SmashUp is a fun, clever card game suitable for ages 12 and up. It consists of themed factions, such as Wizards, Robots, and Pirates, all with charming artwork. Players choose two factions, shuffle the cards together, then compete against each other to score points. I love SmashUp because the mechanics of each faction are very well thought out, and suit the nature of the faction. For example, Dinosaurs are really ‘big’ cards, but can be slow and cumbersome to play. Zombies ‘come back to life’ by being played from your discard pile, and Martians often ‘beam up’ cards from the table into players’ hands. Part strategy, part luck, you must use your two factions’ unique abilities together to beat your opponent. SmashUp has a lot of replay value because there are so many different combination of factions possible. Each expansion increases this variety exponentially. The expansions are complete, playable games in themselves– although the expansions only contain enough factions for two players, so you get more ‘play’ for your buck when you buy the base game. The game contains cards and cardboard Victory Points. This is not a party game per se, but is a fun, addicting game that affords hours of enjoyment!
-Natalie