Munchkin

Designed by: Steve Jackson

Published By: Steve Jackson Games (2001)

Players: 3 to 6

Ages: 10 +

Time: 60 – 120 min

Unearthed by: Evan

Munchkin is a satirical card game about adventure, that pokes fun at the clichés and oddities of fantasy dungeon-crawling. Each player starts at level 1; and the winner is the first to reach level 10. Players acquire familiar D&D-style character classes during the game, which affect which cards they can play.

Each turn the current player may ‘kick down a door’ – drawing an encounter card, which  usually involves battling a monster. Monsters have their own levels, though, so players must make use of their own levels, weapons and powers they’ve acquired. Or, they can just run away. Here’s the kicker: other players can chose to jump into another player’s fight on their behalf (usually for a price). OR . .  . they can always intervene to hinder other players by adding extra monsters for them to face!

Defeating a monster will usually result in drawing treasure cards and acquiring levels. Being defeated by a monster results in “bad stuff” which usually involves losing levels and treasure.

 

Carson City (Big Box)

Designed by: Xavier Georges

Published By: Quined White Goblin Games & Eagle-Gryphon Games (2009)

Edition Played: Big Box Edition by Quined Games (2018

Players: 2 to 6

Ages: 13 +

Time: 90 min

Unearthed by: Ed

Carson City consists of four rounds; in each, you choose a character which gives certain advantages.

You place your cowboys on the action track, or at locations that allow you to construct buildings, houses, or roads; claim ground; round up guns; earn money; or score victory points. When more than one player is on the same location, get ready, it is time for a duel! Roll the dice and see if you are the last one standing and lay claim to the goods!

At the end of the game, the buildings, houses, mountains, and money you own contribute to your victory points, and the person with the most points wins.

 

Planes

Designed by: David Short

Published By: Alderac Entertainment Group (2014)

Players: 2-4

Ages: 14+

Time: 30 minutes

Unearthed by:  Joe

Each turn you get 3 phases: action, move and goal. Your cards each have a goal and an action, but you may choose only one of those from any particular card. To move, pick any space with at least one of your cubes in it; pick up all the cubes in that space — whether they’re yours or not. From there, you may advance as many spaces as you can, dropping one cube at each space you move to.  As long as you have cubes left, you can stop anytime, leaving all the remaining cubes in that space. If you can arrive at a gate space with exactly one cube matching the color of the plane, that cube boards the plane. Getting your cube on the plane earns you 5 VP. Getting a neutral cube on a plane gets you two cards.