I can see two things with this expansion: 1) You can easily house rule monsters to the other bases using the power limits as a guide to how many monsters any base should get. 2) Halfling Robots could easily become the most broken combo in Smash Up history. Also, "Do nothing" is the best talent evar. I just hope future expansions raise the treasure and monster decks.
9:19 "I'm not really sure if that's supposed to be funny" It's *supposed* to be funny, but it's not. And now you've discovered the basic essence of all things Munchkin.
I have absolutely no interest for Munchkin and I was already thinking it would be pretty bad... and Tom's review made me forget about my stereotype about the Munchkin universe (?) in about 3 minutes :) The game actually looks really interesting. I might add it to my collection. Thanks Tom!
I played this at my local game shop. I was impressed with the design after originally having no interested in the muchkin verson. My complaint which was a big one was smash up can get really messy with multiple players with keeping totals and just having cards everywhere. The monster and treasure cards add a bigger and I feel unneeded mess to your gaming table if you don't have some kind of organization system at your bases.
This probably should be played as a base game. Half of the factions are parasitic in design feel parasitic and don't contribute anything to regular Smash Up. They did avoid repeating some of the problems that the Cthulhu set had, but after having so many of the regular expansions, I'm wary of this one. That said, the monster and treasure decks are an interesting concept that probably should have existed way earlier than now.
+Saul Simon Tan Acutally, I think you may be thinking about it wrong. Tom hinted at it in his summary-- you may *want* to dilute the effects of some of these things by mixing it up (and mixing it up is what the game is about, eh?). And it may help keep it from degenerating into a purely monster smashing or treasure grabbing game. This one's probably on my "next expansion to buy" list...
+Saul Simon Tan I am worried that treasures and monsters force players to decide between playing with subsets of the entire Smash Up collection. Seems like the base deck is already problematically huge and there will be games where nothing comes out with monsters. This seems like the same design challenges that Small World Underground ran into where players found they had to use a subset of their collection, basically playing it as a base game with other races as the expansion part. And while I don't have any problem with the Madness mechanic from the Cthulhu set, I don't know that we have any reason to think that the same design "rules" that have been followed so far won't continue. In other words, there probably won't be any other factions ever that deal with monsters and treasures. Since this is likely going to be played separately from the other Smash Up expansions, I am going to pass.
Syncopator Based solely on the monsters and treasures revealed, power level doesn't seem to be an issue. The treasure cards aren't exactly free as they still use up minion/action plays, and dilution shouldn't be a solution to power level anyway. As for degenerating into a monster smash or treasure grab... that actually would be more fun. Right now, regular Smash Up is just a race for points, which is satisfying but could be more exciting. If the Munchkin line of Smash Up gets its dedicated expansions, it would be a nice tangent to regular Smash Up. It may or may not be gobbled up by the existing Smash Up audience, but it opens the door to a new one. As it stands, I've already made my bed with regular Smash Up... I'm hesitant to grab the Munchkin line.
+nijaydaeva However, this is (at least partially) Munchkin after all. So there are probably going to be Smash Up Munchkin expansions, so that there is more variety when you play this subset of the game.
Hey I was curious if this is a stand alone expansion or do u actually need the base smash up. I learned how to play it with a friend and saw this on sale at haystings so I was curious
This comment is old enough that you probably don't care anymore, but... for Smash Up you just need two factions per player and enough base cards. Every expansion (except the Big Geeky Box) comes with a complete (although miniaturized) rulebook, at least four factions, and at least eight base cards. Any one of them can be a two-player game all by itself, and any two of them can be a four-player game. The Munchkin set, like the base set, has eight factions, so it's playable as a four-player game by itself. Heck, the base game didn't come with point counters. Those were added for the first expansion. So if you're really against keeping score with pen and paper, the base set is the only incomplete one. Well, or the Big Geeky Box, which is mostly just an empty (though very nice) box, plus one bonus faction (the Geeks).
+Sam Hubbard those are little sheets where you place the base cards with a track where you can keep the base damage without counting it every time. You cand find them in the file section of Smash Up on BGG, you just have to print them on cardstock :)
those look like the base score tracking cards that are similiar to the ones in Geek and Sundry's TableTop. You can find them online and print them out.
+Ogreman222 The only thing similar to Wizards and Mages is the spellcaster aspect. Card wise? they are different, and will play different. Though the original name for them was wizards, and I was looking forward to Wizard Wizard combo.
