King of Monster Island Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Contents and Game Elements
  • 5 Monster Boards
  • 1 Monster Island Board
  • 1 Boss Board
  • 1 3D Volcano
  • 10 Monster Dice
  • 8 Boss Dice
  • 51 Power Cards
  • 15 Event Cards
  • Energy Cubes and Tokens
  • 8 Cardboard Figures
  • 6 Ally Sheets
  • 3 Boss Sheets
  • 30 Minion Tokens
  • 8 Firelings
  • 12 Crystal and 3 Pylon Tokens
  • 12 Support Tiles
  • 1 Cloth Bag
• Setup
• Bosses and Difficulty
• How to Play
  • Goal of the Game
  • Turn Overview
  • 1. Boss Phase
  • Crystals & Pylons
  • Boss Sheet
  • 2. Monster Phase
  • Effects of Monster Dice
  • Damage Rules
    • Special Action: Steal Fame
    • Ally Sheet
    • Activate Support
    • Spending Die Faces
  • 3. Buy Power Cards
  • 3. End of Turn
• End of the Game
• Ultimate Challenge
• Example of a Turn
• Credits

Overview

In King of Monster Island, players will play as giant monsters who must work together to defeat a titan-like Boss before it finishes building an interdimensional portal.

Each turn, players will roll dice to damage other monsters, heal themselves, gain energy and buy cards, move around the island, activate human support, and increase fame. For the Boss' actions, they are controlled entirely by the game itself. Using the results of the dice rolled into the volcano, the Boss will move, activate their minions, and attack nearby monsters. Their goal: allow their minions to set up the pylons needed to construct the portal.

To win, the players must defeat the Boss before they manage to activate the portal or defeat even a single Monster. Otherwise Earth will be demolished!

Contents and Game Elements

5 Monster Boards

These boards represent the Monsters you can play. They each have a name, one dial for Fame (star), and another for Health (heart).

1 Monster Island Board

This board represents Monster Island and is separated into 6 zones, each with multiple spaces:

• 2 spaces for Support tiles (value 3 and 4) or a Pylon
• The middle has a space for the 3D volcano
• 3 spaces for dice or Crystal tokens

1 Boss Board

This board tracks the state of the enemy you are trying to defeat. It has one dial for Fame (star) and two dials for Health (heart)—one for "tens" and one for "ones".

1 3D Volcano

The volcano is made of a plastic base and summit, with cardboard sides. After assembling it, place it in the middle of the Island.

10 Monster Dice

Each Monster die has 6 symbols that represent actions you can take on your turn:

• Heart: Gain Health
• Energy cube: Gain Energy cubes
• Star: Gain Fame
• Fist (dark): Deal 2 Damage
• Foot: Deal 1 Damage or move
• Wrench: Build Supports

8 Boss Dice

Each Boss die has a different combination of the 3 symbols below. The Boss applies these effects when activating their dice:

• Minion icon: The Boss summons 1 Minion
• Crystal icon: The Boss builds 1 Crystal
• Star: The Boss gains 1 Fame

51 Power Cards

Each Power card has a name, Energy cube cost, type (Keep or Discard), and an effect.

Power cards come in two different types:

Keep — Players keep these cards face up in front of them until the end of the game (unless told otherwise).

Discard — Effects on these cards are resolved immediately, then the card is discarded.

15 Event Cards

Events are shuffled into the Power card deck and add unpredictable circumstances to your battles.

There are positive (green) and negative (red) Events.

Energy Cubes and Tokens

Keep any Energy cubes you gain from the Energy cube die face in front of you.

They can be spent to buy Power cards or to resolve or activate certain card effects.

The 10-Energy tokens represent 10 Energy in your reserve. You can make change at any time.

8 Cardboard Figures

These figures represent the Monsters you play and the Bosses you are fighting against.

6 Ally Sheets

These sheets represent the Allies who will come to your aid. They each have a name and list of powers, with the minimum Fame needed to activate them.

You begin the game without Allies, but each player will choose 1 (and only 1) as soon as they gain their first Fame.

A player aid is printed on the back of each sheet.

3 Boss Sheets

These double-sided sheets represent the 3 Bosses you can battle, though you will only use one sheet per game. Each one has 2 difficulty levels (Normal "blue" side and Advanced "red" side), a name, information on the number of Boss dice and Health they start with, a permanent power, and a list of powers with the minimum Fame needed to activate them.

