The classic literature crossover you did not know you needed

I am kicking open doors with monsters drawn from classical English literature hiding behind them. All that while wearing a toga as armor and shooting cannonballs out of my Shakespearean canon book. So much fun, nothing makes sense, yet I am laughing and enjoying the game. 

Munchkin Shakespeare is a card game that’s all about strategizing and competing within an exaggerated satirical frame. With a classic literature theme, this is just one of many Munchkin games. While the essence stays the same, the different themes allow for a broad selection of the fantasy worlds the game operates in. Without elaborating on special rules, the gameplay loop follows the principle of opening doors by revealing cards from the door pile and dealing with whatever emerges from them. What comical enemies await the player depends on the theme.

The classic Munchkin works on fantasy tropes, humor, and unbearable silliness, these stay as recurring themes across differently designed box versions. 

Overcoming a door challenge allows the player to draw treasure cards which can strengthen the combat power by gaining items or action cards. By default, everyone is human, because we are all human, I hope? This, however, can change during the game. 

Knowing a Munchkin game does make it really easy to pick up other games of the franchise and some cards across versions can also be combined into a larger deck. For new players, learning the game is quite fast and can often be done during play without complex explanations. Since the gameplay loop is so fast one would think the game is not that long. However, not a single time did a game take only an hour when I played it. 

 

Overall, the silliness and quirkiness of Munchkin Shakespeare is amusing at times and the puns and pop culture references combined with the classical literature theming works surprisingly well. The exaggerated humor in the game can yet evoke an awkward feeling. Whether we are carrying the monolog in one hand or the dialog in two hands, either Hamlet or Lady Macbeth will sooner or later get bested by the players.  

And don´t even think about getting spared by references of stage play. If you can handle these levels of chaotic silliness, have an interest in the specific theming, or don´t mind upsetting co-players and losing friends, embark on a twisted journey of classic English literature and humorous fantasy fiction in Munchkin Shakespeare. 

 

 

Basic information: 

Designer: Steve Jackson
Publisher: Steve Jackson Games
Release: September 2017
Number of players: 3-6
Playing time: 60-120 minutes
Ages: 10+

All Pictures in this article were taken by the author. The banner picture of the box version was edited (Munchkin Shakespeare Deluxe 2017, Steve Jackson Games). 

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