(Updated 2/28/2019) Critical Links & Useful Information -- READ ME FIRST!!!

[MunchkinMan]

Here's a list of critical links to know. . .

The Errata -- https://munchkin.game/gameplay/errata/
The FAQ -- https://munchkin.game/gameplay/faq/
The Rules -- https://munchkin.game/gameplay/rules/
Munchkin Thingies (the text for every Class, Race, Loyalty, Accent, Mojo, etc.) -- http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-2016 (free PDF download from Warehouse 23)

Why aren't my friend's cards the same as mine?
In 2010, we revised the rules for all the Munchkin games. This included coloring the art in all fantasy Munchkin sets and tweaking card text for a number of cards in almost every Munchkin release. All official answers will refer to the post-2010 sets.

A list of changes that we made is found in the 2010 Change Log.

I just bought a set and it has funny symbols on the bottom!
Expansions to Munchkin sets (and some core sets that use the same card design as original Munchkin) have icons on the bottom, to help you separate your cards back out again. We have a Web page showing all the icons in use.

Searching this forum:
Munchkin (and its brethren) use a lot of small or common words. There are two important ideas to remember:
1) Using the asterisk (*) in the forum search can help you find short words, by making Elf into Elf* (for example).
2) Google has a feature that will allow you to use it to find stuff in the forums. Just add "site:forums.sjgames.com" in your Google search. That will search ALL of SJ Games' forums, not just the Munchkin forum, so you might still have a lot of items to scour through, but with the right application of Search Fu, you should be able to find what you're looking for.

I have a question about a card that says...:
We respectfully ask you not to quote card text here. The moderators all have a database with the card text in it, so we don't need the quote, and anyone else who's curious what the card says can go look at their copy. (This request comes from Steve and dates back to the very early days of the forums.)

Custom card ideas:
We know you really want to share your custom card ideas, we really do, but please don't share them on this forum. Our old website had a submission form for card ideas – unfortunately, it isn't compatible with our new site's code. We're looking into a solution. For now, please be patient.

House rules:
The Munchkin forums are for discussing the games as they are written and intended to be played. Both the Munchkin and Other Munchkin Games forums have House Rules threads, and if you're talking about variant rules of any sort, please confine your comments to those threads so we don't confuse other posters.

The Munchkin 101 Forum:
There is no need to post a question on the main Munchkin forum and the Munchkin 101 forum. This causes the discussion of your question to get fragmented. Your question will be seen by the people who need to see it regardless of which forum you post it in, and it won't get answered any faster by being in two places at once. (We will occasionally move a question from 101 to the main forum, if we think it's too complex or might be confusing to new players.)

Dealer Shoes/Discard bins/Card sleeves:
Occasionally, someone asks, "Hey, why doesn't SJ Games make a really cool, tricked-out dealer's shoe for Munchkin?" or a similar question about custom Munchkin card sleeves. The short answer is: We'd really like to, but we can't make it cost-effective. We'll keep working at it. (And if you want a way to store your cards, check out the Boxes of Holding or Monster Box and their respective sequels.)

Several companies now make sleeves in a size appropriate for Munchkin cards; look for "Standard American" or "Standard USA" sleeves. If a sleeve holds Yu-Gi-Oh cards, it should be fine for Munchkin as well. (Note that Munchkin Quest and the Munchkin Collectible Card Game use different-sized cards; any sleeves compatible with that other magical CCG will work fine.)

I want to play Munchkin online!
At present, there is no authorized way to play Munchkin online. Asmodee Digital is working on a Munchkin game for Nintendo Switch; watch the Daily Illuminator and our social media for updates!

Who are you guys, anyway?
Andrew Hackard is the Munchkin Line Editor (sometimes referred to as the Czar). It's his job to keep all the Munchkin sets in print and make sure that everyone hits their deadlines. Andrew drinks way too much coffee and has been known to mutter to himself in Latin.

Erik Zane (MunchkinMan) is the Munchkin NetRep. It's his job to know everything about the rules for Munchkin, including what we said the last time someone asked your question. (To help Erik out, we've got a pretty comprehensive FAQ, linked above; please check there first!)