30 Minion Tokens

These tokens represent the Boss' allies. They each have an illustration and a certain amount of Health. There are 4 types:

• 12 Soldiers (1 Health)
• 6 Shields (3 Health)
• 6 Cannons (1 Health)
• 6 Builders (2 Health)

8 Firelings

These tokens represent extra Minions that are only used with the ultimate Boss, Lavalord.

12 Crystal and 3 Pylon Tokens

Crystal tokens are placed on the board by activating the Crystal icon dice or Builder Minions. Once there are 3 Crystal tokens in a zone, they are replaced with a Pylon token. If there are 3 Pylons on the board, the players lose the game. You will not like these Pylons.

12 Support Tiles

Support tiles represent the help you get from the humans.

They have die faces on them that you can use. Sometimes there is also an Energy cube, which you gain when you activate the tile.

1 Cloth Bag

Add all 30 Minion tokens to the bag to make sure they are randomized when you draw them.

Setup

1. Place the island board in the middle of the table.
2. Assemble the volcano, then place it in the middle of the board. Align the rocks with the 6 white lines.
3. Choose a Boss sheet and place it near the board. For your first game, use Crystal Dragon with its "blue" side up. Take the Boss board and set the dials to 0 Fame and the starting Health (shown on their sheet). Example: Crystal Dragon blue starts with 15 Health.
4. Set aside the number of Boss dice shown on the Boss sheet. Return the others to the box.
5. Place the Boss figure matching the sheet in any zone of the board.
6. Make reserve piles near the board:
   • 12 Crystal and 3 Pylon tokens
   • 10 Monster dice
   • Bag with 30 Minion tokens
   • Energy cubes and 10-Energy tokens
   • 12 Support tiles (face down)
   • 8 Flamelings, if you're battling Lavalord
7. Shuffle the Power and Event cards together. Make a facedown deck near the board. Create the market by revealing the top 3 cards from the deck. If you draw an Event card during setup, shuffle it back into the deck and replace it with a new card.
8. Draw a random Minion from the bag and place it in the Boss' zone. Then do the same for the other 5 zones, going clockwise.
9. Each player chooses a Monster figure and takes the matching board. Set your dials to 0 Fame and 10 Health. Place the figures on the board, so the Boss and Monsters are each in a different zone.
10. Take one random Ally sheet per player plus one, and place them face up near the board. Return the others to the box or use their back side for the player aid.

Bosses and Difficulty

There are 3 different Bosses, each with 2 difficulty levels: Normal ("blue" side) and Advanced ("red" side). The Advanced version of each Boss has the same powers, but different values for Health and Boss dice.

We suggest you challenge the Bosses in this order: (1) Crystal Dragon → (2) Lithosaur → (3) Lavalord, starting with the Normal side. Once you've managed to defeat them, try the Advanced side.

We also suggest that whichever player has the most experience with the game keeps the Boss sheet near them and controls the Boss' powers and movement, so everyone can have a smoother game experience.

How to Play

Icon key: Heart = Health; Star = Fame; Energy cube = Energy cube; Damage = Damage; Monster die (dark cube); Boss die (red cube).

Goal of the Game

Victory Condition

You immediately win as a team if the Boss reaches 0 Health.

Defeat Condition

If any one of these conditions is met, players immediately lose the game as a team:

• Any Monster begins their Monster Phase at 0 Health.
• 3 Pylons are built on the board.
• There are no Minions in the bag and you have to draw one.

Turn Overview

Players take turns going clockwise, starting with any Monster. Each turn is split into 3 phases:

1. Boss Phase
   1. Check the Boss' active powers
   2. Roll available Boss dice
   3. Move the Boss
   4. Activate Minions in the Boss' zone
   5. Activate Boss dice in the Boss' zone
2. Monster Phase
   1. Roll 6 Monster dice
   2. Resolve Monster dice
   3. Buy Power cards
3. End of Turn

1. Boss Phase

During this phase, complete the following steps, in order:

1. Check the Boss' active powers

First, apply their BEFORE MOVEMENT powers, then any active powers, if applicable (see Boss Sheet). The active powers are those shown on the Boss sheet for which they have enough Fame.

