Late to the party

Yesterday I picked up a copy of Steve Jackson's Munchkin. Its humor reminds me of The Order of the Stick. (The comic, not the game. The OOTS game looks lame-ish.) The humor extends to the title:

In gaming, a Munchkin is a player who plays what is intended to be a non-competitive game (usually a role-playing game) in an aggressively competitive manner. A munchkin seeks within the context of the game to amass the greatest power, score the most "kills," and grab the most loot, no matter how deleterious their actions are to role-playing, the storyline, fairness, logic, or the other players' fun.

... which actually describes the card game surprisingly well. Munchkin came out in 2001 and already has 4 full expansions and countless mini-expansions. (And a substantial Wikipedia entry.) Sheesh!

Anyway, we had one of my friends for work -- also an OOTS fan -- and his wife over and played a couple games. It's a keeper for sure, although I doubt I'll be buying all the expansions, at least not immediately. Who can't love a game with a FAQ like

If it's not in the rules, it doesn't matter how logical it is, unless you can talk the other players into it. And if you can, go for it!

or

Steal the Kneepads cards out of all your friends' games and EAT them. If they catch you, lie.

It's also a good candidate for "Grant's birthday present" if he doesn't get it himself after reading this post.