Smash Up: The Bigger Geekier Box Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• Rules Changes and Errata
  • New General Rules
  • Card Text Changes (by Faction)
    • Aliens
    • Bear Cavalry
    • Dinosaurs
    • Elder Things
    • Giant Ants
    • Innsmouth
    • Killer Plants
    • Minions of Cthulhu
    • Mythic Horses
    • Ninjas
    • Sheep
    • Time Travelers
• Card Clarifications
  • Geeks — The Bigger Geekier Box
  • Smash Up All Stars — The Bigger Geekier Box
  • Bases (by Name) — The Bigger Geekier Box

Game Contents

This glorious box of awesome contains:

• The Geeks faction
• The Smash Up All Stars faction
• Card dividers
• Close to 1000 cubic inches of space
• This rulebook

Rules Changes and Errata

Over the years we've had to adjust or add a few rules (beyond those needed for new mechanics). Some are general rules, while others are needed to prevent unintended use of certain cards. And yes, a few mistakes crept in at various places. We blame the nefarious activities of HAVOC.

New General Rules

• After you search your deck for a card, you must always reveal it and shuffle your deck, even if the card doesn't mention this.
• When a card that others can see goes to the hand, deck, or discard pile, it goes to the one belonging to the card's owner (i.e. the player whose deck the card came from), no matter who played or controlled it.
• You no longer need a minion on a base to receive VP rewards; if you have power there by some other means, that qualifies you to earn rewards.

Card Text Changes (by Faction)

Several cards, especially those from early sets, have had their text corrected. We recommend that you treat each of these cards as if it had the text shown below. Some of them are also discussed in the Clarifications section on pages 16-25.

The following sets have had card errata:

• Smash Up (core set): Aliens, Dinosaurs, Ninjas
• Awesome Level 9000: Bear Cavalry, Killer Plants
• Monster Smash: Giant Ants
• The Obligatory Cthulhu Set: Elder Things, Innsmouth, Minions of Cthulhu
• Pretty Pretty Smash Up: Mythic Horses
• Science Fiction Double Feature: Time Travelers
• Promo factions: Sheep

Aliens

Collector: "You may return a non-Collector minion of power 3 or less on this base to its owner's hand."

This prevents infinite loops.

Terraforming: "Search the base deck for a base. Swap it with a base in play (discard all actions attached to it). All minions from the original base remain. Shuffle the base deck. You may play an extra minion on the new base."

This makes the implication explicit.

Bear Cavalry

Bear Hug: "Each other player destroys his or her minion with the least power (controller chooses in case of ties)."

Otherwise this could lead to an impasse if the owner is not the controller.

Dinosaurs

Tooth and Claw … and Guns: "If another player's ability would affect this minion, destroy this card and the ability does not affect this minion for the rest of the turn."

The card was never meant to prevent your actions, or the effects of bases or the minion itself. We added a time limit for effect negation.

Elder Things

Elder Thing: "Destroy two of your other minions or place this minion on the bottom of your deck. Ongoing: This minion is not affected by opponents' cards."

Defines the card's timing.

Dunwich Horror: "Play on a minion. Ongoing: This minion gains 5 power. Destroy this minion at the end of the turn."

Defines the card's timing.

Giant Ants

We Are the Champions: "Special: After a base scores, transfer any or all +1 power counters from one of your minions there to another minion."

This matches the intent of being triggered from the hand.

Innsmouth

In Plain Sight: "Play on a base. Ongoing: Your minions here of power 2 or less are not affected by opponents' cards."

Defines the card's timing.

Killer Plants

Sprout: "Destroy this card at the start of your next turn. You may search your deck for a minion of power 3 or less, play it here as an extra minion, and shuffle your deck."

This avoids gross exploitation with cards that reward destruction (e.g. Field of Honor).

Minions of Cthulhu

Altar to Cthulhu: "Play on a base. Ongoing: Whenever you play a minion here, you may play an extra action that turn."

Defines the card's timing.

