Dangerous Games: 'Munchkin Zombies' Game Review

The chair creaks as you settle onto it. The candlelight flickers. All around you the ravenous faces of your so-called friends twist in delight as you slowly open the box laid out on the table. Welcome to Dangerous Games! Each week, we'll feature a horror/thriller/monster tabletop game you should be playing. Don't be scared… roll the dice… what's the worst that could happen?

 

 

Munchkin Zombies is the 2011 expansion to the wildly popular Munchkin franchise of board/card games. In the original game of Munchkin players took on the role of an adventuring, D&D-style hero whose goal was to (to quote the box) "Kill the monsters! Steal the treasure! Stab your buddy!" In Munchkin Zombies, players all start out as regular, non-special zombies, and as they play they can upgrade and enhance themselves to survive.

 

The "monsters" of this game are the normal humans trying to stop the zombie apocalypse! You'll face off against everything from an action hero (who looks suspiciously like Bruce Campbell) to a soccer mom. And, as this game's box states, your goal in Munchkin Zombies is to "Kill the living! Eat their brains! Braaiiinns!"

 

 

 

 

 

The basic structure of this game is nearly identical to other Munchkin games. You start out with a level one zombie and a hand of cards. The goal is to kick open the door (represented by the "door" cards) and fight whatever monster is lurking behind it. If your powers, items, and level beat the level of the monster you're fighting you get treasure and go up a level. The first player to reach level ten wins!

 

 

The original Munchkin game featured different races (like Elf, Dwarf, Halfling) and different classes (like Fighter, Thief). In Munchkin Zombies the game features a stand-in for races called mojo. These mojos are clever, and can turn you into an Atomic Zombie, a Plague Zombie, or a Voodoo Zombie. Each Mojo gives a character a different set of bonuses. As for classes, well… to quote the instructions, "This is a zombie movie, so no one has any class."

 

There are also equipment cards that can boost your zombie and power cards that augment your zombie. You could be a Fast Zombie, a Smart Zombie, or a Rotting Zombie among others. This all helps you beat those nasty "monsters" like the dreaded Mailman, the horrifying Cute Little Kid, or the deadly Barista. Obviously, this game like the others in the Munchkin series, is extremely tongue-in-cheek.   

 

 

 

If you've got a fervent group of Munchkin fans… it doesn't matter how much replay value this game has. Your friends are going to want to play this game over and over again. But because of the large amount of cards (with some expansions even adding hundreds more cards) there's a high level of variance… and that makes for a fun game every time.

 

Also, this is fully compatible with any other Munchkin expansion. So you could end up having an Atomic Zombie Elf Wizard, or a Plague Zombie Dwarf Cowboy, or a Voodoo Zombie Mystic Halfling Pirate, or a… oh, you get the picture.

 

 

This game, like all other Munchkin games, is reserved solely for people with a great sense of humor. It's a hilarious game with a core mechanic that has been tested, perfected, and plays perfectly. I couldn't give a higher recommendation for a game. If you like zombie comedies like Shaun of the Dead, you will love Munchkin Zombies.