November 21, 2017: Munchkin Musings: November 2017

Hello from the land of ice and snow! . . . I mean, of Munchkin. (I have Thor: Ragnarok on the brain.)

The biggest news this month is the success of the Munchkin Starfinder Kickstarter project. Almost 1,300 backers (ONE short! Agggh!) pledged over $84,000 to make this game happen. As of this writing, we're getting a steady stream of illustrations from Howard Tayler and are just wrapping up the final playtesting before sending the whole shebang to our production wizards for layout. We're planning to get this to print in early December, which is a tight deadline . . . but we have the right team to make it happen. The BackerKit is open right now for people who want to add to their Kickstarter pledge or who missed the Kickstarter entirely and want to preorder some games and swag – and some of the extras are not planned to be sold through distribution, so this is the best (and maybe only) way to make sure that your Munchkin Starfinder collection is complete.

Speaking of collections, we sneaked a Munchkin project out there last month: the Munchkin Gift Pack. It has three games previously available in limited runs (Munchkin Lite, Munchkin Grimm Tidings, and Munchkin Spell Skool), conveniently pre-wrapped for your favorite munchkins, and includes five new holiday-themed Munchkin cards. And if you end up buying this for yourself, that's fine, too.

If you missed the announcements of Munchkin Magical Mess (coming in January) or Munchkin Clowns (coming in February), make sure to go to your friendly local game store and let them know you want to preorder these items. The more that retailers hear about people wanting more Munchkin, the more we get to make!

The Munchkin Collectible Card Game is steaming along: we're on track for our February 2018 release of the Season 1 starters and boosters, and we're hard at work polishing the second expansion (due in the summer), Fashion Furious. We expect this game to be big, so if you want to be sure you're in at the start, check out the Munchkin Collectible Card Game Preorder Bundle on Warehouse 23 and get loads of cards as soon as the game is released.

Finally, I want to thank the folks at the Unrivaled Tabletop Series for bringing me out to Las Vegas last month to meet over a hundred of the most dedicated Munchkin players in the country. We had a lot of fun and I even got to try my hand at commentary on the Munchkin final table, sitting right next to Wil Wheaton. (Spoiler: I don't think ANY sports commentators are in any danger of losing their jobs to me.)

We've got a lot of work to do in the next month to finish everything that has to go to print before the end of the year . . . but we have the right people to make it all happen. I'll see you in December with a 2017 wrap-up report!

-- Andrew Hackard