Everybody loves grandma! And grandma loves you, let me find something in my bag here for you... Grannies keep close tabs on the family, even if the family includes dinosaurs or zombies! They always know who is coming and going, and that slight busybody-ness can come in incredibly handy when planning your strategies for smashing bases.
- - What Were We Thinking? rulebook
The Grannies are one of the 4 factions from the What Were We Thinking? set.
The Grannies focus on arranging the top and bottom of your deck, allowing them to draw and play minions from the bottom, and to draw and play actions from the top.
Name
This faction is called "Grannies" in the rulebook and on the divider included in this set. However, AEG's product page for this set calls this faction "Grandmas".
Cards
The Grannies have the usual 10 minions and 10 actions. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is the usual 30 or an average of 3 per minion.
Minions
1x Matriarch - power 5 - Talent: Reveal the bottom two cards of your deck. Draw any minions revealed, and discard the rest.
2x Granny - power 4 - Talent: Look at the top card of your deck. Place it on the top or bottom of your deck.
3x Nana - power 3 - Reveal the top card of your deck. If it is an action, draw it or play it as an extra action. Otherwise place it on the bottom of your deck.
4x Grandma - power 2 - Look at the top card of your deck. Place it on the top or bottom of your deck.
Actions
1x Always Room at Granny's - Special: Play after a base scores. Place up to three of your minions there on the top and/or bottom of your deck in any order.
2x Attic Treasures - Place three cards from your hand on the bottom of your deck in any order. Draw three cards.
1x Chicken Soup - Place up to two cards from your discard pile on the top and/or bottom of your deck.
1x Don't Mess With My Babies! - Play on a base. Ongoing: Your minions here cannot be affected by other players' cards.
1x Family Reunion - Play on a base. Ongoing: After you play a minion here, reveal the bottom card of your deck. If it is a minion, draw it, otherwise place it on top of your deck.
2x Granny's Purse - Reveal the top card of your deck. If it is an action, you may draw it or return it. Otherwise place it on the bottom of you or deck. Play an extra action.
1x Hush, My Stories are On - Reveal the bottom card of your deck and draw it. If it is a minion you may play it as an extra minion.
1x Knitting Circle - Destroy up to three actions played on minions and/or bases. Draw a card for each one destroyed.
Bases
- Grandma's House
- Retirement Community
Clarifications
Here are the official clarifications as they appear in the What Were We Thinking? rulebook:
Attic Treasures: If you have less than 3 cards in hand, place all you have and still draw 3 cards.
Mechanics
Grannies focus on sorting your deck and drawing/playing cards from your deck if your deck is correctly sorted.
There are mainly two kinds of cards in the Grannies faction. Those that help you check and/or sort the top and bottom of your deck, and those that check the top or bottom of your deck and give you an advantage if the right type of card is present, usually the drawing of the card and/or playing it as an extra card.
Regarding how to sort your deck correctly, Grannies like when actions are present on top of your deck and minions are present on the bottom.
FAQ
Questions on Matriarch
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Rule:
Questions on Granny
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Questions on Nana
Q: If I reveal an action that I don't want to either draw or play, what happens?
A: It's placed on the bottom of your deck. Basically, you must choose between drawing it or playing it. If you choose to play it, you don't have to do it, because playing a card is always optional. If you choose not to do it, then you apply the "otherwise" instructions and place the card on the bottom of your deck.
Rule: Extra cards are always optional.
Questions on Grandma
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Rule:
Questions on Always Room at Granny's
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Rule:
Questions on Attic Treasures
Q: What happens if I only have two cards in hand?
A: If you have less than three cards in hand, place your entire hand on the bottom of your deck, then draw three cards.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Questions on Chicken Soup
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Rule:
Questions on Don't Mess with My Babies!
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I have a minion there, it's no longer affected by my opponents' cards, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "your minions" means "their minions" and "other players" means "their opponents".
Rule: "You" on a minion or action means the controller of the card.
Questions on Family Reunion
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I play a minion there, I reveal the bottom card of my deck and draw it if it's a minion, etc., right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So its ability should be interpreted as "After they play a minion here, they reveal the bottom card of their deck. If it is a minion, they draw it, otherwise they place it on the top of their deck."
Rule: "You" on a minion or action means the controller of the card.
Questions on Granny's Purse
Q: If I reveal an action that I don't want to either draw or return to the top of my deck, what happens?
A: It's placed on the bottom of your deck. Basically, choosing between drawing it or returning it is optional (notice the "you may"). If you choose not to do either, then you apply the "otherwise" instructions and place the card on the bottom of your deck.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Questions on Hush, My Stories are On
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A:
Rule:
Questions on Knitting Circle
Q: Can I target an action that cannot be destroyed? (e.g. Heirloom)
A: Yes, but it won't be destroyed and you won't draw a card for that action.
Rule: "Can't" trumps "can".
Trivia
- The artist is Marcel Stobinski, who also designed the art of a few other factions.
- A portrait of The Count can be seen behind the Matriarch.
- A Pirate child is present on the Nana card.
- A Deep One child, a Superhero child, a Ghost child, and a Steampunk child are present on the Always Room at Granny's card.
- A Zombie is being taken care of on the Chicken Soup card.
- A child Jason and a child Snow White are being protected from a Werewolf in Don't Mess With My Babies!
- A Cyborg Ape is tied on the Knitting Circle card.
- The Archmage, a Hatchling, the Zombie Lord, the Sea Dogs pirate, one of the Probe Aliens, a Gnome, and the Star-Spawn of Cthulhu are attending the Family Reunion.