King of Tokyo: Dark Edition
King of Tokyo: Dark Edition Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview and Goal
King of Tokyo - Dark Edition is a game for 2 to 6 players where players take on the roles of giant Monsters ready to do whatever it takes to conquer Tokyo. Roll the dice, buy Power cards, build up your Wickedness, and smash everything to bits to gain Victory Points (star) and win the game. And if you're feeling villainous, you can even try to eliminate all of your adversaries. The last one standing will be declared victorious!
If you are familiar with King of Tokyo: it is only necessary to read the parts of the rules with the Wickedness icon, as you already know how to play most of this game!
Contents & Game Elements
6 Monster Boards
These boards represent the Monsters that you can play in King of Tokyo. Each has a name, a dial for Victory Points (star), and a dial for Life Points (heart).
1 Tokyo Board
The board represents the City of Tokyo divided into two locations: Tokyo City and Tokyo Bay. When a rule or card refers to "Tokyo", it means both places. The board also includes the Wickedness gauge.
6 Gray Dice
Each die has 6 symbols that represent the primary actions you can take on your turn:
- 1 / 2 / 3: Gain Victory (star) and Wickedness Points
- Lightning bolt: Gain Energy Charges (lightning)
- Claw: Wound other Monsters
- Heart: Gain Life points (heart)
6 Cardboard Figures
These figures represent your Monsters. Keep them near you. When you take control of Tokyo, place your Monster on the board, in Tokyo City or Tokyo Bay, as described below.
66 Power Cards
Power cards display a name, a cost to pay in Energy Charges (lightning), a type (KEEP/DISCARD) and an effect.
There are two different types of Power cards.
- KEEP: Keep these cards face-up in front of you until the end of the game (unless you are otherwise instructed).
- DISCARD: Resolve these cards immediately, then discard them.
Energy Charges
Keep Energy Charges you've gained from lightning dice faces. You can spend them to buy cards or to resolve/activate certain card effects.
10 Wickedness Tiles
Wickedness tiles are double-sided. Each side shows a number (bottom right), a name, and an effect.
Players keep all of the Wickedness tiles that they acquire face-up in front of them until the end of the game (unless you are otherwise instructed).
6 Wickedness Counters
These counters allow you to keep track of your Wickedness points on the gauge found on the board.
27 Tokens and 2 Yellow Dice
The tokens and yellow dice are used with specific Power cards and Wickedness tiles.
- 3 Smoke tokens
- 12 Shrink Ray tokens
- 12 Poison tokens
Setup
- Each player chooses a Monster and takes its figure and Monster board. Set your Monster's Life Points (heart) to 10 and Victory Points (star) to 0.
- Place the Tokyo board at the center of the table, within easy reach of every player.
- Shuffle the Power cards to form a deck.
- Deal the first three Power cards face-up on the table next to the Tokyo board to form a Market. Place the remainder of the deck next to this Market. Place all of the tokens nearby.
- Put the gray dice in the center of the table. Set the yellow ones aside for now (some Power cards and tiles will allow you to roll the yellow dice).
- Form a supply pool with all of the Energy Charges (lightning).
- Place the Wickedness counters close to the Wickedness gauge. Stack the Wickedness tiles next to the numbered circles corresponding to their values. You should have 4 tiles next to the 3 space, 4 tiles next to the 6 and 2 tiles next to the 10.
The tiles are double-sided. Use the red side for your first game. For later games, you can choose to play with all of the tiles on the red side, all on the green side, or a mixture of the two.
With 2 to 4 players only Tokyo City will be used.
With 5 or 6 players both Tokyo City and Tokyo Bay will be used.
How to Play
To determine the starting player, each player rolls the 6 gray dice. Whoever gets the most Claws goes first. In case of a tie, the tied players roll all 6 dice again until one player has the most Claws.
Heart = Life Points. Lightning = Energy Charges. Star = Victory Points.
Turn Overview
- ROLL DICE
- RESOLVE DICE
- ENTER TOKYO
- BUY POWER CARDS
- END OF TURN
1. Roll Dice
On your turn, you can roll the dice up to three times. You can stop rolling at any time.