Steve Jackson wrote Munchkin. Thanks, Steve!

Former Munchkin staff are Angie Kreuser, Keith Blackard, Leonard Balsera, Carl deSoto, and Devin Lewis.

Andrew and Erik are the moderation staff for this forum. Generally, we try to keep things friendly and cheerful. You can help by treating other posters as you'd like to be treated -- or, even better, as you'd like your favorite relative to be treated. When one of the moderators answers a rule question, you can assume that answer is official unless they say it's just an opinion.

One last request: Please try to not post a bunch of unrelated questions in a single post, or to add on extra, unrelated questions later on in a thread. We really do go back and look at previous rulings, and it helps us out when the discussions stay focused. If a conversation starts getting too fractured, we may split it into separate threads.

Okay, let's have fun! Now! Have fun now, people!

[MunchkinMan]

You can play the following card types from your hand based on the following rules:

Classes/Races/Loyalties/Accents/Mojos/Factions/Birthrights/Armies: At any time during your turn (even during combat) or as soon as you get them.
Styles/Powers/Training: At any time during your turn (even during combat) or as soon as you get them.

GUALs: At any time, on any player, even during combat.

Items: At any time during your turn or as soon as you get them (except during combat) unless they are one-shot Items (usually says "usable once only") which can be played and immediately used for either a player or a Monster in any combat, or whenever it is appropriate (e.g., the Loaded Die can be played by the person who just rolled a die). Some Treasures do not have a Gold Piece value printed on the card, and are therefore not Items, but work very similarly.
Steeds/Vehicles/Ships: Steeds, Vehicles, and Ships are Items, and so therefore follow the above rules, however you may normally only have one Steed or Vehicle, and one Ship, at a time.

Hirelings/Sidekicks/Mooks/Minions/Allies/Comrades: At any time, on yourself only.

Monsters: With a Wandering Monster card (or the like) during any combat or in any Room (Room cards are found only in Star Munchkin 2), or during a combat where special rules are in effect(e.g., Bat Rules in Munchkin Bites!, or Hong Kong rules in Munchkin Fu), or when you are Looking For Trouble (i.e., if you choose to fight a Monster from your hand if you did not find a Monster when you opened a door).
Monster Enhancers: Any time during any combat (with some notable exceptions, like Enraged and Friendly can't be played together). Or, at any time on a Mook, Monk or Epic Werewolf, according to the rules for those cards.
Enhancer Enhancers: At any time during any combat where a Monster Enhancer that adds or subtracts Levels (i.e., you can't play Very on Mate) to a Monster in combat.

Rooms (found only in Star Munchkin 2): Any time someone kicks down a door and does not get a Room card, a Room may be played immediately from anyone's hand. Once a non-Room card is played on a combat, a Room may not be played.

Curses/Traps/Disasters: At any time on any player. In other words, on that guy next to you right now, or on yourself next Tuesday, while you're in combat with a pack of crazed Maul Rats, if that's what you want to do. However, note that playing a Curse-type card while another player is in the middle of completing an action does not interrupt that action; he may complete it first. (Just saying he's taking an action is not enough; he must be discarding or playing cards, or rolling a die, or otherwise making an affirmative step toward doing what he wants to do.)

Portals (found in Munchkin 6, Munchkin Cthulhu 4, Munchkin Zombies 3, and Munchkin Adventure Time 2): At any time on your turn except during combat, but you may only choose to play one Portal per turn. Portals you find when Kicking Open The Door all take effect. Whenever you play a Portal, draw a Door card to replace it -- face up if the Portal was face up (usually only when Kicking Open the Door), face down if the Portal was face down (usually only from your hand). Note: The rules for Adventure Time 2 are slightly different, and you should follow them when playing with that set and no other Dungeons sets.

Special notes:

For cards not covered here (and even the ones that are), "[A]ny time" without any other qualifiers means any time, even during combat.

