October 12, 2017: Munchkin Shakespeare: No Holds Bard

Munchkin Shakespeare is out! It's been reaching Kickstarter backers for a month or so; I've really enjoyed watching the backers posting their just-unboxed sets on Twitter. It should hit stores any time now.

This set does not remix the works of Shakespeare. Not exactly. It would be more accurate to say that it folds, spindles, and mutilates them. The Bard loved puns, so it's nice to think that he would have liked this game. Yes, it's nice to think that. But probably not accurate. In reality, he's likely spinning in his grave. But the JoCo cruisers, who suggested the theme and a lot of the cards, are laughing madly . . . so it evens out. (For that whole story, see Andrew's article.)

I suppose I should say a bit about gameplay. This is a "Deluxe" set, so it has a board and standies. It uses all the classic races – Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling. As to classes, it starts with the venerable Wizard, Warrior, Cleric, and Thief, but it also adds Bard to the mix. Since there are Clerics, there are Undead to turn. My favorites are Henry IV Part I and Henry IV Part 2. Yes, we went there.

I also want to mention the demo set spawned by Shakespeare. Called (of course!) the Munchkin Shakespeare Staged Demo, it has 17 cards drawn from the Shakespeare set, but with alternate art by Lar deSouza! Use it to teach your friends the game, or just add to your own set and enjoy the ineffable art-ness of it all.

-- Steve Jackson