Munchkin Review by cdwalkley
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Right, lets get this out of the way from the start. Munchkin is the kind of game you either love or hate, and even if you love it you might find you go off it after a few games. Why is this? Well, esentially it is a one joke game, which you probably won't even enjoy unless you played Dungeons and Dragons in your youth, or with a more immature adult gaming group.
The joke is this: In the world of RPGs you get two main types of gamer, with a few shades in between. The first type is the serious roleplayer. For these guys it is all about the story and the portrayal of well developed characters, i.e really role-playing. The second type is the 'roll-player'. For them a good game consists of making the strongest character possible, killing everything which moves and hoarding as much treasure as you can possibly imagine, all the while whinging when things don't go their way or nit-picking at reasons why their 'pacifist' druid should actually be allowed to behave like a fighter and carry the 'flaming sword of death to all living things': the eponymous 'munchkin', or power-gamer.
Munchkin parodies this style of roleplaying in a very light-hearted manner. The game itself consists of 168 cards of two types: Dungeon and Treasure, along with a six-sided die. Gameplay is as straight forward as it gets: Turn over a dungeon card. If it is a monster, try and kill it. If you do, take X treasure cards. Repeat. This is where it starts to lose marks. If it was a half decently thought out game it would be accessable to the wider gaming community who would probably be able to raise a chuckle at the generally immature sense of humour, even if some of the more subtle references would elude them. As it stands, many people will play it, think 'There is no game here', rate it 1/10 and move swiftly on. So far, not so good. But part of the trick to enjoying Munchkin is to treat it with as little seriousness as possible, something the rules accept is the only way to do it.
Another problem is with the rules themselves. What should be a very simple sequence of events to follow each turn is confused by poorly laid out instructions and the odd rule which you probably would not notice unless you went through the 4 sides of (roughly) A4 sized paper with a fine-toothed comb. That said, it is not too much of a problem if everyone just says 'sod it' and gets on with playing. And it is just the kind of game where this is fine and won't hinder enjoyment at all.
The objective is simple. Reach level 10 first. Each player starts off at level one and rises a level every time they kill a monster. This is done simply by having a total level, after accounting for card adjustments, higher than that of the monster. Each other player is allowed to play any cards they have which might affect the outcome of the combat, typically trying to help the monster. Players can also gain levels by selling items of a certain value. Items themselves typically add a bonus to the owner's level, enabling otherwise weak characters to fight monsters much tougher than they are.
Ironically enough, the last time I played this was with my Dad and sister, neither of whom have any interest in roleplaying whatsoever. The game was a blast. Play was quick and the stupidity of it all was appreciated. Conversely I have played with gaming buddies who also role-play and found it one of the dullest experiences of my life. With this game it all comes down to who you are playing with.
Summary
Presentation: 168 cards in a stupidly large box. The cards are all brown on yellow-brown, so a bit on the dull side, but I guess the aim is to go for an ink-on-parchment effect. Only partly successful. The comic art is usually quite good, however. 6.5/10
Clarity of Rules: For such a simple game the rules are awfully obscure. Just as well they can be mostly ignored if desired. 4.3/10
Game Length: Has potential to drag. Certainly not the type of game to play with people used to ponder the best move to make. 5.0/10
Value: Frankly overpriced. Simple game consisting of a box of cards. 3.4/10
Overall: This is the tough one. As a game it pretty much sucks. With the right crowd it is a riot. People who are likely to appreciate the joke or who don't have a problem with, frankly, totally stupid games can add 3 to the overall score. 4.2/10 (not an average)
Right, lets get this out of the way from the start. Munchkin is the kind of game you either love or hate, and even if you love it you might find you go off it after a few games. Why is this? Well, esentially it is a one joke game, which you probably won't even enjoy unless you played Dungeons and Dragons in your youth, or with a more immature adult gaming group.The joke is this: In the world of RPGs you get two main types of gamer, with a few shades in between. The first type is the serious roleplayer. For these guys it is all about the story and the portrayal of well developed characters, i.e really role-playing. The second type is the 'roll-player'. For them a good game consists of making the strongest character possible, killing everything which moves and hoarding as much treasure as you can possibly imagine, all the while whinging when things don't go their way or nit-picking at reasons why their 'pacifist' druid should actually be allowed to behave like a fighter and carry the 'flaming sword of death to all living things': the eponymous 'munchkin', or power-gamer.
Munchkin parodies this style of roleplaying in a very light-hearted manner. The game itself consists of 168 cards of two types: Dungeon and Treasure, along with a six-sided die. Gameplay is as straight forward as it gets: Turn over a dungeon card. If it is a monster, try and kill it. If you do, take X treasure cards. Repeat. This is where it starts to lose marks. If it was a half decently thought out game it would be accessable to the wider gaming community who would probably be able to raise a chuckle at the generally immature sense of humour, even if some of the more subtle references would elude them. As it stands, many people will play it, think 'There is no game here', rate it 1/10 and move swiftly on. So far, not so good. But part of the trick to enjoying Munchkin is to treat it with as little seriousness as possible, something the rules accept is the only way to do it.
Another problem is with the rules themselves. What should be a very simple sequence of events to follow each turn is confused by poorly laid out instructions and the odd rule which you probably would not notice unless you went through the 4 sides of (roughly) A4 sized paper with a fine-toothed comb. That said, it is not too much of a problem if everyone just says 'sod it' and gets on with playing. And it is just the kind of game where this is fine and won't hinder enjoyment at all.
The objective is simple. Reach level 10 first. Each player starts off at level one and rises a level every time they kill a monster. This is done simply by having a total level, after accounting for card adjustments, higher than that of the monster. Each other player is allowed to play any cards they have which might affect the outcome of the combat, typically trying to help the monster. Players can also gain levels by selling items of a certain value. Items themselves typically add a bonus to the owner's level, enabling otherwise weak characters to fight monsters much tougher than they are.
Ironically enough, the last time I played this was with my Dad and sister, neither of whom have any interest in roleplaying whatsoever. The game was a blast. Play was quick and the stupidity of it all was appreciated. Conversely I have played with gaming buddies who also role-play and found it one of the dullest experiences of my life. With this game it all comes down to who you are playing with.
Summary
Presentation: 168 cards in a stupidly large box. The cards are all brown on yellow-brown, so a bit on the dull side, but I guess the aim is to go for an ink-on-parchment effect. Only partly successful. The comic art is usually quite good, however. 6.5/10
Clarity of Rules: For such a simple game the rules are awfully obscure. Just as well they can be mostly ignored if desired. 4.3/10
Game Length: Has potential to drag. Certainly not the type of game to play with people used to ponder the best move to make. 5.0/10
Value: Frankly overpriced. Simple game consisting of a box of cards. 3.4/10
Overall: This is the tough one. As a game it pretty much sucks. With the right crowd it is a riot. People who are likely to appreciate the joke or who don't have a problem with, frankly, totally stupid games can add 3 to the overall score. 4.2/10 (not an average)
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