Smash up is a strategy and conquest game for 2 to 4 players, from 10 years old. It consists of conquering bases with creatures in order to score victory points. The aim of the game is to be the first to score 15 victory points (VP).
Material
- 16 Base cards,
- 8 factions of 20 cards: alien, dinosaur, ninja, pirate, robot, small people, wizard and zombie.
- 20 1 VP tokens,
- 8 5 VP tokens,
- 1 rules booklet.
Set up
The Base Cards
- Shuffle the Base cards.
- Form a deck face down.
- Draw as many Base cards as there are players, then add 1 more base.
Example:
If there are 2 players, you draw 3 Base cards.
- Place the drawn cards face up in the centre of the table, spacing them out.
The Creature Cards
- Sort the cards by faction.
- Each person chooses 2 factions of 20 cards and shuffles them into a single deck.
- Return the remaining factions to the box.
- Everyone draws 5 cards from their deck; this is their starting hand.
- If there are no monsters on the 5 cards, reveal the cards to your opponents, discard them and draw 5 again.
- Whatever the result of this second draw, it must be kept.
- The player who got up earliest starts.
- Play clockwise.
Note
- If you have 2 Smash Up boxes, several players can use the same faction.
- A player cannot use two identical factions.
How to play?
- A player’s turn consists of 5 steps.
Step 1: Effects at the beginning of the turn
- This only applies when cards are already on the table.
- Activate their special abilities and powers at the beginning of the turn.
Step 2: Play cards
- The player has the choice of playing or not playing cards.
- The player may:
- Play 1 creature card,
- Play 1 Action card,
- Play 1 creature card and 1 action card.
Creature card
- Choose a base.
- Put creature card next to base, face up.
- Apply its effect.
Action Card
- Choose a card and reveal it.
- Read and apply its effect.
- If it doesn’t have a permanent effect, discard it.
Step 3: Conquest
- Check if you can acquire one or more bases.
- A base can be conquered if its strength is less than or equal to the sum of the strengths of all your creatures present.
- To conquer a base you must :
- Designate the base.
- Trigger the “before conquest” effects of all cards in the base. If after this effect the total forces become less than the resistance, the countdown continues.
- Allocate VPs to players according to their rank.
- If more than one base is conquered in a turn, the player with the hand decides the order in which the conquests are resolved.
- Check if a player has not reached 15 VPs.
Awarding VPs
- The players in the conquered base add up the strength of their creatures.
- Once the total is done, the players compare their strengths to establish a rank.
- Only the first, second and third players receive VPs as shown on the Base card.
- Tied players are awarded the same VP, but the next place is considered to be virtually occupied by one of them and cannot be occupied by another player.
- Thus, if two players occupy the first place, the second place is considered virtually occupied and only the third place can be occupied.
Step 4: Draw 2 cards
- Caution! A player’s hand is limited to 10 cards. Beyond that, you must discard the excess cards.
- If the deck is empty, use the discard pile to make a new deck.
Step 5: End of turn effects
- Apply the end-of-turn effects.
- In case of conflict, the player with the hand always plays first, the rest is done clockwise.
- If a base has been conquered, all creature cards on it are discarded to their respective owners.
- The base card is discarded, then replaced by drawing a new one.
- Pass the hand.
End of the Game
- As soon as a player makes 15 VP or more, he wins the game.
- If there is a tie, continue the game until one of the tied players takes the lead.
Notes
- In case of conflict, the rules specified on a card always take precedence over the rules of the game.
- In the event of a conflict between two cards, the card which forbids an action always takes precedence over the card which allows an action to be taken.
- Play a card even if its effect cannot be resolved.
- The resolution of a card must be done when it is mandatory.
- Consulting your own and your opponents’ discards is allowed.
