Munchkin

Today's review is of the 2001 release, Munchkin.  For 3-6 players, it takes 1-2 hours.

Overview
Munchkin is a tongue-in-cheek dungeon-themed deck game.  You start with a hand of cards with heroes, roles, weapons, and other effects to help yourself or hurt your opponent.  There are two common decks in the game- the door deck and treasure deck.  The gameplay is straightforward: on your turn, you draw a door card and do what it says (if it's a monster, fight it, if it's something else, follow the instructions).

To fight a monster, you add your current level (1-9), your character abilities/weapons, any effect cards you  have, and compare the total power to the monster's.  If yours is higher, you win, and get a reward indicated on the monster card ("go up two levels and gain two treasures," for example).  If you are instructed to gain treasure, draw cards from the treasure deck.  The first to get to level 10 wins!  But beware . . . your opponents can play cards to lower your strength or add monsters to the fray against you, making victory harder than it looks.  The below illustration summarizes.

turn order and example cards; image from here

Review
With a tagline of "Kill the monster, steal the treasure, stab your buddy," you know you're entering an experience intended to be light-hearted and fun.  And it is; any game that's spawned dozens of expansions and variants must be good at some level.  It's funny and playful.  I enjoyed the time, but had two digs:
- the rules, though concise, are poorly worded/presented, leading to lots of questions about gameplay and card meaning.
- the game seemed to last forever- as you increase in level, you become the target, and the others focus on bringing you down.  A fine concept, but it can make games drag and minds wander.

Overall, I like it, and may try a variant (like the Marvel one).

Rating: B