Board Game Arena

Hey all,
I have seen many bug reports being made which were not valid, and because the rules weren't clear.

If anything isn't clear about rules, please post here, and people can try to provide an answer. BoardGameGeek is also a great resource for asking these questions.


I am trying to get a good grasp on all the rules and interactions between cards. I only played a couple of times before in real life, and since it was here on BGA I have played quite a lot of games, and it inspired me to get my own physical copy... copies. I cleaned out my bank account(well, not entirely) and (pre-)ordered myself sets of King of Tokyo and King of New York and all its expansions*. So I hope to call myself an expert soon, so I can help others, and who knows, many years down the line when BGA is allowed to adapt the others parts of the series too.

https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Kin ... kyo_series

Some clarifications between caeds were discussed with publisher during the game develoment, you can find listing here : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

And quick rules clarifications :
- you don't need claws to enter Tokyo, this rule was only in the first edition, not in the last one (BGA version is last edition)
- 2p variant from KOT Dark Edition is an option, activated by default (as it will be also included and recommanded in future edition of classic KOT), so winning energy instead of points on 2 players game is normal.
- buying card when you're the last one, or when you are over 20 points is often not necessary, but it can be useful in some corner cases as you have to survive your turn (if you have 1 heart and a poison token, for example), that's why it isn't skipped automatically.

thoun wrote: ↑06 September 2021, 09:19 Some clarifications between caeds were discussed with publisher during the game develoment, you can find listing here : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

Thanks Thoun, that doc is an interesting read. Well, can't spend too much time right now on it cuz at work, but it is a nice that I will analyze in depth.
The Mimic + Freeze Time I had made a bug report for, but the doc seems to contradict what I found on BGG. We'll see how that goes, I guess.

And good that you already listed some of the FAQ (aka false bug reports), we can expand that list as we see fit

I know they can't be used to heal yourself, but...

* Can a monster in Tokyo use hearts to remove poison/shrink tokens?
No, "Monsters in Tokyo cannot use [heart]" (page 5). And the manual explicitly mentions these (page 7).

* Can a monster in Tokyo use hearts to heal others (and steal their energy) with healing ray?
The manual doesn't mention it, but "Monsters in Tokyo cannot use [heart]" should still apply.

Apparently, the current BGA implementation allows the second use, though (https://boardgamearena.com/gamereview?table=201059096 move 156-157).


And what happens if you have only 1 life point remaining and you have armor plating? Does it make you invincible (as long as you have only 1 point), since you can only lose 1 point?

Isn't being negative health also death?

Are there negative numbers in the physical score board? My understanding is you cannot go negative, just as you cannot go negative in energy (there are no "negative" energy cubes) or in victory points.

Does "Media Friendly" (pay 1 less when buying) affect "Parasitic Tentacles" (you can buy from other monsters). And how does the latter work with "Battery Monster" (place 6 energy and take 2 per turn)? Does the card keep the energy on it or is it reset?

Jellby wrote: ↑11 September 2021, 12:17And what happens if you have only 1 life point remaining and you have armor plating? Does it make you invincible (as long as you have only 1 point), since you can only lose 1 point?

No you're not invincible. You can still take 2 damages, even if you will go down only 1 heart.

How do I activate Rapid Healing (at any time, spend 2 energy to gain 1 heart)? Clicking on the card does nothing, and there's never a point (even when dying) that the game asks me whether I want to do that.

You have a button "Heal 1 heart (-2 energy)" on the top right of the game area (next to dice)