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
Player-count sensitive
Deep strategy
More strategic control
How it plays
How does it play?
Mix Vampires, Mad Scientists, Werewolves, or Giant Ants with another Smash Up faction and weaponize power counters in a monstrous fight for bases.
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.
Variable Player Powers
Each player has different abilities, restrictions, or strategic advantages.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Take That
Use Take That as a recurring structure for player decisions and resolution.
Read the full game description
Smash Up: Monster Smash adds four classic-horror factions to the shufflebuilding card game and can also stand alone for two players. Vampires grow stronger by exploiting damaged or destroyed opposing minions. Mad Scientists place power counters and transform modest creations into dangerous threats. Werewolves deliver explosive bursts of strength when a base is ready to break. Giant Ants move and multiply counters across a coordinated hive, concentrating power exactly where it matters. As in every Smash Up set, each player combines two twenty-card factions into one deck, then normally plays one minion and one action each turn. Minions add power to shared bases; when a base reaches its breakpoint, it scores immediately for the leading players and is replaced. Monster Smash introduces power counters as a persistent resource that several factions create, move, or consume. The four decks can duel each other straight from the box, but integrating them with the wider system produces the full appeal: radically different pairings, unexpected card interactions, and repeated races to control the same scoring opportunities.
