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Just throwing this out there. If you haven't tried it, Smash Up is an incredible casual 3-4 player game that's easy to play, easy to teach, and very fun to play. It's also cheap, the core game runs about $30 and each expansion is $20.

It's one of the few games that has climbed to the top of my enjoyment list and then stuck around to survive other games coming and going. What other games have done that? Well, aToE and FanG are a few examples.

The core concept revolves around a variety of different "factions" such as pirates, ninjas, zombies, plants, etc.... Each faction is represented by a deck. You grab two of these factions by either choice or at random (our preferred method of play) and shuffle the two decks together. Thematically it's a joy and mechanically it actually really works fairly well.

Gameplay is simple: play a minion and an action each turn, and take bases in the middle of the table by having the most minions of the greatest power on the base, in order to to score victory points. First to 15 victory points wins.

Downsides? This game is all about screwing over the other players, so be prepared to get screwed and just be ready to take your revenge. The recommended players are 2-4 but with enough expansions you can host a game with more than that but both too many and too few players, gameplay is not as enjoyable. With just two players the game is rather boring and there's not enough interaction to keep things interesting. With more than 4 the game likewise gets a little complicated. 5 is usually doable but at 6, there's too long between turns to plan so a good amount of enjoyment is sucked out of the game.

Upsides: Great gameplay, simple, fun, cheap, full of flavor. I mean who wouldn't want to play a game where you can be a part of an epic showdown between the Time Traveling Zombies, Alien Dinosaurs, Steampunk Ninjas, and Bear Cavalry Pirates

Well me, the Mash Up theme just doesn't appeal.I bought the Obligatory Cthulhu Expansion
& tried just playing it by itself as it has 4 fractions. It doesn't work, you really need more than 2 players
& a couple of more fractions.

I could see where the Game could be fun & the mechanics work well but I could just never get into it.

OD

It's definitely true, this is not a 2 player game, even though that might contradict what's on the box. I actually had a similar problem as I only played this with my wife when I initially got it. Ended up selling to a friend who was living with 4 other guys in a big bachelor pad and found them playing it every time I visited. After a couple of fantastic group games I realized the 2 player format just doesn't represent how much fun this game can be.

Same thing goes for the number of factions you have available to you. The base game comes with 8 factions and every follow up expansion has 4 more. You really need at least 8 to have a good amount of fun, but having 12 or more really multiplies the variety and enjoyment you'll find in the game.

Each faction has its own theme and feel.

Ghosts are big in discarding your own cards for big powerful effects
Dinosaurs are all about BIG creatures
Ninjas are about sneaking in at the last minute
Pirates allow you to move your minions all over the board

I understand if the theme doesn't appeal to you. I don't play the alien games FFG makes for the same reason. But if you're even slightly interested and you have some friends who are more casual gamers (my wife and some of those bachelor friends I mentioned) then this makes for a great and very popular addition to the wall o' entertainment.

The game's meant to be lighthearted and not serious. Some combinations complement each other well. Others just clash. Sometimes who wins is simply decided by which factions were drawn. I don't mind playing when my friend brings it over and wants to, but I don't own it or plan to.

It fills the same role as "Munchkin" or "Fluxx" for me: a warm-up game or "we just want to occupy our hands while shooting the breeze" game.

A friend of mine has this game with expansions and I've played it maybe a little over a half dozen times. It has a little bit of a magic the gathering feel to it which is a good thing. As mentioned above many of the pairings aren't exactly balanced with some of the factions able to steamroll pretty easily. I'd probably give this game somewhere between a 6-7 out of 10. Decent as a starter/warm up game but I probably wouldn't want to play it more than once or twice during a gaming session. You might do just as well or better buying a magic cube.

What? I'm rather new to magic. How do you just buy a cube without spending a ton of money?

Raynor: While it's not a cube, I have friends that occasionally do these, shuffle them all up, and then draft them:
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/page/1376

Well yeah... if you have access to an actual full on magic cube with all the players in your group knowing the ins and outs of magic and drafting then you'd probably have a richer experience playing a cube. However, considering this is much more balanced than a bunch of random magic cards thrown together and probably cheaper, I feel it has a broader appeal.

I've only been playing magic for about 6 months and would definitely like to try a cube, but don't have any friends who have one.

I actually got the game and awesome level 9000 loving the theme and idea but traded it away soon after... For me and my group it got sort of boring once the quirky theme wore off. The games dragged sometimes too taking a long time to bust a base in a 4 player game. I think it's a fun game but probably not for everyone.

Well I'm glad to hear a lot of you have already gotten to try the game but surprised at the generally apathetic response to long term enjoyment. To each his own, of course, but I felt this game had a larger universal appeal. Maybe I'm a big fan because it serves as the perfect bridge between my casual gamer friends and my more serious gamer friends. Of my acquaintances, only my most serious gamer buddy who is the guy who plays modern magic, doesn't appreciate a good game of smash up.