What's this? Another board game review? Thats right, only this time it's more of a card game, far more light hearted, and a bit more devious. Munchkin is essentially Dungeons and Dragons lite. It takes everything we nerds love (In the realm of swords and sorcery) and lampoons it. The point of the game is to get to Level 10 by selling treasure, fighting monsters and using cards.
The best part of munchkin is its simplicity. Despite being "Kind of like" Dungeons and Dragons, Munchkins is far easier to just pick up and play. When you start you are a Level 1 Human with no class (har har har). The only stat you have to keep track of is your strength, which is your level plus any augmenting cards you have in play. There are races like Dwarf, Human (default), Elf and Halfling (more are added with expansions). To mix things up even further there are class cards such as warrior, wizard, and thief to give new attributes and abilities.
There are two types of cards: Door cards and Treasure cards. Treasure cards have equipment on them to boost your strength, battle modifiers, and instant level ups. The turn phase starts by "Kicking down the door" (drawing a door card). This will be a monster, race, class, or curse. If it is a monster then the battle phase begins. Again, the simplicity here is what makes it great. You just add up your level and any cards you have equipped and if your overall strength is greater than the monsters you win! Of course, the flip side is that it's also very easy for your friends to stab you in the back.
"I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole, good thing I brought this!"
One of the most enjoyable aspects of Munchkin is how it encourages insubordination amongst the players. In the beginning players will cordially help each other defeat monsters for treasure. By the end, however, when everyone is level 9, people won't be quite so helpful. You see, there are only two ways to win the game, you can only level up from 9 to 10 by defeating a monster. You can't use a level up card or sell treasure. The one exception is if you have the card "Devine Intervention" in which case you must be a cleric at level 9 and draw that card to win.
Now then, back to combat. As I mentioned above if the monster is to strong you can ask a friend for help. Usually you'll make an offer, say, they get one treasure. They can accept, decline, or attempt to re-negotiate (only one treasure, but they get first pick). If you win you are able to collect the amount of Treasure cards designated on the Monster. If no one will (or can) help then you must run away, which is just rolling dice. Lose that, and you die, your fellow players will loot your body.
If you knock down the door and there is not a monster then you can either "Look for Trouble " (play a monster from your hand) or "Loot the Room" (draw a Door Card and put it in your hand).
Munchkin starts out pretty slow, but can gain momentum quite fast. It's a light hearted game and is based on strategy and deception. You'll find yourself saving the perfect curse card to stop you friend from reaching level 10. Or in my case the last time I played, the perfect combo to win the game.
As fun as it is though, it's not without its faults. The end of the game is hilariously frantic, with everyone usually reaching level 9 around the same time. Unfortunately this means that the last phase of the game is just like circling the drain. A person tries to beat a monster to reach level 10, someone uses a curse or other card to stop them. The next player will do the same and so on until you reach the point where someone is finally able to beat a monster because everyone has spent all their curses and augmentations.
Despite its flaws Munchkin is still a fantastic game. Every card is humorous and its all a bit tongue and cheek. You can really tell the makers of this game love the old pen and paper RPGs. There is also an enormous library of expansions for this game, its a bit overwhelming actually, but I can't wait to get some new cards. This is a surprisingly fun party game that anyone can pick up and enjoy, as long as they can take a friendly backstabbing every now and then, all in the name of fun of curse.
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