You should write a Cheat-Sheet for which factions pair well together and which factions they're strong against. And maybe a hierarchy of how high a skill level each requires, whether they're good for beginners or "veterans only".
You know, when you play with the Princess, all of these are 5 power. But any other faction has only 1 or less 5-power-minion. The talent of one 5-power-orc-minion is "Do nothing". Why? Because a faction has no more than one 5-power minion. But I know, like the 7-power-minion King Rex, the 2nd 5-power-minion could have had no text instead of "Do nothing".
Find munchkin very frustrating and artwork unflattering. Won't buy as an expansion based on principal. I hope they don't expand on this and just continue with awesome factions. Thanks Tom.
I have this game, and only played it once. The sheer amount of ever changing numbers and keeping track of it is simply overwhelming. I like numbers, but this was crazy. Is there a practical way to manage that?
I like half the factions (Dwarves, Mages, Thieves, and Fighters) and the new mechanics but i think the rest of the factions are kind of trash... I hope i am wrong and plz tell me if I am because I have never wanted to like something more....
Im not going to buy this expansion. I feel its going to be like the Cthulhu expansion where it sits in the box and doesn't get played because the extra mechanic (madness cards) which doesn't play seamlessly.
I have extensively played the Munchkin expansion and heres my review. The Factions are really fun.. But the bases are annoying. I have ALWAYS played with every base with no exclusions because I like the surprises, but everyone groans when a Munchkin one comes out because it takes that extra second of setup, you ALWAYS get a Troll which adds another monster, and it just makes the base impossible to destroy, especially if someone is a Mage or Warrior and they are never worth going for. For the first time ever I would reccomend taking the bases out unless you want to play exclusively with them. By themselves they are a blast.
Munchkin is a terrible game, I've played it once and swore to never again. The cards have often tons of text that increases complexity without increasing fun, the silliness aspect wears off soon, and as the review mentioned there's a ton of 'kill the leader' or really 'kill anyone you don't like' that makes game a huge drag. I like games that have randomness, but not ones that are both extremely random, extremely long, and with a complete lack of any kind of strategic element.
Why must the art look so horrible.. :( I love Smash up, but i hate these goofy stupid-looking bums that seem to be on every card of this expansion. I own all the expansions( and probably will buy this one too, eventually..) and haven't had issue with the artwork in any of those, but this by far the worst one.. To make it worse, I don't especially mind the new mechanics, I kinda like them, actually.. I just don't wanna look at and play those degenerate faces.
well the robots have many minions but most of then are pretty weak so you can use factions that has a lot of destroy minion cards like dinosaurs, ninjas, pirates, werewolves, vampires, or kitty cats. There are also certain cards that are pretty effective against robots like the "Leprechaun" or "Highground" with "You're pretty much borscht".
+TheDieThrower Then there's not really much you can do except know the best way to work the decks you get, and hope the cards don't favor the Robots.. and force a faction repick if they draw Robot Halflings.. Scary.
I can see two things with this expansion:
1) You can easily house rule monsters to the other bases using the power limits as a guide to how many monsters any base should get.
2) Halfling Robots could easily become the most broken combo in Smash Up history.
Also, "Do nothing" is the best talent evar. I just hope future expansions raise the treasure and monster decks.
StrickenRecord you haven’t played zombie/robot or zombie (robot) horses/teddy bears or horse/teddy bears then lol
I love both games..got almost every munchkin and smash up expansion..this is one of the cherrys on top
My very first Smash Up box ^^.
9:19 "I'm not really sure if that's supposed to be funny"
It's *supposed* to be funny, but it's not. And now you've discovered the basic essence of all things Munchkin.
I have absolutely no interest for Munchkin and I was already thinking it would be pretty bad... and Tom's review made me forget about my stereotype about the Munchkin universe (?) in about 3 minutes :) The game actually looks really interesting. I might add it to my collection. Thanks Tom!
I love Smash Up (and even enjoy Munchkin) but I was worried about this expansion. Glad to know it doesn't hinder the game in any way!
+New Troll Can u still enjoy playing with either elves and the clerics?
I think AEG found a way to put monster smash in this expansion due to the thieves having abilities with +1 counters on them.
Where can I get sheep? And Titans?
sheeps are there own standalone promo and titans are in big in japan
Just a thought..How does this mesh with The Obligatory Cthulhu Set?
