Ghost Chase Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal
• How to Learn the Rules
• Step 1: How Many Players Are Playing?
• Step 2: Preparation
• Step 3: Max Moves
• Step 4: The Ghost Chasers Move
• Step 5: The Time Passes...
• Step 6: The Next Round Begins
  • Max Must Show Himself
• Step 7: Ending the Game
  • Victory for the Ghost Chasers
  • Victory for Max
  • Max Gets Caught in the Trap!
  • New Game?
• The Secret Passage
• The Special Cards for Max
  • The Cheat Cards
  • The Break Cards
  • The Chimney Card
  • The Door Card
• The Special Card for the Ghost Chasers
  • The Trap Card
• Component Overview

Goal

One player takes the role of Max, the ghost. Max hides himself in the Canterville castle. The other players are the ghost chasers and search for Max in the castle. Max and the ghost chasers begin the game in rooms of their choice. Then Max and his chasers move from room to room. Max moves invisibly, showing himself only from time to time. The creatures living around the castle determine when Max must show himself. After each game round, one animal is removed from the board. When all animals of one type have been removed, Max must show which room he is in and how he got there. Max has a code of honor and will not enter the same room twice during the chase.

Unlike Max, the chasers may enter each room as often as they like. They try to force Max into a dead end to catch him. All the chasers win if one of the chasers enters the room where Max is. If the last animal is removed from the board with Max having not been found, the player playing the role of Max is the winner!

How to Learn the Rules

Max, the ghost, will explain the simple rules of the game to you. He will also give you useful tips and hints. He has placed the rules in colored frames to make things easier.

First read through the rules, frame by frame, in the red frames. Then, read the text in the black frames. This text gives details on the various actions players may take in the game. Max wants to play the first round with you, so you will better understand how to play.

Step 1: How Many Players Are Playing?

An overview of all components is on the last page of these rules. Hand out the components described below and return unused material to the box. In this case (for your first game), that is the chimney card, the door card with the locked door figure, and the trap card with the ghost trap figure.

One of the players plays Max. He takes the ghost figure, the 54 room cards, 2 cheat cards, and 2 break cards.

The other players are the ghost chasers. The number of ghost chase figures and the number of animal frames is the same as the number of players chasing Max. The chasers get:

• 4 chasers: use 4 randomly chosen animal frames and each player gets 1 ghost chaser figure.
• 3 chasers: use all 5 animal frames and each player gets 1 ghost chaser figure.
• 2 chasers: use 4 randomly chosen animal frames and each player gets 2 ghost chaser figures.
• 1 chaser: use all 5 animal frames and the player gets 3 ghost chaser figures.

Tip: With the special cards (see also the special-card sections below), the players decide how difficult it will be for Max or for the ghost chasers to win. Before beginning, the players decide which of the special cards to give Max. The chimney card and the door card increase Max's chances to win. The trap card increases the chances for the chasers to win. Players can also give Max only one break card and/or one cheat card to increase the chasers' chances.

Step 2: Preparation

Place the board in the middle of the table. The ghost chasers lay the animal frames face up on the table.

Place the animals corresponding to the animal frames being used on the appropriate spaces around the castle on the board.

The ghost chasers put their figures in rooms of their choice. More than one chaser may be in a room. Next, the Max player places his figure in the empty room of his choice. Then, Max searches through the 54 room cards for the room corresponding to that room and places it face up on the table.

The ghost chasers select one of their animal frames and place it next to the board.

Whenever all players have taken a turn in a round, the round ends and they remove one animal matching the animal frame next to the board and place it in the frame. When all animals for this frame have been removed from the board, Max must reveal himself. When there are no more animals on the board, if Max is alone in a room, he wins the game.

The figures show the positions of the ghost chasers in the castle. So that Max can move invisibly, the Max player plays the room cards face down for his movements. With the cheat cards and the break cards, the Max player can make very tricky moves (see the special-card sections below for more information on these). Information on how Max and the ghost chasers may move is described in the next step.

Tip: The chasers should distribute themselves throughout the castle and not all start in one room with one door.

Example of game setup with four ghost chasers: the board is set with the animals for the frames in use (for example, 5 owls, 4 bats, 4 cats, 6 hedgehogs, 5 mice) placed around the castle, one animal frame (e.g. hedgehog) next to the board, each ghost chaser figure placed in a room of choice, and the room card matching Max's starting room (e.g. room #27) placed face up on the table.