Complete the Ritual: "Play on a base where you have at least one minion. Ongoing: At the start of your turn, place all minions and actions on it on the bottom of their owners' decks and swap this base with the top card of the base deck."

Defines the card's timing.

Mythic Horses

Rainbow: "Talent: If you have played another minion here this turn, draw a card."

This matches the fact that in Smash Up you don't keep track of what happened on the base in previous turns.

Ninjas

Infiltrate: "Play on a base. Destroy another action that has been played here. Ongoing: You may ignore this base's ability. Destroy this card at the start of your turn."

The card does not destroy itself when played, and does not stay after it expires.

Sheep

Counting Sheep: "Play on a base. Ongoing: Once per turn, after the power of another player's minion increases, your minions here gain +1 power until the end of the turn."

This prevents infinite loops.

Time Travelers

Time is Fleeting: "Special: Play after a base scores if there is a base in the discard pile. Add a base of your choice from the discard pile instead of drawing a new base from the base deck."

Defines the card's timing.

Card Clarifications

Geeks — The Bigger Geekier Box

Banned List: If players new to Smash Up cannot remember a card's name, you may allow them to identify a card through its power, ability and/or art.

Control Minion: If you take control of a minion as it is played, you still cannot change which base it is played on. Allow a reasonable reaction time for the holder of these cards, and be willing to let card resolution be interrupted and undone if the player plays too quickly.

Felicia Day: All minions move as a group to the base at the same time. Minions in that group that react to other minions moving (e.g., Cub Scout) are not triggered by minions within that group. The minions are all moved by Felicia Day's controller.

Force of Wil: This triggers after an action card is played, but before its ability is carried out. Allow a reasonable reaction time as for Control Minion, above.

Griefer: You don't have to choose the same effect for each player.

Mulligan: If you don't draw the cards, return them to the top of the deck in the same order.

Non-Infinite Loop: The extra action must be played at once. If you choose an action whose conditions for play are not met (e.g., Cosplay, Force of Wil), it has no effect and you just return it to your hand. This ability expires at the end of the turn, so if you play an action on a base or minion and it doesn't go to the discard pile during that turn, you cannot return that action to your hand when it leaves play.

Wil Wheaton: See Force of Wil (above) for explanation.

Smash Up All Stars — The Bigger Geekier Box

(Since all the All Stars cards are duplicates from other factions, all the other clarifications below are duplicates of their entries in their original factions, but we're copying them here so you don't have to turn to them. Aren't we nice?)

Ensign: This can take special and/or ongoing effects, but not from cards already in play. It can take multiple effects if they make sense (e.g., multiple -1 power, but not multiple destroys unless it's immune). It can have an action played on a different minion played on itself instead. It can substitute for a different minion being taken control of. It can take an effect even if it (Ensign) does not fit the original target's prerequisites (e.g. "power 3 or higher"). It cannot take an effect already taken by a different Ensign from a third minion.

(The printed page gives this entry as "See 'Ensign' in the next column"; the entry it points to is the Ensign entry printed under Star Roamers, reproduced here.)

Imperial Dragon: Moving this minion activates it.

It's Astounding: Play the extra action immediately, before discarding It's Astounding.

King Rex: The ability is deliberately blank.

Non-Infinite Loop: The extra action must be played at once. If you choose an action whose conditions for play are not met (e.g., Cosplay, Force of Wil), it has no effect and you just return it to your hand. This ability expires at the end of the turn, so if you play an action on a base or minion and it doesn't go to the discard pile during that turn, you cannot return that action to your hand when it leaves play.

Servitor of Cthulhu: If your attempt to destroy this card fails because it is protected from destruction, you still place the action card. Destroying a Servitor on R'lyeh counts either for the Servitor's ability (during the Play Cards phase, to place an action card) or for R'lyeh's ability (at the start of the turn, to earn 1VP), but not both.

Sprout: A Sprout may not destroy itself the same turn it is played. (See Errata, page 15.)

Bases (by Name) — The Bigger Geekier Box

The Con: The power gain does not benefit the minion just played, or other minions played after that base; but later minions played will cause their own additional power gain.