Battle Monsters, a reimagined version of a ’90s Games Workshop board game, began crowdfunding on May 14. While publisher Restoration Games will no doubt preserve the mechanics that made the original Battle Masters popular, Battle Monsters offers something new – a mega kaiju battle between Godzilla and King Ghidorah.
Big lizard lovers, rejoice: this is an officially licensed Monsterverse board game. Each player controls one kaiju and a handful of supporting troops, and their only goal is to destroy the opposition. The base game pits Godzilla and Ghidorah against each other, but an expansion allows you to mix and match these monsters with King Kong and MechaGodzilla. Plus, Mothra is available as a Kickstarter-exclusive add-on.
The original 1992 Battle Masters was a miniature wargame designed by Stephen Baker and published by Milton Bradley. It was produced in collaboration with Warhammer 40k‘s Games Workshop, and it offered a simpler, thematically similar gateway to Warhammer Fantasy. Gamers at the time were critical of that simplicity, but Battle Masters is remembered well for its fun factor and appeal to younger wargamers.
Stephen Baker once again leads the charge as the designer for Battle Monsters. A game restoration team, made up of major legacy board game designers and Restoration Games veterans, is also supporting the remake.
We don’t know the full details of how Battle Masters will be transformed for Battle Monsters, but the Kickstarter campaign does give a gameplay overview. The titan you control evolves over time, unlocking increasingly powerful abilities and creating extra chaos through Rage.
Each monster has its own strategy for sowing destruction, with Godzilla able to blast multiple targets with his atomic breath and Ghidorah able to deal extra damage by pushing enemies into piles of rubble. Supporting troops and resources have benefits of their own, but they’re mainly there to support the big monster battle.
The complete Battle Monsters bundle, which gets you all five kaiju we mentioned, is available for $379 (£286). This is apparently 30% cheaper than the game will be at retail, though publisher Restoration Games says the board game will have limited retail availability anyway. A single, two-monster box on its own is priced at $125 (£95).
Restoration Games has also made efforts to address the current tariff situation in the US, which makes importing Chinese-made goods (like many of the best board games) extremely expensive. “We want to assure all our backers that we will never ask for additional funds regardless of changes to tariffs, shipping charges, or any of the other vagaries of making a game”, the publisher says. “We have put in a ton of time and effort to ensure that we can complete and fulfill this campaign regardless of what the economic landscape looks like.”
For more on the tabletop tariffs, meet the board game publisher that’s suing the president. Or, if you’re looking for recommendations, here are the best couples board games around. We can also share more of our favorites with you in the Wargamer Discord.
Source: Wargamer