Step 3: Max Moves

Max moves invisibly in the castle. His movement rules:

• Max may only move to adjacent rooms.
• Max may move through doors and trapdoors and up and down stairs and ladders.
• As a ghost, Max may also float through walls, floors, and ceilings.
• Max may not move diagonally from room to room nor may he float through the corner to a neighboring room.
• Max may only move to each room once in the game (exception: cheat card, see below).
• Max must move to a new room in each round (exception: break card, see below).
• Max can use the secret passage (see below).
• Max may not move to a room where a ghost chaser is.

The Max player searches through the room card deck for the room he wants to move to. He places this card face down next to the face up room card, showing where he started.

He then removes the Max figure from the board to show that he is now moving invisibly.

When the Max player finishes his turn, the ghost chasers take their turns!

The Max player moves first in each round. Then, the ghost chasers take turns moving in clockwise order starting with the player to the left of the Max player. Until the Max player must show himself, the players can leave the Max figure next to the board, or the ghost chasers may place it where they think Max is.

Note: the ghost can move through the floor, through the ceiling, and through walls. The ghost may not move from room 6 to room 20 and not from room 6 to room 1.

Tip: The Max player should keep his cards to himself and not let the other players see them. He should also be careful not to stare at the room where he plans to move so that he does not give hints to the ghost chasers. He should be aware, for example, that he can move from room 14 to room 27, from room 35 to room 28 and from room 39 to room 40.

Step 4: The Ghost Chasers Move

Now the ghost chasers move in clockwise order, starting with the player to the left of the Max player. Their movement rules:

• The ghost chasers may only move to adjacent rooms.
• The ghost chasers may only move through the castle using "normal" ways: through doors and trap doors and up or down stairs and ladders. These "normal" ways are shown on the board with broken white lines on the floors, ceilings, and walls.
• Unlike Max, the ghost chasers may choose to remain in a room and not move. They are not required to move each turn.

Have all the ghost chasers taken their turns? Then, remove an animal from the edge of the forest...

After Max moves, the ghost chasers take their turns. They should discuss amongst themselves which room the invisible Max has moved to. To help them keep track of where they think Max is, they can use his figure to mark the room where they think he is.

Note: a ghost chaser in room 51 may move to room 52, room 54 and room 50. The broken white lines on the board show where the ghost chasers may move from room to room.

Step 5: The Time Passes...

To mark the passing of time through the night, the players remove an animal from the board and place it in the frame next to the board.

After all the ghost chasers have taken their turns, they remove an animal from the edge of the forest near the castle. They remove an animal that matches the frame that is next to the board and place it in an empty space in the frame. Thus, the night passes, and, for the ghost chasers, time seems to disappear just as the ghost did at the castle door.

Tip: As there are different numbers of the various animals (e.g. six hedgehogs, but only four cats), the ghost chasers can influence when Max must become visible by the order they choose for the animal frames.

Step 6: The Next Round Begins

The game continues to the next round with the players following the rules from Step 3. The Max player places the room card, representing the room he wants to move to, face down on the table to the right of the card he played last round. Max floats invisibly one room further. Next the ghost chasers take their turns. At the end of the round, the players remove another animal from the board. This pattern is repeated until the game ends (Step 7), interrupted only by the times Max must show himself.

Max Must Show Himself

When the last animal of the type shown on the frame next to the board is removed from the board, the frame is full and Max must show himself. The Max player does this by turning over the face down cards that represent his movement over the past few rounds. Then, he places the Max figure in the room shown on the last card.

The ghost chasers choose a new animal frame for the next set of rounds. The new frame indicates which animals will now be removed from the board.

The players place the full frame back in the box - it is not used again. The Max player places the face up room cards face down in the box, leaving only the card representing the room he is now in. The followers may not look at the room cards in the box to see which rooms Max has visited.

Now that he has shown himself, the game continues and he becomes invisible again.

Tip: The ghost chasers should remember which rooms Max has visited (but may not write them down). As Max may not visit these rooms again, he has fewer possible moves as the game progresses.

Step 7: Ending the Game

Victory for the Ghost Chasers

The game ends immediately with victory for the ghost chasers when one (or more) ghost chasers moves to the room where Max is. When this happens, Max must reveal himself. Such is the ghost code of honor! All the ghost chasers have won the game together!

