Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters: Anniversary Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Object
• The Basic Game
  • Setting Up the Basic Game
  • Playing the Basic Game
    • Turn Sequence
    • 1. Rolling the Movement Die
    • 2. Revealing a Ghost Card
    • 3. Moving
    • 4. Picking up Treasure Jewels
    • 5. Dropping off Treasure Jewels
    • 6. Fighting Ghosts
  • Haunted Rooms
    • Haunting a Room
    • Unhaunting a Room
  • Winning the Basic Game
  • Losing the Basic Game
• The Advanced Game
  • Setting Up the Advanced Game
  • Playing the Advanced Game
    • Door Cards
    • Draw + Shuffle Cards
    • Picking up Treasure Jewels
  • Winning the Advanced Game
  • Losing the Advanced Game
• The Head Haunter Game
  • Setting Up the Head Haunter Game
    • Reroll Cards
  • Playing the Head Haunter Game
    • Playing Cards
    • Rolling a 6
  • Head Haunter Cards
    • Room Cards
    • A/B/C/D Cards
    • Any Room Cards
    • Move Ghost Cards
    • Door Cards
    • Spook Cards
    • Shuffle Cards
  • Winning the Head Haunter Game

Contents

• 1 Game Board
• 4 Treasure Hunters
• 24 Ghosts
• 6 Hauntings
• 1 White Movement Die
• 2 Black Fight Dice
• 8 Treasure Jewels
• 19 Ghost Cards (green borders)
  • 12 Room Cards
  • 1 Shuffle Card
  • 1 Draw 2 + Shuffle Card
  • 1 Draw 3 + Shuffle Card
  • 2 Blue Door Cards
  • 2 Green Door Cards
• 33 Head Haunter Cards (black borders)
  • 18 Room Cards
  • 3 Spook Cards
  • 12 Move Ghost Cards
• 4 Reroll Cards

Object

Players work as a team to escape from the house with all eight Treasure Jewels before six of the rooms become haunted. Win or lose, you do it together!

The Basic Game

2-4 Players – Cooperative

Setting Up the Basic Game

Each player takes a Treasure Hunter and places it outside the front door.

Note: In a two-player game, each player controls TWO Treasure Hunters.

Take the 19 Ghost Cards (green border) and remove the DRAW 2 + SHUFFLE card, the DRAW 3 + SHUFFLE card, and the two blue and two green DOOR cards (you don't use these cards when playing the Basic Game).

Shuffle the remaining 13 Ghost Cards and place them facedown in their space on the board to form a draw pile.

Each room is marked with a letter. Place a Ghost in the rooms lettered C, F, I and L.

Place a Treasure Jewel in the rooms lettered A, C, D, E, G, I, J, and L. These rooms have a RED background to their room letter.

Note: The numbers on the TREASURE JEWELS aren't used in the Basic Game, so you can ignore them.

Note: Do not cover the room letters with figures or TREASURE JEWELS.

The board key: Treasure Hunters start outside the front door; card spaces (draw pile and discard pile) sit near the entrance; each room has a room letter; rooms marked for Treasure Jewels; rooms marked as ghost starting rooms; and the wagon, where dropped-off Treasure Jewels are collected.

Playing the Basic Game

On their turn, each player can take the following actions in the order listed:

Turn Sequence

1. Roll Movement Die
2. Reveal Ghost Card (if necessary)
3. Move
4. Pick Up/Drop Off Treasure Jewels
5. Fight

1. Rolling the Movement Die

Your turn always begins by rolling the white Movement Die. The result shows two things: whether you must put a new Ghost in a room (see #2 below), and how many spaces you may move your Treasure Hunter (see #3 below).

Note: You must roll the Movement Die at the beginning of your turn even if you plan on staying where you are.

2. Revealing a Ghost Card

A – If a Ghost Icon appears on the movement die, before you move, you must flip over the top Ghost Card from the draw pile and place it in the discard pile.

B – If there is a letter on the card, you must place a Ghost in the room with the matching letter.

C – If the flipped card is the SHUFFLE card, do not place a new Ghost on the board. Instead, collect all of the cards – both the draw pile and discard pile – shuffle them together and set them beside the board to form a new draw pile.

3. Moving

You may then move UP TO the number shown on the die. Any unused movement is forfeit.

• Each square in the hallway is one space.
• You may move through rooms, and each room counts as a single space.
• You must enter and exit rooms through a door.
• You may not move diagonally.
• You may only enter and exit the house through the front door.

Doors: Doors Do Not Count as a Space. Rooms Count as 1 Space.

Treasure Hunters CANNOT share hallway spaces, but they CAN share room spaces.

In the hallway, players may move through spaces occupied by other Treasure Hunters, but they may NOT stop in a space that is already occupied. If a player doesn't roll enough to move past another mover, they must stop in the first empty space behind the other mover.

You may choose not to move on your turn, but you must still roll the Movement Die and draw a card (if necessary), even if you are outside the house.