One-shot Items may be played to the table and carried (they are items, after all). If they are carried, there is no change on how they may be used in combat. Under normal conditions, anyone can use a combat oriented one-shot Item during any combat.

[MunchkinMan]

(Editor's note: With a few exceptions, this list does NOT include accessories or W23 exclusive items. Otherwise, it would be insanely long.) Italicized sets are from non-SJ Games publishers.

The months shown are for the first printing of each set (except for May 2010, which started the Great Changeover).

2001
July: Munchkin

2002
March: Munchkin 2
August: Star Munchkin

2003
July: Munchkin Fu
September: Munchkin 3

2004
March: Star Munchkin 2
July: Munchkin Blender
October: Munchkin Bites!

2005
January: Munchkin Fu 2
June: Munchkin Dice
July: Super Munchkin
October: Munchkin Bites! 2

2006
February: Munchkin 4
October: Super Munchkin 2
November: Munchkin Impossible

2007
March: Munchkin Cthulhu
April: Epic Munchkin
May: Munchkin Rigged Demo
June: Munchkin 5
August: Munchkin Cthulhu 2
October: The Good, the Bad, and the Munchkin

2008
January: Munchkin Cthulhu 3
March: Munchkin 6
April: Munchkin Cthulhu Cursed Demo
October: Munchkin Booty
October: Munchkin 7
October: Munchkin Quest

2009
January: Munchkin Quest 2
March: Munchkin Booty 2
October: Munchkin Fairy Dust
October: Munchkin Waiting For Santa

2010
May: Munchkin reprinted in color, with rule changes
August: Munchkin Cthulhu 4 - Crazed Caverns
September: Munchkin Marked for Death
October: Munchkin Go Up a Level
October: Munchkin Santa's Revenge
October: Munchkin Quest: Portal Kombat
November: Munchkin Booty: Fish & Ships
November: Star Munchkin: Space Ships
December: Munchkin Reloaded!

2011
January: Munchkinomicon
February: Munchkin 7 - Cheat With Both Hands
March: Munchkin Zombies
March: Munchkin Monster Enhancers
July: Munchkin Deluxe
August: Munchkin Zombies 2 – Armed and Dangerous
August: Munchkin Conan the Barbarian
October: Munchkin Axe Cop
November: Munchkin Reindeer Games

2012
February: Munchkin 8 – Half Horse, Will Travel
March: The Good, the Bad, and the Munchkin 2 – Beating a Dead Horse
May: Munchkin The Guild
June: Munchkin Conan
August: Munchkin Skullkickers
August: Munchkin Zombies 3 - Hideous Hideouts
September: Munchkin Penny Arcade
October: Munchkin Naughty & Nice
November: Munchkin Apocalypse

2013
February: Munchkin Easter Eggs
June: Munchkin Legends
June: Munchkin Holiday Surprise
July: Munchkin Dragons
September: Munchkin Tricky Treats
October: Munchkin Pathfinder
November: Munchkin Gets Promoted!
November: Munchkin Pathfinder: Gobsmacked!

2014
January: Munchkin Apocalypse: Mars Attacks!
April: Munchkin Zombies 4 – Spare Parts
May: Munchkin Apocalypse 2 – Sheep Impact
August: Munchkin Princesses
August: Munchkin Adventure Time
August: Munchkin Legends 2 – Faun and Games
September: Munchkin Halloween Pack
September: Munchkin Treasure Hunt
September: Munchkin Panic
October: Munchkin Legends 3 – Myth Prints
November: Munchkin Holidazed
November: Munchkin Loot Letter
November: Munchkin Game Changers

2015
January: Munchkin Love Shark Baby
February: Munchkin Kobolds Ate My Baby
March: Star Munchkin Deluxe
April: Munchkin Zombies Deluxe
May: Munchkin Adventure Time 2
July: Munchkin Oz
July: Munchkin Hipsters
July: Star Munchkin 3
August: Munchkin Gloom
August: Munchkin Zombies: The Walking Dead
September: Munchkin Dragon's Trike
September: Smash Up Munchkin
September: Munchkin The Nightmare Before Christmas
October: Munchkin Undead
October: Star Munchkin Cosmic Demo
October: Munchkin Steampunk Deluxe
November: Munchkin Christmas Lite
November: Munchkin Kittens

