Smash Up: Monster Smash
Smash Up: Monster Smash Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
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!
Game Contents
This set contains:
- 4 factions with 20 cards each (80 cards total)
- 8 base cards
- 1 token sheet
- This rulebook
Growing On You
Monster Smash is an expansion to the Smash Up core set. It is still a fully operational battle station for 2 players though!
These rules sometimes talk like you've got more than just four factions, or mention cards that aren't in this expansion. If you don't already have the core set, just think of it as viral advertising.
Look for these expansions to Smash Up in stores now!
Setup
Each player shuffles together two different 20-card factions to make a 40-card deck.
Vampires! + Werewolves! = Vampire Werewolves!
If you have two copies of Monster Smash, different players can use the same faction pitting Vampires against Vampires, for instance. But one player can't play with two copies of the same faction. I mean, come on.
Kickin' It Queensberry
For formal play, put 8 factions in the middle of the table. 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.
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.
Whoever got up the earliest this morning goes first. Play continues clockwise.
You're ready to smash up some bases.
Cheater! Y U Action Twice?
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.
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. See page 11 for an explanation.)
Actions
To play an action, show your card and do what it says. Boom! Then discard the action (unless it has a Talent or Ongoing ability).
3. Check for Scoring
After you are done playing cards, check to see whether any bases are ready to score (see page 7). 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 Game Over, Man! on page 8.
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
A minion card shows:
- Power — the large number in the upper left.
- Name — across the top of the card.
- Minion Identifier — the word "Minion" below the art.
- Ability — the text box.
- Faction Symbol — the icon in the lower right.
Example: Killer Queen (power 4, Minion, Giant Ants faction) — "Talent: If you played another minion here this turn, place a +1 power counter on this minion and that minion."
Actions
An action card shows:
- Name — across the top of the card.
- Action Identifier — the word "Action" below the art.
- Ability — the text box.
- Faction Symbol — the icon in the lower right.
Example: It's Alive! (Action, Mad Scientists faction) — "Play an extra minion. Place a +1 power counter on it."
The Big Score
Score a base if the total power of all minions on that base equals or exceeds the base's breakpoint (see page 9). 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.
For example, a Super Spies player sees that he will be runner up at Monkey Lab, which currently has 23 power on it. She plays Live and Let Chum to destroy an opponent's Furious George, giving her the most power there now by 7 to 6. That drops the total power on the base below 23, but since it's already started scoring, it still finishes.
Me First!
If more than one player wants to use a Special ability, start with the current player and go around the table clockwise until all players pass in sequence (if you pass and another player uses a Special, you can then still choose to use a Special of your own). If your Special allows you to play extra cards, you must play those immediately or not at all.
Awarding VP
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. Dispense VP tokens in the appropriate amounts to everyone who scored. You must have at least one minion on a base to get victory points.
Back to Your Corners
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.
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 Schloss), they each get to use it. See Me First! on the previous page to settle conflicts.
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.
Get to Know Your Cards!
A base card shows:
- Breakpoint — the number in the upper left.
- Name — across the top of the card.
- Winner VP — the leftmost of the three large numbers.
- Runner Up VP — the middle number.
- Third Place VP — the number on the right.
- Ability — 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.
Example: Castle Blood — breakpoint 18, worth 3 VP to the winner, 1 VP to the runner up, and 1 VP for third place.
Terms and Restrictions
Some restrictions apply. See rules for details. Supplies limited.
Affect: A card is affected if it is moved, returned, destroyed, or has an action attached.
Destroy: When a card says to destroy a card, put the destroyed card in its owner's discard pile.
Discard: 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.
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 don't have to play the extra card right away, unless the extra card was gained by a Special ability.
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.
Ongoing: Most abilities happen and then they're over, or else they end at the end of the turn. Ongoing abilities are active for as long as they're around.
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.
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.
Talent: This is an ability that the minion or action may use once during each of your turns, sort of like an extra action. You don't have to use it if you don't want to.
To: Some cards say, "Do this thing to do that thing." With these cards, you must do the first thing successfully in order to be allowed to do the second thing. If the first thing gets thwarted for any reason (e.g., you try to destroy a minion that can't be destroyed), then you can't do the second thing, either. So there.
Transfer: When you move tokens around, specifically tokens from one minion to another. (It's also what we'd like you to do with money from your bank account to ours; that's why we keep making more factions.) When adding tokens to your minions (from the pool), or discarding tokens from your minions (to the pool), that's not transferring.
Void Where Prohibited
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.
If multiple effects would happen at the same time, the player whose turn it is chooses the order.
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.
Specials may be played at any time they are applicable, even on other players' turns.
Anyone may look through any discard pile at any time.