Picking up Treasure Jewels (see #4), dropping off Treasure Jewels (see #5) or fighting Ghosts (see #6) ends your movement.

4. Picking up Treasure Jewels

If you end your move in a room with a Treasure Jewel, you may pick it up and place it in your Treasure Hunter's backpack. You must keep it there until you succeed in dropping it off (see #5). You may only carry one Treasure Jewel at a time. Once picked up, you may only set down a Treasure Jewel outside the house. You may fight Ghosts and Hauntings while carrying a jewel.

5. Dropping off Treasure Jewels

If you successfully move outside the house with a Treasure Jewel, your movement ends. Drop off the Treasure Jewel by placing it into the wagon beside the door. You may reenter the house on your next turn.

6. Fighting Ghosts

If you end your move in a room with a Ghost, you must fight it.

To fight a Ghost, you roll one black Fight Die. If you get the Ghost Icon, you may remove one Ghost Figure from the room. Note: If you roll a Haunting or a Blank, take no actions and there is no penalty.

If at least one other Treasure Hunter is in the room with you, they can help you by rolling the second black Fight Die. Each Ghost Icon on the Fight Dice removes one Ghost from the room. If there are more than two players in the room, you may only choose one of them to help you fight.

All Ghosts removed from the board are returned to the supply and may be used again later.

Haunted Rooms

You have to keep your eye on the number of Ghosts on the board. If too many start showing up, rooms will become Haunted. If six rooms become Haunted at the same time, you lose the game!

Haunting a Room

When three Ghosts inhabit the same room at the same time, that room becomes HAUNTED. Remove the Ghosts and replace them with a red Haunting.

3 Ghosts = 1 Haunting.

Haunted rooms cannot accept any more Ghosts. If a card tells you to place a Ghost in a room that is already Haunted, move the Ghost sequentially up through the lettered rooms (from A to B to C, etc.) until it finds an available space (from room L, a Ghost loops back to room A).

Warning: Hauntings will latch onto Treasure Jewels. If you are carrying a Treasure Jewel while in a Haunted room, your Treasure Hunter CANNOT move from the Haunted room until that room has been "UN-Haunted."

Unhaunting a Room

A Haunting may be removed only if two players work together. If at least one other Treasure Hunter is in the room with you, they can help you try and remove a Haunting. Choose a Treasure Hunter in the Haunted room with you, then each of you rolls one Fight Die – if at least one Haunting Icon is rolled, the Haunting is removed from the room.

All Hauntings removed from the board are returned to the supply and may be used again later.

Winning the Basic Game

Once all Treasure Hunters are safely outside of the house with all eight Treasure Jewels, the players win!

Losing the Basic Game

If all six Hauntings are on the board before the Treasure Hunters can escape with all eight Treasure Jewels, the players lose!

The players can also lose if each Treasure Hunter is stuck in a different Haunted room while holding a Treasure Jewel. Because everyone is unable to move, the game ends in a loss.

The Advanced Game

2-4 Players – Cooperative

Setting Up the Advanced Game

Add the DRAW 2 + SHUFFLE, the DRAW 3 + SHUFFLE and the blue and green DOOR Ghost Cards (green borders) to the cards used in the Basic Game.

Mix all of the Treasure Jewels with their numbers facedown, then place them in each room that has a RED background to its room letter. DO NOT look at the number on the reverse side of each Treasure Jewel.

Playing the Advanced Game

The game proceeds as described in the Basic Game section, with the same goals in mind; however, the following cards work differently.

Door Cards

If you draw a blue or green DOOR card, the doors of the corresponding color are now locked. Players may not move through a locked door. Place the DOOR card to the side of the discard pile to remind you what color is locked. Those doors will remain locked until a new DOOR card is drawn or until the deck is shuffled.

If a different color DOOR card is drawn, place the older DOOR card into the discard pile. The old doors are unlocked now and the new color is locked.

If any type of SHUFFLE card is drawn, place the DOOR card into the discard pile before shuffling the discard pile into the deck. All doors are unlocked.

Draw + Shuffle Cards

If you draw a DRAW 2 + SHUFFLE or a DRAW 3 + SHUFFLE, you must draw and resolve the additional number of cards indicated and place any Ghosts on the board. After that you must shuffle the discard pile with the remaining draw pile and any DOOR cards (Note: If, when drawing the two or three additional cards, you happen to get another SHUFFLE, DRAW 2 + SHUFFLE, or DRAW 3 + SHUFFLE card, it counts as one of the two or three cards you must draw, but it does not take effect and should be placed on the discard pile).

Picking up Treasure Jewels

Each Treasure Jewel has a number on its reverse side. In the Advanced Game, Treasure Jewels must be removed from the house in numerical order.

When you end your move in a room with a Treasure Jewel, you may flip it over to reveal its number BEFORE deciding to pick it up. You may pick up Treasure Jewels in any order, but you may only remove one from the house if it is the next in numerical order. The first Treasure Jewel to be removed must be the number 1 jewel, then 2, then 3, and so on.

