I won, I won, nah-nah-na-na-nah!

Munckin rocks. If you haven't heard of it, and I hadn't until last year when I first played the game, it's a gloriously silly card game with vague fantasy overtones which, thankfully, are little more than trappings on a delicously warped sense of humour. If it sounds rather nerdy, well, that's only because it is, but fortunately it doesn't make playing the game any less fun. The object of the game is to win by becoming a level 10 munchkin (you start at level one, naturally enough) and much of your time playing is spent trying to arrest the progress of your competitors. This can and usually does lead leads to some truly devious behaviour. I've long lamented my family's ability to devolve any sort of competitive game into a shouting match, but the beauty of munchkin is that this behaviour is positively encouraged, as you lie, cheat and steal your way to the top.

In many respects, the game most resembles the famous sword fight from the Princess Bride, as your ascent is suddenly thwarted by a opponent, only to thwart his thwarting, and then to have your double thwarting thwarted right back at you. There's an awful lot of thwarting in a game of Munchkin, and it's terribly good fun.

I've played several games with my brothers since I received it as a Christmas present (thanks again!), but tonight was the first time that we actually managed to complete a full game (time constraints cutting short earlier games), and I think I can say that I entered into the spirit of the game by rubbing my astounding win in the faces of everyone around me.

Victory is sweet.