I played this at my local game shop. I was impressed with the design after originally having no interested in the muchkin verson. My complaint which was a big one was smash up can get really messy with multiple players with keeping totals and just having cards everywhere. The monster and treasure cards add a bigger and I feel unneeded mess to your gaming table if you don't have some kind of organization system at your bases.
Your game store had it? Is it being sold? I'm confused. I can't find it for sale anywhere yet.
Aeg demoed it and left a copy there for demos.
I love both Smash Up and Munchkin, and I definitely have this expansion to the game.
This probably should be played as a base game. Half of the factions are parasitic in design feel parasitic and don't contribute anything to regular Smash Up. They did avoid repeating some of the problems that the Cthulhu set had, but after having so many of the regular expansions, I'm wary of this one.
That said, the monster and treasure decks are an interesting concept that probably should have existed way earlier than now.
+Saul Simon Tan Thats exactly how I feel about this expansion
+Saul Simon Tan Acutally, I think you may be thinking about it wrong. Tom hinted at it in his summary-- you may *want* to dilute the effects of some of these things by mixing it up (and mixing it up is what the game is about, eh?). And it may help keep it from degenerating into a purely monster smashing or treasure grabbing game. This one's probably on my "next expansion to buy" list...
+Saul Simon Tan I am worried that treasures and monsters force players to decide between
playing with subsets of the entire Smash Up collection. Seems like the
base deck is already problematically huge and there will be games where
nothing comes out with monsters. This seems like the same design
challenges that Small World Underground ran into where players found
they had to use a subset of their collection, basically playing it as a
base game with other races as the expansion part. And while I don't have
any problem with the Madness mechanic from the Cthulhu set, I don't
know that we have any reason to think that the same design "rules" that
have been followed so far won't continue. In other words, there probably
won't be any other factions ever that deal with monsters and treasures.
Since this is likely going to be played separately from the other Smash
Up expansions, I am going to pass.
Syncopator
Based solely on the monsters and treasures revealed, power level doesn't seem to be an issue. The treasure cards aren't exactly free as they still use up minion/action plays, and dilution shouldn't be a solution to power level anyway.
As for degenerating into a monster smash or treasure grab... that actually would be more fun. Right now, regular Smash Up is just a race for points, which is satisfying but could be more exciting. If the Munchkin line of Smash Up gets its dedicated expansions, it would be a nice tangent to regular Smash Up. It may or may not be gobbled up by the existing Smash Up audience, but it opens the door to a new one.
As it stands, I've already made my bed with regular Smash Up... I'm hesitant to grab the Munchkin line.
+nijaydaeva However, this is (at least partially) Munchkin after all. So there are probably going to be Smash Up Munchkin expansions, so that there is more variety when you play this subset of the game.
Hey I was curious if this is a stand alone expansion or do u actually need the base smash up. I learned how to play it with a friend and saw this on sale at haystings so I was curious
This comment is old enough that you probably don't care anymore, but...
for Smash Up you just need two factions per player and enough base cards. Every expansion (except the Big Geeky Box) comes with a complete (although miniaturized) rulebook, at least four factions, and at least eight base cards. Any one of them can be a two-player game all by itself, and any two of them can be a four-player game. The Munchkin set, like the base set, has eight factions, so it's playable as a four-player game by itself.
Heck, the base game didn't come with point counters. Those were added for the first expansion. So if you're really against keeping score with pen and paper, the base set is the only incomplete one.
Well, or the Big Geeky Box, which is mostly just an empty (though very nice) box, plus one bonus faction (the Geeks).
What are the custom bits you have? And where can you get it?
What custom bits? The victory tokens come with the expansions and the dividers/big box come with the big geeky box expansion.
+Sam Hubbard those are little sheets where you place the base cards with a track where you can keep the base damage without counting it every time. You cand find them in the file section of Smash Up on BGG, you just have to print them on cardstock :)
11:48 Those custom bits that he pointed out.
those look like the base score tracking cards that are similiar to the ones in Geek and Sundry's TableTop. You can find them online and print them out.
Wait. How did you get this? is it out?? or did you get it at gen con or something special because you're a reviewer?????
I like the treasure and monster addition but wizards? thats already a faction why did we just add a repeated faction to the game?
+Ogreman222 I think they are named Mages though he calls them Wizards in the video.
+Ogreman222 Come on though, you know those wizard players actually have always wanted to play Wizard Wizards...
