I don’t remember exactly which day it was, or what the occasion was (not International Table Top Day), but recently I found myself at my friendly local neighborhood game store and I picked up Alderac Entertainment Group’s Pretty Pretty Smash Up expansion. The core set allows for 4 players to go at each other and this expansion allows for 2 others to join in the action. Alternately it works as a mini version of the full game for two players, but that really isn’t as fun.
Let me back up a bit and explain what Smash Up is. Players take two different factions, with each faction having a deck of 20 cards. Shuffle those two factions together and you get a deck of 40 cards. Those cards come in two flavors, Action or Minion. Place minions on a base to score points for the base. After a set number of points which varies per base, players are then awarded victory points and the first player to get 15 victory points wins. Actions are played on bases or minions to move, alter or deter, you know, essentially doing what you would expect. Minions each have a varying point value as well as abilities that can affect how the minion is score, the base is scored, other minions get moved, etc. Long story short, minions get put on bases to score points, actions help you and hinder others.
What is in Pretty Pretty Smash Up? 4 factions each with 20 cards, 8 base cards, victory point counter tokens, the rule book and some dividers (that go with an earlier expansion, the Big Geeky Box). As I said before, you could play Pretty Pretty Smash Up with 2 players, each taking two of the factions and combining them, but that is only part of it. Really, Pretty Pretty Smash Up is meant to be combined with the core set and the other expansions and while it is still a great game for two players, the more people that can join in the fun the better.
The four factions included in Pretty Pretty Smash Up include Cats, Princesses, Fairies, and Mythical Horses. Each faction has their strengths and you may find your play style better suited to one faction or another. Personally, I am fond of using the Princesses deck combined with the Pirates deck from the core set. By adding in this expansion along with the core set and other expansions you can get some fantastic combinations to play with and against. Ninja & Cats, Fairies & Leprechauns, or my personal least favorite, Zombies and Mythical Horses. I have had to stop my 8 year old from playing those factions because he always wins when he has those. Seriously. It’s getting to be a problem.
Mythical Horses feature unicorns and winged horses, and many of their actions have to do with bonuses for getting more minions together on the same base. They may not seem powerful at first but in quantities they are certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Cats are…. annoying. They are a faction that deals in manipulation. Take control of another minion, decrease the value of a minion, destroy one minion and play another, that sort of thing. Just like cats. Manipulative.
Fairies seem in a lot of ways the most “normal” of the factions. This makes it a great companion to another faction. On it own it doesn’t seem to have much, but to augment another faction? Well, that is another matter.
Princesses are all high value minion cards. Where normally minions in a deck range in value from 1 – 5, princesses only have a value of 5. While it may seem unfair, there are fewer of them. Plenty of actions though….
And the bases that are included? In typical Smash Up style they each come with certain conditions that will affect what happens after points are awarded or possibly how the base gets scored at all.
Pretty Pretty Smash Up folds in nicely with the core game and the other expansions. We have also purchased the Science Fiction Double Feature expansion and while good, it doesn’t seem to have the same “grab” that this one does. Smash Up has quickly become a favorite game in our house, and the Pretty Pretty Smash Up expansion factions always get used, at least one or two of them, every time. If you are new to Smash Up and have only one other person to play against/with initially, this is the way to go.