to other monsters.
• Heart — heal one point of health.

Rolling works like Yahtzee: throw all six, set aside any you want to keep, and reroll the rest. You get up to three rolls in total each turn, then you resolve everything the dice show — all at once, in any order you like.

Scoring and how a turn resolves

Every monster starts with 10 health and cannot exceed it. Reach 0 and you’re eliminated.

Tokyo is the heart of the game. If you roll at least one Attack and Tokyo is empty, you must move in and take it (scoring 1 VP for entering). Starting your turn in Tokyo scores 2 VP. But the city is a knife-edge: while you hold Tokyo you cannot heal, and your claws hit every monster outside at once, while every attacker outside hits you. When you take damage in Tokyo, you may choose to yield — leaving the city and letting your attacker move in.

Energy buys power cards from a shared shop. Some are kept for permanent abilities, others are one-shot effects; between them they let you break the base rules in useful ways.

Winning strategy & the odds

The central tension is that points come fastest from Tokyo (2 VP just for surviving a round there) but Tokyo is where you get killed. Managing that trade is the whole game.

• Take Tokyo early when healthy. With full or near-full health and few opponents left to hit you, the 2-VP-a-turn drip is the quickest route to 20.
• Know when to yield. Once you’re low and can’t heal in the city, stepping out to take hearts is usually right — a dead monster scores nothing.
• Don’t chase both paths. Splitting effort between racing to 20 and grinding everyone to 0 is how you lose to a player who committed. Pick the plan the dice and board favour.
• Reroll with intent. Decide before your second roll what this turn is for — points, an energy engine, healing, or an alpha strike — and keep only the dice that serve it.
• Energy is tempo. A couple of well-chosen power cards can swing the game, but hoarding energy while others score is a trap; buy things that actually advance your plan.
• Watch the leader. When someone nears 20, the table should collectively punch them out of Tokyo — and if that’s you, expect it.

On the dice themselves: with three rolls and six dice, getting a triple of some number is common, but locking a specific high triple (three 3s) is harder — take the points the dice offer rather than forcing the ones you wish for.

Common mistakes

• Trying to heal in Tokyo. Hearts do nothing while you hold the city — new players waste rolls on them.
• Staying in Tokyo too long. Pride keeps players in the city until they die; yielding is a legitimate, often winning move.
• Ignoring victory points. Beating monsters down is satisfying, but a quiet player collecting 3s and Tokyo bonuses can hit 20 while you brawl.
• Never entering Tokyo. Playing it safe outside means you almost never score the 2-VP turns — you have to take risks to win.
• Sitting on energy. Cubes you never spend don’t win games; the shop is where energy becomes an advantage.

Fancy some pure dice practice first? Throw a handful of dice in your browser to get a feel for keep-and-reroll odds.

Keep reading: the dice-drafting puzzle Sagrada.