Play King of Tokyo Online

What Is King of Tokyo?

King of Tokyo is a dice game for two to six players in which each player controls a giant movie monster fighting for control of the city. On your turn you roll six custom dice up to three times, Yahtzee-style, keeping the results you like. The faces do four things: numbers score victory points when you collect three of a kind, hearts heal, energy buys power cards, and claws damage your rivals. Someone is always standing in Tokyo, earning points every turn but unable to heal and taking every hit; everyone else is outside, trying to knock them off the perch or waiting for a safe moment to climb up.

The game combines the simplest possible re-roll mechanic with three ways to win points and two ways to lose everything, which is why it plays equally well as a family game and as a cut-throat gamers’ filler. If you enjoy pushing your luck in Zombie Dice or matching dice to targets in Roll For It, King of Tokyo gives you the same feel with a lot more interaction.

A Short History of King of Tokyo

King of Tokyo was designed by Richard Garfield, the mathematician best known for creating Magic: The Gathering, and published by the French company IELLO in 2011. The game was an instant success at conventions and in stores, in large part because it was cheap, quick to teach, and gave players big cardboard monsters to move around a tiny board.

It collected an unusually broad set of honors for a light dice game: the Golden Geek Awards for Best Children’s Game, Best Family Game and Best Party Game in 2012, the Nederlandse Spellenprijs for Best Family Game in 2013, and a nomination for France’s As d’Or – Jeu de l’Année in 2012. It was also a Golden Geek Best Party Game nominee in 2011, its release year.

Two expansions followed quickly. Power Up! (2012) added evolution cards specific to each monster, which players earn by rolling three hearts, together with an alternative set of orange and black dice. Halloween (2013) added costume cards that grant their wearer special powers. A stand-alone sequel, King of New York, arrived in 2014. In 2016 IELLO released a second edition with new artwork and two monsters replaced, and from 2017 to 2019 it published individual Monster Packs with new characters and evolutions. A premium Dark Edition with reworked art rounds out the line. Through all of it, the core rules of the base game have not changed: six dice, three rolls, 10 health, 20 points.

King of Tokyo Rules

Components

• 6 custom six-sided dice, each with faces 1, 2, 3, ❤️ (heart), ⚡ (energy) and 🐾 (claw)
• A monster for each player with a health dial (10 maximum) and a victory-point track
• The Tokyo board with a Tokyo City space, plus Tokyo Bay for five or six players
• Energy cubes and a deck of power cards

Object of the Game

Be the first monster to 20 victory points, or the last monster with health above zero. Both conditions are checked continuously, so a game can end in the middle of someone else’s turn.

How a Turn Works

1. Tokyo bonus. If you begin your turn in Tokyo, gain 2 victory points.
2. Roll. Roll all six dice. Keep any you want and re-roll the rest. You may do this up to three rolls in total, and you may stop early.
3. Resolve the dice, in any order: - Numbers: three dice of the same number score that number in victory points, plus 1 for every extra die of it. - Hearts: heal 1 health each, up to your maximum of 10. No effect if you are in Tokyo. - Energy: take 1 energy cube per ⚡. - Claws: if you are outside Tokyo, each claw deals 1 damage to the monster in Tokyo. If you are inside, each claw deals 1 damage to every monster outside.
4. Tokyo movement. If Tokyo is empty and you rolled at least one claw, you must enter it and gain 1 victory point. If you damaged the monster in Tokyo, it may choose to leave; if it does, you enter immediately and gain 1 point.
5. Buy cards. Spend energy on power cards from the face-up display. In our version there are four always-available cards; in the boxed game three are shown at a time and you can pay 2 energy to sweep all three and reveal new ones.
6. End of turn. Play passes to the left.

The Dice

Yielding Tokyo

The monster in Tokyo decides whether to leave only after being attacked, and only during the attacker’s turn. It cannot leave voluntarily on its own turn. A monster that leaves Tokyo takes no further damage from that attack (the damage already dealt stands) and can start healing again from next turn. The attacker who forced the yield moves in and scores 1 point. In the online game you get a Stay/Yield prompt every time a computer monster claws you in Tokyo; the computer monsters yield when their health drops to 4 or less.

