The Gods Take a Hiatus
-or-
How Munchkin Killed My Saturday Night Gaming Group
I don't have anything to write on world development this month. Why? Well, I've been too busy to work on my game much. And I haven't play-tested it at all since that first night. And I can blame it all on the game Munchkin! Alright, perhaps my own laziness is to blame, too, but Munchkin makes a convenient scapegoat.
It started innocently enough when my parents gave us Munchkin for the holidays. Chris and I laughed at it, then stuck it in the closet because such games aren't much fun for just two people. Then one gaming night we were between games (Ken had just left and we hadn't started a new game yet), so we decided to play a bunch of Cheapass Games instead. As I was getting them out of the closet I saw Munchkin and said to myself "Hey, why not?!" Little did I know . . .
For those who don't know, Munchkin is a humorous card game geared towards gamers (most others wouldn't get the jokes). In gaming terms, a "munchkin" is someone who power-games, doing their best to take their dinky first level character and skyrocket him to power by manipulating rolls, bribing the GM, being sneaky and maybe downright cheating. In Munchkin, the idea is to get your character from first level to tenth level, while making sure that the rest of the "party" (ie, the other players) don't. The first person to make 10th level wins, and gets the undying hatred of the other players.
From the very beginning, we were hooked. Our characters were quickly equipped with cool items like "Boots of Butt-Kicking", "Bad-Ass Bandana", and my personal favorite, the "Cute Shoulder Dragon". The cards add effective levels, which don't count towards winning the game, but which help you defeat terrible monsters like Ghoulfriends, M.T. Suit, and the Shadow Nose. On that first night, we played 3 hands of Munchkin.
Now, the addiction has us in its terrible claws. We go over to Steve's house meaning to make Rifts characters, or play-test my game, and then out comes the Munchkin box. Hours fly by as we backstab each other, wheel and deal for treasure, change classes and races in the blink of an eye to better use the items we get, and of course call each other mean names in the middle of all of this. Ah yes, good clean fun.
My husband Chris is king of the Munchkins. Even Steve and I together can't beat him, we can only hope that he lets one us ride along on his coat tails and tie with him. He's a formidable opponent and has even threatened to kill my cute shoulder dragon. Of course, this was after I cast a curse to make him lose a level, and some items . . . hmm.
By now, Munchkin has a permanent place in the trunk of our car, so it's always with us on gaming nights. We're planning on getting together with my family and teaching them how to play. It's only fair that we share this wonderful gift. We're also anxiously awaiting the upcoming expansions (one rumored to contain art by Pete Abrams of Sluggy Freelance, and other cool people, too!). And... dare I dream of the day? Perhaps someday there will be . . . Munchkin psionics!
In a couple of weeks, we'll join a new role playing group which already has 8-10 people in it. They think we're coming to play D&D, and maybe Rifts. The truth, of course, is much darker. We bring an illness with us, an illness without a cure . . . beware the plague of MUNCHKINITIS!!!!!!!!
(Munchkin is published by Steve Jackson games, . It really doesn't have a permanent place in our trunk. We took it out because the summer heat was warping the cards . . . must protect my precious!)