Steve Jackson Games

Munchkin SUMMER Releases

by Will Schoonover

Two new Munchkin expansions are due this summer that follow in the footsteps of popular sets like Munchkin Kittens and Munchkin Puppies. These new 30-card mini-expansions focus on the themes of goats and turtles, adding plenty of monsters to your silly dungeon crawls.

The Munchkin Goats expansion is full of cards that bring these strange-eyed creatures to the table. (A few sheep snuck in, too.) Part of the fun of writing Munchkin cards is putting in the most obvious jokes and references while adding some that are a bit more obscure.

The first monsters we created for the set were the Gruff Brothers. These three cards play on the classic theme that each goat gets a little bigger. (We also made sure there was some uncertainty about whether or not another one would show up to help if you were facing one of its brothers.)

When it comes to more obscure jokes, there’s no need to look further than the Battering Ram. Sure, we could have added a big robot goat that specialized in knocking down doors, but that would have been a bit too ordinary. So instead, this card leans into the evergreen joke of halfling appetites while also sticking to the expectation that there will be a few groanworthy puns in each Munchkin set.

And it wouldn’t be a proper dungeon crawl without some loot! This new release keeps the goat-related jokes coming with some engaging Items and miscellaneous cards. The Goat Float offers a stacking piece of armor that could go on any trip to the beach, and the Go Up A Level card, Go On A Ram Page, was a joke we couldn’t pass up. Our other summer release is Munchkin Turtle Carnage. It greatly expands the number of turtle-related cards in your games of Munchkin, which might be something you never knew you needed!

The monsters in this expansion rely on standard turtle jokes – but push the boundaries in ways you would expect from a Munchkin title. For example, the smallest monster in the set is the Level 1 Slow Poke. It’s not much of a threat … but you certainly don’t want it to catch you, either.

We also took advantage of a couple of turtle-related words to inspire two undead monsters. The Rigor Tortoise is a mediumthreat monster looking for a friend, and the Terrorpin is one of the most massive turtle monsters you’ll ever face.

The turtle references keep on coming in the Treasure deck, with cards such as Testudo Shield and the Read A Hard Back Go Up A Level card.

Grab both these sets and add more thematic fun to your next game of Munchkin!

Will Schoonover has been making games for over 15 years, most recently as the Munchkin Line Editor at Steve Jackson Games. He spends his free time trying not to think about how many unpainted miniatures are hiding in his office.