Munchkin (card game)
From Free net encyclopedia
| Munchkin | |
|---|---|
| Image:Munchkin game cover.jpg Players explore a hack-and-slash dungeon, fight monsters and collect treasure. (Also note that in order to hold the items on the cover you'd need 3 hands) | |
| Players | 2-8 |
| Age range | 12 + |
| Setup time | 5 minutes |
| Playing time | 45–60 minutes |
| Rules complexity | Medium |
| Strategy depth | Low-Medium |
| Random chance | High |
| Skills required | Dice rolling |
| {{{footnotes|}}} | |
Munchkin is a popular card game by Steve Jackson Games, written by Steve Jackson and illustrated by John Kovalic, that has a humorous take on role-playing games, based on the concept of munchkins (immature role-players, playing "to win"). The card game is itself a spin-off from The Munchkin's Guide to Powergaming, a gaming humour book that also won an Origins Award in 2000.
In 2002 Munchkin won the Origins Award for Best Traditional Card Game of 2001.
After the success of the original Munchkin game several expansion packs and sequels were published.
Gameplay
A Munchkin game typically runs about an hour, depending on how many people are playing. At the beginning of the game, "Everyone starts as a Level 1 Human with no class (Heh,heh.)" and attempts to get to Level 10. Each person's turn begins with the player opening a room (booting down the door) and looking for danger. If there is a monster in the room, the player fights the monster. If the player's level plus bonuses from the player's equipment (such as Sneaky Bastard Sword or Really Impressive Title) is higher than the monster's level plus any bonuses the monster might have (such as Enraged or ...And its Mate), then the player wins the fight, moves up one level (though some monsters grant more levels), and takes the monster's stuff. If there is no trouble in the room, then the player goes straight to the looting. The purpose of the game is to reach 10th level before any of the other players do so. To do this, players give enhancing cards to whatever monsters are fighting the other players so that the monsters will win and cause Bad Stuff to happen to the player. Munchkin is not a very serious game; the rules make this pretty clear with phrases like: "Decide who goes first by rolling the dice and arguing about the results and the meaning of this sentence and whether the fact a word seems to be missing any effect."
Expansions and spinoffs
A number of expansions to the original Munchkin game have been made. They're listed here, by spinoff
- Munchkin
- Unnatural Axe, the first expansion, won the Origins Awards in 2003, for Best Card Game Expansion or Supplement of 2002.
- Clerical Errors, the second Munchkin expansion, brought the total number of cards for Munchkin up to 392.
- Clerical Errata is a misprint of Clerical Errors, containing cards printed with the wrong card back (e.g. dungeon rather than treasure). By popular demand, a limited public release was made.
- The Need for Steed, the fourth expansion to the Original game was released in 2006. This included steeds such as a dragon, an eagle and a turtle. Furthermore there were many new hirelings.
- Star Munchkin released in 2002, another version of Munchkin. The new version parodies science-fiction in general, with an emphasis on the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises. It won the Origins Awards in 2003, for Best Traditional Card Game of 2002.
- Clown Wars was the expansion, created when Star Munchkin proved popular enough to warrant an expansion of its own.
- Munchkin Fu, released in 2003, Steve Jackson created a version that parodies Asian movies.
- Monky Business, the expansion to Munchkin Fu was released early in 2005.
- Munchkin Bites was the fourth version, released in 2004. It was released to parody the type of Gothic horror that has been popularized by games such as Vampire: The Masquerade and by authors such as Anne Rice.
- Pants Macabre was the expansion for Munchkin Bites, in late 2005.
- Super Munchkin was the fifth Munchkin version, a parody on super hero comics.
- The Narrow S Cape will be the expansion for Super Munchkin, and is currently in production.
- Munchkin Blender is a special set released in response to players combining the different versions of Munchkin. It's a set of cards designed for this type of game, in which a player could be an elven/mutant bounty hunter/ninja or a dwarven samurai who uses a lasermaserbobaserbananafanafofaser (that's four different guns). Blender allows play with all current decks, as well as play to the 20th level with Epic Rules.
- Munchkin Impossible, the sixth version, is coming later this year and parodies secret agent stories.
There is also a Munchkin role-playing game, which uses the d20 System and the creatures and items from the card game, such as the Singing and Dancing Sword, Horny Helmet, Creature Cut Off by a Printing Error, and the Plutonium Dragon. The game is primarily a parody of Dungeons & Dragons.