Published on October 20, 2018
Updated on August 27, 2022

Smash Up! - Awesome Level 9000 - Review & Faction Guide

Voted by many as the first expansion of the core set you should buy, and that is for the simplest reason. IT IS AWESOME! While it doesn’t feature any extra game mechanic, it adds to the core set 4 new variables for combinations that each has its own gameplay.

From moving other players minions to their doom to conquering bases with your actions, this expansion is a must have.

Factions

Ghosts

These particular fellows are very hard to master. And that is due to its gameplay, which is one of the most complex in the game relying strongly on your hand management.

It is not recommended for rookies and newcomers in this game because it requires you to discard some cards in order to unlock their full potentials. Choose your cards wisely or your decisions may return to haunt you.

 

Killer Plants

Perfect for ecologists and vegetarians alike, these homicidal flora does not fool around and can choke you to death.

They can grow to power while belittling their opponents, and have pretty deep roots so you cannot really move them or get rid of them relatively easy. Overall a great faction that will make you rethink the order in the food chain.

 

 

Steampunks

If copper, gears and motors is your thing, then this is probably the faction for you. The king-or in this case- the Queen of actions played on bases,this faction moves around and has a lot of steam to back it up.

Having the ability to replay some of your actions from your discard pile is a game winning engineering achievement, they promise hundreds of miles of gameplay.

 

Bear Cavalry

If the idea of riding a bear to chase your enemies isn’t appealing to you, I have no idea what on earth is wrong with you, but I hear there is counseling for that.

So, after this first clarification, the things need to be said about this faction-except the fact that is awesome, is that not only they move around, but most importantly, they move their enemies around on a wild chase before killing them.

With great power comes great -not responsibility but- VP. Can you bear the thought of not having them in your collection?

Gameplay

Each faction in this expansion has its own gameplay, but one thing is for sure. There is a lot of moving around going on in most of those factions.

Except ghosts. They are a category all by themselves having one of the hardest gameplays in the game, where you have to discard cards to a point where you will have a hand of only 2 cards to unlock their full potential. Hard task and not for the weak hearted.

But leaving the quite masochistic Ghosts aside, the overall gameplay of the other factions is based on moving minions. Either your own or your opponents. It is a nice feature that is already introduced to us in the core set with pirates.

And the whole move thing can give you a great asset if used wisely. There are a lot of actions played on bases also that Steampunks and Bear Cavalry tend to abuse. A lot.

The bears also have a very carnivorous appetite. On the other hand the killer plants have a tendency to weaken their enemies while buffing their own minions to victory.

Compatibility

The Awesome Level 9000 is considered by many maybe the first expansion you should purchase if you are looking to expand your core set.

This is partly a correct opinion because it actually combines very well with the core set having many powerful combinations that can be really fun to play, but it lacks the independence of being able to combine by itself.

A small problem if you already have the core set. An overall good and fun expansion to begin with, not having a unique feature that is in depth altering the core game play is the best part of it. It guarantees numerous hours of pure antagonistic strategic fun.

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Mythos, The Howling Lion
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