You and your friends are Panty Raiders – guys and girls on an urgent quest for undergarments – and the nearest trove is the Girls' Dorm on the other side of the quad. Perhaps it's a dare, perhaps it's a rite, perhaps it's just a convenient plot element for a fun new card game...

DISCLAIMER

In the interests of full disclosure: I not only know Stephen Greenfield in real life, but was also one of Panty Raider's earliest (if uncredited) playtesters. That said, I've tried my best to deliver an impartial review here – whether or not I've succeeded is left to your judgment.

The Game In a Nutshell

On an unnamed college campus, panty raiding is the name of the game. Each player has the same objective: infiltrate the girls' dorm and use the powers of stealth and sweet talk to snag yourself some underwear. Along the way, you'll meet a colorful cast of coeds, deploy an out-and-out arsenal of random junk, and perhaps even learn the ways of Panty Gurus like The Skirt Chaser and The Man's Man.

Style – Looks and Theme

Despite the fact that it's essentially an amateur release, Panty Raider nonetheless offers a pretty slick package. The game's art in particular deserves praise – Ash Jackson's cartoon-style illustrations aren't just attractive, but also have personality to spare, packing some clever little details and throw-away gags in a relatively limited space.

(This would also be a good time to point out that despite the subject matter, Panty Raider squarely aims for 'silly' rather than 'sexy' – the girls are never less than fully clothed, and none of the other cards or items are even close to risque. The few games I've played to date had a pretty even gender split; anybody still worried about potential sexism should also take notice of the fact that there's a significant number of women listed in the game's credits.)

The actual card design, however, throws up a few sticking points. Since the bulk of each card's 'real estate' is given over to the illustration, all the essential information is crowded at the very bottom; what text there is tends to be tiny and difficult to read. When it's just flavor text, it's less of an issue, but those dinky letters also hide essential gameplay information – anybody with vision problems would be advised to grab reading glasses before things kick off.

The glossy cardstock might also be a little too glossy – the cards have an odd, slightly slippery texture that takes a bit of getting used to. It's not a serious impediment to play, but veterans of other card games will definitely notice the difference.

Overall, PR earns a '4' for Style – despite the issues, it's still a nice-looking product across the board.

Substance – Rules and Gameplay

Panty Raider's core design owes an obvious debt to SJG's Munchkin, and when you boil it down, both games follow pretty much the same sequence:

Munchkin

1. Kick down the door
2. Defeat the monster (despite your opponents' best attempts to sabotage your efforts)
3. Gain levels and loot

Panty Raider

1. Knock on the door
2. Win the girls over (despite your opponents' best attempts to sabotage your efforts)
3. Gain points and items

That said, Panty Raider is definitely not a carbon copy, something I'll talk about in more detail towards the end of this review.

Players begin their foray by drawing two Girl cards from the stack – these represent the pair of roommates lurking behind the door. Once the Girls have been revealed, players can then either trade or raid.

Trading involves giving up an item in exchange for panties. Each item has a basic Trade value – An Ex-Girlfriend's Tacky Necklace, for example, is worth 3 Trade, while A Poem You Wrote for English Class only nets you one. However, each Girl also has a preferred type of item – if your item matches that type, its Trade value doubles. Hence throwing A CD of Soothing World Music at The Crunchy Hippie nets you a whopping 6 Trade. Beat the Girls' combined Trade value, and you'll soon be heading back to the boys' dorm with a new set of underwear.

On the other hand, if you've got nothing to trade with or don't want to give up your hard-earned items, you can go Raiding instead. To raid, you have to either equip yourself with some stealthy gear – say, an Afro With a Chin Strap – or throw something out to distract your targets, like Someone's Pet Hamster. If you beat the Girls' combined Raid value, you successfully swipe the dainties and run like hell. Go you.

But there's an added twist in the tale – your opponents can throw down Mischief cards to thwart your efforts, running the gamut from She Knows Kung Fu to Dude, She's Your Cousin! Most of these will give the Girls a 'raid die' or 'trade die' – a six-sider that's rolled and added to their Raid or Trade values. But you've got Mischief cards of your own, and if She's Watching Her Favorite Romantic Comedy (Again), the fact that She's Armed With a Spatula is a little bit less of a problem.

(I'd also be seriously remiss in my reviewing duties if I didn't point out that the mini-narratives that emerge from dueling card combinations can be downright hilarious:

“I'm going to offer the Surly Goth Queen a Fake Moustache with Matching Goatee.”

“Dude, She's Dating the Quarterback – and She's Still Bitter About Going to Her Safety School.”

“That's OK. She Just Found Out Her Turtle Ran Away and She Digs My Cheap Cologne.”

“Did I mention She Has a Taser?”)