2016
January: Munchkin Guest Artist Edition (Ian McGinty)
January: Munchkin Hipsters
February: Star Munchkin Guest Artist Edition (Len Peralta)
February: Munchkin Steampunk
March: Munchkin Puppies
March: Munchkin: Marvel Edition
May: Munchkin Fu Guest Artist Edition (John Kovalic)
May: Munchkin 6.5 - Terrible Tombs
May: Munchkin Knights
June: Munchkin Legends Guest Artist Edition (Mike Luckas)
June: Munchkin Cthulhu Guest Artist Edition (Katie Cook)
June: Munchkin Apocalypse Guest Artist Edition (Len Peralta)
June: Munchkin Apocalypse 2 Guest Artist Edition (Len Peralta)
July: Moop's Monster Mashup
August: Munchkin Marvel 2: Mystic Mayhem
September: Munchkin Grimm Tidings
October: Munchkin Zombies Guest Artist Edition (Greg Hyland)
October: Munchkin Marvel 3: Cosmic Chaos
November: Munchkin Pathfinder: Truly Gobnoxious
November: Munchkin Pathfinder Guest Artist Edition (Shane White)
December: Super Munchkin Guest Artist Edition (Art Baltazar)

2017
January: Munchkin Hidden Treasures
February: Munchkin Oz
February: Munchkin Oz 2
February: Munchkin Apocalypse: Judge Dredd
March: Munchkin Guest Artist Edition (Edwin Huang)
March: Munchkin: X-Men Edition
April: Munchkin Curses
May: Super Munchkin Guest Artist Edition (Lar deSouza)
June: Munchkin Spell Skool
June: Munchkin Pathfinder 2
July: Munchkin Gets Promoted 2
July: Munchkin Deadpool - Just Deadpool
August: Munchkin Booty Guest Artist Edition (Tom Siddell)
August: Munchkin Oz Guest Artist Edition (Katie Cook)
August: Munchkin Rick and Morty
September: Munchkin Lite
October: Munchkin Shakespeare Deluxe
October: Munchkin Shakespeare Limited Engagement
October: Munchkin Shakespeare Staged Demo
October: Munchkin Wonderland

2018
January: Munchkin Magical Mess
January: Munchkin Clowns
February: Munchkin Collectible Card Game
May: Munchkin Cheats
May: Munchkin CCG The Desolation of Blarg
June: Munchkin Spell Skool
June: Munchkin CCG Introductory Set
July: Munchkin Fowl Play
August: Munchkin CCG Fashion Furious
August: Munchkin Side Quests
September: Munchkin Starfinder
September: Munchkin Starfinder 2 - Far Out
September: Munchkin The Red Dragon Inn
September: Munchkin CCG Phat Pack
October: Munchkin 9 - Jurassic Snark
November: Munchkin Party Pack
November: Munchkin CCG Grave Danger
November: Munchkin Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
November: Munchkin Harry Potter Deluxe

2019
January: Munchkin Unicorns and Friends

[MunchkinMan]

The Cheat! card causes some confusion, so here's a list of everything that it can do:

• It lets you use another Hand Item (i.e., any Item that requires at least one Hand) when your hands are full, OR
• It lets you use another piece of Armor when you're already wearing Armor, OR
• It lets you use another piece of Headgear when you're already wearing Headgear, OR
• It lets you use another piece of Footgear when you're already wearing Footgear, OR
• It lets you carry another Big Item (and use it, too) when you already have reached your limit, OR
• It lets you use an extra Complex Item, OR
• It lets you have an extra Steed, OR
• It lets you have an extra Ship, OR
• It lets you use an Item that your current Class/Race/Loyalty/Accent/Mojo/gender can not use, OR
• It lets you use an Item that some other card's effect says you can't, OR
• It lets you use a Steed/Ship/Hireling Enhancer that is an Item on its own (i.e., not played on a Steed/Ship/Hireling), OR
• It works with any other card or promotional item that specifically says, or comes with rules which specifically say, that you can use it to do something related to that card or promotional item (e.g., Hireling cards, T-shirts).