Power Cards in Our Version

The published game has a full deck of cards with dozens of different effects. Our free version keeps the energy economy with four original, always-available cards so that the strategy is legible:

Worked Examples

• Roll: 3 – 3 – 3 – 🐾 – ⚡ – 1, Tokyo empty. Resolve for 3 VP and 1 energy, then you must enter Tokyo for another point: 4 VP in one turn. Next turn you will collect 2 more for starting there.
• Roll: 🐾 – 🐾 – 🐾 – 2 – 2 – ❤️, you are outside and an enemy sits in Tokyo on 4 health. Three claws take it to 1 health. The computer yields at 4 or less, so it leaves and you enter for 1 VP. Notice that the heart healed you and the pair of 2s scored nothing.
• Roll: 🐾 – 🐾 – ❤️ – ❤️ – 1 – 3, you are in Tokyo on 3 health with two enemies outside. The hearts do nothing. Both enemies take 2 damage. On their turns they will each roll an average of one claw against you, so unless they whiff you will probably be attacked down to 1 and should yield the first chance you get.
• Roll: ⚡ – ⚡ – ⚡ – ⚡ – 1 – 2 with 2 energy already. Six energy buys Titanium Plating, which over a long game saves 3 to 5 health, or Seismic Stomp plus a point of change. If any rival is on 2 health, Stomp ends them.
• Roll: 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1. Five extra dice above the three needed: 1 + 3 = 4 VP. Six 1s score less than three 3s plus a claw, which is why 1s are the weakest number to chase.

The Odds: Number Sets, Claws and Hearts

Each die face has a 1-in-6 chance on every roll, and the six dice are independent, which makes King of Tokyo one of the easiest dice games to calculate.

• Three of a kind on a single throw. The chance that some number appears at least three times among six dice is 18.6%. For a specific number, such as 3s, it is 6.2%. Four or more of any number on one throw is just 2.6%.
• Chasing a number over three rolls. If you commit to one number and re-roll everything else, each die ends the turn showing that number with probability 1 − (5/6)³ = 42.1%. With six dice that gives you 50% for at least three, 21% for four or more, 5.2% for five or more and 0.6% for all six.
• Keeping the biggest group instead. In 300,000 simulated turns using the simple rule “keep whichever number you have the most of, re-roll the rest,” a player ended with at least three of some number 77% of the time, and the numbers were worth 2.2 VP per turn on average. Flexibility beats commitment, at the cost of often settling for 1s or 2s.
• Claws. Each roll of six dice averages 1 claw. On one throw you roll at least one claw 66.5% of the time and two or more 26.3% of the time. If you chase claws for all three rolls you average 2.5 claws and hit 3 or more 50% of the time.
• Hearts follow the same numbers: two or more hearts on a single throw 26.3%, and a full three-roll chase averages 2.5 healing.

The practical consequence: a monster in Tokyo facing two opponents who are both attacking takes about 2 damage per round if they roll normally and about 5 per round if they both go all-in on claws. From 10 health, that is two to five rounds before you must leave.

King of Tokyo Strategy

1. Tokyo Is a Rental, Not a Home

Entering Tokyo is worth 1 point and every turn you survive there is worth 2 more. Against two opponents, an average round costs you about 2 health, so a stay of three turns nets around 7 VP for 6 health. That is a great trade at 10 health and a terrible one at 4. Plan your stay before you enter: go in early with full health, leave when a single claw could put you under 3.

2. Yield on the First Big Hit

Since you can only leave Tokyo after being attacked, do not wait for the perfect moment. The computer monsters above yield at 4 health or less; that is a sound baseline. If two enemies are alive and healthy, leaving at 5 is even safer, because the second attacker acts before you can heal.

3. Chase 3s, Settle for 2s, Ignore 1s

Three 3s are worth 3 points; three 1s are worth 1. The chance of hitting each is identical, so 3s are literally three times as valuable. Start a turn by keeping 3s if you have two or more. Keep a pair of 2s only if no better option exists. Never spend a re-roll chasing 1s; the same dice thrown at claws or hearts do more.

4. Claws Are Worth Points

Damage does not score directly, but every point of damage you deal to the monster in Tokyo is a point of pressure that forces it to leave, and then you enter for 1 VP and 2 VP per turn. When a rival is in Tokyo on low health, three claws are worth more than three 3s.

5. Heal Only When Hearts Come Free

A heart is worth 1 health; a claw is worth roughly 1 damage. Spending a whole turn rolling for hearts is rarely right unless you are at 3 or below and outside Tokyo. Keep the hearts you roll naturally, and buy Regeneration Serum with spare energy rather than sacrificing number sets.

