Critical Role has been a mainstay in the roleplaying world for years now, and Munchkin has been a part of tabletop gaming for even longer, so it's only natural the two should meet in USAopoly's upcoming release Munchkin: Critical Role. This easy-to-play card game has players jumping into the role of their favorite fictional characters from the Critical Role series as they kick down doors, loot rooms, and backstab their friends in competition to be the first player to reach level 10.
The Munchkin series of games has seen its fair share of crossovers. From Marvel to Harry Potter, it feels like a new version of Munchkin comes out every year. Many of these crossovers help make the game feel fresh and exciting by adding new mechanics and specialty cards to the classic gameplay of flip a card, battle monster, loot, repeat. Munchkin: Critical Role, however, stays true to the original game and only deviates by mixing up some keywords and adding fresh new Critical Role-inspired artwork.
Playing Munchkin: Critical Role is very simple. Players will choose their favorite character and head into the dungeon, which is represented by two stacks of cards. The "Door" stack is filled with curse cards, sneaky attacks, and monsters, while the "Treasure" stack of cards holds all the loot available to upgrade characters through new gear, level-up cards, and special abilities. In a turn, players will kick down the door by flipping over the top Door card and, if a monster appears, face off against the challenge by comparing their strength to the creature. If successful, players will go up a level and have the opportunity to draw from the Treasure deck. During all of this chaos, opponents can chime in with their own sneaky cards by raising the level required to defeat the monster, playing debuffs on the player, or even adding an extra creature to the fight.
Munchkin: Critical Role definitely uses its theme well by adding flavor text to almost every card which helps immerse players more in Critical Role's world. However, after a few rounds of the game, players will find themselves skipping over anything in italics to simply learn what the card adds, or ruins, for their character. The game itself is still a fun get-together and stands up to other Munchkin games of the past.
Fans of Critical Role will get quite a kick out of playing as their favorite characters from the show, and the simplistic gameplay style of Munchkin makes for an easy starting point into more modern board and card games. However, fans of Munchkin that are looking for something new and fresh may be disappointed by the simplistic reskin of every other Munchkin version out there.
Munchkin: Critical Role will be released on April 7, 2021 at participating retailers. A copy of the game was provided for the purpose of this review.