Munchkin for young children

[cornixt]

I'd like to teach Munchkin to my almost-six-year-old daughter. She can already play chess, so I have no doubt she will pick up the rules in a few weeks, but it is a game that relies heavily on reading and adding so it will be painfully slow for a while unless we pretty much tell her what to do at every stage.

I was thinking about cutting the deck down to make it more simple so that she can get used to the mechanics of the game before introducing all the fun weirdness. So my idea was something like: remove all race/class/etc cards, remove all monsters over level 5 or 6ish, remove all treasures that give bonuses over +3, remove anything else that introduces a new mechanic, adjust the number of GUAL and curse cards accordingly.

Has anyone else done something like this before? Any advice? Have I just created a new product for SJGames?

[Squaty]

Originally Posted by cornixt

Has anyone else done something like this before? Any advice? Have I just created a new product for SJGames?

I play regularly with my 6 and 10 year old kids. For the 6 year old, we leave the whole game intact, but he leaves his hand visible to everyone else so he can be assisted with setting up his character and playing relevant cards at the appropriate time.

I've found emotional maturity to be an obstacle as well. Much of the strategy in Munchkin involves actively sabotaging other players, even in the friendliest of games. I try and preface each game with something like "I'm going to try and make you lose, and you're going to try and make me lose, then we're all going to have ice cream at the end!"

If you haven't bought it already, you may consider adding the Fairy Dust cards, which encourage a bit more cooperation, plus the art is fitting for a 6 year old girl anyway. Fairy Dust is out of print, but it's not difficult to find.

[cornixt]

Thanks. My kids have a competitive streak that I never had, so they are more than happy about stabbing me in the back when it comes to games.

And that explains why my local stores don't have Fairy Dust out on display.

I'll go ahead and try out the cutdown version tonight just to see if it can be done. I figure that this variation needs a name. Baby Munchkin? Munchkin Munchkin? Munchkin Squared?

I'm starting to worry that this might reduce the decks too much (won't know until I try it out I guess), might have to buy more of the expansions...

[jivesukka]

Like you needed a reason to buy more expansions anyways!

Also it looks like Fairy Dust is still available through Warehouse 23 here. Although Amazon has a tendency to be cheaper and you might be able to get a few things together for free shipping, ordering some items from Warehouse 23 nets you some promo cards, items, coins or bookmarks. Try to mix up where you order from.

To also make it easier for her try grabbing some d10 or higher to keep track of levels or power. Makes it easier to remember how strong someone is and what level they are at.

[testpig]

it would be nice if they released a kid safe deck for munchkin. As a lot of the cards in the deck, are sort of... you know.. PG 13+

[Dr. Mauric]

Originally Posted by testpig

it would be nice if they released a kid safe deck for munchkin. As a lot of the cards in the deck, are sort of... you know.. PG 13+

Since the reccommened age is 13+ I've removed cards from deck that I'd rather not use with my kids and the game has suffered no ill effect. Hopefully that's a little helpful FYI. :)

Also I removed the fewest cards from The Good The Bad and The Munchkin (the cowboy themed one) and it's outrageously fun. I think Munchkin Booty is also fairly family friendly. (these are just my opinions- just trying to be helpful)

[Dr. Mauric]

[QUOTE=Squaty;1393855]I play regularly with my 6 and 10 year old kids. For the 6 year old, we leave the whole game intact, but he leaves his hand visible to everyone else so he can be assisted with setting up his character and playing relevant cards at the appropriate time.


That's how I play with younger kids too. I've also found the Marked for Death Demo booster very helpful in teaching kids how to play initially. It functions as a great point of reference... "remember how I did this or that in the demo?"

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by testpig

it would be nice if they released a kid safe deck for munchkin. As a lot of the cards in the deck, are sort of... you know.. PG 13+

Yes, but where you draw your line may not be where another parent would draw theirs. We trust each parent to do their own editing as required.

[cornixt]

There is very little that I needed to take out that was inappropriate. Most of the sexual references would go far over her head (like Crabs for example), and it is surprising how much death and dismemberment that kids are comfortable with these days.

Using my criteria in the original post, the treasure deck is now about half as big and the door deck is about a third. The race and class cards took a much bigger chunk out than I thought they would, they will be the first back in as I gradually increase the rules as she gets used to it. After that she will probably be okay with the full decks but will have to ask for help on some of the wordier and more complicated cards.

[Squaty]

I haven't removed any cards at all (I'm not a very good parent).

I teach public school, and I'm painfully aware of what my kids are exposed to on a daily basis. My approach has been to encourage them to modify the content themselves (e.g. they avoid saying words they know they aren't supposed to say, even if the word is written on one of their cards. I guess I just teach them what I expect them to do when they encounter certain material, and then allow them to govern themselves.

My kids like playing with races and classes, even if they don't always remember to take advantage of their own powers/abilities. I think the races and classes add to the imaginative aspect of the game, along with the little pawns & babes, and the game board.