Its about this point in the review where you would be assaulted with a host of inane and childish puns combined with obscure references to 1930's literature intended to simultaneously amuse the reader and pay tribute to this most storied of game lines. I submit, dear reader, that I have too much respect for you and your most delicate of sensibilities. No, we will have none of that nun-sense as we explore the thing on the doorstep: Munchkin Cthulhu.

The Bits
First and foremost, let's keep in mind, this is a Munchkin game. If you came looking for exciting bits and miniature Cthulhus devouring innocent meeples, you have made a terrible mistake. Instead, we are presented with a small box, two decks of cards with no way to keep them separate, a bi-fold rules booklet and one six-sided die. On one hand, I have the lurking fear that this lack of something special takes away from the game a bit, leaving many of my Cthulhu-craving compatriots to search the box for some unholy miniature or piece of unearthed Lovecraftian fiction.

Gameplay
At the end of the day, this is more Munchkin. The unnameable truth of the matter is that if you love Munchkin, prepare to be entertained. Otherwise, flee. Now. Seriously...I'll wait.

Are they gone? Good. For those who haven't experienced the Munchkin series before, a brief intro is in order. Players take the role of new adventurers seeking to advance to become the very old men of legend by attaining level 10. Levels are gained by defeating monsters, selling loot and playing special cards. Monsters are defeated by using accumulated treasure and new character classes to raise your effective level beyond that of your misbegotten antagonists. Monsters are found by opening a door (flipping a card on your turn). Got it? Good. The only thing stopping this from being the world's most boring game of D&D is the plethora of cards designed to allow one player to royally screw another through curses and even dropping or improving monsters that their opponents can't handle (and then offering to help them beat said monster in exchange for a share of the loot!). Munchkin Cthulhu does introduce one blast of cool air in the form of a new character class: Cultist. The cultist class is a very difficult to change character class that represents the corruption of the players by the other gods. If all the players become cultists the game ends early. As one can expect, several of the new character classes in the game are geared specifically towards interacting with these new cultists (as well as several of the event/curse cards). One other rule is that some monsters (the “goths”) allow for the summoning of other goths.

So what does this game offer above and beyond the old-fashioned Munchkin that you know and love? Not a whole lot at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong, as Munchkin games go, this one is pretty good. Unfortunately, the formula isn't particularly different with the addition of the new character classes and all of the old bugs that can slow down earlier games remain in this version of the game. Also, the Lovecraft references used on the cards can be pretty obscure*, with even my most scholarly friends summoning dread Azathoth (and S.T. Joshi!) for clarification.

End Game
Like most Muchkin games, any apparent winner quickly becomes the outsider, with every other player throwing whatever forces from beyond they can muster at the poor slob. While this can slow down the winner, my experience has often been that this is often all it does with the player typically buying the remaining levels or lucking into them through card play. Your mileage may vary, but I doubt you'll find Munchkin Cthulhu endings significantly different from previous versions. In fact, of the times I've played, the cultist-induced ending has only occurred once.

Bang for the Buck
The memory of Munchkins previous will serve you well here - if you thought previous versions were worth it, you'll think this one is too. At about $20, I've found that this one doesn't get pulled out real often and has a tendency to drive many of my gamers running from the table as if Dagon himself had just appeared (an event we try to minimize around the house, but sometimes accidents happen).

Overall
All things considered, this is a Munchkin game. There's nothing here to sway your opinion of the series unless you were already feeling that it was getting a bit tired (in which case, it'll almost certainly push you over the edge). Given the festival of obscure references, the game does provide me with an opportunity to refresh my familiarity with Lovecraft, but ultimately, the jokes are a bit tired and not particularly funny. For me, this is average at best, falling to a rating of about 5 - not good, but not horrible either.

Disclaimers
Time Owned: 4 months Number of Plays: 5+
Ages Played With: 28-40 Player Counts: 3, 4, 5

Another Disclaimer!
*OK...for those who were paying attention, there were a few Lovecraft reference in there. By my count, I've managed to reference 12 different Lovecraft works by their exact title. The full list (in order) is below: