iOS, Android, Steam •
It wouldn’t be a complete week without at least a little bit of news out of the Asmodee Digital camp. Last week they released two games, Ticket to Ride: First Journey and Harald. This week is a bit more subdued. This week they’re merely announcing a huge release coming next week. It’s Smash Up, the wacky card game of amazing mix-ups, which is totally not the actual tagline for the game; I just came up with it on my own. That said, it’s pretty great, so if you need any PR guys, AEG, give me a call.
Smash Up is a card battler in which each player mashes two different genres together and tries to make the best of each groups’ abilities. Take, for example, a deck of ninjas and a deck of robots. You can mash them together to make the Ice ninja from Ninjago! Ok, let’s face it. In an average movie he was the weakest link, so maybe that’s not a good example. How about Dinosaurs and Pirates! I call it Jurassic Parrrrrk. Because I’m funny, that’s why.
Smash Up is from the Talisman filled halls of Nomad Games, but is being published by Asmodee Digital. You remember them, right? Half publisher, half Bond villain? Hey, wait! They’re a Smash Up!
Sorry, I’m having a hard time focusing this morning. I should remind myself to not mix cough syrup and decaf coffee. What the hell was I thinking? Back to Smash Up. The digital version is coming to iOS, Android, and Steam (not sure if PC-only or PC/Mac at this point) and will feature solo play as well as multiplayer up to four players with 9 factions available at launch.
- Play with 4 players or solo against the AI
- Online play against opponents from across the globe
- Add-on faction decks, including the base game set and more
- Random or manual faction selection
- Save game function for storing progress on the go
- Fully automated scoring
- Tutorial system plus ‘Step Through’ and ‘Review’ modes to help players learn
- Leader-boards and Achievements
- Nine playable factions
Asmodee Digital also released a new teaser trailer today. Check that out below, and we’ll let you know when Smash Up lands on the App Store next week.
I guess I’ll take one for the team and ask the obligatory “is multiplayer asynchronous?”
My guess is no, which is a shame because the game will be borderline worthless to me without it.
This was supposed to launch on iOS last year, or maybe it was the year before. It has been so long that I’m actually no longer excited. I know it has been out for Steam or PC or something not mobile for a long time.
I’m curious how much fun this is to play on an iPad. I have the real game and other than being crushed everytime I play, I think it is just an OK game.
I haven’t been able to get it to work on my iPad, assuming it was just a bug in the soft launch.
Too much hidden info on phone
It was out on steam in early access, but got pulled when Asmodee took over publishing. Nomad was going with a F2P model, I would guess Asmodee doesn’t want to go that way.
Considering neither Nomad nor Asmodee are known for asynchronous Online, I’m going to assume it only has real time play.
I don’t think it is an amazing game by any means, but it does for me the same thing games like Ascension do - it mimics the CCG experience to an extent without any of the trappings that come with a CCG. I mean, Ascension (and its like) is great, and a much-loved game around this site, but there is little strategy and the fun is in quickly building combos and watching them (hopefully) play out. Smash Up, likewise, doesn’t have a ton of depth, but it does have quick decisions based on the cards in your hand and is good as a stand-in for the deeper and more time-, and money-, consuming CCGs.
I remember a longer time ago (5 years or so maybe?), Playdek used to have the publishing rights for this game… but then something happened and it got pulled a from their "coming soon " list.
Does anyone have any recent experience with Smash Up? Or any news about upcoming ever pulled the trigger due to a lack of asynchronous play, which still almost kills the game for me, but if other issues have been ironed out I am considering a purchase as the game is on sale. I’ve got a road trip coming up and $3 for some fun against the AI might be worth it. I’m really torn.
I bought it and bounced quickly. Didn’t do it for me
It plays fine … but it’s still a UI fail.
The cards remain ridiculously tiny, the waste of screen real estate remains embarrassingly large. The effort required to play is just too much. There’s just too many other good choices out there.