Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Easier to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Light strategy
More strategic control
How it plays
How does it play?
Shuffle any two faction decks together, deploy minions and actions to contested bases, and combine wildly different powers on the race to 15 points.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Deck Construction
Build a deck before play by selecting cards under defined construction rules.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Card Play Conflict Resolution
Resolve confrontations by choosing and comparing cards rather than only statistics.
Kill Steal
Claim a reward by delivering the final contribution to a shared target.
Read the full game description
Smash Up is a fast, combative card game built around “shufflebuilding.” Each player chooses two twenty-card factions—such as Pirates, Ninjas, Robots, Zombies, Aliens, Tricksters, Wizards, or Dinosaurs—and shuffles them into one forty-card deck. Every turn normally allows one minion and one action. Minions add power to shared bases, while actions move, destroy, protect, replay, or multiply cards according to each faction’s personality. When total power at a base reaches its breakpoint, it scores immediately: first, second, and third place receive the printed victory points, abilities resolve, and a new base enters play. The first player to reach 15 points wins. The joy comes from discovering interactions between two complete toolkits—Zombie recursion can refill Robot swarms, Pirates can relocate power at the last instant, and Ninjas can ambush a base just before scoring. Because opponents fight over every location and many effects interrupt expected totals, turns stay tactical, social, and full of spectacular combinations.
