Monster Smash
Monster Smash Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 80 game cards — 5 suits, each card valued 1-4
- 5 suit cards — 1 for each monster
The five monsters are Mummy, Werewolf, Dragon, Zombie, and Vampire.
Created by Tabbassum Qumer, Feri Gonzalez, David Anderson & Luke Melia.
How to Win
There are 2 ways to win:
- Eliminate! All other players run out of cards.
- Collect! You must be holding either 6 of your own suit or any 15 cards in total.
Set Up
- Each of you choose your monster!
- Take the matching suit card and place it in front of you.
- If you are playing with 2, 3, or 4 players — remove 1 suit from the game (all cards matching an unpicked monster).
- Shuffle the deck and place it in the middle of the table.
- Deal 6 cards to each player.
- Decide who goes first, then play moves clockwise.
How to Play
During each turn, you must follow these actions in order:
- Draw cards (mandatory)
- Burn cards (optional)
- Attack (optional)
Each action can only be performed once per turn.
First Turn
There are 2 additional rules for each player's first turn of the game:
- You can not attack!
- Instead of drawing a card, you may choose to discard ALL your cards and draw 6 new ones. Your turn then ends.
Draw Cards
At the start of your turn:
- If you have 3 or more cards in your hand, then you must draw 1 card.
- If you have 2 or fewer cards in your hand, then you must draw 3 cards.
Burn Cards
ONCE per turn, you may discard cards and then draw half the amount from the deck (rounded down). For example, if you discard 6 cards, you may draw 3.
Attack
When you attack another player, you have a chance to steal some of their cards. Or, if they only have a few cards left, eliminate them from the game!
Declare who you are attacking, then place the cards you wish to attack with face up on the table. These can be multiple of your own suit (MUST be at least 1), and up to 1 card from another suit if you wish.
The combined value of the cards used in the attack is called the Attack Total.
Defend
You may defend against an attack with up to 2 cards — one MUST be your own suit, the other can be from any suit.
The combined value of the cards used in the attack is called the Defence Total. If no cards are used to defend, then this is 0.
Result
If the Defence Total is greater than or equal to the Attack Total, then the attack has failed!
If the Attack Total is greater than the Defence Total, then the attack was successful! Calculate the difference, and then the attacker can steal that many cards from the defender.
This is a blind steal — they cannot see the cards first, and the defender is free to re-arrange their cards in their hand before the attacker steals them (it probably won't help, but it might make the defender feel more in control).
The maximum amount of cards that can be taken during an attack is 4. If the result is more than this, then they still only steal 4 cards.
If the attacker takes the last card of the defender, then the defender is eliminated from the game!
After an attack, any cards used in the attack or defence (not including the ones the attacker stole) are discarded and the game continues.
Example
The Mummy player attacks with 3 Mummy cards and 1 Wolf card. The Attack Total is 12.
The Zombie player defends with 1 Zombie card and 1 Dragon card. The Defence Total is 3.
12-3 = 9, the attack was successful. As the limit of an attack is 4, the Mummy player may blind steal 4 cards from the defender.
If the defender has fewer than 4 cards in their hand, then the attacker takes what they have and the defender is eliminated!
Give Me 4 Cards
You cannot hide your cards. If asked, you must declare how many you have in your hand.
When the deck runs out, shuffle all the discarded cards to form a new deck.
Quick Guide
WIN — Eliminate all players OR Collect cards (6 of your own or 15 cards total)
TURN ORDER:
- Draw cards (If you have 3 or more cards you draw 1, if you have 2 or fewer you draw 3)
- Burn cards (optional — draw 1 card for each 2 you discard)
- Attack (optional)
ATTACK — 1 or more of your own suit, plus 1 from another suit if you wish.
DEFEND — Maximum of 2 cards, at least 1 must be your own suit.
Total Attack - Total Defence = number of cards the attacker blind steals from defender (4 maximum).