Smash Up: Oops You Did It Again

Alderac Entertainment Groups “Oops, you did it again” expansion to their brilliant Smash Up series. Oops, you did it again see’s the introduction of the Ancient Egyptians, Cowboys, Samurai and Vikings. The Smash Up series is one of those games where you feel absolutely anything goes, and the Oops, you did it again expansion is another well created expansion. These 4 factions are all very different in how they play out but that, for me, is very welcome as it creates a lot of different gaming experiences.

There is not a game rules overview this time, please check out my Disney Smash Up blog for a quick overview. Something to keep in mind here is that you can only play a 2-player game with this set alone. Of course, the series is completely interchangeable with everything else Smash Up so you can always “Smash” it up with another set and bring in a 3rd and 4th player.

So, what does “Oops, you did it again” bring to the series?

Duels

This is not a new faction but an additional game element brought in with the bases of Oops, you did it again and the 4 factions being added. The duel occurs usually at a specific base and outcomes are based on what the duel says will be the result. The winning duelling minion is the one with the highest power after a card has been added. Then work out the result.

I like the duelling feature as a fun little extra in the game and not having the same result from every duel is also a novelty. But, that completely aligns with the game in that not all actions are the same as well as minion abilities. Results of duels should differ. Critics will complain that old factions are disadvantaged having been created prior to this feature, I disagree, they can compete and they have others strengths that the duelling factions do not have.

Ancient Egyptians

The Ancient Egyptians, full of ancient secrets, curses and dark magic. They a slow burner, similar to the Zombies, and take time to get going as they also bring a new feature in burying cards on bases. These buried cards can then come into play later and that is when the Ancient Egyptians get going as they have opportunity to play multiple minions or actions at the same time which is overwhelming. They become a headache for opponents as the buried cards are a challenge to deal with, however, in reality you cannot see something that is buried so it would be tough. The abilities and features of this faction, for me, really aligns with the idea of Ancient Egyptians and they are a well thought out deck.

Cowboys

It makes sense that with the introduction of duels in Oops You Did It Again, AEG brings in a Cowboy faction. The kings of duelling one on one in the gunslinging wild west. The Cowboys are all about duelling as their strategy to the game. The duels they cause can have significant swings in outcome around base scoring and nearly all their duel results in the death of a losing minion. The Cowboys are a proper nuisance to Smash Up which makes them great fun to play with, something I very much like.

Samurai

The honourable Samurai enters Smash Up and they are a brilliant addition. They are an incredibly strong faction but thrive in death. From what I know on Samurai, when it was their time to die, what was critical to the Samurai was they had an honourable death. They would also fall on their sword should they believe they have been dishonourable. That is how this faction thrives in the game, their minions need to die for the faction to be incredibly strong and there is even additional VP’s available should they succeed in death in a certain way. It’s an incredibly challenging faction to use, they don’t work well with all other factions but when they get it right, truly brilliant.

Vikings

The raiding Vikings are the final faction in this Smash Up expansion. They are all about pillaging opponents decks and taking their actions and/or minions, then using those stolen cards against them which is brilliant fun for the Viking player. The exceptional card being the power 5 Valkyrie having the ability to take any minion from one opponents discard pile, and placing it in their own hand. This is an outrageous ability but so much fun when you get to play it. The Vikings are strong and tough and once again AEG have captured the Viking essence very well within in the 20 faction cards.

Some of my favourite themes have been brought to the game in this series with Vikings and Samurai, I’ve love films and TV shows with these groups in. So, when the public voted in these groups (That’s right, a second public vote was made to determine these groups) I was thrilled with the outcome. This set also brought in some very welcome new game features with buried cards and duels and they are very welcomed subtle additions to the series. Some novel twists for sure.

There is a nice balance and variety of abilities within these four factions, again bringing plenty of variety to gameplay as well as surprises for opponents that you just would not be expecting. AEG’s ability to keep creating new surprises never ceases to astound me.

Final Thoughts

Oops You Did It Again is another wonderful expansion to the Smash Up series. You’ll definitely want to already own some Smash Up content before picking this one up. You’ll be very pleased to include this one in your collection. If you are looking for a first expansion to add to your base game, you really cannot go wrong with this set.