2. Roll all available Boss dice into the mouth of the Volcano

There's no need to aim; just drop them together, as straight as possible, an inch above the mouth of the volcano. They should roll randomly into the 6 zones on the board. However, sometimes there may not be any available Boss dice to roll.

Definition: Available dice are any Boss die (or Monster die) that are not on the board.

If any dice roll off the board or get stuck in the volcano, re-roll any affected dice.

3. Move the Boss

Refer to the three conditions below in order. As soon as the Boss moves this turn, ignore any following conditions and continue to Step 4 Activate Minions.

• Look at the Boss' current zone and the zones to either side. Of these 3 zones, move the Boss to the one with the most Boss dice even if the zone with the most dice is the one the Boss is already in. Treat it as though they just moved there to activate applicable effects.
• If there are no Boss dice in any of these 3 zones, move the Boss to the next zone clockwise.
• Otherwise, if multiple zones are tied for the most Boss dice, move the Boss to the one with the most Minions. If multiple zones are tied for most Minions, move the Boss to the one that's furthest clockwise.

Example: Among the 3 zones the Boss could move to, there are 2 Boss dice in each adjacent zone and none in their current zone. Therefore, check the number of Minions in the 2 tied zones. The zone on the left has 1 Minion and the right has 2, so the Boss moves to the zone on the right.

4. Activate Minions in the Boss' zone

• Soldier: Each Monster in this zone takes 1 Damage.
• Cannon: Each Monster in every zone takes 1 Damage.
• Shield: No effect.
• Builder: Build a Crystal in this zone (see Crystals & Pylons below).

5. Activate Boss dice in the Boss' zone

Activate each Boss die in the Boss' zone by applying the effect of each symbol, then remove them from the board. These Boss dice are now available and can be rolled at the start of the next Boss Phase.

• Crystal icon: Build 1 Crystal in this zone (see Crystals & Pylons below).
• Star: Gain 1 Fame on the Boss board.
• Minion icon: Draw 1 random Minion from the bag and add it to this zone.

Note: If there are no more Minions in the bag and you must draw one, you immediately lose the game (see End of the Game)!

Crystals & Pylons

When you must build a Crystal in a zone, place it on one of the die spaces that doesn't yet have a Crystal. If a Monster die is already on the chosen space, move the Monster die off the board (making it available) and build a Crystal in the space.

As soon as all 3 die spaces in a single zone have a Crystal token, remove them from the board and place a Pylon on any Support space in the same zone. If the chosen space has a Support tile on it, return the tile to the box.

Once the board has 3 Pylons, the Boss opens an interdimensional portal through which thousands of Minions invade the planet. You immediately lose the game if this happens!

If the 3rd Pylon must be built in a zone that already has 2, and there are no available spaces to place it, the game still ends.

Boss Sheet

These sheets show the characteristics and powers of the Boss you are facing.

1. The number of Boss dice used in the game and the number of Health the Boss starts with are shown in the top left.
2. The yellow section in the bottom left shows the power that is activated during the first step of the Boss Phase (BEFORE MOVEMENT).
3. The list of powers is read from bottom to top. A power is active if the Boss board has at least as many Fame as shown next to the power. This means the different powers are cumulative. The longer the game goes on, the more powerful the Boss becomes.
4. If the power at the top of the list is active, activate it each time the Boss activates a Fame symbol. Example: If Crystal Dragon has 20 Fame and they activate 2 Star symbols, then they activate the SHARP FIST power twice.

For example, Crystal Dragon's ("blue" side) permanent power is Sharp Fist (BEFORE MOVEMENT): "I deal 1 Damage to the Monster(s) with the most Health in this or adjacent zones." Its Fame-gated powers, from lowest to highest threshold, include Fast Moving (1 Fame): "If I move to a zone with no Boss dice, I continue moving"; Crystal Blast (5 Fame): a power that damages a Monster in an adjacent zone and pushes them 1 zone away; Flying Soldiers (10 Fame): "Soldier Minions can attack Monsters in adjacent zones"; Super Fast Moving (15 Fame): "If I don't move to one of the zones with the most Boss dice, I continue moving"; and Super Sharp Fist (20 Fame): a Star-triggered power that triggers Sharp Fist again.