+Ogreman222 The only thing similar to Wizards and Mages is the spellcaster aspect. Card wise? they are different, and will play different. Though the original name for them was wizards, and I was looking forward to Wizard Wizard combo.
You should write a Cheat-Sheet for which factions pair well together and which factions they're strong against. And maybe a hierarchy of how high a skill level each requires, whether they're good for beginners or "veterans only".
Finally. I was feeling like this expansion had zero hype. I was starting to get nervous. Glad to see it's good.
I think this expansion will be the one making me begin Smash up.
+Xahendir Stras great to hear
You know, when you play with the Princess, all of these are 5 power. But any other faction has only 1 or less 5-power-minion. The talent of one 5-power-orc-minion is "Do nothing". Why? Because a faction has no more than one 5-power minion. But I know, like the 7-power-minion King Rex, the 2nd 5-power-minion could have had no text instead of "Do nothing".
+MrMath536 "Talent: Do Nothing" is kind of a Munchkin thing
Can you have Wizard Wizards, since there are regular Wizards and Munchkin Wizards?
WIZARDCEPTION!
Technically the munchkin wizards are called mages as to avoid confusion
Can you use these cards for tournament play? I can see lots of complications
[[Tournament Play Smash Up? Lmao]]
Find munchkin very frustrating and artwork unflattering. Won't buy as an expansion based on principal. I hope they don't expand on this and just continue with awesome factions. Thanks Tom.
+Joseph Lynn well we already know what is coming next, as there was a huge poll to determine it.
+Lachlan Blackmore really excited for it too!
I have this game, and only played it once. The sheer amount of ever changing numbers and keeping track of it is simply overwhelming. I like numbers, but this was crazy. Is there a practical way to manage that?
I like half the factions (Dwarves, Mages, Thieves, and Fighters) and the new mechanics but i think the rest of the factions are kind of trash... I hope i am wrong and plz tell me if I am because I have never wanted to like something more....
Im not going to buy this expansion. I feel its going to be like the Cthulhu expansion where it sits in the box and doesn't get played because the extra mechanic (madness cards) which doesn't play seamlessly.
+G beau There's one extra mechanic in Cthulhu.. and it's hardly a mechanic, people need to stop being babies.
+NeoGenMike Tschida i honestly really like the madness but i think these mechanics are more attractive...
+NeoGenMike Tschida plus you can always have something like "no eldritch" games
I have extensively played the Munchkin expansion and heres my review. The Factions are really fun.. But the bases are annoying. I have ALWAYS played with every base with no exclusions because I like the surprises, but everyone groans when a Munchkin one comes out because it takes that extra second of setup, you ALWAYS get a Troll which adds another monster, and it just makes the base impossible to destroy, especially if someone is a Mage or Warrior and they are never worth going for. For the first time ever I would reccomend taking the bases out unless you want to play exclusively with them. By themselves they are a blast.
Munchkin is a terrible game, I've played it once and swore to never again. The cards have often tons of text that increases complexity without increasing fun, the silliness aspect wears off soon, and as the review mentioned there's a ton of 'kill the leader' or really 'kill anyone you don't like' that makes game a huge drag. I like games that have randomness, but not ones that are both extremely random, extremely long, and with a complete lack of any kind of strategic element.
Why must the art look so horrible.. :( I love Smash up, but i hate these goofy stupid-looking bums that seem to be on every card of this expansion. I own all the expansions( and probably will buy this one too, eventually..) and haven't had issue with the artwork in any of those, but this by far the worst one.. To make it worse, I don't especially mind the new mechanics, I kinda like them, actually.. I just don't wanna look at and play those degenerate faces.
I guess the art is based on the Munchkin art. But.. orcs looks like boars.. What a disgrace..
what is the best way to counter the robots because I've always found them a bit OP.
well the robots have many minions but most of then are pretty weak so you can use factions that has a lot of destroy minion cards like dinosaurs, ninjas, pirates, werewolves, vampires, or kitty cats. There are also certain cards that are pretty effective against robots like the "Leprechaun" or "Highground" with "You're pretty much borscht".
General Ivan Well I play with the randomly take two decks rule so the issue is that I often don't have the killing cards.
+TheDieThrower Then there's not really much you can do except know the best way to work the decks you get, and hope the cards don't favor the Robots.. and force a faction repick if they draw Robot Halflings.. Scary.
StrickenRecord Robot halflings vs mages and orcs. GG no re.
+TheDieThrower pirates are good against swarm factions