The Name of the Game

So, during my high school/university days, I was pretty big into gaming, especially collectible card gaming. And I especially played and donated an exhorbitantly generous amount of time and currency to this Game that Shall Not Be Named. And unfortunately, it took a rather rude awakening to make me give it up. It was painful, and it took a lot of time before I completely got it out of my system. It's not entirely out, as I still browse the website once in a while to see what's up. But I'd say I have no inclination to play that game anymore. Which brings me to another card game that I like to play. This one is different. You don't spend money like water trying to find that rare card you desperately need for that deck you're only gonna play once to upstage your friend. All the cards in that set come together. In one box! Wow! Anyway, this game was introduced to me by one of my Canadian friends, Nathan, when we were bored of Heroclix and Magic, and needed some new thing to play. And I actually enjoyed it. The game is fun, and it's also fun-NY. The game I'm talking about, of course, is Munchkin.

Munchkin is a game unlike any other. First of all, because it doesn't take itself seriously. It makes fun of itself and its subject matter. Basically, the main game is a humorous take on role-playing games (rpg) based on the concept of munchkins (immature role-players, playing "to win"). Everyone who plays the game, Munchkin, essentially plays as a munchkin, doing anything they can to win, even cheat, or backstab their friends. And that's why Munchkin is so fun. You don't have to hide your duplicitous nature any longer. It's all out in the open, and it's more fun that way. For example, I once played this game where one of my friends (Let's call him "J") was about to defeat a monster in battle. Another friend (Let's call him "W") decided he didn't want J to win the battle, so he played a card against J that made the monster stronger, and J couldn't beat it. After J resigned himself to retreat, W offered to help him in exchange for all his loot. I laughed like crazy when I heard that. That is the sort of deliciously evil things you could do in this game. And the game applauds and rewards you for it. Of course, all this is in good fun. No one should ever take a game of Munchkin seriously.

And for those who think Fantasy/Lord of the Rings-style games are not for them, well, Munchkin has other variants that might tickle their fancy. There's Super Munchkin for superheroes, Star Munchkin for sci-fi, Munchkin Bites for horror, Munchkin Fu for martial arts, Munchkin Impossible for spies, Munchkin Cthulu for Lovecraft fans, and the soon-to-be-released The Good, the Bad, and the Munchkin for cowboys, and Munchkin Booty for pirates. Each of these games use the material from their respective genres, and makes fun of them. There's also a Munchkin Blender that will let you play all of them together!

So, why am I telling you all this? Well, recently, I was able to acquire the rights to distribute these games in the Philippines. And my stock has just arrived!





If you're in the Philippines and would like to buy this game, you can txt or call me at 0917-899-1701, or email me at "a r c d e l u x e @ r o g e r s . c o m" without the spaces. Or you can visit one of the retailers carrying the games. So far, Druid's Keep at Magallanes will carry it, and I'm in talks with Hobbes & Landes, and Neutral Grounds to carry it. Hopefully, more card/hobby stores will come onboard as well.