October 24, 2019: Munchkin Musings: October 2019

It has been a busy month in Munchkin Land!

Taking My Show on the Road

Conventions are nothing new for me, but going back to college . . . that was unexpected. But that's just what I did earlier this month. I spoke to two game-design classes at Texas A&M (including a 40-year history of SJ Games in slightly under 40 minutes – more about that visit in an upcoming Illuminator). Later that week, I met a game club at UT-Tyler, where I talked a bit about Munchkin and working at SJ Games and then we playtested one of our 2020 titles.

Thanks to everyone at both universities for facilitating my visits!

(Late-breaking news: Tomorrow, as this posts, I'll be going to the tabletop gaming club up the street at UT to chat with the gamers and playtest an upcoming set. October is definitely "back to campus" month for me!)

Speaking of 2020 . . .

We've been working hard on our 2020 Munchkin release schedule. Since last month, we've sent an expansion to print, sent another expansion to a licensor for approval, sent the first draft of another expansion to a licensor to look over and are preparing it for playtest, and completed the first draft of a nonlicensed core game and started playtesting it. Plus I'm working on another game and more expansions for later in 2020. If that's not enough, I've been talking to Phil, Steve, and Ross about a first cut at a 2021 schedule. That's the 20th birthday of Munchkin, so you can expect a big celebration!

Kickstarter Update

First: if you haven't filled out the pledge manager or put in a pre-order on Munchkin Pathfinder 3, the Pathfinder Kill-O-Meter, and Pathfinder Goblin Dice, you're too late; we closed those on September 30. The good news is, all three will be available next spring – watch our social media for release announcements!

We're shipping out the Munchkin Mini-Expansion Kickstarter rewards steadily – by now, many of you have received your rewards and told us how much you like these 30-card expansions for Munchkin Cthulhu, Star Munchkin, and Munchkin Zombies. We'll be making these expansions available in stores in the first quarter of 2020, so be sure to tell your friends to go pick them up!

Apart from a very few people in Europe whose shipments were affected by a sorting glitch at our freight forwarder, everyone should have the Munchkin Steampunk: Girl Genius rewards by now. If you're a backer who hasn't received those rewards and we haven't been in touch with you already, please email kickstart@sjgames.com immediately so we can track down what happened. If you missed the Kickstarter, Girl Genius is available to retailers now; ask your game store to order you a copy, or visit Warehouse 23 to order one directly.

We have one more super-cute Munchkin project scheduled for Kickstarter this year, so keep an eye on all your favorite social-media and gaming-news sites so you don't miss out!

Happy Halloween!

As usual, we're having our annual Halloween game day in the office. You can throw your own Halloween game party with Munchkin Bites!, Munchkin Zombies, Munchkin Cthulhu, or any other Munchkin set! Post to social media with #PlayMunchkin so we can share your pictures!

As long as I'm not taken bodily into the spirit realm, I'll see everyone next month . . .

-- Andrew Hackard