On the first Roll, roll the 6 gray dice (and 1 or 2 yellow dice if you have a Power card or a wickedness tile that lets you roll them). For your second Roll, if you like some of your results, you can set them aside and only reroll the ones you don't like. For your third Roll, you can reroll any dice you previously had set aside (for instance, if you changed your mind), along with any results from your second roll that you don't want to keep.
After you finish your third Roll (or if you decide to stop), continue to the RESOLVE DICE step.
2. Resolve Dice
You can resolve your dice in any order, but you must resolve all of them.
Symbols showing on the dice at the end of your last Roll represent the actions of your turn:
Victory Points (1 / 2 / 3)
If you roll three-of-a-kind of 1, 2 or 3, gain as many Victory Points as the number. Each additional die with the same number gains you 1 additional Victory Point.
Wickedness Points
In addition to Victory Points, 1-1-1 and 2-2-2 grant you Wickedness Points:
- For each three-of-a-kind rolled of 1 you gain 2 Wickedness Points.
- For each three-of-a-kind rolled of 2 you gain 1 Wickedness Point.
3-3-3 doesn't earn you any Wickedness Points.
When you gain Wickedness Points, move your counter up on the Wickedness gauge.
If your counter moves onto or beyond the 3, 6, or 10 space, you may take a tile of your choice from the tiles available at that level of Wickedness.
Place the tile in front of you; its power is now active. Note that as you continue to move up (you never reset to zero), you only gain a tile once for each threshold you pass.
Once you have chosen a tile at a given level, you may not have another from the same level.
Example: GIGAZAUR rolls 1-1-1-1 = (1-1-1: 1 Victory Point + 2 Wickedness points) + (1: 1 Victory Point) = 2 Victory Points + 2 Wickedness points.
Energy Charges
Gain 1 Energy Charge from the pool for each Lightning rolled. Place them in your reserve in front of yourself.
Keep Energy Charges until you spend them.
Smash (Claw)
Monsters that are not in the same location as you lose 1 Life Point for each Claw you have rolled.
- IF YOU ARE IN TOKYO (Tokyo City or Tokyo Bay) and you roll Claws, you wound all Monsters outside of Tokyo and only those monsters.
- IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE OF TOKYO and you roll Claws, you wound all Monsters who are in Tokyo (Tokyo City and Tokyo Bay). These Monsters can then decide to Yield and leave Tokyo or to remain in Tokyo (or Tokyo Bay, if applicable). Monsters who Yield Tokyo still lose Life Points as a result of the Smash that they suffered.
Each Claw results in losing one Life Point. If a Monster loses his last Life Point, then the skull appears and that monster is eliminated (whose corresponding cards, Wickedness tiles, and Energy Charges are discarded).
Since no Monster starts the game in Tokyo, the Monster who starts the game does not cause Monsters to lose Life Points with any Claws that are rolled, but must automatically enter Tokyo regardless (see below).
NOTE: Life Points lost from a Power card effect is different than Life Points lost as a result of a Claw. A Monster can only Yield Tokyo when losing Life Points from Claws.
Heal (Heart)
- IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE OF TOKYO, you can gain 1 Life Point for each Heart rolled up to your maximum health level. Any remainder over your maximum may not be used to heal further.
- IF YOU ARE IN TOKYO, the Hearts that you roll do not let you gain Life Points (you can only gain Life Points with Power cards or Wickedness tiles).
NOTE: You cannot gain Life Points above 10 Life Points.
Example
Roll Dice
Cyber Bunny is in Tokyo City. It's Gigazaur's turn, who is at level 2 on the Wickedness gauge and is outside Tokyo. Gigazaur takes the gray dice and he rolls:
1, 2, 3, 3, Heart, Lightning
He keeps 3, 3 and rolls the four other dice again. He gets:
3, 3 (which he had saved) and 2, 2, 2, Claw (the rerolled dice)
He has one Roll left. This time he keeps 2, 2, 2 and rolls the three other dice again. He gets:
2, 2, 2 (saved) and 2, Lightning, Claw (rerolled)
Resolve Dice
Because he rolled 2-2-2, he gains 2 Victory Points, plus 1 extra Victory Point for the fourth 2 result.
The 3 2s rolled also give him 1 Wickedness Point and he moves his counter forward one space on the Wickedness gauge. He reaches the 3rd Wickedness space and chooses one of the available tiles at level 3. He places it in front of himself.
