Available from Button Kin Games, also via itch.io or DriveThruRPG

Godzilla has a lot to answer for. Ever since the Japanese beast started furiously destroying Tokyo, seven decades ago, giant monsters (also known as Kaiju) have smashed their way through countless cities worldwide.

In Caltrop Kaiju!, another giant monster is emerging from the sea, but this time, you can be directly involved in the battle to stop it.

Seeing the beast arriving on land from your home in the mountains, you’ve taken it upon yourself to travel through the city and attempt to learn the monster’s weakness, then pass that very important knowledge on to the military, who have a secret base in the region.

If you manage to locate the military base, they chase the Kaiju back to the depths from whence it came, leaving you to bask in the glory as humanity’s saviour!

Gameplay-wise, Caltrop Kaiju! takes the form of a solitaire puzzle/strategy game, in which you draw (or print) the town map, then use counters to represent yourself and the Kaiju, with the monster moving according to the roll of 2 four sided dice (also known as d4 or ‘caltrops’, hence the name of the game!).

The monster moves three squares in a row, in a direction determined by the dice roll, but you only move one square per turn.

Every time the Kaiju moves through a square, it’s damaged; if it moves through the same square three times, the location is destroyed.

Special locations exist on the board and you really don’t want the Kaiju moving through those!

What you do want is to get close to the Kaiju to learn its weakness, then when you do, it’s just a matter of time before you find the military. All the while, you’re trying to survive as the Kaiju comes for you directly.

It’s a fun little diversion, though the fact that you can get instant deaths or overly harsh punishments through nothing more than the roll of the dice can sometimes sting.

It’s cool that designer Yvris Burke has also provided advice on how to turn it into a solo journaling TTRPG though, which can make even a tragically short game into quite an interesting and involving story for the player to piece together.

It’s such a cheap and cheerful experience too; one that provides near endless opportunity to write your own blockbuster Kaiju movies, starring whichever hero you want and whatever flavour of Kaiju floats (or sinks) your boat.

So Caltrop Kaiju! comes highly recommended by this particular player. Especially as it just feels so versatile, despite its minimalistic approach; it flexible enough to either be a quick little puzzle game or a TTRPG that feels really immersive with every move made.

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