Continue if you are looking for games like King of Tokyo and are curious about what similar games to play next. There are not many games like King of Tokyo out there but we did our best. We boiled down King of Tokyo to a few different things. It is a fast-paced king of the hill game, so fighting over a central location is important.
You do not have lots of decisions to make but only a key few. This makes for an intense edge of your seat ride that makes you live more in the immediate present instead of thinking several rounds out. And everything is decided by dice via a Yahtzee roll, so luck and potential for regret are a big part. This is our list of 5 games like King of Tokyo.
FOR MORE: King of Tokyo Page | How To Play King of Tokyo | King of Tokyo Review | Buy King of Tokyo on Amazon
#05 | Smash Up
Smash Up has much more going on than King of Tokyo but it hits a great king of the hill sweet spot making it a great option. Smash Up is a pure card game that is about “smashing up” two very different “factions” and having them work together. You could have samurai and aliens, wizards and pirates, zombies and dinosaurs, etc. This creates a battle deck for you which lets you fight over central bases in order to get victory points.
Having your cards work together and create powerful combos is the whole basis of this game. This is different than the here and now vibe of Tokyo but that is why Smash Up is number five on the list of games like King of Tokyo. If you want a great epic battle option in pursuit of areas that need to be fought over, give this one a shot. As an aside, this has been going strong for a while so there are many many factions these days.
FOR MORE: Smash Up Page | How To Play Smash Up | Smash Up Review | Games Like Smash Up | Buy Smash Up on Amazon
#04 | The Ares Project
The similarities between The Ares Project and King of Tokyo is in the king of the hill aspect and the dice rolling with a taste of variable player powers. In The Ares Project, players are competing to see which of their factions will lead mankind into the future. Each faction has its own deck of cards, buildings, upgrades, attacks, special powers, and a screen behind which a player will play cards. Your opponents do not know what you are building.
When a player lays down an attack card, he chooses an opponent, the players drop their screens, and they battle for control of the Frontier. Whoever controls the Frontier scores points and also has the ability to attack player bases directly. Eliminate your opponent to win instantly, or have the most points when the game ends.
FOR MORE: Buy The Ares Project on Amazon
#03 | High Noon Saloon
On a windin’ desert road in the middle of nowhere lies a town with no name. In this town you’ll find a place where no slight goes unanswered and no fight stays private, the roughest, toughest waterin’ hole in the Old West – the High Noon Saloon. If you’re lookin’ for a fight, you’ve come to the right place. In the action-packed game High Noon Saloon, you are a combatant in an all-out brawl fought in an Old West Saloon.
Shoot it out from a distance or get in close and beat on your opponents directly. Move between different parts of the saloon to get the upper hand. Whatever you do, make sure to keep your guard up – if you’re not careful, you’ll get beaten to a bloody pulp, shot full of holes, or both! The last one standin’ wins, and there ain’t no prize for second. Like King of Tokyo, High Noon Saloon is fast-paced with thrilling in the moment combat moves.
FOR MORE: Buy High Noon Saloon on Amazon
#02 | King of New York
We typically do not put follow-ups on similar to lists because it is lazy, but we will do it to give credit when a new stand-alone game can stand completely on its own. That is the case with King of New York. It is the same type of game but it added many areas and new features/hurdles. It is like you have been thrown into a much bigger world. You can now try to become a star in the big city; more specifically, you can achieve “Fame”.
The game board is larger 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. An easy, and yes probably lazy, choice for the list of games like King of Tokyo.
FOR MORE: Buy King of New York on Amazon
#01 | Family Business
Family business captures every element of King of Tokyo but does it with cards instead of dice. The game takes mob warfare to a new level of backstabbing, revenge, and general bloodthirstiness. Every player controls a ‘family’ and plays various cards to off other players’ family members. In a game with this little structure, it’s possible for everyone to gang up on one unlucky soul, or to spread it out.
To try to get rid of other gangsters, contracts are played on them. If these contracts are not blocked by anyone, the targeted gangster is placed on the hitlist. As soon as six gangsters are on the hitlist a mob war is started. This means that, at the start of every turn, the first character on this list is eliminated. This goes on until the list is empty. Regardless, the last family standing is victorious. Even though this top choice for games like King of Tokyo came out in 1982, it is still around hard.
