Kaiju K.O. is a game focused on eliminating opponent Kaiju mechs. To do so, players must move their mechs in front of each other on the board and challenge them. If an opponent loses the battle, their Kaiju piece gets removed from the board. When all of a player’s pieces have been removed, their opponent is claimed to be the winner.
Kaiju is now live on Kickstarter here.
Was this game sent for review or self-purchased?: This game was kindly sent to us for preview by Pigeon Plays.
Have we played any other titles by this publisher?: We have not but we have followed this publisher’s work since they started years ago!
What is surprising about this title: It is surprising how the pieces had little symbols on the top of their heads/helmets that would determine how many dice they get in battle when faced with particular opponents in a challenge. This is a unique system that we didn’t expect when opening the box. Additionally, the symbols are seamlessly embedded in the design so they don’t stand out awkwardly.
How likely is this to return to the game table?: Not as likely for our particular table, just due to the more luck-based elements. However, if we had a slightly older child this would be one we would use as a good introduction into board games because it has card, movement, and battle elements that would be good for young gamers.
Game length: About 30 minutes. Gameplay is well paced and while time might be taken to strategize, it is fairly light so the turns move quickly.
Language Barrier Playability: There is a language barrier. You need to be able to read the cards in order to strategize and it would be too difficult to translate everything in real time.
Artwork: Stand out artwork. Kaiju K.O. has top-notch figure design that pops at the table, we haven’t seen a game quite like this. The robotic dinosaur looking Kaiju are very cute and each design has personality. The color scheme of blue and orange are perfect contrasting colors to differentiate teams. The neon glow of the cards makes for a striking design. Overall, vibrant imagery that is exciting to play with.
Quality: This was a preview copy so we cannot comment on the final quality. However many items in the preview copy were already solid. Particularly the card and board quality already looked great.
Strategy: Mostly luck based. You can strategize which ability cards you activate at the beginning of your return, and some of these offer benefits such as allowing you to use an extra die during a challenge or other benefits.
One note about challenges is that they work based on classes. Each Kaiju on the board has a shape symbol on its head and depending what shapes are pitted against each other for a challenge, that determines how many dice a player will roll for the challenge. So, if you put a Blaster Kaiju (Circle symbol) to challenge a Saber Kaiju (Triangle symbol) you can strategize to have more die to roll, making it very likely you’ll win the challenge.
One element that makes it less strategic is that whenever your Kaiju is in the same space as a token, you draw two cards of that token’s color. You can either discard both or choose one and give the remaining card to your opponent. Usually this almost equally benefited both teams so it didn’t feel strategic to try to go after the tokens because you’d probably get a card soon anyway. In fact, often the token would just end up in your pawns space based on luck. However, if you wanted you could try to get the most tokens so that you are the one deciding if the cards are shared or discarded.
Instruction Manual: We can’t comment on this because it is in the preview stage. However, the trailer really instructs well on the game play.
Organization: Not final. However, the preview box did have sufficient space for the little pieces and the cards. Everything fit well in the box.
Final thoughts: Kaiju K.O. has a nice design and table presence. It is light on strategy and more about just playing with friends or family. The main action is with challenging your opponents, trying to eliminate the entire opposing team as fast as possible.
Sushiball Games 