January 31, 2023: 2022 Munchkin Wrap-Up

January is always an exciting time of year as we look forward to what the next 12 months will bring, but it's also nice to look back at the past year and see where it's taken us . . .

2022 was an especially interesting time for me since I returned to Steve Jackson Games in the middle of 2021. Most of the year's releases were already complete and at print, so everything I worked on was scheduled to come out in 2022. But I wasn't the only one: Steve Jackson, Andrew Hackard, Devin Lewis, and Alain Dawson all helmed projects that released in 2022.

The beginning of the year saw Munchkin Bosses, an expansion that offered an optional change to the standard gameplay of Munchkin, as well as Munchkin Babies, a cute addition to the Munchkin family. January was also the debut of Munchkin Farkle, a classic dice game with some added twists in the rules to make it fit right in with the backstabbing fun of Munchkin.

In February we released Munchkin Petting Zoo, a mini-expansion focused on adding cute animals (many of which happen to be Steeds) to the game. The next month brought Munchkin Warhammer 40,000: Rank and Vile, the latest expansion to grimdark Munchkin, which adds Astra Militarum, Drukhari, and Daemons.

Not every Munchkin release in 2022 was a game. We released a giant pile of bookmarks throughout the year, and in March we introduced the Munchkin Ukraine Charity T-Shirt, doing our part to help those impacted by the war. Spring expanded the options players have when tracking their levels with the Colossal Munchkin Level Die. Previously, this jumbo die was only available in red, but we released green, black, and blue versions in 2022. We also continued producing dice bags, like the brand new Munchkin Dice Bag: Chibithulhu and the reimagined Munchkin Dice Bag: Duck of Doom, which had previously been a plush dice bag.

In the summer, Munchkin Babies 2 – Stork Naked was born. (It's almost impossible to create a new core set theme without then coming up with a few more cards to add to it!) We also put out the first sizable title that I wrote for Munchkin, Munchkin Goats, and we fulfilled the campaign for Steve and John Kovalic's epic crossover, Steve Jackson's Munchkin Presents Batman.

As summer wound down, Munchkin Turtle Carnage added a bale of chelonian cards. The final months of the year contained plenty of excitement, too. Steve's newest numbered expansion, Munchkin 10 – Time Warp, came out in November, and a faithful recreation of our beloved card game in video game form, Munchkin Digital, went into early release on Steam in December.

If you missed any of these releases, be sure to check them out in our web store. Stay tuned throughout 2023 – we've got lots of exciting things planned for the next 12 months!

-- Will Schoonover