2. Monster Phase

Take the following steps in order:

1. Roll 6 Monster dice

Take 6 available Monster dice. If there are not enough available dice, remove any Monster dice from the board until you have 6.

You have a maximum of 3 rerolls. You can stop rolling at any time.

For your first roll, roll all 6 dice (in front of you, not into the volcano). For any rerolls, choose which dice you would like to reroll (the other dice are set aside).

Before you reroll, you can take back any dice you set aside during a previous roll. After you have rolled three times or decided to stop, keep the dice in front of you and continue to Step 2. Resolve Monster dice.

When a card or game element mentions your "Roll," it refers to the final result of your last roll.

Note: If you have any extra dice (through a Power card effect), roll the necessary number of dice (6 + number of extra dice).

2. Resolve Monster dice

During this phase, you can resolve or Lock dice from your Roll and/or Unlock dice in your zone.

Resolve a Monster die: Apply the effect of the die, as explained on the following pages. When you resolve dice, you can resolve them one at a time or combine their effects in a group.

Lock a Monster die: You can choose to save dice for later by "Locking" them. To do so, place each die on an available die space in your zone without changing the visible face. These dice are Locked and can be used on following turns by any Monster, as explained below. If you want to Lock more dice than there are available spaces, you must Unlock one or more dice first.

Unlock a Monster die: While resolving dice, you can Unlock any dice that were previously Locked in your zone. To do so, take them in front of you without changing the visible face, and add them to your Roll. You can resolve Unlocked dice with your other dice.

You can resolve dice in any order, and Lock/Unlock dice between each resolution.

Effects of Monster Dice

Heart (Gain Health): Choose a Monster in your zone to gain 1 Health. You cannot have more than 10 Health, unless a card effect or Ally sheet says otherwise.

Energy cube (Gain Energy): You can resolve all Energy cube dice simultaneously. Gain as many Energy cubes as shown below. If you roll more than 5 Energy cube dice, resolve any groups of 5 first, then resolve the rest.

Number of Energy cube dice	1	2	3	4	5
Energy cubes you gain	1	3	6	10	15

Foot (Deal Damage or Move): Deal 1 Damage in your zone, OR Move a Monster (you or another player) in your zone to an adjacent zone. (Yes, you can give the boot to another Monster in your zone to move them.)

Note: You can resolve or Lock dice from your Roll and Unlock dice in your zone before moving to a different zone with your Foot die to resolve, Lock, and Unlock dice in your new zone.

Fist (Deal 2 Damage): Deal 2 Damage in your zone.

Damage Rules

Damage is used to destroy the Boss and their Minions. When you deal Damage in your zone, follow these rules:

• You cannot deal Damage to the Boss while there are Minions in their zone.
• You cannot deal Damage to non-Shield Minions if there are Shield Minions in the zone.
• Each Minion must be destroyed in a single action, meaning you must deal as much Damage as they have Health to destroy them. However, the Boss can take damage over the course of the game. When a Minion is destroyed, put the token back in the bag.
• Each Damage you deal to the Boss causes them to lose 1 Health. Adjust the Boss board accordingly.
• You can split up Damage between multiple enemies in your zone. This means that the 2 Damage you deal with a Fist can be split among 2 different enemies (remember that Shields protect other Minions which, in turn, protect the Boss).
• Any Damage you do not use before moving is lost.

Example: There are 3 Soldier Minions and the Boss in your zone when you activate the following dice: Foot, Fist, Fist. You can split the 5 Damage across the enemies present. You must first use 3 Damage to destroy the Minions and return them to the bag. Then you use your remaining 2 Damage on the Boss and cause them to lose 2 Health.

Star (Gain Fame): Gain 1 Fame + Optional: remove 1 Boss die to gain 1 extra Fame (see Special Action: Steal Fame below).

Special Action: Steal Fame

For each Star you resolve to gain 1 Fame, you can also "steal" Fame from the Boss by removing 1 Boss die in your zone from the board. If you do, gain 1 extra Fame.

Important: This Boss die is now available, so it will be dropped into the volcano on the Boss' next turn. The more dice you remove from the board, the more unpredictable the Boss' turn will become.