In all cases, the Item in question must be one you have in your possession legally, either already in play in front of you, or just played from your hand (with the Cheat! card if necessary). You can play Cheat! on a valid target even if the target is legal for you at the time. If you need to apply more than one of the above options for the Item to work (a non-Elf trying to use the Bow With Ribbons with a Cheat! card does not have to have both Hands empty, too), that's fine. If there's an Item that fits all of these, I have a feeling the card wouldn't fit in with the rest because it would be too big, or it would need very small print and have to come with a magnifying glass.

Anything not on that list is not a legal play. Don't ask, because the answer will be, "No."

The Cheat! card does not change the inherent nature of the Item on which it is played (with the exception of specific types of Enhancers, see below). A Big Item is still Big, even if you have Cheat! on it. The same goes for Armor (it's still Armor), same for Headgear (it's still Headgear), same for an Elf-only Item (it's still Elf-only), and so on. The player of a Cheat!-ed Item simply ignores any restrictions caused by the type of Item that it is. So, as an example: Playing Cheat! on a Big Item does not make it no longer Big, so it can be lost to Curses/Traps/Bad Stuff that take Big Items, and it can not be stolen by a Thief (or someone with the theft meta-ability). However, if you have Cheat! on a Big Item, you can play another one to the table later.

Cheat! can not be removed from an Item, normally, therefore it can't be exchanged between Items. The Cheat! card is, however, lost whenever the Item it is played on is lost to the current owner. That means if the Item is stolen, lost to a Curse or Bad Stuff, or taken from the owner in some other way, the Cheat! card attached is discarded. If a player dies, all of his Cheat! cards become lootable as individual cards, and do not go with the Item to which they were originally attached.

Andrew adds: Here's a shortcut guideline that may be helpful: When you are looking over your cards to make sure your "character" is legal, ignore any card with Cheat! attached -- it's like it's not even there.

[Andrew Hackard]

Last update: 3/10/14

Steve Jackson Games takes its Intellectual Property rights very seriously. (This term covers things such as copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade dress. You can find a more detailed discussion in our Online Policy.) We are happy to have you share your love for Munchkin, but we have to look out for our IP rights in the process.

Please note that this is NOT a comprehensive answer. If you want something that will stand up in court, hire a lawyer and have them talk to our lawyers. (No, we aren't posting that contact information. A good lawyer can figure it out without any trouble.) As a general rule, if you're feeling uneasy about something you're thinking of doing, that's probably a good sign that you need to stop and think it through VERY carefully.

May I make a Web page about Munchkin? Certainly, as long as it follows the Online Policy. Most especially, please note that we CANNOT allow you to post any rule text, including card text, except in the specific context of a review or critical discussion of the game. We also cannot provide art for you to use on your page, other than what is already available on our site. And if your page looks too much like the pages on sjgames.com or munchkin.game, we may ask you to change your design.

May I post a picture of a custom Munchkin card I wrote? (Or that was written by John Kovalic, Steve Jackson, Wil Wheaton . . .) As a general rule, yes. However, if you're posting an entire set of cards, the waters get murky . . . and if you're also posting our rules or the set is based on someone else's intellectual property, then the answer turns into "No, and now we have to ask you to take the files down." We hate doing that, but we absolutely will (and have!) if it's necessary.

May I use the classic Munchkin character as an avatar? As this image is now a registered trademark of SJ Games, we respectfully ask that you not use it as your avatar for webforums and other services. This is also discussed in the Online Policy.

May I make a T-shirt/patch/baseball cap/other wearable item using the Munchkin logo (or Munchkin art)? I'm sorry, but the blanket answer to this question is "no." There is a somewhat more complete answer in the Online Policy which boils down to "Probably not, but we've allowed it in very special circumstances." Those circumstances DO NOT include asking forgiveness rather than permission -- ASK FIRST!

