Dream a dream of ruling over your enemies! Princesses will make every wish come true through the power of pure love and happiness. Which can be used, oddly, to order everyone about, and even destroy your enemies. Don’t be fooled: these innocent-looking beauties are few in number, but royal, strong and determined!
- - Pretty Pretty Smash Up rulebook
The Princesses are one of the 4 factions from the Pretty Pretty Smash Up set.
Princesses feature a small amount of powerful minions (all power 5) which have powerful talents.
Other factions from the same set: Fairies, Kitty Cats, Mythic Horses.
Cards
The Princesses have only 6 minions and 14 actions compared to the usual 10 and 10. Every minion is power 5, which makes the total minion base power (not counting any abilities) still equal to the usual 30. However, the average power per minion is much higher: 5 compared to the usual 3.
Among their actions, there are:
- 3 play-on-minion actions: Heirloom (3x),
- 2 play-on-base actions: Happily Ever After, Woodland Helpers,
- 9 standard actions (7 that affect one or more minions, in bold): Direct to DVD Sequel (2x), Fairy Godmother, Skillet (2x), Some Day My Prince Will Come, Tale as Old as Time, True Love’s Kiss (2x),
- 4 actions that directly increase a minion's power: Fairy Godmother, Heirloom (3x).
Minions
1x Apricot - power 5 - Talent: Destroy another player’s minion of power 2 or less here. FAQ
1x Eliza - power 5 - Ongoing: Other players cannot play more than one extra card per turn. FAQ
1x Griselda - power 5 - Talent: Place an Heirloom card from your discard pile into your hand. FAQ
1x Marie DeGraw - power 5 - Talent: Reveal the top card of your deck. If it is a minion, draw it. Otherwise, place it on the bottom of your deck. FAQ
1x Sleeping Beauty - power 5 - Ongoing: If this minion would go to the discard pile, shuffle it into your deck instead. FAQ
1x Snow White - power 5 - Talent: Move a minion from another base to here. FAQ
Actions
2x Direct to DVD Sequel - Shuffle a minion from your discard pile into your deck and draw a card. FAQ
1x Fairy Godmother - Draw a card, OR one minion gets +2 power until the end of the turn. FAQ
1x Happily Ever After - Play on a base. Ongoing: If you are the winner here when this base scores, gain 1 VP. FAQ
3x Heirloom - Play on a minion. Ongoing: This card gives this minion +1 power for each Heirloom on it. This card cannot be destroyed. FAQ
2x Skillet - Destroy a minion of power 2 or less and draw a card. FAQ
1x Some Day My Prince Will Come - Special: Before a base scores, move a minion from there to another base. FAQ
1x Tale as Old as Time - Choose a base. Move all of your minions to it. FAQ
2x True Love’s Kiss - Move a minion to another base. FAQ
1x Woodland Helpers - Play on a base. Ongoing: After you play an action, you may place it on the bottom of your deck instead of in your discard pile. FAQ
Bases
Mechanics
Princesses are unusual for having higher power and few minions (and thus, many actions) compared to other decks. Each of their minions have useful ongoing abilities and talents. The mechanics and abilitys of the princesses are very diverse, and built to counter the weakness of having fewer minions they can play.
Princesses have a 5 cards that give them ways to move minions around making it their most prevalent mechanic and making their few minion able to adapt to changing base focus. They also have a few cards that let them put minions back in the deck/delay reshuffle, and another few that let them move through the deck faster to draw them. Finally they have a minor capacity for destruction of power 2 minions.
The princesses also have Heirloom cards that successively buffs a minion, which combined with princesses movement capacity and already high power-is very threatening.
Also worth noting is the Eliza card, for having an ongoing ability that limits other players to only one extra play. This penalizes many factions severely, and makes up for princesses inability to play many cards.
External Strategy Guides
FAQ
Questions on Apricot
Q:
A:
Rule:
Questions on Eliza
Q: Do special cards played out of turn count as extra cards for Eliza’s ability?
A: Yes. You can only play one of them per turn if she’s in play.
Rule: Cards played outside the Play Cards phase of a turn are counted as extra cards.[1]
Q: With Hidden Ninja or Bring Down the Walls, I can play a minion before the base scores and it doesn't count as an extra minion for Eliza's ability because it doesn't say "extra", is that correct?
A: No. While they don't say "extra", those minions still count as extra minions, so Eliza can block it. In particular, if you play Hidden Ninja and then a minion, it counts as two extra cards and Eliza will block you.
Rule: Cards played outside the Play Cards phase of a turn are counted as extra cards.[1]
Questions on Griselda
Q: I already have ten cards in hand. What happens if I decide to use this talent? Do I place a Heirloom card in my hand and immediately discard a card?
A: It is placed in your hand and you don't discard any card until your upcoming Draw 2 Cards phase. At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Rule: On your Draw 2 Cards phase, if you have more than 10 cards in your hand after drawing, discard until you have exactly 10 cards left in your hand.
Questions on Marie DeGraw
Q: I already have ten cards in hand. What happens if I decide to use this talent and reveal a minion? Do I place it in my hand and immediately discard a card?
A: It is placed in your hand and you don't discard any card until your upcoming Draw 2 Cards phase. At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Rule: On your Draw 2 Cards phase, if you have more than 10 cards in your hand after drawing, discard until you have exactly 10 cards left in your hand.
