King of Tokyo: Power Up! Mini Review

So, a little while ago I reviewed a great little filler game called King of Tokyo.  But... now there's an expansion - so, of course that means it's time to review King of Tokyo: Power Up!

So, first off, let me tell you that I'm going to assume that you're familiar with the basic game of King of Tokyo. If not, that was a link to my review - I'd encourage you to read it before continuing on down this page.

Some evolutions for the King

Now, that I've said that, here's what the expansion adds: the monsters are actually different!!  This, coincidentally, is also the first (only?) pro for the expansion.  Each monster has a deck of "evolutions" that they can use.  Specifically, whenever you end your turn with three hearts, then in addition to healing, you also get to draw a card and get a cool new bonus.  (You can do this even if you're in Tokyo.)  These bonuses are fairly similar to the cards that you would purchase in the base game, but you can actually keep them secret until you plan to use them.  And, as I said before, the cards are different for each monster.  There are actually a few different variations of how to play with the evolution cards - you can simply draw the top card when you evolve, you can draw the top two cards and select one, or, before the game starts, you can draft which evolutions you want (to make a customized deck) and then draw the top card from that deck.  Whichever way you choose to play it (I generally just let you draw the top two and keep one), it's a nice little variation to the game.

See how this doesn't look at all like a panda?

What else was added?  Well, there's a giant panda now.  (I personally find this a little sad, because I had swagged out my copy of King of Tokyo using Monsterpocalypse figures, and I have nothing that even remotely looks like a panda, but that's not really the game designer's fault.)

(This is the part of the review where I scratch my head and think of other things to say about an expansion that really only adds one element to a game, only to come up with nothing...)

That is really all that's different in King of Tokyo: Power Up!  So, if you enjoy the basic game of King of Tokyo, but you wish that the monsters had different abilities (and I'm guessing that if you do like the base game, then you probably have that wish), then this expansion will probably be worth picking up.  Whereas it doesn't add a lot to the game, what it does add is useful.  Or, put another way, now that I have the expansion, I don't ever intend to play the base game without it.

Overall, I give King of Tokyo: Power Up! an 8.0/10.  If you don't like the base game, then this expansion definitely won't change your opinion on the matter.  However, if King of Tokyo is a game that you enjoy, then you probably won't be disappointed by the expansion.

(And, while I'm talking about expansions, you might also check out the Empires: Builder Expansion, Lord of the Rings: LCG Shadows of Mirkwood Expansions, and Nightfall: Martial Law Expansion.)

I would like to thank Iello Games for providing me with a review copy of King of Tokyo: Power Up!