Of course, other players can also help you – if you cut a deal beforehand, you might be able to get some backup once the Mischief cards start flying. In either event, once the dust has settled, both sides roll their dice and total up the results. Whoever ends up with the highest score wins.

If the player carries the day, they get some underwear – boyshorts, bikini briefs, or thongs – which can be redeemed at the boys' dorm for points and items – the hotter the apparel, the better the rewards.

If the girls win the encounter, all items are lost; if the player tried to raid and failed, any panties they might be carrying are gone as well. The girls, on the other hand, remain in play, allowing somebody else to take a crack at them. However, any Mischief cards that might have been used will also stick around, affecting all subsequent raiding and trading attempts.

Whether by accident or design, this creates a bit of a strategic dilemma for players. Immediate instinct is to block your opponents with as many cards as possible, especially since they can easily counter with ones of their own. Actual play bears this out, too – with plenty of ways to score Mischief cards, it wasn't uncommon to see five or ten thrown into a single encounter as players jockeyed for points. But Mischief cards cut both ways – pile too many on, and you risk inheriting an unwinnable encounter you yourself helped create.

The use of Mischief cards also encourages a certain measure of cooperation and diplomacy. If you make a point of antagonising other players, don't be surprised if they block you at every turn – especially if they happen to outnumber you. More than anything else, the key to getting ahead in Panty Raider lies in forming careful alliances and keeping the heat off your own back.

As a result, while it isn't the world's deepest game, it is unabashed fun -- like another personal favorite, Lunch Money, there's a lot of enjoyment to be found in the back-and-forth, the betrayals and the casual sabotage of your opponents' efforts. The downside is that its entertainment value is directly dependent on the number of players and their attitude – while it's recommended for two and up, you really need at least four to get appropriate amount of back-biting and anarchy.

On the Substance front, I'd give Panty Raider a '3.5'. It's a blast to play, but that's contingent on finding the right crowd of people to play with. With two or three players, there's far better options out there. If your group is large and boisterous, though, it's a winner through and through.

How Does It Compare to Munchkin?

Having played both games myself, there's no denying that Panty Raider's core gameplay has some clear-cut similarities to Munchkin. That said, there are plenty of differences as well, ranging in scope from minor tweaks to substantial changes to game flow and power balance. The six most important of these:

1. Greater Emphasis on Cooperation. In Munchkin, you face monsters one at a time, and can usually tackle them alone unless you draw something dramatically above your power level or the other players interfere. In Panty Raider, you can try to raid or trade a pair of roommates by yourself, but it takes a significant amount of Mischief cards to pull off. Most of the time, you're actually better off cooperating with another player, which gives the game a substantially different vibe.

2. Panties Are the Only Way Forward. The only way to score points is to obtain panties. Munchkin has a number of different ways you can gain Levels without having to fight a monster; Panty Raider has none. This means that the other players always have at least some control over who scores and who doesn't.

3. Consistent Power Levels. Unlike Munchkin, all of Panty Raider's cards have a fairly consistent power level - there's usually no chance that you'll draw a girl combination that's 100% unbeatable with all of your resources. Similarly, there aren't really any "I Win!" draws that'll allow you to bulldoze an encounter or completely obliterate another player. Almost every Mischief card in the deck can be countered with another Mischief card, making it more about quantity than quality. On that note:

4. More Scope for Player Interference. Players pick up a lot of Mischief cards as the game goes on, the majority of which are only useful in encounters. This means you can almost always intervene in a raiding or attempt to at least some degree.

5. More Emphasis on Chance. Many of the Mischief cards require you roll a six-sided die, which randomises their value. Given how central Mischief cards are to success - or failure - in the game, this makes chance a little more prominent in Panty Raider's gameplay.

6. Fewer Special Rules. Many of Munchkin's cards have their own unique rules; by contrast, Panty Raider has a relatively streamlined ruleset with just a handful of possible card effects. This knocks down the learning curve a fair bit, although Munchkin veterans may find the result a bit too vanilla for their liking.

That said, Panty Raider still inherits some of Munckin's issues, most notably in the endgame when the entire table will turn against any player who looks likely to win. Getting those final points can be incredibly tough - doubly so given the quantities of Mischief cards being pumped into the system. Like Munchkin, it also doesn't scale terribly well, finding its happiest home in groups of four and up.

Conclusion

Panty Raider is an attractive, fast-paced American-style card game, ideal for parties or as a low-intensity palate cleanser between crunchier titles. While it doesn't boast a tremendous amount of strategic depth, its theme, humor, and ease of play definitely merit a look.

Where to Get It

Panty Raider's availability is currently limited to a handful of gaming stores in the Boston area and the game's official website for $14.95 plus shipping and handling. My own copy was bought directly from the game's designer.