Munchkin
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	3-6
Age range	12 +
Setup time	5 minutes
Playing time	45–60 minutes
Random chance	High
Skills required	Dice rolling
The earliest printings of the game did not include a six-sided die that is needed to play.

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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (443x642, 77 KB) This work is copyrighted. ... Hack and slash can refer to either a genre of video game or a type of gameplay (which is featured in the genre as well), consisting primarily of close combat with edged weapons. ... Two standard six-sided pipped dice with rounded corners. ... Two standard six-sided pipped dice with rounded corners. ... Steve Jackson Games (SJG) is a game company that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games. ... Steve Jackson founded Steve Jackson Games in the early 80s. ... John Kovalic (born November 24, 1962, in England) is a cartoonist and illustrator. ... This article is about traditional role-playing games. ... A munchkin is a player who plays a normally cooperative game (usually an RPG) to amass as much power and as many kills as possible, whatever the costs to role-playing, the storyline, fairness, logic, or the other players fun. ...

In 2002 Munchkin won the Origins Award for Best Traditional Card Game of 2001. Also see: 2002 (number). ... The Origins Awards, presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, are presented at the Origins International Game Expo for outstanding work in the game industry. ...

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 (kicking 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 Buffed), 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. To achieve the winning level (10, 11, 20, or 22 depending on pre-game selections and card play), 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, or throw curses on each other (or have them happen randomly), such as New Edition Rules (causing all players to lose a level). Players can also use items against each other such as Itching Powder (making the player throw away any clothing or armor).

Munchkin is not a very serious game; the rules make this 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." and "Any disputes in the rules should be settled by loud arguments with the owner of the game having the last word."

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. The Orc Race is introduced in this expansion.
  • Clerical Errors, the second Munchkin expansion, brought the total number of cards for Munchkin up to 392. This expansion introduces the Gnome Race and the Bard Class.
    • 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. Enough units were sold to make back the printing costs.
  • The Need for Steed, the third expansion to Munchkin was released in 2006. This included a new type of card, Steeds, such as a dragon, an eagle and a turtle. Furthermore, many new kinds of Hirelings were added. Rules for these new cards are also included in this expansion.
  • De-Ranged, the fourth expansion, adds the Ranger Class as well as some of the monsters from the European version of the game.
• Star Munchkin was released in 2002. It is a standalone version of Munchkin, and is not intended to be mixed with other munchkin decks unless you are "crazy enough to try". It 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. Sidekicks are introduced in this game.
  • Clown Wars is an expansion for Star Munchkin. It introduces Rooms and the Bug Race and the Star Ranger Class. 20th level Epic Munchkin rules provided.
• Munchkin Fu, another standalone version, was released in 2003 and parodies Asian martial arts movies. It introduces a new concept, Styles, which represent different fighting styles you can use.
  • Monky Business, an expansion to Munchkin Fu, was released early in 2005.
• Munchkin Bites is the fourth standalone version, released in 2004. It parodies horror role-playing games, such as the games set in the World of Darkness universe, and horror fiction and movies in general.
  • Pants Macabre is an expansion for Munchkin Bites, and was released in late 2005. This set added the Mummy Race.
• Super Munchkin is the fifth standalone version, released in the summer of 2005 and is a parody on super hero comics.
  • The Narrow S Cape is an expansion for Super Munchkin, released in the summer of 2006. The Brain Class was added.
• Munchkin Impossible, the sixth standalone version, was released in late 2006 and parodies secret agent stories such as those of Mission: Impossible and James Bond. Besides the usual Classes, each character can have one or more Loyalties during the game.
• Munchkin Cthulhu, the seventh standalone version, released in March 2007, lampoons Lovecraft's Mythos and the horror gaming that surrounds it, summoning classic monsters from outside reality.
  • Call of Cowthulhu is an expansion for Munchkin Cthulhu scheduled for release in August 2007.
• The Good, The Bad, And The Munchkin is the eighth standalone version, and is meant to make fun of Western and cowboy-themed movies such as "the good, the bad and the ugly. It is currently scheduled for release in September of 2007.
• Munchkin Blender is a special set released in response to players combining the different versions of Munchkin. It is an expansion sized set of cards designed to enhance 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). Also provided are rules for playing to the 20th level, also known as Epic Munchkin. The Blender pack of cards is not required in order to mix two or more different standalone versions together.
• Munchkin Dice is a supplement which contains six oversized 10-sided dice. The dice are designed for use as level counters. Also included are 14 cards for the original Munchkin (Race/Class modifiers, most notably) and rules for rolling a Munchkin die for random game benefits.
• Epic Munchkin is a set of rules for playing up to level 20 for all the Munchkin games. Players that reach the higher levels [10-19] gain 'Epic Powers' for each race and class (these powers are lost if the player is reduced to level 9 or lower).

There are also two role-playing games, both of which use the d20 System based on the Munchkin and Star Munchkin card games. The Munchkin RPG has several books, much like the Dungeons & Dragons game it parodies, including the Munchkin Player's Handbook, the Munchkin Master's Guide, and the Munchkin Monster Manual. The Star Munchkin Role Playing Game is one book, and includes rules for spaceship design and a new class not seen in the card game, the Farce K'nigit. The Origins Awards, presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, are presented at the Origins International Game Expo for outstanding work in the game industry. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 2003 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The current Star Trek franchise logo Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series and media franchise. ... Star Wars is an epic science fantasy saga and fictional universe created by George Lucas during the late 1970s. ... The Origins Awards, presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, are presented at the Origins International Game Expo for outstanding work in the game industry. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 2003 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The World of Darkness (or WoD) is the name given to two related but distinct fictional universes developed by Mark Rein-Hagen. ... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle, or horrify the reader. ... A superhero is a fictional character who is noted for feats of courage and nobility and who usually has a colorful name and costume and abilities beyond those of normal human beings. ... Comics (or, less commonly, sequential art) is a form of visual art consisting of images which are commonly combined with text, often in the form of speech balloons or image captions. ... Secret Agent is a 1936 British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. ... Mission: Impossible is the name of an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to September 1973. ... Flemings image of James Bond; commissioned to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists. ... Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of fantasy, horror and science fiction. ... Cthulhu and Rlyeh The Cthulhu Mythos encompasses the shared elements, characters, settings, and themes in the works of H. P. Lovecraft and associated horror fiction writers. ... This article is about traditional role-playing games. ... d20 redirects here. ... Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Gygaxs company Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). ...

Additionally, Munchkin Quest is an upcoming board game/RPG based on the original Munchkin, and will contain several different items, monsters, and references to it. Not much is known about it's rules or gameplay, but it is going to use HP (unlike the card game, where you are either alive or "dead") and will be released sometime in 2008. A board game is a game played with counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a board (a premarked surface, usually specific to that game). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

External links

• Steven Jackson Games' Munchkin homepage
• Munchkin Adventurers Guild Yahoo! group
• Munchkin and the many Munchkin game variations at BoardGameGeek
• The Munchkin wiki