A few months ago, I posted a primer for the Chrono Clash System from Bandai. The first set featured Naruto, but I was mostly excited for the Godzilla set. Well, it’s here! I have it in hand, did an unboxing video HERE, and am ready to give my thoughts on it.
Godzilla Card Game (Chrono Clash System)
Publisher: Bandai
Designer: Ryan Miller
Gameplay
I’ve described how to play Chrono Clash System before. No point in writing the same information twice. Check out the Gameplay section of my previous write up, HERE. Also be sure to learn more at the official Chrono Clash System Facebook page, HERE.
There are a few new abilities in Godzilla. The most devastating of these is called Sneak Attack. Sneak Attack lets you play the character for a reduced cost, it comes in to play already attacking, and after the attack resolves, the character is destroyed. This ability is amazing and game changing. The more I play with this, the more I feel like it takes away from some fun of the game.
For one, you can do this for your final attack to end the game. One of the beautiful things about Chrono Clash is that there is nothing you can do on your opponent’s turn. No instants or responses to play from your hand to counter your opponent. The game relies on the shared time resource of the Chrono Gauge. If I pay 3 time to play this card, then I move the Chrono Gauge towards you 3 units. Once the gauge ends on a number >0 on your side, my turn is over and your turn begins. If I can pay some large amount of time and win the game before you even have a chance to spend the resources I gave you, that kind of defeats the purpose of the entire interaction the game is based on. Essentially, I just won the game for free. I’m not opposed to powerful card abilities, but this seems to lead to less player interaction in a game that finds its identity in player interactions.
Another reason this ability is so powerful is that since they use the term “destroyed” at the end of Sneak Attack, this ability will trigger effects that need a character to be destroyed. I think the problem lies in the game’s definition of “destroyed”. I can sacrifice my own character to summon an EX and I can use Sneak Attack: these are both ways to trigger “when destroyed” effects on your own character as a side effect to using another beneficial ability. The game’s designer has gone on record to say that this wasn’t his intent with these effects. And I’m 100% fine with players finding unintended uses for abilities in games. But these are interactions that are defining the way the game is played. Sacrificing your own characters with Legion or Reinforcements is a key to victory. Having these monsters use Sneak Attack in similar ways will be just as vital. It makes me feel like these new abilities and interactions have been rushed.
Questing, an alternative method of winning, was confirmed by the game’s designer to be a late addition to the game’s design at the request of Bandai. I don’t think this is inherently bad. Bandai, or any publisher, should be able to have a vision for the game they are putting on to the market. If they wanted a game with multiple win conditions, that’s acceptable. The Naruto/Boruto set was designed prior to the addition of Questing. The Godzilla set has finally given Questing some much needed power. There’s a new keyword, Elusive. Characters with Elusive can only be attacked by other characters with Elusive. So, an Elusive character on a quest has just a bit of extra protection. The game drastically needed something like this. I believe the game will be more successful the more it embraces using multiple win conditions, making them both viable. When I originally heard about the alternate win condition, I was excited. That was going to set this game apart from other tabletop card games. It’s slightly more consistent in this second set, so that’s great.
Theme
When you handle a popular IP, make sure you get the details right. Misspelling character names is not how you win fans over. There are some small alien creatures in the movie Godzilla vs King Ghidorah that are called Dorats. In Chrono Clash System, these Dorats are called Drats. Megalon was the titular villain in the movie Godzilla vs Megalon. He has appeared in video games and comics. However, this is the first time I’ve ever seen him referred to as Megaron. This isn’t just limited to names of proper characters. The Unmanned Conventional Bomb is the Ummanned Conventional Bomb. A lot of the Mechagodzilla characters have non-uniform naming structure. One of the names is even too long to fit on a card with the standard font, so they used lowercase letters. These errors do not convey professionalism. Bandai has already come out pointing fingers saying that they just used the names approved by TOHO. At the end of the day, Bandai looks silly for printing these typos.
Enough with the negativity, though. I’m so excited to see some lesser monsters get in to this game. For instance: Matango! Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People is one of my all-time favorite movies. It is beyond its time as a suspenseful horror movie. It still stands up today. The special effects aren’t really the peak of what’s available for the era, but the costume design of the monsters is top notch. You can read up on it for yourself, HERE. All of that to say, I’m excited to see Matango in a card game in 2019. And the card is… decent. Decent enough to be put in to a deck I plan on playing.
