King of Monster Island sees the monsters team up for the very first time.
Can they defeat the bigger threat?
We have detected irregular movement on the Monster Island. The volcano is erupting like never before. Monsters from all around the world are gathering on the Island, what is happening? They don’t even fight each other anymore!
Because is a greater menace is lurking. Something big enough to threaten every monster and make them fight together against the same enemy…
King of Monster Island Game Overview
Quick Rules Summary
A big bad drops dice into a volcano that allows them to take actions depending on the region of the board they land in. They’re controlled by the game and move, attack etc according to a script.
The rest of the players play similarly to King of Tokyo cooperatively trying to defeat them.
How do you win?
Defeat the big bad to win. If a player dies or if the baddie completes a certain goal the players can lose.
Main Mechanisms
Dice rolling, Yahtzee style!
USP
Adding a co-op element as the third game in a series does make this one very unique compared to the others.
Theme
I do like that the story says that the Monster wants to defeat the big bad so they don’t destroy the world and the monster can keep destroying it. That’s really funny.
Setup
More to set up than Tokyo but not as much as King of New York. I’m not sure how the volcano is set up because that was already done at Essen.
Components & Artwork
The dice, cubes and volcano are all nice. The rest of the bits like the player boards and standees are ok.
The arts isn’t bad but I’ll miss the original Cyber Bunny, my favourite character.
Ease of Teaching
This is fairly easy to teach. A new player doesn’t need to know how the boss works, they can just be told what they’re doing.
A player can be helped on their turn too if required.
Similar Games
King of New York and Tokyo are obviously similar but they’re PvP, not PvE. If you want a simple and colourful co-op my choice will always be Marvel United.
King of Monster Island Review
Positives
As fun as King of Tokyo but I feel the co-op element takes the game to the next level.
Players have a sidekick that gives different abilities as they gain points enhancing replayability.
The dice distribution via the volcano is decent but…
Negatives
…the dice don’t stop on the board!
It’s got a lot of bits going on and not everything is that intuitive, especially the big bads actions.
Summary
My new favourite edition of this series!
Jesta ThaRogue