Geisterfalle
Geisterfalle Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
For 2 to 4 players, ages 6 and up.
Ghost hunters catch as many ghosts as possible. Every round you must quickly shoot your balls into the holes of your ghost track. This earns points. Whoever first brings their ghost hunter to the party at the end of the street wins!
Components
- 4 ghost tracks (ball tracks with tableaus to slide in)
- 13 ghost traps (12 blue balls and 1 red)
- 1 street (score track made of two puzzle pieces)
- 4 ghost hunters with stand feet
- 10 ghost tickets
- 8 anti-slip stickers
Setup
Before the first game
- Carefully punch all parts out of the punch boards.
- Slide the four tableaus into the ghost tracks from the top, so that they rest against the lower edge (1).
- Stick 2 anti-slip stickers each to the underside of the ghost tracks (2).
- Insert the four ghost hunters into their stand feet.
Before each game
- Place the street in the middle of the table. Each player receives a ghost hunter and places it in the headquarters.
- Each player also receives a ghost track and three blue balls. Place your ghost track with its short side facing you, so that the crosswalk points towards you. Keep your three blue balls ready here.
- Place the red ball in the hole at the headquarters.
- Shuffle the ten ghost tickets and place them face down, with the back side (white wandering ghost) facing up, as a stack.
Training: the ghost track
Before your first game you should practise with your balls on the ghost track. Roll the balls up the track so that they stay in the holes. Too much momentum is rarely good!
- You may play with one hand only. With your other hand you may hold the ghost track by placing one finger on the bridge, to the left or right (yellow circles).
- You may only flick your balls from below the bridge (green area), never from above it (red area). The balls must always be rolled through under the bridge.
- You must flick the balls one at a time, but you may flick the next one while the others are still rolling.
Playing the game
Starting a round
- You are all in the game at the same time. The youngest player gives the signal: "Auf die Geister, fertig ... los!" ("On your ghosts, ready... go!").
- Then flick your three balls into the holes on your ghost track as quickly as possible.
Special case 1: A ball may get stuck in the upper area of your ghost track without falling into a hole. In that case you may, exceptionally, nudge that ball from above so that it rolls back down to the crosswalk, where you can flick it again.
Special case 2: Did you flick a ball too hard, so that it landed outside your ghost track? Then quickly place it back at the crosswalk, and carry on.
The red ghost trap
Whenever a new round starts, the player whose ghost hunter stands furthest forward on the street receives the red ball.
- This player starts the round with four balls: three blue ones and the red one.
- They must also sink the red ball, otherwise their other sunk balls count for nothing.
- They may only call "Stopp!" once they have sunk all four.
- The red ball does not count itself: it gives no points and no ghost ticket.
- If several ghost hunters stand on the furthest-forward space, nobody receives the red ball.
End of round
When a player has sunk all their balls, they call out: "STOPP, Hände hoch!" ("Stop, hands up!").
- All players must immediately raise their hands and may flick no further balls.
- If some balls are still rolling and fall into a hole, those hits still count.
Scoring the round
The player who called "Stopp!" scores first. They add up their points and move their ghost hunter forward on the street by the corresponding number of spaces.
- Each green earth ghost is worth 1 point, each blue water ghost 2 points, and the red fire ghost 3 points.
- Did the player sink the ball in the middle hole, the one with the white wandering ghost (Irrgeist)? Then they now draw a ghost ticket, reveal it, and carry out the required action (*see page 5). Afterwards the used ticket is returned to the box.
- If all ghost tickets have already been used, shuffle all tickets and place them again as a face-down stack.
Afterwards the player to the left scores their points and, if they caught the white wandering ghost, takes their ghost ticket.
When all players have scored their points and ghost tickets, the next round starts. Return your balls to the lower edge of your ghost track at the crosswalk.
Then carry on: "Auf die Geister, fertig ... los!"
Final round and the party
The round is still fully scored, so several ghost hunters may reach the party. If several ghost hunters reach the party, they play one last decision round: "Auf die Geister, fertig ... los!" The first player to sink all three balls and call "Stopp!" wins the game. If several players call "Stopp!" at the same time, the player who has scored more points wins.
Ending the game
The first player whose ghost hunter reaches the party at the end of the street wins! Surplus points and ghost tickets are forfeited.
Ghost tickets
There are ten ghost tickets. The back of each shows the white wandering ghost. Tickets come in two kinds: those with immediate effect, and those with an effect for your next round.
Tickets with immediate effect (*)
- +2: Move forward two extra spaces on the street immediately.
- +3: Move forward three extra spaces on the street immediately.
- Jet-Pack: Move your figure immediately forward to the next ghost hunter. If you are in first place, you must instead move your figure back to the second-to-front ghost hunter.
Tickets with effect for your next round
- Green earth ghost ticket: Each green earth ghost you sink counts 2 points instead of 1 in your next round.
- Blue water ghost ticket: Each blue water ghost you sink counts 3 points instead of 2 in your next round.
- Zappenduster ("Pitch dark"): In your next round you must play with your eyes closed. You may not call "Stopp!"; you must wait until one of your fellow players ends the round.
- Au, verflixt! ("Ouch, drat!"): A ghost bit your hand. In your next round you must play with your other hand.
- Schnarchnase ("Sleepyhead"): At the start of your next round, wait with flicking until another player has sunk a ball. Only then may you start and flick your balls.
- Extraaa-Kugel ("Extra ball"): Flick one of your balls immediately. You have three attempts. If you sink a ghost, you may bring forward the corresponding points, in addition. If you hit the white wandering ghost, all other ghost hunters move forward one space immediately. If you hit nothing, nothing happens.
The sheet places the Extraaa-Kugel ticket above the heading for tickets with an effect in the next round, and the sheet's own layout does not state explicitly which group it belongs to. It is transcribed here as printed, with its effect described in full.
Pro variant
When you have played several games and are experienced ghost hunters, you may turn the street over to its reverse side. Your ghost hunters now move from right to left. It becomes trickier to score points, because in the pro variant you must look closely at which space your ghost hunter stands on: depending on that, certain ghosts count more, or not at all!
- Sort out the two ghost tickets showing a green and a blue ghost. They are not needed in the pro variant.
- All other rules stay the same.
Example: The green ghost hunter (the player with the green figure) receives 6 points instead of 3 if she catches the fire ghost in this round. The yellow ghost hunter receives 0 points instead of 3 if he catches the fire ghost in this round.