6. Treat Energy as a Point Bank

Energy has no value until spent, but it carries over. Tourist Stampede converts 4 energy into 2 VP, a 2:1 rate, which is fine late in the game. Seismic Stomp at 5 energy deals 2 damage to everyone else at once, the equivalent of four claws when there are two opponents. Titanium Plating at 6 pays for itself after six attacks, so buy it early or not at all.

7. Know Both Ways to Win

With three monsters, elimination wins are common. If both rivals are below 5 health and you have Seismic Stomp money, forget points and finish them. Conversely, if you are the one on low health, the safest place is outside Tokyo scoring numbers, where only the monster inside can hit you.

8. Count the Race to 20

A monster at 16 VP that starts its turn in Tokyo (+2) and rolls three 2s (+2) wins. When any rival is within 4 points, attack Tokyo relentlessly and never leave them there at the start of their turn if you can help it. Equally, when you sit at 17 or 18 in Tokyo, stay through hits you would normally yield to; one more turn ends the game.

Common Mistakes

• Sitting in Tokyo at 3 health because leaving “feels like losing.” You do not score if you are dead.
• Re-rolling a pair of 3s to chase claws when nobody is in Tokyo. The claws would only send you into the city.
• Hoarding energy all game and finishing with 9 unspent cubes. Energy is only points if you convert it.
• Rolling for hearts in Tokyo. They do nothing there.
• Forgetting the mandatory entry. If Tokyo is empty and you roll a claw, you go in, whether or not you wanted to.

Variants, Expansions and House Rules

• Tokyo Bay (5–6 players). A second Tokyo space opens. Monsters in either space score the same bonuses, and claws from outside hit both.
• Power Up! (2012). Each monster gets a personal deck of evolution cards, earned by rolling three hearts. Adds asymmetry and long-term planning.
• Halloween (2013). Costume cards that give the monster wearing them special powers.
• Monster Packs (2017–2019). Single-monster boxes, each with its own evolutions.
• King of New York (2014). A stand-alone sequel that moves the fight to New York with a larger board and more to smash.
• Second edition (2016). Same rules, new art, and two of the original monsters replaced by new ones.
• House rules you will meet: no elimination (a monster at 0 health revives at 5 outside Tokyo but loses all points), a 25-point finish for longer games, and “open shop” where all cards are visible, which is close to what our version does.

If you like the hold-and-re-roll rhythm, Yahtzee and Dice Poker are the purest versions of it; if you want more theme with your dice, Elder Sign turns the same mechanic into a cooperative puzzle.

Glossary

• VP (victory points): The score; 20 wins.
• Tokyo City / Tokyo Bay: The central spaces. Only one monster fits in each.
• Yield: Leaving Tokyo after being attacked, allowing the attacker to enter.
• Smash / Claw 🐾: The attack face. Damage goes across the Tokyo line.
• Energy ⚡: Currency for power cards; carried between turns.
• Keep / Discard card: In the boxed game, keep cards give permanent powers and discard cards are one-shot effects. Our Titanium Plating is a keep card; the other three are discards.
• Evolution: A monster-specific power from the Power Up! expansion.

Play King of Tokyo Online on Dice.now

The game at the top of this page is a free fan re-creation built for learning and practice. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by IELLO or Richard Garfield; the official game, with its full power-card deck, illustrated monsters and expansions, is on the IELLO King of Tokyo page.

In our version you play Thunder Gecko against two computer monsters, Robo Squid and Cosmic Yeti, in a three-monster game with a single Tokyo space. The six dice use the faces 1, 2, 3, ❤️, ⚡ and 🐾; you roll up to three times, tap dice to keep them, then press Resolve. Number sets, healing (blocked in Tokyo, capped at 10), energy and claws are all applied exactly as described above, mandatory Tokyo entry and the +1 / +2 Tokyo bonuses are automatic, and you get a Stay/Yield prompt whenever a computer monster claws you in the city. Four original power cards are always available to buy after resolving. The computer monsters keep claws when a rival is low or when they hold Tokyo, keep hearts when hurt and outside, otherwise keep their biggest number group, and yield at 4 health or below; every roll, hold and purchase they make is written to the log. The game ends at 20 VP or when one monster is left standing. Your win-loss record and best VP total are saved on your device only. Roll the monster dice and take the city.