King of Tokyo

Each player selects a monster, places their monster standee outside Tokyo, and sets their victory points to 0 and health to 10 on their monster board. The game board is placed in the center, accessible to all players. The deck of cards is shuffled, and the top three cards are revealed and placed face-up next to the board. The six black dice and two green dice are placed in the center, along with the energy cubes and tokens. The player who rolls the most paw symbols on the dice starts the game.

The goal of King of Tokyo is to be the first player to accumulate 20 victory points, or to be the last monster remaining in play by eliminating all other monsters.

A player's turn consists of three main phases: first, roll the six black dice up to three times, choosing which dice to keep and which to re-roll in between. Second, resolve the effects of the final dice roll. Third, optionally buy cards from the three face-up cards or replace them by spending two energy cubes. Cards can be 'Keep' cards, which provide ongoing effects, or 'Discard' cards, which provide an immediate effect and are then discarded.

Victory points are primarily gained by rolling three of a kind of 1s, 2s, or 3s (which grant 1, 2, or 3 victory points respectively, plus 1 additional point for each extra matching die). Entering an area of Tokyo (Tokyo City or Tokyo Bay) grants 1 victory point, and starting your turn already in an area of Tokyo grants 2 victory points. Some cards may also provide victory points.

The game concludes immediately when one of the following conditions is met: a monster reaches 20 or more victory points, a monster is the last one remaining after all other monsters have been eliminated, or no monsters remain in play (though this is rare). The monster that triggered the end condition and met the victory criteria is the winner.