Encyclopedia of Monsters
Encyclopedia of Monsters Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What kind of game is this?
The Encyclopedia of Monsters is a cooperative memory game that invites you to travel around the world trying to find monsters, creatures, and beings to enter into the famous Encyclopedia. The game consists of 5 Volumes, representing 5 Continents, each containing 3 Countries with their own unique challenges.
Monsters and Countries: We will use the term "Monster" to describe all the spirits, beings, and creatures that you will come across in the game. Also, the term "Country" will be used for all the places you will visit.
What does a game look like?
When you sit down to play, players will be given a hand of cards depicting Monsters, and tokens associated with those cards will be placed face down on the table.
On your turn, you will play a card from your hand and try to reveal the matching Monster token on the table. If you succeed, you get to leave your card on the table. If you fail, one of your precious Candles gets blown out and all the Monster tokens are turned face down: The Monsters have run off to hide. The search begins again, but this time you'll have a bit more information: You'll know where some of the Monsters are hiding! But the question is, can you remember them all...?
The goal of the game is for all players to successfully find all the Monster tokens that match their cards before the last Candle is blown out. If you do that, everyone wins! Oh, and there are Special Rules on all the cards too. Some will help you, but others might make your lives a little more difficult!
Discover the world!
Your journey will begin in Europe, and will then take you to The Americas, Africa, Asia, and finally Oceania.
All the Countries you will visit are indicated on the map below.
The world map on page 3 shows the Countries as labelled places: Sweden, Scotland, Romania, Egypt, Senegal, Tanzania, Quebec, Louisiana, Brazil, South Korea, China, Japan, The Great Barrier Reef and Australia, with one unnamed location marked "???". The map is graphical; its layout is not reproduced here.
Can you find where you live on this map? Why not mark it with a pen or pencil so you won't forget?
Once you have played a Country, you can move on to the next one. If you succeed at that Country's challenge, put a check mark in that Country's circle. If you fail, you can try again or choose to move on. You can always go back later to try that Country again later on.
Lucky you! During your travels, you will have opportunities to meet some very interesting real people who will tell you a little something special about their Country.
Contents
The game is split into five Continent boxes. Each Continent's contents are listed below.
Europe
- 1 Box
- 1 Rulebook
- 1 Booklet
- 9 Cards
- 17 Tokens
The Americas
- 1 Box
- 1 Booklet
- 11 Cards
- 23 Tokens
- 1 Cardboard Standee
Africa
- 1 Box
- 1 Booklet
- 11 Cards
- 21 Tokens
- 1 Die
- 1 Special token
Asia
- 1 Box
- 1 Booklet
- 11 Cards
- 22 Tokens
- 3 Special tokens
Oceania
- 1 Box
- 1 Booklet
- 13 Cards
- 17 Tokens
- 1 Cardboard Cone
- 4 Flat Marbles
Every Continent you visit has an associated Booklet. Inside the Booklet you will find a description of each Country you will visit and the Monsters you are looking for on the left-hand page, and on the right you'll find the components and rules specific to that Country!
Starting the Game
You already have the Europe box in your hands; open the Europe booklet. Read the description for Scotland out loud and punch out all the tokens. At the top of page 3 of the Europe booklet, you will find the components used to play this Country. Follow the Setup instructions, read the Monsters' Special Rules and you're ready to go!
(Note: the Setup instructions and Monsters' Special Rules are in the Volume booklets, which are not part of this General Rules text.)
Scan here to learn how to play in minutes! You can always come back to these rules later, if necessary.
The goal of The Encyclopedia of Monsters is for all players to work together in order to find all the Monster tokens that match their cards.
Choose someone to be the First Player from the players with the most cards in their hand.
Starting with the First Player and moving clockwise around the table, everyone takes a turn.
Note: If you don't have any cards in your hand when it's your turn (because you've already played all your cards), you must pass, and play moves on to the next player with cards in their hands.
Communication Forbidden!
Although all players can speak to one another during the game, you're not allowed to share information about the tokens on the table or the cards in your hand. That means no talking, pointing, or making faces when someone is about to reveal a token! If you know where a Monster is hiding, you have to keep it to yourself and hope your teammate finds it themselves!
Don't panic, though! The Special Rules (see next page) of some Monsters will allow you to help each other out!
Play a Card
The first thing to do on your turn is play a card from your hand face up in front of you on the table. This is the Monster whose token you will need to find! To do this, you will do 2 things: perform a search AND apply the Monster's Special Rule.
Special Rules
Each Monster has a Special Rule, which is explained in the instructions of the Country where that Monster first appears, as well as on their card, using symbols.
