Alderac Entertainment Group Smash up Card Game

If you derive great joy from burning friendships with Munchkin and The Resistance - Try adding this one to the melee. This beauty caught my eye with its simple premise: Combine 2 classic antagonists and try to out-conquer your opponents. Why ask if ninjas are better than pirates... when you can have both? Face them off against a legion of zombie aliens, who probe your butt as they eat your brains... then see how you fare!The real joy of the game comes from the level of strategic depth it boasts. Alderac does a superb job of providing a really distinct playstyle for all 8 factions. The aliens mess with their opponents and disrupt their plans, whilst the pirates hop around bases and pick off stragglers. The Tricksters make it difficult for others to get a foothold, whilst the dinosaurs are... well... what else would you expect for dinosaurs with laser cannons? They wreck bases. Big time.Where you combine factions (and your opponents will also have their own wily combinations) is truly where the fun lies. It's a far cry from the variety other games give you which tends to be different starting points or characters with different abilities. Here: Right off the bat, each game has a really unique feel to it. You have to suss out the best combination of your cards to counter the combinations you'll come up against. Many cards beautifully synergise between the factions - often leading those one-in-a-blue-moon killer combos where everything just happened to be in the right place. Even the bases in play can alter the outcome. It really challenges you to constantly adapt - as the next game will be considerably different. Not something many games can boastConsidering its strategic depth, the rules are deceptively easy and quick to pick up. It generally takes a few moves to get the gist, and the rest is just the occasional clarification on what a certain card can/can't do (normally when someone's trying to be extra sneaky). Once rolling, games can last anywhere from 30 mins to an hour-half (or 4 hours if someone's playing wizards and is trying to work out how to play as many cards as possible)In a really nice twist, the game also balanced so that one player can't just steamroll to victory. Once a base falls, all of the minions (and actions) on it head to the players' discard piles. Whilst it seems odd at first: It means you can't just win on a single, lucky victory. You need to keep creating lots of little wins and stay on top of things, as the game can very easily be snatched from you. As such, it really lends itself to dazzling comebacks and nail-biting finales that come down to the last base, which tends to let everyone feel more involved and enjoy themselves a lot moreBeing the core game, this is obviously the best starting point to dip your feet into the world of Smash Up. And if you love it and want more, you're in luck: The box comes with enough room for 9 additional factions! Nice!

Played this with my partner, some of the rules are a little difficult to understand, like "is this monster who cannot be destroyed, destroyed if this happens", thankfully there's a wiki that has more in-depth rules.That said, the game is really easy to pick up after 15 minutes, it took us a little longer because we were both new to it. Some of the zones are clearly designed for 3 or 4 players given the amount of victory points you get on them, additionally some of the decks are clearly slanted in the favour of group play, such as zone denial cards being less powerful, but probably more powerful if multiple people were playing, whereas destroying minions might be more useful in 1v1.The cards are excellent quality and have a tasteful thickness about them.I'm looking forward to see if I can get the expansions when they come on offer to make the game a bit more diverse, as a tip, dinosaurs and magical creatures are, in my opinion, very weak. The winners of the decks has to be zombies/aliens/mech the rest are okay.

I'm a gamer and find this fantastic! The concept is easy to grasp and is a quick game to play 30-45 minutes generally, even if it's your first time. Tom Vasel gives his view on YouTube and a break down how it works ^^The humour & game play is great for adults and kids alike and each deck combination have their varying different strategies that combine surprisingly well.Ninja-Dinosaurs, Robot-wizards, Trickster-aliens or whatever you fancy. Just smash it up and play!The box contains a container for the cards in this edition and plenty of room for any other expansions they bring out! Great Buy!

Love playing this game with friends. My only quibble is that the "Pirate" faction seems really underwhelming (Not just my opinion either) and the Zombies seem a little more powerful than the rest. I'm considering getting the expansion just so I don't have to pick the Pirates ever again.Other than that, great game! Super easy to learn, cards are good quality and the art is (mostly) fantastic. The cards fit in Standard sized sleeves (Like Magic: The Gathering sleeves) to stop wear and tear. Id' highly recommend it! Just... don't pick the Pirates

My Husband is a great fan of Strategic card games, but with most you end up spending a small fortune on boosters to get the ones you want so he ends up playing all the online ones instead. I wanted to get him something we could play together on Christmas Day whilst we waited for family and liked the sound of this as it was complete decks(expansions are optional but not necessary) it sounded just like something we'd both enjoy and we did! it has been played every other day or so since then and we've had tonnes of fun combining factions and working out what works well together and what doesn't. I expect to be buying expansions now and again in the future as it is definitely a game we will be coming back to when we have some time together and has been fun enough to spend more cash on in the future

This game is brilliant in two ways, firstly its super easy to pick up and play. Secondly, the more people you have playing the more tactical and interesting the game becomes..It doesnt take too long to play and the fact you can choose to mash two random factions together gives it fantastic replay value.If you haven't tried it yet, get it and give it a go! I bought it, introduced my friends to it and now its one of our games of choice.Will be buying the expansion to it soon too!