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Tonight on GeekNights, returning triumphant from Anime Boston, we review Richard Garfield's King of Tokyo. It's a great warmup game, but it made us realize that far too few of you have ever played Yahtzee. We also discuss the new Xbox1 and the GTX780. Stay tuned for ConnectiCon and PAX Australia!
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Best way to end that episode.
There's nothing wrong with being a light 20 min game, and Scott is very right to say this is the true definition of a warmup game. I use King of Tokyo to lead into heavier games all the time. The brinksmanship element is very present, and it's nice to have some tension in a warmup game. It's tough to be the one to attack when you could keep rolling 3s, but if nobody does, then Mr. Tokyo is gonna run away with the game.
I've seen all sorts of positive buzz about the expansion, Power Up, but was worried it would try to do too much with it. The buzz is so positive I have to at least give it a try. Basically each character gets a personal deck of superpowers ("evolution" cards, some permanent, some temporary) and you get to draw one if you roll 3 hearts. It also adds a panda which is awesome.
On a sidenote, Alien Frontiers is not Yahtzee at all. You don't get to re-roll any dice unless you pick up some special powers. It's more like Kingsburg in space. Personally I think Alien Frontiers is a pretty good game. Rym's experience of rolling his opponents just means he was playing with chumps.
Also, I'm shocked people haven't played Yahtzee. If you want a good replica of the original edition, I recommend those fancy bookshelf editions you can get at Target. We keep all of the classics on a shelf in our living room for fanciness points, but the Yahtzee one actually gets busted out for play.
Listened during my commute so some other episode thoughts:
- Microsoft didn't just downplay the 360 PC receiver, they seem to have silently discontinued it some years back. Still not too hard to find one online though, so maybe not fully discontinued?
- Phoenix Wright games actually haven't been a huge success in the USA as of late, causing Capcom to debate not bringing over the latest title. After some waffling, they decided the only way they could make it worthwhile was to go download-only, so they'll be doing that later this year.
- Nintendo gave in and translated a lot of the Japan-only Wii games once that console was dead, but this region stuff is incredibly frustrating, especially when they have their Virtual Console and eShop. I still want to play the original Rhythm Heaven for GBA. I subscribe to the Chris Kohler theory of "Nintendo should just release every single game, ever, on their VC shop on day 1" but instead it's this painful trickle of games we've seen time and time again.
- Xbox One is confirmed to only have one SKU. No cheapo version.
Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows
It's also on Amazon under that product name, but from 3rd party vendors, I'd wager that it's probably the real thing on Amazon too.
It didn't have any shiny stickers on it like the gray one has in the gallery of user uploaded photos.
If it isn't legit, oh well. It works fine. Installation was simple. I don't recall having to use the install CD it came with.
I rebooted and everything. *sigh*
Yes It's Fake - But - It Does Work!
With that being said, this game will be brought to Prime.
Also, very saddened that my off market dongle is no longer working. I plugged it into all the various USB ports on my HTPC and PC and it is no longer being recognized.
/saddest of pandas
I think I'm tired of / done with the games that use dice in this manner, however, moreso than I am with Yahtzee games. But, tired nonetheless of both. King of Tokyo gets a pass in that it's elegant and SHORT.
Also I would say Alien Frontiers is super Yahtzee-y since, while there isn't much whole hog re-rolling, you are always rolling for specific sets, whereas in King of Tokyo, you're mostly just rolling for triples.