Edit: Very few people have heard of Munchkin. That's understandable because it's not sold in most stores and mainly found online. But I encourage you all to at least look into it...it's a lot of fun and worth a ton of laughs if you have four to six people playing.

The Escapist did an article once on Steve Jackson, creator and founder of the largely unknown RP card game called Munchkin. I read the article at the time, but had no idea what Munchkin was...so I never truly appreciated the man. Now, almost a year later, a friend of mine brought over something he found at a Hobby Lobby near me, the original Munchkin, and I have to say that I never thought I would have so much fun playing a card game. The following paragraphs give a brief overview of the game, so if you already know about Munchkin, skip that part obviously.

For those of you that don't know anything about the game, Munchkin is a pen and paper card game that doesn't take itself too seriously. I guess you could say that it has the "gamer humor" in mind. With magical power ups ranging from "Dragonstone Helmet" to "Don the Horny Helmet" to "staff of Napalm" and the infamous "Guy Wire", you become stronger in order to fight higher level baddies. Each baddie you kill raises your level once (sometimes even twice if it's a hardcore baddie), and you win when you reach level ten.

Though the ultimate goal is to reach level ten, the way you do that is much different from most rp games. Everyone playing starts off as a level one Munchkin, receives two of each type of card (treasure cards and door cards), and has to build up from there. The player who starts knocks on the door (meaning pulls a door card), and shows it face up to the group. If it's a monster, he has to look at the monsters level...which can range anywhere from 1-19, and if he has enough bonus (bonuses from magical items, one use stat increases, and base level), then he kills it. If he doesn't, then he can try to enlist the help of another player to team kill it. In return for doing this, the person who was enlisted can name their price. Each monster has a certain number of treasures it's worth, and the hired aid names his price (making it teamwork focused at the beginning, which is always amusing because near the end, teamwork falls apart because only ONE player can win).

Though that's just a glimpse overview of how the game is played, I'd rather focus on what makes the game shine. Each card has a unique name, unique abilities or curses, and has a custom drawn cartoon graphic. Teamwork plays a huge part up until someone is about to win...then every player turns against the player in the lead and tries to screw him over. But at the end of the game, you can't help but laugh and all that animosity fades as you talk about your plan, your cards that you couldn't use because Player X cursed you for X amount of turns, etc.

There is even a card called "Make the GMs Girlfriend Laugh" or something involving a GM that players can play even after someone has won the game (reaching level 10) that makes them go down to level nine. Personal Experience with that card: A friend that has never won a Munchkin match before beats all the curses thrown at him to reduce his bonus so that he can't kill level 9 One Eyed Yeti, and promptly shouts out victory and goes on saying how he never won a single game of Munchkin, and how he finally won one. My friend sitting on the right of me is already laughing uncontrollably, and throws the card right at the victorious friend's chest...and my friend that thought he won went down to level nine...and ended up losing. Harsh, but unbelievably satisfying. To this day, he still hasn't won a match.

Munchkin players: What is your favorite version of Munchkin. I've played all of them except for the Munchkin blender super version, and I have to say nothing beats the original Munchkin (though Munchkin Foo is pretty close 2nd). Munchkin Bites is the worst in my mind...and Super Munchkin just doesn't agree with me.

People interested in Munchkin should go to http://www.sjgames.com/munchkin/game/

Feel free to post Munchkin experiences, stories, criticisms, etc. I just want to make sure that it's not an underground grade A game that people miss out on.

Wow! Someone else knows about Munchkin! This past year at college, I found a small group of friends and we all started playing it on Thursday afternoons after class.

We used D12s to count our levels, and just did calculations against monsters and stuff in our heads. Awesome game.

wheres the 'heard of it, know of it, but never bothered to look any deeper' option?

from what you say perhaps i should invest.

I saw this game in a Borders once, near the DnD and manga sections. I never thought about buying it because i usually overload on books, reaching the upwards of 80$ per visit to a bookstore. Maybe ill buy it and show it to my friends now..

Edit:Ahh wtf? Double post?

Love the pouring a kettle over an ant nest card.

And I have a unique card of "Evil Chocolate" :)

While the humor is great, and the game a lot of fun to play, I don't really think it has much lasting appeal (of the let's play this every week/month type). It kind of has the typical steve-jackson games problem of being just a bit too random. We do play it now and again though.

I didn't know this wasn't a widely known game; around here just about everyone who is remotely into board games either has it or has played it multiple times.

To be honest, when I first saw the title of this thread I thought of these guys

But, this soulds just as funny.

Munchkin, or how to lose your friends in one brilliant game ;P

MercFox1:
Wow! Someone else knows about Munchkin! This past year at college, I found a small group of friends and we all started playing it on Thursday afternoons after class.

We used D12s to count our levels, and just did calculations against monsters and stuff in our heads. Awesome game.

Sorry for the double post, however - Using dice to measure levels is a dangerous idea... Munchkin is designed to create as much confusion with rules as possible, and if someone has the loaded die card you'll find yourself losing levels very quickly ;P

it remindes me of nugget porn.... *shiver*

L4Y Duke:
To be honest, when I first saw the title of this thread I thought of these guys

But, this soulds just as funny.

Argh no, creepy!

Actually this does sound interesting. never really got into card RPs before, but this seems amusing enough to warrant a butcher's.

Well just skimmed to see if you were talking about the card series, and yeah, my friend got "Munchkin Cthulu" and while playing it I just kept getting the impression that it was trying too hard to be funny.

Maybe I just got that impression because I use to play Kingdom of Loathing.

Also, the game was just a little easy and boring, just get a bunch of cards, add the numbers, and if your number is bigger than something, you win. The game went by too fast for me to really judge, hell, there are lots of ways to attack players and such, but nothing ever got very competitive.

Well...the original Munchkin is a lot more balanced and fun than most of the other versions. I just don't think any card beats "Make the GM squirt milk out of his nose"...

For people who said they should look into it...DO IT! It's an amazing game that just doesn't have the means to get a large fan base, otherwise people would here about it more often.

I discovered Munchkin last Christmas and have since purchased all versions and tried to spread the love.

I don't know about other families but every Christmas at our household there always an evening where we all play some retarded as fuck board game that one of the kids got given and last year it was the turn of Munchkins. I swear I have never laughed so hard with my family. It literally reduced us to us to hysteria. I can't recommend it enough.

Favourite cards from the original;
"Sneaky Bastard Sword"
"Invoke Obscure Rules"
"Potion of Idiotic Braveness"
"Kneepads of Allure"
"Convenient Addition Error"

Fave monsters you have to fight:
"Pukachu"
"3,872 Orcs"
"Shrieking Geek"
"Unspeakably Awful Indescribable Horror"

Bought the basic set and the first two expansions. I have a plan that involves combining every single pack, including Clerical Errata.

kill teh hireling

I forget which version it was I played, but I do remember The Monster The DM Made Up Himself. Now THAT was a scary beastie!

That card comes either in the base set, or in one of the first two expansions for it. Scary balance issues indeed.

I've played the original Munchkin, it's okay but really not as funny as it needs to be. I actually think Magic cards have a better ratio of humourous content than Munchkin cards, even though it's supposed to be largely serious.

I did like the Gazebo though.