Most of these Special Rules will help your group collect extra information about the Monster tokens on the table. But watch out! Some Monsters' Special Rules will make your job harder!
Some Special Rules apply before you search for that Monster's token, some during your search, and others after you finish your search. This is why it's important to fully understand your Monster's Special Rule, so that you know when to perform its effect.
Don't forget to use your Special Rules! These are a central element of the game. Many Special Rules will even help you as you search. The Rules are also repeated on the back of the Volume's booklet.
Example: It's your turn. You play the Ghost card. The Special Rule tells you that you get to reveal one face-down token on the table to all players before searching for the Ghost. So you start by revealing a token: It's a Troll. Unfortunately, this doesn't help you very much, as it's not a Ghost, and you don't have a Troll card in your hand, but it will help another player! You place that token face down on the table in the same spot you found it. Now you have to try to find the Ghost token!
Search!
All Monster cards have the Search symbol, meaning you must always search for this Monster's token. To do this, simply reveal a face-down Monster token, in the hopes that it matches the Monster on the card you played. Did you reveal the token matching your Monster? Or was it something else...?
IMPORTANT: When you search, you can flip over ANY face-down Monster token on the table, even one you interacted with when using your Monster's Special Rule.
Success
If you turn over a Monster token matching the one on the card you played, that's a success! Leave that token face up on the table, and keep your card on the table too. You are all one step closer to winning the game!
Miss
If you turn over the token of a Monster that doesn't match the one on the card you played, that's a miss! You've startled all the Monsters, who run away and hide! You will now have to do the following:
- Blow out 1 Candle by flipping its token to the unlit side. If it's the last lit Candle, you have lost!
- If there are still lit Candles, all players return their played cards to their hands. Then turn all Monster tokens face down – but leave them in the same place!
Don't Be Discouraged
A miss isn't the end of the world! You might feel like you're starting from zero, but that's not true! You already have more information than you did at the beginning of your turn. This means every time you start again, you'll have more information to help you win! So, before you flip the Monster tokens back over, take a moment to memorize the location of all the Monsters.
Example (continued)
Because you played the Ghost card and played its Special Rule, you are now searching for the Ghost token. Its Special Rule allowed you to reveal a token, but it was a Troll, so you Search, only to turn over a Skeleton token. That's a miss. But there's a silver lining: You have a Skeleton card in your hand! All you need to do is remember where it is, and next time it's your turn, you'll be able to play your Skeleton card and reveal that token!
Because you missed, you now flip over a Candle token to its unlit side. Now everyone returns the cards on the table to their hands and you flip all Monster tokens face down.
It's now the next player's turn! Good news, the next player has a Troll card. They play that card in front of them and use the Troll's Special Rule: They pick up a face-down token and show it to everyone without looking at it. It's a Ghost! You have that card, so you just have to remember where that token is!
The player puts the token back, and performs their search by flipping over the Troll token you revealed to them on your turn! They leave their Troll card on the table, the Troll token stays face up, and play moves on to the next player. You're doing great... for now!
Revealing Tokens
Whenever you flip over a token (when using a Monster's Special Rule or if you reveal it when you are searching for your Monster), always put it back where you found it. This is a memory game, after all. You don't want to move tokens more than you need to!
Next Turn
It's now the turn of the player to the left of the person who just played. Reminder: If that player doesn't have any cards in their hand, the turn passes to the next player.
Victory!
If everyone's cards are on the table at the end of someone's turn, you've all won! Congratulations! You've helped return the Country's Monsters to their place in the famous Encyclopedia.
Defeat!
If you flip the last Candle token to its unlit side, you've lost! The Monsters have eluded your group this time.
And Now...?
Victory or Defeat, you can replay the Country or move on to the next one. But don't forget, you can't check a Country off on the world map (page 3) if you haven't succeeded there!
Finishing a Volume
If you have played through all 3 Countries in a Volume, you can all move on to the next Volume. As mentioned earlier, you can go back to revisit Countries where you got stuck... or because you enjoyed them so much!
Welcome, brave Monster Spotters! You have been chosen to perform a very important task: You must complete the world-famous Encyclopedia of Monsters! This great book contains a list of all the monsters, spirits, gods, and creatures from legends, stories, and beliefs all over the world. Over the course of centuries, the book has been written, re-written, and updated... but recently it was found to be missing some passages!
We believe this happened because people have stopped believing in these beings... But you, clever Monster Spotters, are well aware that they still exist.
Your job is to travel to the Countries where these beings live and find them! Only then can you return them to the great Encyclopedia of Monsters!
Pack some good walking boots, because your first stop is Scotland, on the northern tip of the British Isles.
Good luck, brave adventurers, and happy spotting!