The Geeks are the single faction in The Big Geeky Box set. This faction has no official flavor text, because the Big Geeky Box has no rulebook.
The following flavor text can be found on the digital version of Smash Up:
Geeks are, well… Geeks! Slightly eccentric individuals with intellectual pursuits! They can also be thoughtful and tricky! You may also spot a couple of famous tabletop Geeks’ in there. Say hello and play them at least once!
- - (Smash Up Digital)
The Geeks specialize in messing with the other players' gameplan.
Cards
The Geeks have only 9 minions and 11 actions compared to the usual 10 and 10. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is 25 or an average of 2.78 per minion compared to the usual 30 and 3.
Minions
1x Felicia Day - power 4 - Move all minions to this base.
1x Wil Wheaton - power 4 - Special: You may play this minion when an opponent plays an action. Discard that action; it has no effect.
3x Game Guru - power 3 - Ongoing: This minion is not affected by other players' abilities.
4x Fan - power 2 - Special: On your turn, you may discard this card from your hand to draw a card.
Actions
2x Banned List - For each other player, name a card and look at that player's hand. They must place any copies of that card from their hand on the bottom of their deck.
1x Control Minion - Choose a minion. You control that minion until the end of the turn. Special: Play when another player plays a minion. You gain control of that minion until the end of the turn.
1x Cosplay - Special: Play when you gain 1 or more VP. Gain an additional 1 VP.
1x Force of Wil - Special: Play when an opponent plays an action. Discard that action; it has no effect.
1x Griefer - Choose one effect for each other player: That player discards a random card, or destroys one of his or her minions, or shuffles his or her discard pile into his or her deck.
1x Min-Maxing - Look at an opponent's hand. You may play an action from that opponent's hand as an extra action.
1x Mulligan - Look at the top 5 cards of your deck. You may draw them and shuffle the rest of your hand into your deck.
1x Non-Infinite Loop - Choose an action in your hand. Play it as an extra action, then you may put it back into your hand instead of the discard pile.
2x Rules Lawyer - Transfer an action played on a base to another base, or transfer an action played on a minion to another minion.
Bases
Mechanics
Geeks specialty is causing massive headache to other player by disrupting player hands by discard or disrupt player plan by disabling or controlling minion or action while opponent turn. This mean that Geek can quickly intercept and neutralize player action or minion at any time. While their minion are average, their real strength are their action.
While their role is intercepting player moves, their second role is focus on improving your deck and disrupt other players. However, they have no offense cards and they have no defensive cards.
FAQ
Questions on Felicia Day
Q: In which order are the minions moved?
A: The minions are all moved at the same time, there's no order to decide.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: If I play Felicia Day and move several minions, including a Cub Scout and some minions it can normally destroy. Are the destroyable minion destroyed by Cub Scout?
A: TBD
Rule: TBD
Questions on Wil Wheaton
Q: When can I play Wil Wheaton as a Special?
A: By community consensus, Wil Wheaton should be played as a Special when a player plays an action, but before that player beings resolving its effects. To be confirmed. TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: Do I have to have Wil Wheaton in play to use its Special ability?
A: To use Wil Wheaton's Special, you must be able to play it. If it's already in play, you cannot play it, so you cannot use its Special ability.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: If I play an action, but it gets interrupted by Wil Wheaton or Force of Wil. Am I allowed to play another action to replace it or does it count toward my one-action-per-turn limit?
A: You've used an action play, it just had no effect.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: A player plays an action and annouces what they will do before doing it. Like playing Seeing Stars and annoucing that they will destroy a certain minion. Can Wil Wheaton be played to discard it? Or must Wil Wheaton be played before you know what the player intends to do?
A: TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: A player plays And Stay Down!. Can I play Wil Wheaton as a Special to discard And Stay Down! without effect?
A: TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: Can Steam Queen protect your actions against Wil Wheaton and Force of Wil?
A: No. Wil Wheaton and Force of Wil makes you discard the action without resolving the effect. Discarding the action isn't included the definition of "affect". Not resolving the effect is merely a result of forcing you to discard the card and not the same as a cancellation.
