February 21, 2014: Munchkin: $24.95 And Holding Firm!

Last year, we announced minor manufacturing changes to the rules and packaging for our Munchkin core games. These changes helped us reduce costs on all of the Munchkin core games -- including the latest one, Munchkin Pathfinder, and several reprints -- but we are continuing to fight against the terrible pain of rising shipping invoices, raw materials increases, and all the other "costs of doing business" that are part of the daily work of a game company. As we said last year, the last thing we want to do is increase the MSRP of our Munchkin core games . . . so we're attacking the problem from another direction.

Starting later this year, all of our Munchkin core games will begin shipping with a new custom six-sided die. It will look just like the 16mm d6 we've been using since 2010 in games like Munchkin Cthulhu, Munchkin Apocalypse, and in the +6 Bag 'o Munchkin d6, but the new die is slightly smaller. By switching to a 14mm die, we can reduce our costs a tiny – tiny! – amount. When you manufacture hundreds of thousands of those dice in a year, however, those savings add up.

We do not plan to change the cards in any of the sets. With thousands of different Munchkin cards produced across dozens of games and expansions, we're not going to do anything that makes it difficult to shuffle newer cards in with older cards. By changing the size of the dice, we'll be able to hold the $24.95 price for at least another year.

-- Phil Reed