Review: MUNCHKIN: DISNEY is Fun for the Family
Back in October, The Op released Munchkin: Disney. This takes the beloved game from Steve Jackson Games and gives it a Disney spin. My gaming group was very excited to play this one and The Op was kind enough to send me a copy to review. If you’re a Disney fanatic, I’d recommend considering this for your next game night.
Players will find their favorite characters from across the Disney universe in this magical edition of Munchkin. Villains and unexpected pitfalls await in this role-playing card game where hunting for treasure, lining up Allies, and collecting Items is all part of the race to be the top Disney fan.
If you’ve never played Munchkin, here’s a quick recap. Each player is trying to be the first one to reach level 10 by defeating monsters. You’ll have equipment and other cards to help you ward off enemies of various difficulties and after you defeat an enemy, you gain one level. There’s a bit more to it, but that’s a pretty good 10-second summary. In Munchkin: Disney, fans will notice that once again there are character roles that will be distributed at random. These include the Adventurer, the Sidekick, and many more. Each one has a unique ability with those abilities varying in usefulness. For example, the Sidekick allows you to have two Sidekicks instead of the normal one or the Adventurer lets you discard a card to look at an opponent’s hand.
Each licensed version of Munchkin that I’ve played tends to have some unique rules and Munchkin: Disney is no different. The big additional rule here is called Disney Magic. Some cards will have additional effects with the keyword Disney Magic. To activate these effects, the player merely has to quote or sing/hum a Disney movie/song, but you cannot repeat movies/songs. This was a lot of fun as my group were all very much fans of Disney and we had quotes flying even without using this game mechanic. This definitely rewards people for knowing their Disney.
One thing that you and your group will have to discuss and agree upon before playing though is what counts as a Disney movie? Disney has acquired a lot of studios and content like Star Wars and Marvel. Do those count as Disney movies for Disney Magic? Who counts as a Disney Princess? Certain cards acquire bonuses if you have a Disney Princess pictured in any of your cards, but who does that include? Do you go by the official lineup or do you also include Megara from Hercules or Princess Eilonwy from The Black Cauldron?
Everything else is standard Munchkin fun and par for the course. If you enjoy Munchkin and like Disney, then this game is a no-brainer. If you’ve never played Munchkin, but love Disney, give this game a try. All-in-all, Munchkin: Disney is good fun for everyone with a fun and unique mechanic of Disney Magic.
