Smash Up is a base-capturing card game for 2–4 players, ages 14 and up. This manual can be used for both the digital version and the physical board game.
The Manual
Objective
Your goal is nothing short of total global domination! Use your minions to crush enemy bases. The first player to score 15 victory points (VP) wins!
Setup
Randomly determine who goes first. The first player chooses one faction. Choice continues clockwise.
When everyone has chosen one faction, the last player chooses a second faction. Choice continues in reverse order.
Each player shuffles together two different 20-card factions to make a 40-card deck.
For example - Robots + Ninjas = ROBOT NINJAS!
Shuffle all the base cards together to make a deck. Draw one base per player, plus one (for example, use four bases for three players). Place the bases face up in the middle of the table.
Each player draws five cards. If you have no minions in your opening hand, show your hand, discard it, and draw a new hand of five cards. You must keep the second hand.
You're ready to smash up some bases!
This is How You Roll
1. Crank It Up
Some abilities happen at the start of your turn. This is when that goes down. Yo.
2. Play Cards
On your turn play one minion, play one action, or play one of each… for free! You can play your cards in any order. You don’t have to play any cards.
Minions
To play a minion, choose a base and put the minion card beside it, facing toward you. Do what the card says. (Cards that start with Special are a special case.)
Actions
To play an action, show your card and do what it says. Boom! Then discard the action (unless it has an Ongoing ability).
3. Check for Scoring
After you are done playing cards, check to see whether any bases are ready to score (see below). If any are ready, you must start scoring.
After scoring bases, check to see if any players have 15 or more victory points. If so, see The End of the World, below.
4. Draw 2 Cards
Just what it says. The maximum number of cards you can have in your hand at this time is 10. If you have more than 10 after drawing, discard down to 10.
If you need to draw or reveal a card and your deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile. Put it on the table face down—that’s your new deck. Start drawing from there.
5. Shut It Down
Anything that happens at the end of the turn happens here. Play passes to the player on the left.
All Hands on Deck!
Minions
Actions
Abilities only happen when you play a card from your hand, or any time a card says “play.” When minions just move around, that’s not playing them.
The Big Score
Score a base if the total power of all minions on that base equals or exceeds the base’s breakpoint. If more than one base is ready to score, the player whose turn it is decides which one to score first. When a base has been chosen to score, each player first gets to use any Special abilities that happen “before” the base scores.
If the total power on a base drops below its breakpoint, you still finish scoring the base.
The player with the most power on a base is the winner! That player gains victory points equal to the number on the left. The second highest player is the runner up, and receives the middle number. The third highest is just third place but does receive the lovely consolation prize of the number on the right. You must have at least one minion on a base to get victory points.
After scoring, players can use Special abilities that happen “after” a base scores. Then all cards still on that base go to their owners’ discard piles. This does not destroy them, but might trigger abilities that happen when they go to the discard pile.
Put the scored base into the base discard pile. Replace it with the top card of the base deck, if any.
Check to see if another base is ready to be scored. Score it too, the same way.
Bases
This is what the base does. Its ability always operates while the base is in the middle of the table. It’s sort of a combination of Special, Ongoing, and Awesome.
Tie Fighter
If players are tied on a base, all involved players get points for the best position they tied for. So, if three players had 10, 10, and 5 power on a base when it scores, the winners with 10 power each get first place points! The player with 5 power then gets third place, not second. If two players tie for runner up, no one gets third place. Harsh.
If players tie for a base’s ability (such as the one on Ninja Dojo), they each get to use it.
Game Over, Man!
At the end of any turn that someone reaches 15 VP, the player with the most victory points wins. If there is a tie for the most, keep playing turns until there isn’t. No sharing! Except for your two factions. You guys are BFFs.
Terms and Restrictions
Some restrictions apply.
Affect: A card is affected if it is moved, returned, destroyed, or has an action attached.
Ongoing: Most abilities happen, and then they're over. Ongoing abilities are active for as long as they're in play.
Destroy: When a card says to destroy another card, put the destroyed card in its owner's discard pile.
Extra: Normally, you can play one minion and one action each turn. A card that lets you play an extra minion or action lets you play an additional card of that type during that turn. You can play cards in any order, so you don't have to play the extra card right away.
Special: Most abilities happen when you play a card. Special abilities happen at unusual times or in unusual ways. Special abilities might be on a card already in play or held in your hand. A card's ability will describe how it can be used. If you use a Special ability to play a card on your turn, it doesn't count as one of your free cards for that turn.
Play: You play a card when it's one of the free cards you get in step 2, or any time an ability specifically says that you're playing it. A card's ability happens when you play it. When cards are moved, placed, or returned, they're not being played, and their abilities don't happen.
Return: This means that a card goes back where it came from. When a card returns from a base, discard attachments on that card.
Move: This lets you move a card from one location to another. Moving a card does not count as playing it. Minion abilities do not happen when you move a card.
Often, card text and rules text will conflict. When there's a fight, card text always wins. It has a black belt in rule-fu.
If cards conflict, the one that says you can't do something beats the one that says you can.
You can play a card even if its ability can’t happen. For example, you can play an action that destroys a minion even if no minions are in play. This helps you get unneeded cards out of your hand.
You must follow a card’s ability, even if it’s bad for you. However, if a card says you may do something, you have a choice whether to do it.
If an ability says “any number” you may choose zero. You may play a card that says “all” even if there are no targets.
If you get to play extra minions or actions while a base is being scored, you must play those extra cards immediately or not at all.
When a card gets discarded, it goes to the discard pile of the player whose deck it came from, no matter who played or controlled it.
Anyone may look through any discard pile at any time. And yes, zombie fans, they will be rifling through yours all the time if they’re playing smart to keep track of what you have. . . .
FAQ
Q: Sea Dogs states 'Name a faction. Move all other players' minions of that faction from one base to another.' How does this work?
A: You choose a faction, then choose a base. Move all minions of that faction from that base to any one other base. This may target opposing players' minions.
Q: When deciding if a base is broken to be scored, do you go by the power levels of the minions that is printed on the card or their modified stats?
A: You use the modified stats.
Q: 'Destroy a minion of power [X] or less.' Does [X] refer to a minion's base power (i.e. what's printed on the card) or to the minion's current power?
A: Current (i.e. modified stats).
Q: Pirate King states 'Before a base scores, you may move this minion there.' Can you use his special during anyone’s turn or just your turn alone?
A: Anyone's turn. Specials break the normal rules of actions and minion abilities, and can be played at ANY time they are applicable, regardless of which players' turn it is. See also cards like Hidden Ninja and Shinobi.
Q: When a card makes all of your minions microbots, and further then gives all of your microbots strength bonuses, is the effect only local to the base those cards are located or are those effects global?
A: If the text does not reference 'on this base' or 'at this base' then it is global.
Q: If you have a handful of 2 power or less minions can I just keep playing them on The Homeworld?
A: Yes, you can. It's not a 'once per turn'. It states 'each time', and if a minion such as Enchantress draws another 2 power or less minion into your hand after she resolves, you can play it.