Restoration Games is doing what it does best: taking a beloved-but-out-of-print classic and rebuilding it for 2026. Battle Monsters is the studio's reimagining of 1992's Battle Masters, the chunky Milton Bradley fantasy wargame, this time wearing the Monsterverse licence with Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Kong and Mechagodzilla as the headliners. The game ships to backers and retail in August 2026.
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Start organising for freeThe original Battle Masters was a gateway drug for a generation of wargamers, with a giant printed mat, pre-painted plastic minis, and a card-driven combat system that asked you nothing more taxing than rolling dice and shouting. Restoration Games has form here, having already revived Heroscape with the Age of Annihilation Kickstarter, and the studio has built its catalogue on the same premise: keep what made the original sing and fix the design where it creaked.
Battle Monsters is asymmetric, supporting 1-4 players. Each kaiju has its own deck, dice, and oversized sculpts, and the table tilts on tactical decisions and swingy dice rolls. The design team is stacked. Stephen Baker (designer of the original Battle Masters and HeroQuest), Rob Daviau (Risk Legacy, Pandemic Legacy), Justin D. Jacobson, Justin Kemppainen and Noah Cohen are all on the credits.
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See how it worksThe combination of nostalgic IP, oversized toys, and a simple but punchy ruleset makes this the kind of game your group will actually pull off the shelf. Asymmetric kaiju brawls play well as a chaotic three-player session, and the Battle Masters DNA means new players will not drown in rules. Want a kaiju showdown night when it lands? Sort the group on Backseat Gamer and start arguing over who plays Godzilla.
Sources: Restoration Games Battle Monsters | Battle Monsters Kickstarter | Restoration Games Gen Con Announcement
