How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

I'm a fairly new player but have already gotten my hands on a bunch of expansions and booster packs. I was thinking of purchasing a couple of dealing shoes and just putting all the cards in there. Is this a bad idea for newer players? Is there a general rule about how many boosters and expansions one should use before it begins to hurt the game?

If it helps I'm trying to stay in the Fantasy theme. I have the Deluxe game and bought expansions 2-8 off a friend. It would be cool to go ahead and use them but not if it hinders gameplay for beginner/intermediate players.

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

Add a couple at a time. Each expansion adds a bit of different play and flavor to the game. It gives you time to learn the new things.

Pat

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

I've played a full Fantasy deck with new players and while most seemed to have enjoyed it, it didn't really go nearly as well as initiation games I've played with just base sets or sets with a single expansion. I'd definitely recommend to not use Demented Dungeons until your players have played a few games to get used to the normal rules. I'd also leave out Cheat With Both Hands with beginners as many of the cards rely on advanced features, like the Epic rules. The licensed boosters (Penny Arcade, The Guild, etc.) definitely work well if you have some fans of the various properties at the table and they don't upset the learning curve too much, so I would recommend starting with those.

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds reasonable. I'm trying to setup a game 1 night per week so maybe we start with the Fantasy Vanilla deck and then start adding the other expansions later (saving 6 and 7 for last once people are comfortable with the game). It's hard to not want to use these cards though since I do have them in my possession.

I did some research online and some say the biggest problem comes from deck dilution by adding too many other cards.

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

I agree with the dilution of the deck. It becomes very difficult to pair race/class specific items when there are soo many different types in a deck. I like to stick to 1-2 expansions to a base set. But the more boosters the better!

Patsycoconut

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

When I purchased my buddies expansion packs I also got another set of the main game. Would it make sense to shuffle that in if we mixed a bunch of these together or would that be a bad idea? 2 main decks mixed together with various expansions?

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

Actually, that seems like a perfect thing to leave aside. Have the base deck on its own to teach new players, while having a complete (or complete except for 6&7) deck for experienced players.

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

As long as you have a solid amount of players. The only problem that could arise (Like in any large mixture of munchkin) is that you could end up with a poor shuffle and draw similar or uneeded cards which may bog down the game.

For example...turns are being played through and the only cards being drawn are class/race cards or curses. Another. maybe at the beginning of a game you are only drawing high level monster cards that are not defeatable in the particular point of the game.

That being said...The best part of munchkin is that the more ridiculous it gets, the better. At least in my circle. Rable rable rable is all I say

Just keep playing, have fun, and find what you like best.

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

Okay I'm thinking of picking up a couple of multi-deck card dealer shoes. I'll put a large mix of expansions plus the base set in those and I'll have a separate vanilla set aside for beginner play. Which I go with will be based on who's playing.

Hopefully the shoe can handle cards okay with Mayday (purple edition) plastic sleeves on them. Regarding the shuffle, I did see some shufflers on Amazon for a decent price. I might try them out but again curious if the plastic sleeves will mess it up.

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

Sleeves and automatic shufflers, by all reports, do NOT mix.

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

I know there are certain cards that can cause game-breaking problems if anybody were to get a hold of two copies at once, but I can't recall if any of them are in the base set.

Re: How many expansions and boosters are too many to use at once?
 

I've never felt deck dilution was a problem. But the Listen at the Door rules seem to help cycle through cards quicker, potentially helping you get to the combos you like. That being said, throw in as many expansions as you like. But keep in mind more expansions equals more rules to keep track of. Steeds, hirelings, dungeons etc. So for beginners it might be best to ease them into the additional rules.