Usually when you get a group of people together to indulge in a little gaming session, the initial expectation is that this is going to happen on a gaming console like the Wii
This weekend we decided to try out a new game that none of us have ever played before, but one that I’d heard great things about. I ordered it from Amazon a few weeks ago in preparation of this weekend, and so early on Saturday evening we found ourselves sitting around a table, with beers and wine flowing, and played our very first game of Munchkin
From the Munchkin website:
“This award-winning card game, designed by Steve Jackson, captures the essence of the dungeon experience… with none of that stupid roleplaying stuff. You and your friends compete to kill monsters and grab magic items. And what magic items! Don the Horny Helmet and the Boots of Butt-Kicking. Wield the Staff of Napalm… or maybe the Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment. Start by slaughtering the Potted Plant and the Drooling Slime, and work your way up to the Plutonium Dragon…”
In our group there are only a couple of geeks who were really excited to play the game, myself included, but we have a few people who are not exactly keen to get involved in anything that remotely sounds like an RPG. We had to be very convincing to get them to give the game a chance, and we only managed that by making them agree to play one game, and if they didn’t enjoy themselves we wouldn’t play it again. In the end they relented and agreed to play it once.
Thankfully, my friends that were sceptical of Munchkin ended up having a fantastic time, and actively asking to play a second game that night. Our first game took a little longer than it probably should have as we figured everything out and got to grips with the game dynamic. As the game progressed and we all got more comfortable with the style, and general principles of the game, we all started having a great time, and especially one of my friends who was the most sceptical going into that evening. I think it helped that she was completely destroying everyone, and no matter what we did to stop her winning, we couldn’t. At one point two of the guys threw everything they could at her to stop her winning, and she casually took a card from her hand, turned it to show me with a grin on her face.
“I don’t think I’ll fight this monster, I think Rob will.” She said before placing the “Transferral” card face up on the table.
That card basically let her nominate anyone else to fight the monster in her place, and after the guys used half their own cards to make the thing unbeatable, were now in a position where one of them had to take on their own creation. I couldn’t help but applaud her style, and it was at that point I knew she was completely sold on the game.
I think Munchkin has now officially been added to our rota of games, and from the conversations we’ve had since, it’s going to be a game we play frequently from now on. I may even have to look at buying a few
If you haven’t played Munchkin before, I advise you to buy it, and then sit down with a few of your open minded friends and give it a go. I can’t see how you wouldn’t have fun!
