Steve Jackson Games and USAopoly announced Munchkin Adventure Time during Gen Con 2013, and the game made its debut just about a year later — and it’s [insert your favorite Adventure Time thumbs-up catchphrase here]!
Gameplay works, for the most part, like other flavors of Munchkin: kicking in doors, fighting monsters, and grabbing treasure in the race to be the first player to reach Level 10. (Never played Munchkin? You can get a quick feel for the game in this official online demo, or take a half-hour and watch this episode of TableTop.)
There are a few minor, well-themed changes for the Adventure Time set. For instance, each player starts the game with a randomly-dealt identity. There are eight character cards, seven of which feature a character and their gender-swapped counterpart — so, Jake and Cake, Finn and Fionna, Marceline and Marshall Lee, etc. — nicely referencing the Fionna and Cake episodes. (If you get the eighth character card, you get to play as BMO, who “ignores all gender-related stuff ’cause I DONT KNOW!?!”) Each character has its own special bonus or two.
Additionally, Munchkin Adventure Time‘s character classes are Wizard, Royalty, Hero, and Musician. 
There’s something that makes these two creative properties just click in a way that feels like a natural fit and not just an opportunistic licensing deal. I think it’s that Munchkin‘s over-the-top style of play — “Oh, really? Well now you’re fighting a Venomous, Fluffy Were-Muskrat with an EVIL TWIN!” — seems like it totally belongs the weird world of Finn and Jake and all the denizens of the Land of Ooo. (“You bet Finn and the Banana Guard can take on that Flippin’ Awesome Giant Chainsaw Goo Skull — ’cause the Cosmic Owl is on our side!”)
As a result, playing Munchkin Adventure Time actually feels like it’s like it’s as much Adventure Time as it is Munchkin. Achieving that feel while remaining true to the original game is a nice trick.
If you’re a family of Adventure Time fans, and you haven’t introduced your kids to Munchkin, here’s your gateway. An expansion, Munchkin Adventure Time 2: It’s a Dungeon Crawl! was announced at this year’s Gen Con, set for release next spring.
Munchkin Adventure Time comes with 168 playing cards (100 doors and 68 treasures), eight double-sided character cards, a die with Jake’s face where the number 1 should be, and even a nice box interior:
(Incidentally, I’m not sure when Steve Jackson Games introduced the compartmentalized box construction that keeps the cards sorted, but I appreciate it.)
On another Munchkin note, if you’re a fan of Munchkin Legends, the game’s second 56-card expansion — Munchkin Legends 3: Myth Prints — should be available soon. It adds a Gladiator class to the mix, along with a new assortment of (mostly) myth-and-legend themed monsters, weapons, and humor.
Disclosure: Steve Jackson Games provided GeekDad with copies of Munchkin: Adventure Time and Myth Prints for review purposes.
Excellent! I’ve been looking forward to finally breaking into Munchkin. When I saw that they were making an Adventure Time version, I really hoped it would be the best of both worlds–seeing this confirms it!