There are plenty of Godzillas and Mothras, and King Ghidorahs for everyone. Most of the characters in this set have a year after their name, so you can pinpoint which movie appearance is being referenced. I think this is a must have in any game that features Godzilla, and I’m glad to see it here. Godzilla 2004, Godzilla 2000, Godzilla 1976, and Godzilla 1954 are all VERY different versions of the character and seeing that difference in the naming is great.
For Parents
My kids already love playing this. They love Godzilla, and that is 100% why they are excited for this.
Chrono Clash System does lend itself well to being played by a younger audience. There is no ability text on the cards, so memorizing the symbols and what they mean is often easier than reading through ability text. Also, high cost characters can be played early. When a 7-year-old boy gets an 8 cost Godzilla in his opening hand, all he wants to do is play that card. Yes, maybe there are strategic reasons why that might not be the best idea. But that’s something you can learn through trial and error. This game lets you play the big, fun cards. That goes a very, VERY, long way in making the game replayable for kids.
There are absolutely no choking hazards with this game. No tokens. Which I think is actually a mistake. I think there should be tokens to track Quest Points or even some kind of unique token for tracking the Chrono Gauge.
As long as you have your decks made up and ready to play, there’s minimal set up time and this is a great card game for kids who might not be ready for something that requires more reading and patience right out of the gate like Magic the Gathering.
Final Thoughts
When I look at this game, with it’s $50 MSRP price tag, and compare it to other games with a similar price point, I’m disappointed. You get 240 cards, 4 turn sequence/reference cards, 4 paper playmats, and a rulebook. A game like Vs System, from Upper Deck, gives you 400 cards, a rulebook, and tokens for tracking health, levels, etc. The yet unrelease Marvel Champions from Fantasy Flight games has a slightly higher price point, $60, gives you over 350 cards, 100 tokens, and multiple health dials. The Enhanced Edition of Sentinels of the Multiverse from Greater Than Games only retails for $40, and comes with 578 cards, dividers for storage, tokens, and a rulebook. Granted, Sentinels isn’t a licensed property. I’d imagine licensing would add about $10 to that MSRP. All the tabletop card games I just mentioned are expandable through future products. All of them except Godzilla feature a box that doubles as storage for the game. The oversized cards do not fit back in to the insert when they are sleeved.
This is a fantastic game to play with my kids. They absolutely love it, and I love playing it with them. I can’t emphasize enough how much kids love being able to play massively powerful cards at the start of the game. And they don’t notice the naming mistakes or shortcomings when trying to gauge the game’s value based on MSRP. They have fun and so I have fun.
Bandai has some serious issues to work out. There are official rulings from the game’s designer and people who have played with him at conventions that have yet to be officially released by Bandai. A lot of word-of-mouth rulings. The biggest of these, is that a character is defeated if their strength is reduced to 0. That’s not printed anywhere (as of this writing) in the rules, but it is a rule in the game. Bandai also needs to get tournament play condensed. We knew when the game was announced that Godzilla and Naruto cards would not be able to be mixed in the same deck. But it is now being made clear that they are not even allowed to compete in tournaments together. There are Chrono Clash System Naruto/Boruto tournaments and Chrono Clash System Godzilla tournaments. I can’t imagine it’s healthy and viable for the long-term life of the game to hold different tournaments for every new IP that is introduced.
If you love Godzilla and want an officially licensed game to scratch that itch, Chrono Clash System is a perfectly decent game. The game does feel like it’s just a Godzilla theme pasted on to an existing structure at times. The idea of a Guardian Stack doesn’t translate well to Godzilla. Nor does Questing. But the game is fun. I still have fun playing cards of these massive kaiju, attacking my opponents. It does have its flaws in production, packaging, and communication of rules. In this strange way, it unintentionally parallels some Godzilla movies. Ignore the parts where you can see the wires holding up the wings and tails, and just enjoy it for what it is. Despite the flaws, I will play the Godzilla Card Game with the tiny monsters running around my house with my favorite TOHO movies on in the background. Long live the King of the Monsters.
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