Rule: Definition of "affect". Discarding the card doesn't count.
Q: If a player plays an action, but is interrupted by Wil Wheaton or Force of Wil, does Secret Agent still make that player discard a card?
A: Yes. Wil Wheaton and Force of Wil make that player discard the action without resolving its effect, but it still counts as having played an action for Secret Agent.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: If a Mythic Greek player plays an action, but is interrupted by Wil Wheaton or Force of Wil, would Spartan, Jason, Odysseus and Heracles still trigger?
A: Yes. Wil Wheaton and Force of Wil make that player discard the action without resolving its effect, but it still counts as having played an action for these minions.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: If a player plays an Argonaut, can another player play Wil Wheaton? If so, is the Argonaut discarded?
A: A player can probably play Wil Wheaton because playing an Argonaut activates cards that react to playing action, but Argonaut itself will not be discarded because it's not an action. To be confirmed. TBD
Rule: TBD
Questions on Game Guru
Q: Does ability only refer to a minion card text?
A: An ability is what's written at the bottom of any card. Minions, actions and bases have abilities. A player's abilities refer to any abilities on the cards played by that player. So, here "other players' abilities" is synonymous of "other players' cards", which excludes bases' abilities.
Rule 1: An ability is what's written at the bottom of any card.
Rule 2: A base isn't any player's card.
Q: I have a Game Guru on the same base as my Rotary Slug Thrower. Since Game Guru cannot be affected by other players' cards, it means it cannot be changed in power by other players' cards. By extension, it means that other players cannot play a card that destroys, returns, transfers or discards Rotary Slug Thrower, because that would change Game Guru's power, right?
A: No.
Questions on Fan
Q: So this minion can never be played on the table as a minion, but can only be discarded from your hand to draw a card, correct? If this is the case it seems like a pointless card.
A: No. Minions with a Special ability can be played as a normal minion without invoking their Special ability.
Rule: N/A
Q: If you discard the Fan card to draw a new card, does that count as your minion play for that turn?
A: No.
Rule: If you use a Special ability to play a card on your turn, it doesn’t count as one of your free cards for that turn.
Questions on Banned List
Q: You must to know the name of the banned card, name it and after that you can see that player's hand, right?
A: Yes, you must give the card name before looking at the player's hand.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Questions on Control Minion
Q: When using Control Minion as a Special, do you control the minion's ability when it enters play? Can you decide what base it will be played on?
A: You do gain control over the minion's ability. As to whether you decide where the minion is played, it's still unclear. TBD[1]
Rule: TBD
Q: If I play a minion, but it gets interrupted by Control Minion. Am I allowed to play another minion to replace it or does it count toward my one-minion-per-turn limit?
A: You've used a minion play, so it counts toward the limit.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: A minion is played on a base that reacts to minions being played (e.g. The Homeworld, Haunted House), or if there an action or a minion there that reacts to minions being played (e.g. Pay the Piper). If that minion play is interrupted by Control Minions, who gets the benefit or the drawback?
A: Since the player who played the minion used one of their minion play, they probably get the benefit/drawback from those cards. To be confirmed. TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: A player plays a Dork Orc. Can you play Control Minion as a Special to take control of it?
A: Based on the community's interpretation, you can play Control Minion before its ability is resolved, so it's not immune yet. To be confirmed. TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: Can I take control of a monster with Control Minion?
A: Yes.
Rule: Monsters are considered as minions.
Q: When another player plays a monster, can I use Control Minion as a Special to take control of it?
A: If the monster is played by another player's card, yes because it's a minion and it's played by a player. If the monster was played as one of the initial monsters on the base or because of The Gauntlet's ability, no because they aren't played by that player.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Questions on Cosplay
Q: Can I play this card when a base scores? It doesn't say "Special: When/After a base scores".
A: Yes, you can play it whenever you gain a VP, including from base scoring.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Questions on Force of Wil
Q: When can I play Force of Wil?
