TABLETOP TALES PRESENTS
MUNCHKIN CONAN REVIEW!
Designer: Steve Jackson
Publisher: Steve Jackson Games (2012)
Type: Card Game
Themes: Fantasy, Humor, & Bartering
# of Players: 3-6
Ages: 10 & Up
Time to Play: 45-90 Min.
Approx. Price: $20
As many of my readers and friends know, I'm very fond to the brand of fun brought by Arnold Schwarzenegger & Conan the Barbarian. In fact, I reviewed the soundtrack, which is one of the best film soundtrack and probably the best fantasy soundtrack of all time, earlier this year (CHECK IT OUT HERE).
This year, my friend Justin Shavers asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told him that "I want something I can share with my friends." A few days later, he texted me a clue, "What is best in life?"
Any Conan the Barbarian fan knows the answer: "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!" Personally, what is best in life to me? The answer is table top games; board games, card games, and pen and paper roleplaying games have become my favorite hobby because of the imaginative and cooperative experiences they provide. So it is no wonder that for Christmas I got the Conan edition of the popular card game Munchkin.
Quick note: There is also a version based on the 2011 movie... but that film sucked.
PREMISE
Conan the Barbarian is a character created by Robert E. Howard that has managed to acquire a place in the cultural zeitgeist as a symbol of brutal, barbaric, swords & sorcery style action-adventure fantasy! The contents of this box are meant to take the Conan Universe, strain out some elements, and then mash it all up into the Munchkin card game for an enjoyable stand-alone game or add-on for the Munchkin game. A big bonus to this game is that you can combine it with most other Munchkin sets to make things even crazier-- but before I get ahead of myself, lets talk about Munchkin.
Amongst tabletop gamers and visitors to your local game shop, Munchkin is unavoidable and a mainstream franchise within the realms of casual tabletop gaming. The game was originally created to emulate a group of heroes stomping into a dungeon with a nice sharp and funny edge to give it a more light-hearted satirical tone. But this is a competitive game.
Players win by reaching level 10. If another player wins, you lose. So, players must attempt to reach higher levels and acquire treasure/items (to help them reach higher levels), but must also be prepared to help (for a price) or hinder their fellow player's chances. This competitive tone gives the game its extra bite and "stabbing your buddy" in the back at the right moment is considered "Munchkiny" and is part of playing the game. If your feelings are easily hurt, this game is not for you.
And so, if you're all good sports or just have a good sense of humor, this game is a perfectly simple way to inject some levity into the breaks at your weekly game sessions. I would hazard to say that just about anyone with some skill in math and the ability to haggle can play Munchkin.
PRESENTATION
Munchkin's presentation is supposed to provide fun for most ages with a simple cartoony style, some clever puns and witty humor, and easy to read/understand cards. In terms of getting the game across to players and being accessible, its presentation is pretty much perfect. The only other thing besides a treasure deck and a door deck that come with Munchkin is a dice that, to my disappointment, was rarely used. In fact, its so rarely used they might as well not included it in the game. Shrug. Some player's may find the presentation too cheesey or cutesy, but its all a matter of opinion.Moving on from the simplest description of the game's contents, we can talk a little bit more about how the fuse the satirical cartoon style with the imagery associated with Conan the Barbarian (which can be ultra-violent). I think the game manages to do a pretty decent job with combining elements of the Conan-verse, like races, monsters, and legendary swords, with Munchkin, but if I had any complains it would be in some small nitpicks like the fact that the classes don't seem very unique to this universe.
The presentation is nothing to write home about, it could even be considered a little boring or generic, but I think it provides an easily translatable and accessible style that many newer players to the world of tabletop gaming will appreciate.
PLAYABILITY & REPLAYABILITY
I've played five full games of Munchkin Conan and have to say that 3/5 games were pretty good, 1 game was really good, and the last game I played was awful.At its best, Munchkin should be a very competitive game with players making and breaking millisecond long alliances to get themselves ahead or keep another player down. The best feeling in Munchkin is when you're slowly climbing up to be in the range of winning through acquiring items and manipulating your opponents by changing between being nice and being, well, munchkinly.
At worst, Munchkin can be a very short game or a very long drawn out game of attrition (the latter can usually be blamed on the players). I think there are some issues with some cards being overpowered and not enough curses/ways to stop a player from getting to the end level cap. When a player can get a card or two that basically makes them instantly win all they have to do is wait to the end game and they win.The worst game I played, I won, but my other two opponents were at levels 1 & 2 and could do very little to stop me from winning.
The game is best played with at least 4 players, as it allows for more opportunities for double, triple, and quadruple crosses between opponents. This game is very replayable; in fact, you'll want to play a couple or three games in a row. The game is best when players are warmed up and know what they're doing to make the competition more intense. The only obstacle to replayability is that the cards/monsters can get stale after a while, but I think the Munchkin answer to that is the various combinable expansions and version of Munchkin.
PROS VS. CONS
+ What is best in life? Stabbing each other in the back over this highly competitive game. The game is simple to learn, but has lots of elements of random chance mixed with careful diplomatic bartering.+ A cute, accessible style that interlinks the various editions with a uniform look that manages to make Conan the Barbarian fairly family friendly.
-Some cards are overpowered and/or the proportional variety of cards can make things difficult if the cards aren't shuffle perfectly.
CONCLUSION?
Maybe Buy: Shelf-Worthy
I would say everybody needs a copy of Munchkin, the version that fits their personal tastes, and/but this version of Munchkin isn't an especially impressive version. Yet, as a fan of Conan the Barbarian, I'm quite glad to have it, quite glad indeed. I think I'll be even more pleased after combining it with the original Munckin game to add some more variety and balance to the competition.