With the Lightning, he gains 1 Energy Charge.
With the Claw, he wounds Cyber Bunny, who is in Tokyo (if Gigazaur was also in Tokyo, he would have wounded all Monsters outside of Tokyo, but not Cyber Bunny). Gigazaur rolled no Hearts, so he gains no Life Points.
3. Enter Tokyo
If no one is in Tokyo, you must enter and place your Monster in Tokyo City. (Similarly, in a 5 or 6 player game, if Tokyo Bay is empty, you must enter Tokyo Bay.)
REMINDER: You can only Yield when you lose Hearts from Claws rolled by a Monster.
NOTE: No Monster starts the game in Tokyo. The first player must always enter Tokyo City during this step.
WITH 5 OR 6 PLAYERS, if Tokyo City is occupied, but Tokyo Bay is empty, you must enter Tokyo Bay. Monsters in Tokyo City and Tokyo Bay are both considered "in Tokyo". Tokyo Bay has identical effects as Tokyo City.
Once the game has 4 or fewer players, any player in Tokyo Bay must leave Tokyo Bay immediately (except if Tokyo City is empty, in which case you move there).
This occurs even if it is not that player's turn.
Effects of Tokyo
Being in Tokyo (Tokyo City or Tokyo Bay) has some advantages and some disadvantages:
- 1 Victory Point: you gain 1 Victory Point when you enter Tokyo.
- [+2 Victory Points]: you gain 2 Victory Points if you start your turn in Tokyo. This includes if you are allowed to take an additional turn via special effects.
- No Heart: Monsters in Tokyo cannot use Hearts (but they can still use Power cards to gain Life Points).
Moreover, the target(s) of your Claws depend on where you are located:
- The Claws rolled by Monsters in Tokyo will wound all Monsters outside of Tokyo.
- The Claws rolled by Monsters outside of Tokyo will wound all Monsters in Tokyo.
You can only Yield Tokyo after losing Hearts from Claws rolled by another Monster.
Optional rule for a 2-player game
If you want to play a 2-player game, we recommend using this rules variant for control of Tokyo (all other rules remain unchanged):
- Instead of gaining 1 Victory Point when you enter Tokyo, you gain 1 Energy Charge.
- Instead of gaining 2 Victory Points if you begin your turn in Tokyo, you gain 1 Energy Charge.
4. Buy Power Cards
You may buy one or more of the three face-up cards in the Marketplace. To buy a Power card, spend as many Energy Charges as the cost that is indicated at the top of the card. If it is a DISCARD type of card, resolve its effects at once before taking any other action. If it is a KEEP type of card, place it in front of you and it instantly becomes active. Replace any removed cards in the Market immediately by drawing from the top of the draw deck. These newly revealed cards are immediately available for purchase.
You can also spend 2 Energy Charges to sweep all three face-up cards to the discard. Then reveal three new Power cards from the draw deck. They are immediately available for purchase.
As long as you have enough Energy Charges, you can continue to buy or sweep cards.
Example: The King has 10 Energy Charges and doesn't like any of the available cards. He spends 2 Energy Charges to sweep them to the discard and reveals the next three cards from the deck. He still has 8 Energy Charges and sees a card that costs 3 Energy Charges. He chooses to buy this card and replaces it with a new card. He still has 5 Energy Charges but decides to save them for another turn.
5. End of Turn
Certain Power card effects activate at the end of your turn. Activate these cards before passing the dice to the next player. Pass the dice to the player on your left (clockwise).
End of Game
The game ends at the end of the turn when a Monster reaches 20 Victory Points or if only one Monster remains in the game. The Monster who reaches 20 Victory Points or is the last survivor is crowned Dark King of Tokyo!
Glossary
ROLL: the act of throwing the dice on the table. Before a Roll, a player can set aside one or more dice of their previous roll. The player can also decide to roll one or more of the previously reserved dice again.
YIELD: a Monster may Yield Tokyo only after being wounded (reduced Life Points as a result of another player's Claws).
WOUND or SMASH: a Monster Wounds or Smashes another Monster when it has him lose one or more Life Points with her Claws during the Resolve Dice step.
TURN: a turn ends each time a player passes the dice to the next player to begin the new player's turn.