Example: You rolled Star, Star, Star, Foot, Foot, Fist. You decide to resolve a Star to gain 1 Fame and remove a Boss die from your zone to gain 1 extra Fame. Then you resolve your Foot to move to an adjacent zone. There, you resolve Star, Star to gain another 2 Fame, but you decide to remove only 1 Boss die from your current zone and gain just 1 extra Fame. You decide to lock the remaining Fist, Foot. Therefore, this turn you gained 5 Fame total and removed 2 Boss dice that were added to the Boss' available dice.

Ally Sheet

Once your Monster board has at least 1 Fame, choose an available Ally sheet and place it near your Monster sheet.

This Ally grants you bonuses or powers depending on the amount of Fame you have, with cumulative effects. You do not have to spend Fame to use these effects.

If your Fame falls to 0 (for example, from an Event card), return your Ally sheet to the pool of available Allies. You can choose a new Ally when you reach at least 1 Fame again.

Wrench (Build Supports): If you resolve 3 or 4 Wrench dice simultaneously, draw a random Support tile and place it face up on the Support space of the corresponding value in your zone. If there is a Pylon on this space, you cannot build the Support tile. If a Support tile is already on this space, discard it and replace it with the new one. You can activate the new Support tile immediately.

Activate Support

At any point during your turn, you can activate or recharge any number of Support tiles in any zones you are in.

Activating or recharging a Support tile is a free action.

You cannot activate and recharge the same Support tile during the same turn.

Activating Support: Flip any Support tiles in your zone that you decide to activate facedown, after following the steps below.

• If the Support tile you are activating shows a die face, resolve it as if it were part of your Roll. This virtual die must be resolved immediately and cannot be Locked.
• A "?" means that you can resolve the virtual die as if it had any face of your choice.
• If the Support tile shows an Energy cube, gain 1 Energy cube.

Recharging Support: Flip a used Support tile face up.

Spending Die Faces

Certain Power cards or Ally sheets will let you spend die faces to activate powers, like in this example: Wrench icon — "Apply the effect described below."

If you choose to spend these die faces to trigger the special effect, you cannot use them for their normal effects.

Example: If you rolled Wrench, Wrench, you could take this card's action twice, and either move 2 Minions or the Boss and 1 Minion.

If you cannot or do not want to Resolve, Lock, or Unlock any more dice, continue to Step 3. Buy Power Cards.

3. Buy Power Cards

After resolving dice, you can buy any of the 3 face-up Power cards from the market by spending as many Energy cubes as the cost shown (in the top-left). Buy cards 1 at a time. After each purchase, reveal the top card of the deck to replace the card you bought.

• If you bought a Discard card, resolve it immediately then discard it.
• If you bought a Keep card, place it near your Monster board. Its power is active as long as you keep the card.
• If you reveal an Event, resolve it immediately (but after resolving the Discard card, if you bought one). Then discard it before revealing a new card.

If the Power card deck is empty, do not shuffle the discards or replace bought cards.

You can spend 2 Energy cubes to discard all 3 face-up Power cards. Reveal 3 new ones, 1 at a time, until there are 3 available Power cards, resolving any Event cards revealed as described above.

As long as you have enough Energy cubes, you can keep buying or discarding Power cards.

For gameplay effects, Event cards are not considered to be Power cards.

3. End of Turn

Resolve any "End of Turn" effects, in any order you choose.

Pass the available Monster dice and Boss dice to the player to your left. They now take their turn, starting with the Boss Phase.

End of the Game

The game ends as soon as one of these conditions is met:

• The Boss has 0 Health.
• A player begins their Monster Phase with 0 Health (defeat).
• The third Pylon is built on the board.
• All Minions are on the board and you have to draw one from the bag.

Ultimate Challenge

Have you beaten all 3 Bosses separately and want an even harder challenge? This mode is just for you!

Choose a difficulty level:

• Normal, with Boss boards on the "blue" side, or
• Advanced, with Boss boards on the "red" side

Play a game by challenging Crystal Dragon following the normal rules.

If Crystal Dragon has 0 Health, the active player finishes their turn normally. Then, without changing the board state at all, follow these setup steps:

• Keep your current Fame and Health, Ally sheet, Keep cards, and Energy cubes. Simply remove the defeated Boss from the board.
• Then remove each Pylon from the board. For each Pylon removed, place 5 Minions in the same zone. If, during this step, there are not enough Minions in the bag, you lose.
• If there were enough Minions in the bag, place Lithosaur on any zone without a Monster. Update the Boss board to have 0 Fame and the new amount of Health.
• Leave the Boss dice where they are and add more available Boss dice until the dice in play match the number shown on the new Boss sheet.
• Now continue your game by challenging Lithosaur.

