Super Munchkin Review

The superhero genre has hit the mainstream. Marvels *ahem* ultimate alliance with Disney, DC hopping on the movie train and smaller/independent comic companies being mined for material have all created an era of superhero acceptance. There are even people walking the streets of modern cities in their own superhero persona's. So a superhero game is something people are looking for. Enter Super Munchkin.

Super Munchkin plays exactly like the base Munchkin game. Kick open a door, fight a monster (or villain) collect loot and attempt to reach level 10 before anyone else. Anyone familiar with the Munchkin line should be able to pick it up easily. If you aren't familiar with the line, read my post on the original for a better review of game play. As always the genre specific games are completely stand alone and can be played without any other addition or can be mixed and matched for weird combinations.

Super Munchkin stays with the "class" system. Inside you will find techno, mystic, mutant or exotic. As with other editions of Munchkin these classes give special abilities to the player. The class will also either allow or disallow the use of specific cards.

Instead of having "Race" cards Super Munchkin has origin stories. These cards give players differing levels of advantage. They can be as simple as "Stubbed Toe" or powerful as "Touched Ancient Idol." You may have any number of origins. Now what these origin stories effect is your power level. Your power level is usually equal to your current level (without any modifiers.) This power level allows you to play "Powers" cards. These cards will have a rank of 1 (such as flatness), 2 (such as flames), or 3 (such as teleportation.) You may only have powers equalling your current level. So a first level character can only have a single rank one power while a second level character could have a second level power or two level one powers and so on.

selection of cards

Of course what would a superhero be without sidekicks. In Super Munchkin sidekicks are found in both the door and treasure decks. Sidekicks sometimes grant you extra abilities such as the "Plucky Girl Reporter" who allows you to draw two and select one card when you loot the room. But any sidekick can be sacrificed if you fail to run away in order to avoid "bad stuff." Of course you may only have one sidekick... unless you cheat.

Superheroes need secret headquarters. These are located in the treasure deck. You may have any number of secret headquarters. Each headquarters you have allows you to keep one more card in your hand.

Some people are going to see a downside to this game. As with any Munchkin game it focuses heavily on satire and humorous jabs at the genre it represents. As the superhero genre has a lot of issues with sexism and a very specific portrayal of the female form some of the cards wander far into this area. Parents will want to exercise some discretion and players will need to figure out if the humour suits the personal tastes of everyone at the table. It is fun, and the cards are meant to be jabs at the tropes of the industry but some people might not appreciate them. As with any Munchkin game it does focus on "knee-capping" other players and is very competitive, which isn't for every group.

To sum up Super Munchkin is a great addition to the Munchkin line. Its funny, and really fits well with satire of the superhero genre. I would recommend Super Munchkin for groups who love superheroes, can put up with extremely harsh competition and have a slightly immature adult sense of humour. Definitely more for teens and groups of adults up for a night of laughs and frustrations.

Check back next week when I review the expansion to this game: Super Munchkin 2