As a fan of Munchkin, I had no choice but to buy Munchkin Quest.
After two games in three days, I though giving this game a little review, so … here it is.

Part One : The component

When you open the box, you see it’s full of stuff … better than that, it’s full of quality stuff :
Three decks : D&M, Treasure and Monster. The cards are solid and much more resilient than their card game counterparts.
Four Miniatures : Each one represent the ‘Basic Munchkin’ with hammer and chainsaw. They’re made of solid plastic.
Dice : 6D6, 1D10 and a ‘Monster Die’ which has colors instead of numbers. Nothing to say here, except that the color as a little too flashy for my taste, but that’s a very minor point.
24/25 Rooms (number depends if you get the promotional room of not) : Made out solid cardboard, each pieces represent 2 squared room with four exits (one room in each side). Like other components, the quality is above top.
Monsters and supports : There is three supports per players where one can put cardboard monster in a fashion similar as the one used for investigators in Arkham Horror. The monsters are easily put in and out the supports (A little too easily for the tiny Monsters) and like other components, the quality is above top.
Tons of tokens : There is Life, Movement, Ransacked/Looted, Gold Piece. Tons of them but … immediately usable ! Unlike most FGG games, you don’t have to punch out of a sheet, they are already packed in plastic bags, ready to use ! A very very good point.
Four level counter : It’s cardboard disc with a rotative part to keep track of your level, not indispensable if you have some D10 in backup, but all the same it make the game playable without outside components. NB : The contact between the metallic parts of two disks is really painful … like a screech in a blackboard …
A rulebook : More on it in the next part.

One can criticize the fact that the box holds no section to keep the cards. It’s not really a problem unless you travel a lot with the game : in that case, you’ll propably have to sort the decks before playing.

All in all, there are great components, no ‘punching out’ step before playing. So I give MQ a very well deserved 9/10 for it’s components.

Part Two : The Rulebook and the Rules

Rules are relatively clear, the booklet contains many munchkin jokes, but it doesn’t alter the comprehension of rules.
The only black point of the booklet is that sometimes, when you search a precise rule you know it’s in the manual, it could take some time to find it. There is a glossary, but it doesn’t contain all terms used in the game (I think about ‘Target of a monster’, here).
And of course, there is no FAQ since it’s the first edition … but given the numbers of stange cases that can happen, I’m sure one will be created soon …

The purpose of the game is quite simple : You are in a dungeon and you start level 1 and must become level 10 (like the card game) and then return at the entrance of the dungeon and kill a boss. To gain level, you explore rooms, which lead you to fight monsters and gain Treasures and gold that you can sell to get more level.
During each turn, the active player gets 3 actions and a D&M card (D&M are random event that players can play to give an advantage to their character or (more often) to screw other players’ turn). With his actions he can do the following:
Search the room to find gold or treasure. (1 action) The player roll 1D6 with bonus/malus depending on his equipments and the room he is in, and check on the ‘search table’ what he get. He can only do that once per turn in a given room.
Make a deal. (1 action) Meaning using the special ability of the room he is in.
Explore (1 to 3 action) : Going in another room, the cost of this action depends of what is the link between the two room : For example, a simple door or a open hallway cost one point and a locked door cost all three points. If a new room is explored this way, it is chosen at random and the player get an extra D&M card and draw a Monster card to find out what monster lurks in the room.

Whenever the player is in the same room that a monster, he must try to fight it. The bases of the fact is the same than the card game (Player add his level and bonus, if it is higher than the monster’s level, he win otherwise he must flee or ask help to another player. Every player can play card to give bonus either to the player or the monster.) but with two twists : First after all cards are played, the result of the fight is altered by D6 throw. Meaning that if you don’t have seven points more than the monster there is still a chance for you to lose and take a hit. Moreover, only player in your room or in a room next to it can help you or hinder you with item. This adds a lot of randomness in the game … way more than vanilla munchkin has.
To increase further the randomness, each monster has a color chosen at random by the throw of the monster die. This color (represented by the support of the monster) matches one player’s color. Meaning that this monster want to kill that player, and if that player manage to kill this monster, he will get a small extra bonus.
Problem is, every time the die is rolled, if the result match a player’s color, that player immediately draw a free D&M card … added to the cards from exploring pieces … with little luck a player can hope to draw 5 or 6 D&M cards in a row (even more) in his first turn and use them before the other player have even began to move…
After all actions are used, the monster die is rolled one last time to make remaining monsters move and the next player began his turn.

So, it’s complete refont of a classic system with some twist, to make it a boardgame : I give 7/10

Part Three : The fun factor

Now it becomes difficult to judge, but I will say a thing right now : If you don’t like munchkin, you’ll hate Munchkin Quest, so don’t bother with it.
There is basically a big flaw with the game : It is simultaneously too slow and too fast !
Munchkin Quest is the union of three games : Descent (for the theme), Munchkin (for the parody) and … Runebound for the downtime.
With three actions, at the beginning of the game you can do three explorations and draw an insane amount of card, meaning that a player’s turn can go on for 15/20 minutes … (and a much more when you’re discovering the game.). The best the cards you have, the longer your turn will be … and that’s only with the three basic actions. This length is increased when a player gets extra actions.
So you spent a lot of time watching other players doing stuff without actually doing everything … As a 4-players Runeboud praticant, that don’t bother much given the fact that usually you get a lot of cards to play on opponent’s turn and you can manage to help other so it forces you to keep an eye in the action. But I know that lot of people are bored by downtime, so I’m telling you : this game is slow !
But in the other hand, it is fast in its slowness (OK, now we are in the world of munchkin) : It’s not unusual to have at least one player at level 4/5/6 at the end of first turn, and brushing with level 10 at the end of second turn. Meaning that right now, for me, it seems that the average number of turns to finish the game is between 3 and 5. So a player unlucky enough to have a descent starting hand and/or luck with monster on turn one is out of the race for winning if other player manages to have a good first turn.
To my mind, 3 movements are too much. With only 2, the frequency of active turn would have been slightly increased without changing the global length too much.

About the theme and the ambiance : If you don’t mind downtime, the game is all the same very fun to play, all ‘cliché’ of Door/Monster/Treasure are in, and the more powerful a munchkin is, the more ludicrous his items are.
Contrary to the card game, position in the dungeon matters and can change a lot of thing in the negotiations : If a player is in a room with tough monsters, he will consent to help you for a lower price (and even he would want to give you item to make you accept his aid) than if he was in the same room alone. This can lead to some seriously fun discussions.
How about to note the ‘fun experience’ ?
For a Munchkin player, as I am, I give it a 7/10, but only 6 or 5/10 for nonMunchkin player (depending how the theme attract them) and 2/10 for the Munchkin haters.

Part Four : Replaybility

Like the card game, after a while you tend to know all cards, but with 50 rooms different, you’ll have a good time before knowing all cards and room. Like the card game again, once the discovery factor will be passed, Munchkin Quest won’t the game you’ll play every session, but will be the game that you’ll be playing again after some week just for the fun.
Replaybility : 8/10

All in all, even if I still prefer the card games (a lot more fast paced), munchkin is very refreshing. It’s still the first edition and I hope with a little tinkering of the rules for a future second edition, it would be a over the top game.

Right now, I’ll give it a very well deserved 7/10 as a Munchkin fan and I will council to all other fan to try it. I don’t think they’ll regret it.