Example of a 5-Player Game
Gigazaur is in Tokyo City and Kraken is in Tokyo Bay. The King, Cyber Bunny, and Meka Dragon are the three other Monsters (all outside of Tokyo). Elizabeth is playing Meka Dragon and Joseph is playing Gigazaur. It is Meka Dragon's turn. She rolls 4 Claws.
Gigazaur and Kraken each lose 4 Life Points. They both Yield Tokyo. After resolving the remainder of her dice, Meka Dragon enters Tokyo City (mandatory) and gains 1 Victory Point. Tokyo Bay remains unoccupied.
It's now Gigazaur's turn. He rolls 1 Claw. Only Meka Dragon is wounded since no one is currently in Tokyo Bay. He decides to stay in Tokyo (doesn't Yield). After resolving the rest of his dice, Gigazaur must now enter Tokyo Bay since it is unoccupied, and he gains 1 Victory Point.
Next, Kraken rolls 1 Claw. Gigazaur and Meka Dragon each lose 1 Life Point. Gigazaur decides to Yield Tokyo Bay, but Meka Dragon stays in Tokyo City. After resolving the dice, Kraken must enter Tokyo Bay and gains 1 Victory Point.
The King and Cyber Bunny don't roll any Claws on their turns, so no one enters or leaves Tokyo. Meka Dragon and Kraken may not Yield since neither were Wounded by another Monster.
Meka Dragon begins her turn in Tokyo and gains 2 Victory Points for that achievement.
She rolls 3 Claws and all Monsters outside of Tokyo lose 3 Life Points (Gigazaur, The King and Cyber Bunny). Kraken, who is "in Tokyo", is not wounded - Monsters in Tokyo do not wound each other.
As a result of Meka Dragon's attack, Gigazaur has 0 Life Points, and is eliminated from the game immediately, discarding all possessions. Now only four Monsters remain in the game. Kraken must leave Tokyo Bay immediately, leaving Meka Dragon alone in Tokyo.
Power Cards and Wickedness Tiles Clarifications
- If you reach 20 Victory Points and reach 0 Life Points in the same turn for any reason, you are eliminated. You must survive your turn in order to win. If all Monsters are eliminated at the same time... everyone loses!
- Power cards and Wickedness tiles do not let Monsters gain more than 10 Life Points, unless a card or a tile says otherwise.
Opportunist
If there are two Opportunist cards in play (because of Fluxling), the first Opportunist Monster clockwise from the current turn Monster gets the first opportunity to buy newly revealed cards, followed by the second Opportunist Monster.
Poison Spit & Shrink Ray
Poison and Shrink tokens stay on a Monster even if their associated cards or tiles are discarded.
You cannot remove these tokens from yourself while you are in Tokyo; you must be outside of Tokyo to use the Hearts to remove these tokens.
Fire Breathing
The Monsters of the players seated to your left and right each lose 1 Life Point. They lose this Life Point even if they are in the same location as you. If there are only 2 players, your opponent only loses 1 Life Point.
Metamorph
Discarding your KEEP cards happens during the End of Turn step. You get back the full cost of the card as printed, even if you bought it at a discount.
Fluxling
Fluxling copies the effects of a card as if it had just been played (with tokens, for example). If the copied card is discarded, Fluxling no longer has an effect. You can choose another KEEP card to copy at the start of your next turn (before you roll dice).
Credits
Game Design: Richard Garfield
Game Development: Richard Garfield & Skaff Elias
Editing Directors: Cédric Barbé & Patrice Boulet
Project Managers: Delphine Brennan & Florent Baudry
Thanks: Origames, Frédéric Derlon
Artwork: Paul Mafayon
US Playtesters: Mons Johnson, Bill Rose, Andy Buehler, Mike Davis, Jamie Fristrom, Bill Dugan, Henry Stern, Mike Turian, Skaff Elias, Paul Peterson, Chip Brown, Bruce Kaskel, Daniel Allcock, Rob Watkins, Chris Lopez, Robert Gutschera, Marc LeBlanc, Alan Comer, Jim Lin, Greg Canessa, Dave-Bob Lee, Joel Mick, Tom Lehman, Terry Garfield, and the scourge of Tokyo - Schuyler Garfield
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