Monsters

The monsters have been let loose in the monster arena! Here they can tease, taunt and tussle with the other monsters using every trick in the book. They push and squeeze and throw elbows and sometimes even poke one another with their sharp fingers.

Players in Push a Monster take turns doing exactly that: pushing a monster, with them trying to push that monster onto an elevated platform while not pushing off any other monsters already there. If a monster does fall on their turn, each other player receives a token for each monster that falls. At the end of the game, everyone lines up all of the tokens they won, and whoever has the longest row wins!

Me Want Cookies! is a cute family game for 2-5 players in which each monster tries to be the first to find the correct dessert and gain the most points.

In more detail, you are a nice monster with a big appetite for desserts. For each course of the meal, only one monster can eat a dessert and only the right dessert. Spot it before the others devour it!

1. Roll the die to set the first dessert.
2. Follow the licorice up to the dessert at the other end.
3. Grab the right dessert!

From the publisher's website (Refers to the First Edition titled "King of the Beasts"):

A Royal Card Game by Reiner Knizia
The mythological animals are battling to see who is the ultimate King of the Beasts. The dragon is the largest, the kraken is the strongest, the unicorn is the most enchanting, and the manticore and the gryphon are powerful in their own rights. Even the tiny fire salamander wants to be King! But who will win the most votes?

Gain as many points as possible by nominating animals to be King, while still keeping some of the cards for your score pile. Once an animal becomes King, points are awarded - the player with the most points wins!

From the rules: "For decades, reporters from around the world have been on the hunt for the Loch Ness monster. But lately reports of sightings of Nessie have been increasing.

"Such reports naturally have drawn such reporters as the attractive Belinda Viewing from New York, the half-Belgian Claude McMirror, the clever Filosa Sharp, as well as her Londoner competitor Jack Nesstee, and even Nils the Blitzen from Denmark to the Loch. Equipped with the most modern equipment and techniques, these daring reporters have traveled to Scotland, in order to capture the elusive Nessie on film for their newspapers.

"But the 5 will experience some surprises . . ."

In Loch Ness, players compete to get pictures of Nessie. In turn order, players place or move their photographers on the board as they try to anticipate the movement of the Loch Ness monster. The movement of the monster is determined randomly by drawing move cards from the first three players, each card having a number from 1 to 5. The cards are not revealed until after the photographers have been placed. When they are revealed, the monster moves the total number of spaces and players score points based on the value of their photographers placed in the area where Nessie emerged. In addition, the players whose photographers were directly in front of Nessie select photo cards that will award points at the end of the game, especially if sets are created.

Beginning in the second round, players will select an action space each round that gives them a unique power to use for for the round. Placement also gets more challenging from the second round onward as a player is required to move a photographer, perhaps opening up spots for opponents. Each round, some of the players do have a limited knowledge of how Nessie will move each round. When a player draws a movement card before positioning his photographers, he is allowed to look at it, giving him one-third of the movement for that round. However, movement varies tremendously and only three players draw movement cards each round.

The game ends after the round in which a mini Nessie figure reaches space 65 on the score track. This figure moves the same number of spaces as the main Nessie figure in the game board each round. The player with the most points, scored during the game and from the photo cards at the end, wins the game. The rules include two optional variants that can be added individually or together with the base game.

Not to be confused with the 2010 Walter Obert game with the same theme, Loch Ness.

There's always something happening in the city that never sleeps. Maybe it's the lights, maybe it's the energy, or maybe it's the giant monsters trying to demolish the place!

King of New York is a standalone game from designer Richard Garfield that keeps the core ideas of King of Tokyo while introducing new ways to play. As in KoT, your goal is to be the first monster to collect 20 victory points (VPs) or to be the last monster standing. On your turn, you roll six dice up to three times, then carry out the actions on those dice. Claws cause damage to other monsters, hearts heal damage to yourself, and energy is stored up so that you can purchase power cards that provide unique effects not available to anyone else.

What's new in King of New York is that you can now try to become a star in the big city; more specifically, you can achieve "Fame", which nets you VPs, but superstar status is fleeting, so enjoy your time in the spotlight.

The game board for King of New York is larger than in KoT with each monster occupying a district in the city and everyone trying to shine in Manhattan. When you attack, you can displace a monster in another district, whether to escape military forces or to find new smashing opportunities. Yes, smashing because you can now destroy buildings and get bonuses for doing so, but the more destruction you cause, the more intense the military response.

The monsters from King of New York can be used in KoT and vice versa, but the power cards are specific to this game.