Once you've defeated Lithosaur, follow the same setup steps to challenge Lavalord.

If you manage to defeat Lavalord, you've conquered the Ultimate Challenge.

Example of a Turn

It's Pagurah's turn to play.

1. Boss Phase

1. Check the Boss' active powers

Crystal Dragon has 3 Fame and therefore has 2 active powers: their BEFORE MOVEMENT and 1-Fame powers. The former lets them damage the Monster(s) with the most Health in their zone and adjacent zones. Pagurah and Rex Florae both have 9 Health (H.A.D.E.S. only has 8), so they each lose 1 Health.

2. Roll available Boss dice

3 of Crystal Dragon's 5 Boss dice are already on the board. They only have 2 available Boss dice to drop into the volcano.

3. Move the Boss

Crystal Dragon moves. Since there are no Boss dice in their zone or adjacent zones, they move 1 zone clockwise. However, since their 1-Fame power is active, Crystal Dragon continues moving until they reach the zone with 3 Boss dice.

4. Activate Minions in the Boss' zone

There are no Minions in Crystal Dragon's zone, so they immediately continue to the next step and activate the Boss dice.

5. Activate Boss dice in the Boss' zone

Crystal Dragon gains 2 Fame (increasing to 5 Fame, which activates their next power). They build 1 Crystal and add 2 Minions to their zone.

Pagurah can now begin their Monster Phase.

2. Monster Phase

1. Roll 6 Monster dice

After rerolling some of the Monster dice from their first roll, Pagurah decides not to use their 3rd reroll and keeps the following: Foot, Foot, Foot, Foot, Star, and Energy cube.

2. Resolve Monster dice

A. Pagurah moves to an adjacent zone with 1 Foot die.

B. There, Pagurah activates their Star to gain 1 Fame and chooses to use the optional action to remove a Boss die from their zone to gain 1 extra Fame. They increase from 0 to 2 Fame. Pagurah can now take an Ally sheet and chooses the Ninjas. The first power on that sheet is now active.

C. Pagurah uses their 2nd Foot die to move again. In their new zone, they unlock the Foot die from H.A.D.E.S.' last turn (D) and add it to their 2 unused Foot dice.

E. Pagurah activates the Support tile as a free action and gains 1 Energy cube and a Foot die that they use to move again, after flipping the Support tile facedown.

F. Pagurah decides to activate the 3 Foot dice to deal 6 Damage in their zone. Thanks to their Ninja allies, the Shield Minion only has 1 Health. The 2nd Damage destroys the Soldier Minion and those two tokens are returned to the bag. Since there are no more Minions in their zone, the last 4 Damage are dealt to Crystal Dragon. Pagurah updates the Boss board.

Finally, with their last Energy cube die, Pagurah gains a 2nd Energy cube.

3. Buy Power Cards

During this phase, Pagurah decides to buy the "Unlock!" card for 2 Energy cubes. After paying the cost and taking the card, they reveal the top card of the deck.

It's the negative event "All For That?" which must be resolved immediately. Pagurah and H.A.D.E.S. each have a Keep card, so they suffer the negative effects. Pagurah has no more Energy cubes, so they must lose 1 Fame, while H.A.D.E.S. decides to lose 2 Energy cubes.

Now it's on to H.A.D.E.S., who begins their turn with a new Boss Phase.

Credits

Designer: Richard Garfield Illustrator: Paul Mafayon Developer: L'Équipe Ludique Project Manager: Florent Baudry Graphic Designer: Vincent Mougenot Editor: Xavier Taverne Proofreader: William Niebling 3D Designer: Xavier Taverne and Lenaïg Bourgoin

Thanks: Timothée Simonot, Régis Torres, Origames and the Friday testers. L'Équipe Ludique would like to thank the fabulous Dydou. A big thank you also to Fumo, and to Céline, Timothée, Joachim and Gwendoline. Finally, let's not forget Alexis, Robin and Pick!

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