Munchkin: South Park is a new game from USAopoly and Steve Jackson Games. Munchkin is a humorous take on role-playing games. Munchkin won the 2001 Origins Award for Best Traditional Card Game, and it has been growing ever since. Munchkin is now a hugely popular card game with about 100 different expansions & themed versions.
South Park Munchkin is available from Amazon.
Munchkin: South Park is the latest re-skin of Munchkin. Each player takes on the role of the “New Kid” at South Park Elementary. Players equip armor like Kenny’s Parka or Mr. Slaves leathers. They can equip weapons like Jimmy’s crutches. And players can acquire Allies like the Goth Kids to help you defeat monsters like Satan, the 6th Graders, and ManBearPig.
The game features over 160 cards with characters and locations from dozens of episodes of the South Park animated show. Raisins is a location here. And a Raisins’ waitress may swoon away one of your allies. You can get a Curse from putting your balls in the microwave. It’s all in here in Munchkin: South Park
What’s in the Box?
This version of Munchkin in a small game box that is about 10″ x 7″ x 2″. The box contains:
- 92 Door Cards
- 76 Treasure Cards
- 6 Role Cards (New Kid Cards – 2 Sided)
- 6 Level Trackers – (Clear plastic chips)
- 1 Standard Six-Sided Die
- Rules Sheet
Munchkin: South Park is recommended for players age 17+, and plays 3 to 6 players. Gameplay will take about 60-90 minutes.
How does South Park Munchkin play?
I am not going to go into very much detail on gameplay. There are many great videos on YouTube that explain how to play way better than I can. Munchkin is an easy to learn competitive Role Playing Game. All the Munchkin games (including South Park) play essentially the same way, and you can mix and match cards between various games if you so desire.
In South Park Munchkin, all players assume the role of “New Kid”. You are a Level 1 New Kid. And first Kid to get to Level 10 is the winner.
You will eventually get to pick a Character Class type for your New Kid: Detective, Ninja, RPG Player or Superhero.
And you will also be equipping armor and weapon cards on your character to increase your fighting level. (Fighting Level = Your Level + Your Gear + Your Allies + Your Location Level + any secret cards you may be holding in your hand).
On your turn as the “New Kid” you will always kick down the Fourth Grade Door (flip over a card from the door pile) and you will find either a monster or a curse. If it is a curse, do what it says on the Curse card. If it is a monster, you can try to run away or defeat the monster. The Combat comes down to a simple game of War (I’m assuming everyone knows how to play the standard game of War with a standard deck of cards 😉
If your Combat Level is high enough you “may” win. But your opponents have the opportunity to throw down cards on top of the monster to make the monster stronger. They don’t necessarily want you to win.
If your Combat level is not high enough, you can negotiate with other players to assist you. Some of your opponents might want to stand and fight with you. And you will usually have to give them some of the loot the monster drops if you defeat it.
If you defeat the monster, you will go up a level on Your New Kid card, and you get the number of treasure cards listed at the bottom of the card. If you lose to the monster, and don’t successfully run away, you are dead, and your opponents get to loot your body. You get to keep your current level and Class card. You lose all of your stuff though: all your cards, all your armor and all your weapons. It’s a rough life out there in South Park!
Eventually, someone will make it to Level 10 and win the game. This can take anywhere from 60-120 minutes in my experience.
Card Samples:
Likes, Dislikes and Final Thoughts for “Munchkin: South Park”
Likes:
- South Park in Box! – If you are a South Park fan, every card brings back a different hilarious memory from the show. Let it be known that I am a huge South Park fan over here, and even have an old South Park pinball machine in my basement. 😛
- Easy to learn – Munchkin is pretty easy to learn and teach. Just watch a YouTube video on how to play the original Munchkin game. The rules are very well written. They have had over 20 years to perfect these rules.
- Travel friendly – As the game box is only 6″ x 9″, it fits easily in travel bags. It is perfect to take along on vacations.
- 3-6 Players – Let’s face it, many games do not accommodate six players. This one does. That’s a huge deal to me as my game group is often six players.
- 12 different New Kids to chose from – The creators did something great here. There are 12 different New Kids to choose from: Girls and Boys from many different races.
Dislikes:
- Take That! – This game has a pretty large Take That element to it. Your opponents will generally not make it easy for you to defeat every monster you battle. The person in first place is usually going to get picked on by their opponents. This is inevitable. Some people hate Take That in the their games.
- Dice – The one die that comes with the game is boring. It would have been cool if the die was had some South Park theming to it. Like Cartman’s Billy Club was a one.
- Lady Luck – There is always luck involved playing Munchkin. Even good players can draw bad cards on an unlucky game day.
- No Board – I kind of miss the game board that Munchkin Deluxe has (The Munchkin Level Playing Field). It would have been cool if there was a board and South Park minis in the middle of the table. The New Kid cards and tiddlywink trackers are kind of blah.
Final Thoughts for Munchkin: South Park
South Park and Munchkin go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. The show and the card game are both known for their humor, and they meld together nicely here. Please note, this game is recommended for Ages 17+. This is still South Park humor in a game. Randy is putting is schlong in the microwave on one of the cards. This is not really for little kids. Know your gaming group before breaking this out.
Munchkin is a very casual dungeon crawler. Things usually go quietly for your first seven levels or so, and then all hell breaks loose near the end as everyone tries to keep everyone else from reaching Level 10. The game can get very chaotic, and slow, near the end. The game can take 60-120minutes, so be prepared to throw back a few cold ones while playing, and just enjoy the ride. This is a silly and fun card game, and not necessarily a game for extremely serious players.
If your group can get past the “Take That!” nature of Munchkin, then Munchkin can be pure chaotic bliss! This is a great game with friendly groups, as Munchkin requires lots of discussions during negotiations and conflicts.
I feel that Munchkin is a game everyone should play at least once, like: Monopoly, Clue, Ticket to Ride, Uno, Settlers of Catan, Scrabble, etc. If you don’t have any versions of Munchkin yet, and you are a South Park fan, then purchasing this version should be a no-brainer.
Here is a link to the USAopoly store on Amazon to check out the latest price for this game.