Pyramid Review
Escape From Monster Island
Published by Firefly Games
Written by David L. Pulver and Patrick Sweeney
Illustrated by Mike Bowden
32-page b&w softcover; $9.95
One of the most fun little big games of 2002 was Monster Island: The Game of Giant Monster Combat from Firefly Games. With just a handful of plastic monsters from the toy box, a fistful of dice and these rules, players could recreate the battles to see which kaiju (Japanese for "monster") or giant, weird creatures from outer space/the oceanic depths/the Earth's prehistoric past is the "King of Monster island." Using the Action! System mechanics, kaiju design is fast and easy, and a player can soon send their design to go toe-to-toe, claw-to-claw or blasts of fiery breath versus Laser zaps from the eyes with the creations of the other players.
Yet what was missing from Monster Island: The Game of Giant Monster Combat were rules that allowed battles away from the island; now with the release of Escape from Monster Island, players can take their kaiju on a world tour of humanity's greatest metropolises and other attractions -- Tokyo, New York, Tokyo, San Francisco, Tokyo, Paris, Tokyo, Seattle, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and London. Not forgetting every kaiju's favorite holiday destination, which is of course, Tokyo. Once there, they can smash a bridge, destroy a nuclear power center, climb a skyscraper or two, leap from building roof to building roof, and fight other vacationing monsters or that pesky army of humans . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: February 14, 2003
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