Game Objective: Dominate the World with Your Crazy Factions!

Welcome, strategists of chaos! In Smash Up, your objective is simple, but the journey is pure madness: dominate the world! How? By using your minions to destroy enemy bases and accumulate victory points (VP). The first player to reach 15 VP is the grand winner and master of the universe!

Setup: Assembling Your Hybrid Army

Setting up the table for Smash Up is almost as fun as playing, because this is where you choose your insane factions!

1. Choose Your Factions: Each player chooses two factions from the eight available (or more, if you have expansions!). Each faction comes with 20 cards.
2. Create Your Personal Deck: Shuffle the 20 cards from each of your two chosen factions to form a single 40-card deck. This will be your personal arsenal of destruction!
3. Prepare the Bases: Take all base cards and shuffle them into a single deck. Then, draw one base per player plus one more. For example, if there are 3 players, use 4 bases. Place these bases face up in the center of the table, ready to be invaded.
4. Starting Hand: Each player draws five cards from their personal deck.
5. Special Starting Hand (Minions): If you don't have any minions in your starting hand, don't worry! Reveal your hand, discard it, and draw a new hand of five cards. You must keep this second hand, even if you still don't have minions.
6. Who Starts?: The player who woke up earliest in the day starts the game. The round proceeds clockwise.
7. Point Markers: Keep the point markers handy to record each player's VPs.

Ready! Your battle arena is set, and your minions are eager for combat!

The Game Turn: Actions, Minions, and Destruction!

A turn in Smash Up is divided into five simple phases, but full of strategic possibilities:

1. Turn Start

   Some card abilities take effect at the start of your turn. This is the time to activate them!

2. Play Cards (Main Actions)

   This is the main phase where the magic happens! You can play one minion and one action from your hand, for free, in any order. You are not obligated to play cards if you don't want to or can't.

   • Playing Minions: To play a minion, choose one of the bases in the center of the table and place the minion card next to it, with the text facing you. The minion's abilities take effect when it is played (unless it's a "Special" ability, which works at unusual times).
   • Playing Actions: To play an action, reveal the card and do what it says. Then, discard the action, unless it has a Permanent ability (which remains active as long as the card is in play).
   • Extra Cards: If a card allows you to play an extra minion or an extra action, you can play that additional card in that turn. Remember: if the extra card was obtained by a Special ability, you must play it immediately. Otherwise, you don't need to play the extra card immediately.

3. Check for Scoring (Bases Exploding!)

   After playing your cards, it's time to check if any base is ready to score. A base scores if the total power of all minions on it is equal to or greater than the base's breakpoint (indicated on the base card). If multiple bases are ready, you (the current player) decide which one scores first.

   Base Scoring Process:

   1. "Before" Special Abilities: Players can use Special abilities that happen "before" the base scores. Even if the base's total power falls below the breakpoint after these abilities, scoring continues! If more than one player wants to use a Special ability, the current player starts and proceeds clockwise.
   2. Receiving VP:
      • The player with the most power on the base is the winner and receives the victory points (VP) indicated on the left of the base card.
      • The second most powerful is the second place and receives the middle VPs.
      • The third most powerful is the third place and receives the right VPs.
      • You must have at least one minion on the base to receive VPs.
      • Ties: If there is a tie in power, all involved players receive the points for the highest position they tied for. For example, if two players tie for first, both receive first place points.
   3. "After" Special Abilities: After scoring, players can use Special abilities that take effect "after" the base scores.
   4. Discard and Replacement: All minion cards that were on the base go to their owners' discard piles. The scored base is placed in the base discard pile and replaced by a new card from the base deck, if available.
   5. Check Other Bases: Check if any other base is ready to score and repeat the process.

4. Draw 2 Cards

   Draw two cards from your personal deck. The maximum hand limit is 10 cards. If you have more than 10 after drawing, discard until you have 10.

   If your deck runs out, shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck.

5. Turn End

   Any ability that takes effect at the end of the turn happens now. Then, the turn passes to the player on your left.

End of Game and Scoring: Who is the Master of the Multiverse?

The game ends when, at the end of any turn, a player reaches 15 or more victory points (VP). At that moment, the player with the highest total VP wins.

• Tie-breaker: If there is a tie in total VPs, continue playing new turns until one player has more points than the others. There is no shared victory in Smash Up!

Tips for Winning: Strategies for Chaos!

To do well in Smash Up and dominate the world, here are some tips:

1. Know Your Factions: Each faction has a unique playstyle. The Aliens love to annoy opponents, the Dinosaurs are pure brute force with lasers, the Ninjas are sneaky and fast, and the Wizards conjure actions in abundance. Understanding the synergies between your two factions is crucial for building powerful combos.
2. Control the Bases: Keep an eye on the base breakpoints and the VPs they offer. Sometimes, it's better to secure second place on a high-scoring base than to risk everything for first and end up with nothing. Use your Special abilities to manipulate power on bases at the last moment!
3. Manage Your Hand and Discard: Drawing cards and discarding down to 10 at the end of the turn is vital. Some factions, like the Zombies, even benefit from cards in the discard pile! Keep an eye on your opponents' discard piles too; they can reveal valuable information about their strategies.