Godzilla Stomp | terribly-fun-films

Godzilla Stomp! The Card Game Review by Bobby LePire. Edited by Courtney McAllister.

After the runaway success of “Godzilla”, the ‘Kaiju Boom’ was born, during which toys, games, lunchboxes, costumes, and the like become ubiquitous merchandise for children. As the king of the monsters film franchise keeps on going, so too does his fanbase. This means there are constantly new toys, games, what have you, being released. This brings us to today’s review- “Godzilla Stomp"!

In this Toy Vault card game, for two to five players, you get to choose between one of five kaiju monsters: Godzilla (duh), Mechagodzilla, Mothra, Destroyah, and Battra. Then you get the six numbered cards that go along with your chosen monsters- 1-5, and a Rampage card. A separate deck of number-valued building cards are shuffled, and placed face down in the center of the table. Then the building cards get flipped over (# of players, plus two). Once the field is down, all the players chose one of their monster cards, and place it face down in front of them. Once each player has chosen, the monster cards get flipped face up. Whomever played the highest numbered card gets to choose a building first, and it goes in descending order from their. Unless someone played a Rampage, in which case that player takes all the building cards in play. The goal is to have the highest score, by the end of the game (the buildings’ values are varied, and the game ends when all monster cards have been played).

So, this inexpensive game is basically a glorified betting game with basic math, and just the slightest amount of strategy. Simple as it may be, it is still pretty fun. It’s enjoyable to try to outguess the other players, and the small strategy that is involved does mean it is just that much more important to get right. Even when playing with all five possible players, things move at a very brisk pace. Each round of betting doesn’t last much longer than a minute or so, and the tabulation of the points at the end is easy.

Couple the fast gameplay and easy setup/ takedown, with small but sturdy packaging, and this game makes for an excellent travelling companion; simply toss into your bag when you are going on excursions that might leave you waiting for short periods of time.

Finally, we come to the artwork of the game. The cover is fairly eye catching, with Godzilla’s giant foot getting ready to stomp a poor civilian, trying his damnedest to escape. The creature’s foot and the human victim are both drawn in a serious, dynamic way, with mute colors- could come straight from one of the numerous comics based around the big, green fella. The game’s title, on the other hand, is done in a less serious way. Sporting a brightly colored, almost Adam West “Batman” style font, the contrast between the two images works nicely. The building cards all have the same orange/ yellow image of a few skyscrapers amongst a pile of rubble. Given the conceit of the game, this works rather well. The exception are the six nuclear power plant cards (which have different, but easy to understand rules from the rest of the building cards), which have a green/ grey color palette, and the image of a power plant tower, smoking. I think the color scheme is too similar to Godzilla’s, but certainly not bad.

Each monster numbered card has the monster in the same pose, and the Rampage has them attacking a city with a blast of some sort:

Godzilla’s primary colors are green and grey, because what the heck else would they be? The green mostly comes in from the border and the toxic looking sky. The monster himself is more of a greenish grey, keeping more inline with the original suit’s actual colors. The pose is him roaring ferociously to the sky. His Rampage has some blue thanks to his radioactive breath, as Godzilla is frying the side of a highrise condo.
Mechagodzilla’s pose is the exact same as regular Godzilla- because there is only so much one can do with a sixty foot lizard skeletal structure. Green is swapped out for various shades of purple. Mecha’s emerging from the smoke and debris of a recently destroyed structure and is electrifying something unseen, for its Rampage.
Mothra has a blue border and sky behind her, but has all the orange, white, yellow, and black that is appropriate for this typically benevolent (but not always), popular creature. Her rampage adds a striking streak of red, as she attacks an office building with outstretched wings.
Destroyah is looking ready to whoop some monster ass, in all its evil red glory. The rampage sees this force of destruction (see name, please!), zapping a few buildings while flying.
Battra’s dusty yellow works nicely against its grey scales and glowing red eyes. His mighty ramming horn taking a nice portion of the card. His Rampage involves his evolved, flying form shooting dangerous pink rays from his eyes, reducing a building to dust.

The artwork is solid and fun, with each characters’ design fitting in with the pre-existing iconography. A nice amount of detail and attention has been given to the monster artwork, so fans needn't worry about that.

While this game is not challenging at all, the ease with which it can be played is nice; sometimes, you want something simple to play to just pass the time. Plus, I can pull it out and play it with my young nieces and goddaughter, knowing that they’ll understand the basic mechanics and not get confused. Add to that its portability, and solid artwork, you can do a lot worse than this game, just don’t expect any real depth.