Questions on Sleeping Beauty
Q: An ability makes me discard Sleeping Beauty from my hand. Is it shuffled into my deck instead?
A: No. Sleeping Beauty's ability is an Ongoing, so it only becomes active when Sleeping Beauty is in play.
Rule: An Ongoing ability only becomes active when the card is in play.
Q: If I take control of another player's Sleeping Beauty, does it go into my deck when it's about to go to the discard pile?
A: No, it's shuffled into its owner's deck.
Rule: When a card leaves play, the card goes back to its owner's hand, deck, or discard pile.
Questions on Snow White
Q: Can I only move one of my minions? Or can I move another player's minion as well?
A: You can move any minion in play, either yours, or another player's
Rule: "A minion" means "any minion in play".
Questions on Direct to DVD Sequel
Q: How is this handled if I have no minions in the discard pile? Will I shuffle my deck before drawing a card or not?
A: If you have no minions to shuffle into your deck, then you don't shuffle your deck at all. So you only draw a card.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: After playing this card, I (somehow) have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Rule: On your Draw 2 Cards phase, if you have more than 10 cards in your hand after drawing, discard until you have exactly 10 cards left in your hand.
Questions on Fairy Godmother
Q: After playing this card and choosing to draw a card, I (somehow) have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Rule: On your Draw 2 Cards phase, if you have more than 10 cards in your hand after drawing, discard until you have exactly 10 cards left in your hand.
Questions on Happily Ever After
Q: Wait, if I win the base, I gain only 1 VP instead of the base reward? Am I interpreting this right?
A: It doesn't say "intead". So, if you win the base where you have Happily Ever After, you gain the VP reward from the base as usual, and you gain an extra 1 VP thanks to Happily Ever After.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I win this base, I gain an extra 1 VP, 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 "you" means "they" (i.e. your opponent) and "(you) gain" means "they gain".
Rule: "You" on a minion or action means the controller of the card.
Questions on Heirloom
Q: How much power do 1, 2 and 3 Heirlooms give to the minion they're attached to?
A: If there's only one Heirloom, it gives +1 power. If there are two Heirlooms, each one gives +2 power, so +4 power in total. If there are three Heirlooms, each one gives +3 power, so +9 power in total.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: What happens to an heirloom card when the minion it's attached to is destroyed if the heirloom card says it cannot be destroyed? We can't agree if the heirloom card just cannot be destroyed while it's on an active minion, or if it can't be destroyed at all.
A: When the minion it's attached to is destroyed (or more generally, leaves play), any action attached to it is "discarded", it's not considered as a destruction.
Rule: When a card leaves play, discard attachments.
Questions on Skillet
Q: If there is no minion of power 2 or less in play, do I still draw a card?
A: Yes.
Rule: Cards are resolved entirely.
Q: If there is a minion of power 2 or less, including on my side, would I have to destroy it?
A: Yes.
Rule: If the ability doesn't say "you may", you must do it immediately.
Questions on Some Day My Prince Will Come
Q: Can I only move one of my minions? Or can I move another player's minion as well?
A: You can move any minion in play, either yours, or another player's
Rule: "A minion" means "any minion in play".
Questions on Tale as Old as Time
Q: It tells me to move "all of my minions". Do I also move minions I own that I don't control?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Rule: "Your minion" means "a minion that you control".
Questions on True Love’s Kiss
Q: Can I only move one of my minions? Or can I move another player's minion as well?
A: You can move any minion in play, either yours, or another player's
Rule: "A minion" means "any minion in play".
Questions on Woodland Helpers
Q: Is it only for actions played on its base or all the actions ?
A: It's actually for any action you play. After playing it, if it is to be placed in your discard pile, you may instead place it on the bottom of your deck. Actions played on other cards (minions or bases) remain in play, so they won't be placed in your discard pile.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: What if I play another player's on-play action (e.g. with Mass Enchantment)? Can I choose to place it on the bottom of that player's discard pile?
A: No. Woodland Helpers replaces "placing the action in your discard pile" by "placing the action on the bottom of your deck. If you play another player's action, it will be discarded in their discard pile, so Woodland Helpers can't "reprogram" it.
Rule: When a card leaves play, the card goes back to its owner's hand, deck, or discard pile.
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I play an action there, I can place it on the bottom of my deck, 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 "you" means "they" (i.e. your opponent) and "your" means "their" (i.e. your opponent's).
Rule: "You" on a minion or action means the controller of the card.
Trivia
- The artist is 2Minds Studio, who also designed the art of many other factions, including all the factions of the Pretty Pretty Smash Up set.
- This faction is themed after well-known fictional princesses, including Disney and Nintendo princesses.
- Apricot is a reference to Princess Peach from the Super Mario franchise.
- Eliza is a reference to Elsa from the Disney movie Frozen.
- Griselda is a reference to Zelda from The Legend of Zelda franchise.
- Incidentally, the Heirloom cards are a reference to the Triforce from the same franchise.
- The Skillet is a reference to Rapunzel's frying pan from the Disney movie Tangled.
- Tale as Old as Time is also the title of a song from the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast.
In other languages
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| French | Princesses |
| German | Prinzessinnen |
| Italian | Principesse |
| Russian | Принцессы |
| Spanish | Princesas |
| ||||||