In the ever-expanding Munchkin Universe, Steve Jackson games and USAopoly have cracked into the realm of the Disney license. The Nightmare Before Christmas Munchkin is a stand-alone version of the classic, humorous favorite Munchkin, only placed in the upside-down world of Tim Burton's creation. Today Jeremiah's going to give us his review. So is The Nightmare Before Christmas Munchkin a trick or treat? Best keep reading to find out!

I'm going to assume that most folks out there have either:

Played Munchkin.
Seen other folks playing Munchkin.
Watched Wil Wheaton and his friends play Munchkin on Tabletop.
All of the above.
Have no desire to play Munchkin (in which case I'm not sure why you're still reading...)

So for those reasons I won't go into great detail about the gameplay. What I will talk about is the components, the theme, and anything that's new or unique to this version.

The Components

While this is a base set it's not a deluxe version, so there's no board or meeples to track your level. The bits and pieces consist of two decks--the Door and Treasure decks--and a really sweet custom d6, which might be my favorite custom die included in a game.

One of the newer type of cards included are "Ride" cards, which are equivalent to Allies, Hirelings, and "other similar cards." Rides give you a bonus level for fighting baddies, and also can give you extra abilities, such as being able to equip an extra card. There are also some "Citizenship" cards. There are certain monsters that will either be weaker or stronger against you, or certain curses that will affect you or not, depending on your citizenship.

The Theme

The theme is pulled off well, and the random "anything goes" feel of Nightmare Before Christmas world works well with the feel of Munchkin--it's a really seamless feel. Newcomers to the game could play this version and completely understand what Munchkin is, while simultaneously enjoying the cleverness of the theme.

The Verdict

I'm admittedly not the biggest Munchkin fan: It's a fine game but I don't own my own copy (I have plenty of friends who have it). But knowing the game well enough, and knowing the movie as well, I really enjoyed the cleverness of many of the cards. As I said before, the theme and the game are a nearly perfect match!

I think if I had one small complaint about this version is that it didn't include a board to track your level with. It was a chance for some creative and fun imagery that slipped away.

While the theme and the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas are fun, zany, and creative, it does include a fair amount of witches, ghosts, ghouls, demons, goblins, etc. The movie has been around long enough that you can find out plenty about the story and content/subject matter before jumping into this version of Munchkin and adding it to your collection.

The Final Verdict

The Nightmare Before Christmas Munchkin, is exactly that. If you love Munchkin and the movie, you're going to love this version of Munchkin. If you dislike Munchkin, yet love The Nightmare Before Christmas, this isn't going to change your mind on Munchkin. The theme is well done, and clever, and enjoyable--it's definitely a gateway into Munchkin for that friend who loves the movie but maybe is just a casual gamer.

We'd like to thank USAopoly Games for providing Jeremiah with a copy of The Nightmare Before Christmas Munchkin. This in no way shaped his opinion of the game.

Let us know if you've played this newest version of Munchkin and what you thought about it!