A: By community consensus, Force of Wil should be played when a player plays an action, but before that player beings resolving its effects. To be confirmed. TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: If I play an action, but it gets interrupted by Wil Wheaton or Force of Wil. Am I allowed to play another action to replace it or does it count toward my one-action-per-turn limit?
A: You've used an action play, it just had no effect.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: A player plays an action and annouces what they will do before doing it. Like playing Seeing Stars and annoucing that they will destroy a certain minion. Can Force of Wil be played to discard it? Or must Force of Wil be played before you know what the player intends to do?
A: TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: Can Steam Queen protect your actions against Wil Wheaton and Force of Wil?
A: No. Wil Wheaton and Force of Wil makes you discard the action without resolving the effect. Discarding the action isn't included the definition of "affect". Not resolving the effect is merely a result of forcing you to discard the card and not the same as a cancellation.
Rule: Definition of "affect". Discarding the card doesn't count.
Q: If a player plays an action, but is interrupted by Wil Wheaton or Force of Wil, does Secret Agent still make that player discard a card?
A: Yes. Wil Wheaton and Force of Wil make that player discard the action without resolving its effect, but it still counts as having played an action for Secret Agent.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: If a Mythic Greek player plays an action, but is interrupted by Wil Wheaton or Force of Wil, would Spartan, Jason, Odysseus and Heracles still trigger?
A: Yes. Wil Wheaton and Force of Wil make that player discard the action without resolving its effect, but it still counts as having played an action for these minions.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: If a player plays an Argonaut, can another player play Force of Wil? If so, is the Argonaut discarded?
A: A player can probably play Force of Wil because playing an Argonaut activates cards that react to playing action, but Argonaut itself will not be discarded because it's not an action. To be confirmed. TBD
Rule: TBD
Questions on Griefer
Q: I play Griefer. Do I have to choose a different effect for each other player or one effect that will be the same for all the other players?
A: You choose any effect for each other player. You can a different one for each other player, the same effect for all of them, or the same effect for two of them and a different one for the third other player.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: An opponent plays Griefer and makes me destroy one of my minions. Can I choose a minion that cannot be destroyed or affected?
A: Yes. You're free to choose any of your minions, even if that makes the destruction fail
Rule: The card you target may be immune to the effects of the ability you are performing, but it is still a valid target.
Q: I play Griefer and make an opponent destroy one of their minions. They choose their minion on Field of Honor. Who gets the VP?
A: Your card made another player destroy the minion, so it's that player who did the destruction. Therefore, your opponent gets the VP because Field of Honor rewards the player who destroys it.
Rule: If a card specifies another player to carry out an effect, that player gets the credit for the effect, not the card player.[2]
Q: I play Griefer and make an opponent destroy one of their minions. They choose their Elder Thing, claiming that it can't be destroyed by my card and therefore survives. Is that correct?
A: Yes. Elder Thing is immune to any effect caused by other players' cards, as long as the effect is included in the definition of "affect", such as a destruction.
Rule: Definition of "affect".
Q: I play Griefer and make an opponent destroy one of their minions. They choose their Awesome Guy, claiming that it can't be destroyed by my card and therefore survives. Is that correct?
A: No. There's a subtle nuance. When you play Griefer to make another player destroy a minion, the minion is considered both "destroyed by your card's ability" and "destroyed by that player". So the cause of the destruction is your card's ability, but the person who carried out the destruction is that player. A card that can't be destroyed by "other players' abilities" is only immune to destruction if the cause is another player's ability. However, a card that can't be destroyed by "other players" is only immune to destruction if the person who does the destruction is another player. So Awesome Guy is not immune to destruction if it's destroyed by its own controller, even if the destruction was caused by another player's card.
Rule: If a card specifies another player to carry out an effect, that player gets the credit for the effect, not the card player.[2]
Q: I play Griefer and make an opponent destroy one of their minions. They do. Can I activate Mako's ability and play it?
A: No. Mako's ability can only be triggered after you destroy a minion. When you play Griefer, you make other players destroy their minions, so they are the ones who destroyed them, not you. On the other hand, if your opponent played a similar card as Griefer (e.g. Bear Hug) and made you destroy one of your minions, then you can activate Mako's ability.