Victory for Max

When the players remove the last animal from the board, the game ends and Max has won! Naturally, Max must reveal the face down cards showing how he moved over the past few turns, managing to avoid the ghost chasers.

Max Gets Caught in the Trap!

The ghost chasers also win if Max is unable to move. This can happen, for example, if Max must move to a room where a ghost chaser is or if he no longer has the room cards for any neighboring rooms and has no more special cards to play.

New Game?

After the game has ended, the player who found Max can take the role of Max for another game. Alternatively, the players can choose which among them will play Max in the new game using any method they prefer.

The Secret Passage

Max knows about a secret passage that runs under the castle. It runs between the entrance hall (room #1) and the barn (room #54). When Max is in either of these rooms, he may choose to use the secret passage. The ghost chasers may not use the secret passage as they do not know it is there.

The Max player need not take any special action or tell the others he is using the secret passage. He simply plays the card for the room (#1 or #54) that he moves to.

The Special Cards for Max

The Cheat Cards

Twice in the game Max may move to a room where he has already been. To do this, the Max player announces out loud, "I'm cheating!" Then he takes the used card from the box or from those face down on the table that represents the room he wants to move to, and places it face down with the cheat card. The ghost chasers get no information regarding which room Max has returned to.

The Break Cards

Twice in the game, Max may take a break and remain in a room instead of moving on his turn. He does this by playing a break card instead of a room card. As the break cards have the same backs as the room cards, the ghost chasers will not know Max has taken a break until he next reveals himself. The Max player may play both break cards back to back, and, thus take two breaks in a row.

The Chimney Card

When Max has this card, he may use the chimney to fly from room #42 to room #53 or from room #53 to room #42.

If the Max player begins the game with this card, he places it face up on the table where he is sitting. Its presence will remind the ghost chasers that Max has the ability to use the chimney to fly between rooms #42 and #53.

The card remains face up and Max does not play the card as he does a room card when he wants to use the chimney. Also, he need not tell the others he is using the chimney. Important: when he uses the chimney, he merely plays the room card that he is flying to: either room #42 or room #53.

The Door Card

With this card, the Max player can lock the door in one of several rooms in the castle, thus slowing the ghost chasers' pursuit for a time.

There are eight rooms in the castle that have doors that can be locked by Max. They are outlined on the room cards and the board in red. The eight rooms are: #12, #17, #24, #30, #34, #37, #45 and #51. To lock the door in one of these rooms, Max plays the door card face up on the table in addition to his normal play of a face down room card on his turn. He then places the locked door figure on the door he wants to lock. Max need not be in the room with the door he is locking. He can, for example, lock the door to room #24 when he is in room #50.

When a ghost chaser wants to go through the locked door, he must stay in the room for one turn to unlock the door. On this turn, instead of moving, he uses the turn to unlock the door. To do this, he merely removes the locked door figure from the board, but may not move until his next turn. On his next turn, he may, but need not, move through the now-unlocked door.

After Max places the locked door on the board, it remains until a ghost chaser unlocks it. Max, of course, is not impeded by the locked door as he can float through it.

The Special Card for the Ghost Chasers

The Trap Card

The players decide at the beginning of the game which ghost chaser will have this card. That player puts the card face up on the table where he is sitting with the trap figure on top of it. During the game, this player may place the trap figure in a room as he leaves it.

When Max enters the room with the trap, he must show himself by placing his figure on the board in that room. On his next turn, Max again becomes invisible and removes his figure from the board. The trap figure stays in the room.

Tip: The players can use the special cards to make it easier or more difficult for Max or the ghost chasers to win the game. The chimney card and the door card increase Max's chances of winning. The trap card helps the ghost chasers. To make things more challenging for the Max player, the players can take one break card and/or one cheat card from Max at the beginning of the game.

Component Overview

• 24 animals: 4 cats, 4 bats, 5 owls, 5 mice, 6 hedgehogs
• 5 animal frames
• Max, the ghost, with stand
• 4 ghost chasers, with stands
• 1 game board
• 54 room cards
• 7 special cards: 2 cheat cards, 2 break cards, 1 chimney card, 1 door card, 1 trap card
• 1 locked door, with stand
• 1 ghost trap, with stand