Having recently reviewed Wizardry to the Power of Three from Pegasus Spiele, it was great to jump back into a very light memory game like Monster Munch (2022, HABA).
There are 24 platters on a “banquet table” (really, a line of 12 rows with two platters in each row). Players only need to roll a six-sided die to see what color should be avoided during that turn as they flip one of the two platters in each column.
If you flip over a platter and it is not the rolled die color, you can press your luck and keep flipping in the next column, or stop and move up as far as you have flipped platters and wait for your next turn to keep moving.
Whoever makes the loop around the table first is the winner!
Was That the Entire List of Rules?
It sure was! That might also be why Monster Munch suffers a little. For an adult, it’s not particularly interesting.
Well, it’s not that interesting for adult players.
After first trying this out with my wife so that we could teach the kids to play, I played a couple of rounds of Monster Munch with my 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. Suddenly, Monster Munch came alive.
“Ooh, Daddy, what are you going to do?” my son said as he egged me on during our first game. I was staring down the prospect of going for five tiles in a row without a miss, and in the Bell household, “push your luck” is what we do best.
I went for it. I failed, after rolling a red on the die and turning over a red platter. Bust!
“OOOOOOHHHHHH!!” the kids howled. They loved it. And every time one of the kids went one platter too far, they laughed at each other too.
Monster Munch eventually turns into a game of skill, as platters are returned to their hidden side after each player’s turn. Can you remember what colors are under which discs? If so, a keen eye and a little luck could turn a turn into an 8-10 space move all at once.
I measure all of my family games the same way: after finishing a game, did they ask to play it again? In the case of Monster Munch, we played it a couple of times after dinner over a summer weekend, but they preferred other games instead. I played the “Daddy needs to write a review” card to get it to the table, and there were never repeat play sessions.
This tells me that they enjoyed themselves, but not that much.
Everything’s Fine
Monster Munch provides a nice 10-minute break between activities. It is not offensive. It is very affordable. The monster pieces each player navigates on their turn are fine and feature decent artwork.
But Monster Munch doesn’t create memories. You are not going to be telling epic tales about the time your child danced all the way around the table on a single turn (well, probably not, but if that happens for you, I’ll listen!). You roll a die, then try to avoid that color for a few moves each turn, then someone wins.
Dreams are not built on the backs of games like Monster Munch. But for a light memory game diversion for young children, it’s fun and provides a few laughs.
Monster Munch details
- Designer: Marco Teubner
- Artists: N/A
- Publishers: HABA
- Release Date: 2022
- Player count : 2 - 4
- Age range : 5+
- Time range : 10 - 15 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Dice Rolling, Memory, Push Your Luck
- More articles about Monster Munch.
Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
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