Rule: If a card specifies another player to carry out an effect, that player gets the credit for the effect, not the card player.[2]
Questions on Min-Maxing
Q: If I play a Madness card from an opponent's hand and choose to draw two cards, where is the Madness card discarded?
A: Since you played it, you discard it. So, it's discarded into your discard pile.
Rule: If you discard a Madness card, it goes into your discard pile.
Q: If I use Min-Maxing to play another player's Time Walk, where does Time Walk end, on the bottom of their deck or mine?
A: It is placed on the bottom of its rightful owner's deck.
Rule: When a card leaves play, the card goes back to its owner's hand, deck, or discard pile.
Questions on Mulligan
Q: If I don't draw the 5 cards, where do they go? Are they discarded? Are they returned to the top of my deck? If so, in which order?
A: TBD
Rule: TBD
Questions on Non-Infinite Loop
Q: If I play Non-Infinite Loop with Time Walk, does Time Walk go to my hand or the bottom of the deck?
A: Time Walk replaces "discard the action" with "place it on the bottom of your deck", while Non-Infinite Loop replaces "discard the action" with "put it in your hand". Both are equally possible, so the current player decides.[3]
Rule: The current player decides the order of events that are supposed to happen simultaneously.
Q: If I have another player's action in my hand because of Trade. What happens if I play it with Non-Infinite Loop?
A: After you're finished resolving the action's abilities, you can decide whether it's discarded or placed "into your hand". If you choose to discard it, it goes to it's owner's discard pile, not yours. If you choose to place it "into your hand", it's placed into its owner's hand, not yours.
Rule: When a card leaves play, the card goes back to its owner's hand, deck, or discard pile.
Q: If I play Non-Infinite Loop on a play-on-a-minion or play-on-a-base action, does that card eventually make its way back into my hand rather than the discard pile, or does Non-Infinite Loop's effect only apply to immediate actions?
A: Non-Infinite Loop replaces the "put in the discard pile" with "put into your hand." Actions played on another card don't have a "put in the discard pile" step so there is nothing to replace so there is no "put into your hand".
Rule: Actions played on a card (minion or base) remain in play as long as the card remains in play.
Questions on Rules Lawyer
Q: I use Rules Lawyer to transfer an opponent's Difference Engine to a base where I have a minion. Do I now control Difference Engine and can I now draw a card at the end of my turn?
A: No. You transferred it, but it doesn't give you control over it. Difference Engine is still under the control of whoever played it.
Rule: When you transfer an action, it doesn't change controller.
Trivia
- Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton are real people, and this faction is themed after their public personalities and their YouTube show TableTop on Geek & Sundry. One episode of TableTop features Day and Wheaton (and others) playing Smash Up.
- The Game Guru is Boyan "Bo" Radakovich.
- The AEG representative on Banned List is Todd Rowland, a Brand Manager for AEG and Smash Up's Art Director.
- The player on the Non-Infinite Loop card is Paul Peterson, Smash Up's Game Designer.
- The card Force of Wil is a reference to the card Force of Will from Magic the Gathering which has a similar effect.
- The cover of The Obligatory Cthulhu Set can be seen on the left of the Game Guru. And a box of the Core Set can be seen on his right.
- The Pirate King can be seen behind the Fan.
- Wil Wheaton has a Saucy Wench, a Zombie Lord and a Tiger Assassin cards in front of him.
- On the Cosplay card, the cosplayers are portraying the Zombie Lord, a Saucy Wench, a Gnome and an Alien.
- The cover of the Core Set can be seen mutiple times on the Non-Infinite Loop card.
- Control Minion shows various games from AEG, namely Love Letter, Guildhall, the Smash Up Core Set, and the Science Fiction Double Feature, The Obligatory Cthulhu Set and Awesome Level 9000 expansions.
- On the Griefer card, there are two Zapbots, a Microbot Fixer and a Tenacious Z cards.