King of Tokyo: Power Up! expansion review

King of Tokyo is a great party game and our copy has been used a TON. We’ve played it numerous times as a family, we play it regularly at Guys Game Night, and we’ve lent it out to neighbors and friends for some of their family gatherings.

So when we heard iello was working on an expansion for King of Tokyo, we quickly added it to our wish list.

(Need a refresher on the original game – check out Trevor’s Video Review of King of Tokyo.)

 

What’s the draw of King of Tokyo: Power Up?

The biggest draw is simply that we love the original game and were happy to add more bells and whistles. While King of Tokyo: Power Up! isn’t a huge expansion for the game, it adds an element to keep the game fresh.

I say “an element” because the biggest addition to the game is the set of Evolution cards that each character monster receives. Another monster is also added to the game, Pandakai, but that’s not a real reason to pick up the expansion because still only 6 players can play the game. (Which is just great for us with our family of 6.) So it’s really all about the Evolution cards.

 

Monster Evolution cards

Evolution cards are simply ways for the monsters in the game to Power Up. These cards give special abilities to the monsters just like the standard deck of power cards do in the base game. However, the Evolution cards are specific to the particular monsters.

At the start of the game, each player receives a set of 8 Evolution cards that are specific to their monster. At the end of a player’s turn, if they have rolled 3 hearts (even while in Tokyo), they can take their top Evolution card from their stack. It will either be a Temporary Evolution (use only once) or a Permanent Evolution (continual use) and they can keep it secret until they choose to play it.

The evolution cards add twists to the game like the deck of power cards. The two big differences are in the way the cards are gained (roll 3 hearts vs. spend energy cubes) and that they’re unique per monster. Some will be very helpful in attacking, others in defense, and others in scoring victory points (or taking away from opponents).

Here are some examples:

• Primal Bellow – Discard this Evolution to make all other Monsters lose 2 VP
• Heat Vision – Monsters you attack lose 1 VP
• Mothership Support – Once on your turn you can spend 1 Energy to heal damage even while in Tokyo
• Decoy Bunny – Discard this Evolution to take no damage this turn
• Prince with 1000 Enemies – Discard this Evolution to reroll a die belonging to another player
• High Tide – Discard this Evolution to count each Heart as 2 Heart for your turn
• Claws of Steel – Deal 1 extra damage on a turn in which you dealt 3 or more damage
• Yin & Yang – After you finish rolling you can flip all dice to the opposite side

 

Does it add to the fun?

After having played with the Evolution cards in the Power Up! expansion, it’s pretty clear that we’re going to include them every time we play.

One of the main reasons is that they’re easy to acquire and seem to be gained sooner in the game than buying power cards. There are also variant rules where players can start with a random Evolution. We like special abilities, so getting them earlier in the game is fabulous.

We’ve also found that the King of Tokyo: Power Up! expansion extends the time it takes to play the game. Adding more special abilities has a way of keeping players alive longer as they deflect more blows and such. Also having more cards in front of each player, means there’s more to keep track of. But in our eyes, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Sure King of Tokyo is supposed to be just a light, quick dice rolling good time. So it shouldn’t draw out too long. But we don’t mind when it plays longer because we don’t seem to notice the time go by anyway.

Because it’s a blast.
Just when someone lands a special destructive blow that’s sure to knock out Cyber Bunny, he throws out his Decoy Bunny and sustains no damage.

The only downside to King of Tokyo is player elimination. The first monsters to get knocked out won’t have much to do. And the Power Up expansion won’t help solve that problem. But we’ve find that even though players get knocked out, they’re still plenty invested in cheering on the other monsters and the king of the hill battle continues with plenty cheers and laughter.

So if you’ve got King of Tokyo, the Power Up! expansion is a great addition to the game.

If you don’t have King of Tokyo, what are you waiting for?

The Board Game Family Game Ratings
	Caleb
	Brooke
	Jaden
	Trevor
	Mom
	Dad
	Average