Steve Jackson Games

Munchkin Tails

is all about Puns and Fun

by Steve Jackson, President of Steve Jackson Games

Sometimes a game shoots straight out of the designer’s brain and into print. Sometimes they take a while. Munchkin Tails was one that took a while. It first made it onto the to-do list in 2015, but it wasn’t released until 2020! If we’d known how well it would sell, we would have worked faster!

This was the last solo design from the late and great Andrew Hackard. We miss him terribly, but he gave himself a great sendoff with Tails. It’s been very successful…the games we will be shipping in March 2022 are the third printing.

This particular Munchkin title plays to the “anthropomorphic animal” genre. Go ahead and say it – furries! The character classes are the same, but the races are dogs, foxes, mice, and ponies. As is our evil habit, we’ve come up with every appropriate animal joke and pun we could – Andrew was a master punster! – and turned them all into cards. Very silly cards, with equally silly drawings.

Yes! The drawings! Tails is illustrated by fan favorite Katie Cook, who has become our go-to lady when we need cute with a capital K. Gamers will enjoy these cards even before they read them, because, as you expect from Munchkin, every card is a cartoon!

Tails uses the standard Munchkin backs and character classes, so you can tell customers that it’s especially easy to combine with base Munchkin. You’ll just have elves, dwarves, halflings…dogs, mice, ponies, and foxes! Our example character in the rules is an eighth level ouse wizard with a pet license, a rolled-up newspaper, and the itty-bitty, very sharp sword.

Other especially evil cards in the set include rabid, the cone of defiance, the grim animal control enforcer, mark your territory, and the unspeakable grisly bear. No, we have no shame at all! Not to mention rhesus pieces, skunk spray, puppy love potion, and (yes, we really did this) the paws button.

And of course, the half-breed card is still in there. So, you might wind up half-mouse, half-halfling – which kind of

makes sense. Or halfdwarf, half-fox, which is just weird. But that’s what your customers expect from us, and we enjoy

delivering!

Munchkin Tails has done well enough that we released a holiday supplement, Tails of the Season. Like most of our holiday-themed games, it goes off-line around the end of January and then becomes available again in October, so it’ll be fresh for your buyers next Christmastime!

Give a copy of Munchkin Tails to your local Munchkin experts and let them run a demo or two. Just like the original game, this one sells itself on sight. Enjoy the jokes, enjoy the art, and enjoy the Munchkin play. That’s what it’s all about! Only now you can be a pony.

Munchkin Tails has been briefly out of print but will be shipping to distributors and stores again in March. Add it to your Munchkin shelf and watch the fun!