May I get a Munchkin tattoo? If so, what bonus would it give me? After some discussion, we have decided that awarding bonuses for Munchkin body art is not quite in the spirit of our promotional efforts, which usually require one to relinquish the promotional item in question to obtain the bonus, and so we won't start down that road.

That said, if you love Munchkin enough to ink yourself up with it, we have no strong objections. If it's a tasteful tattoo in a worksafe location, we might even link it from our Instagram. Might.

May I create a Munchkin game aid to post to my web page? It depends on what you intend to do. If it's something that does not use our copyrighted rules text (including text on cards), and in other ways follows our Online Policy (note especially the discussion of "trade dress"), then we're probably OK with it. If you want to submit it to SJ Games for us to potentially host, then you can have more latitude; just understand that the answer may be, "Sorry, no thanks."

If you're talking about an electronic game aid, such as a Javascript combat counter for a smartphone, then the answer has to be an unqualified "no, sorry." SJ Games owns a registered trademark on Munchkin for electronic game uses, and we are required to defend that trademark vigorously if we want to retain it, which we do. Unfortunately, this means that we have to ask app providers and web hosting companies to remove such programs from their services. We hate doing this. Please don't put us in that position.

I submitted a game aid for consideration a long time ago, and I haven't heard anything! If you followed the procedure in the Online Policy (see how I keep linking to it? That's a hint) and you haven't heard anything beyond the initial, "We'll take a look," then we're probably just really busy at the moment. Like we usually are. A polite nudge after the first month or so is not inappropriate, but past that, please just wait for it to bubble to the top of our list. If you never heard from us at all, it's possible our spam filter ate it, or else we were so busy we neglected that bit of courtesy; a quick poke after a week wouldn't be amiss. And thanks for understanding.

(2014 update to the above answer: Right now, no one in the office has evaluating fan-created game aids as a primary or even secondary job responsibility. Chances are very good that submitting it to us will lead to a long wait while we all do the other things. In particular, as we've taken on more licenses, both incoming and outgoing, that is eating up a LOT of time previously devoted to game aid eval. We are hoping to find a way to streamline the process, but it's just not at the top of our list right now.)

[Andrew Hackard]

We have a forum dedicated to people who want to trade or sell items: the Trading Post. Accordingly, I'm now declaring all such posts off-topic in the Munchkin forums. This includes pointers to sales/trades/auctions elsewhere. If you're interested in such things, pay attention to the Trading Post. Any such threads posted here will be deleted.

[Andrew Hackard]

Does SJ Games plan to publish...

As a general rule, this is a question we will never answer. SJ Games' policy is not to discuss unannounced releases that we may be working on, and not to deny ideas that we might someday decide to take up, so the only answer to this question we can give is "No comment." (At most, we'll say, "That's something we'd love to get to someday," about expansions to existing games, but please understand that's not a promise but an expression of a fond hope.)

So, seriously, please don't even ask. If we could tell you, we already would have told you.

[Andrew Hackard]

How can I find other Munchkin players where I live?

Great question!

As with all things, we recommend visiting your Friendly Local Game Store, if you have one. Many of them have corkboards where gamers can post signs looking for games or advertising games they want to play. Many of them also have regularly scheduled game nights where you can bring your Munchkin boxes and play a pickup game. We can't recommend your FLGS highly enough.

Larger communities will often have one or more online groups with regularly scheduled game nights. Meetup.com seems to be the best-known hub for arranging these groups (enough that the generic term is turning into "meetups"), but there are others and it's worth doing a search. Those people braving the wilds of Facebook can often find groups in your local area as well.

(Aside: if you haven't typed "board games in [place I live]" into your favorite search engine, it's worth a shot!)

Finally, our Gamer Finder forum is a great place to find people who also hang out here. Toss a post up there and look through it to see if other people are also looking for gamers in your area! (We used to have a Gamer Finder database, but in 2018 we took it down because of privacy concerns.)

[Andrew Hackard]

I've cleaned up this thread a bit. A few things were updated, as well.