Winning the Advanced Game

Once all Treasure Hunters have safely escaped the house with all eight Treasure Jewels in numerical order, the players win!

Losing the Advanced Game

If all six Hauntings are on the board before the Treasure Hunters can escape with all eight Treasure Jewels, the players lose!

The players can also lose if each Treasure Hunter is stuck in a different Haunted room while holding a Treasure Jewel. Because everyone is unable to move, the game ends in a loss.

The players can also lose if all Treasure Hunters pick up Treasure Jewels that cannot be removed from the house. For example, if Treasure Jewel 1 has already been dropped off outside the house and the players all pick up Treasure Jewels numbered 3 or higher, then none of those Treasure Jewels can be removed from the house. If this happens, the players lose.

The Head Haunter Game

2-5 players – 1 vs All

In the Head Haunter game, one player takes control of the Ghosts while the remaining players work together to get all eight Treasure Jewels out of the house. If the Head Haunter can get six Hauntings on the board before the Treasure Hunters get out of the house with all eight Treasure Jewels, the Head Haunter wins!

Note: The Head Haunter game can be played with as few as two players. In a two-player game, one player plays as the Head Haunter and the other player controls all four Treasure Hunters. In a three-player game, one player plays as the Head Haunter and the other two players each control two Treasure Hunters. In a four-player game, one player plays as the Head Haunter, the other three players each control one Treasure Hunter, and the fourth Treasure Hunter is not used.

Setting Up the Head Haunter Game

Setup is the same as in the Basic Game except for the following:

1. Choose one player to be the Head Haunter.
2. After completing setup as described in the Basic Game, give the Head Haunter the remaining Ghosts and all the Hauntings.
3. Give each Treasure Hunter the REROLL card matching their color.
4. Shuffle all 52 Ghost Cards (green borders) and Head Haunter Cards (black borders) together to form the draw pile.
5. The Head Haunter draws a hand of three cards.

Reroll Cards

Each Treasure Hunter starts the game with a single-use REROLL card. Once per game, they may use their REROLL card to reroll a single die they just rolled. They must accept the new result. Remove the REROLL card from the game after use.

Playing the Head Haunter Game

Gameplay is the same as in the Basic Game except for the following:

Playing Cards

Whenever a Treasure Hunter rolls a Ghost symbol on the Movement Die, before the Treasure Hunter moves, the Head Haunter plays one card from their hand and takes whatever action the card allows (usually placing or moving Ghosts on the board).

After resolving the card, the Head Haunter places it on the discard pile UNLESS it has an X symbol on it. In the Head Haunter game, cards with an X symbol are single-use and should be removed from the game after being used instead of going to the discard pile.

The Head Haunter then refills their hand back to three cards. If the draw pile runs out of cards, shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile. Cards that were removed from the game are not shuffled back into the deck.

The Treasure Hunter who rolled the Movement Die now completes their turn as normal.

Rolling a 6

If a Treasure Hunter rolls a 6 on the Movement Die, the Head Haunter does not play a card this turn. The player who rolled the 6 gets to randomly pick a card from the Head Haunter's hand and puts it on the discard pile.

The discarded card goes to the discard pile (even if it has an X symbol) without taking effect.

Additionally, the Head Haunter does not refill their hand this turn and must begin the next turn with fewer cards. Note: It is possible for the Head Haunter to have no cards in their hand when a Ghost symbol is rolled on the Movement Die. If this happens, the Head Haunter will be unable to play a card but does refill their hand back to three cards as normal.

Head Haunter Cards

Remember: cards with an X symbol are single-use and should be removed from the game after being used instead of going to the discard pile.

Room Cards

Room cards work just like they do in the Basic Game – you must place a Ghost in the room with the matching letter.

A/B/C/D Cards

These cards allow the Head Haunter to place two Ghosts in any two of the indicated rooms. Each Ghost must be placed in a different room.

Any Room Cards

Add 1 Ghost: Add one Ghost to any room.

Add 2 Ghosts: Add two Ghosts to any ONE room. If there are already two Ghosts in the room, the first Ghost you place there becomes a Haunting, and the second Ghost moves to the next available room in sequential order.

Move Ghost Cards

Move one Ghost on the board an exact number of rooms up or down the alphabet. FOR EXAMPLE: If there was a Ghost in room C and you played a MOVE GHOST 2 card, you could move that Ghost either up to room E or down to room A.

Once it's finished moving, if the room contains a Haunting, move the Ghost sequentially up through the lettered rooms (from A to B to C, etc.) until it finds an available space, just as in the Basic Game.

Door Cards

These cards work differently in the Head Haunter Game than they do in the cooperative Advanced Game. When one of these cards is played, the doors of the matching color DO NOT LOCK; however, the Head Haunter can put a Ghost in any room that has a door of that color.

Spook Cards

Pick any Treasure Hunter in a room, force them to drop the Treasure Jewel they are holding, if any, and then move that Treasure Hunter up to three spaces.

Shuffle Cards

SHUFFLE, DRAW 2 + SHUFFLE and DRAW 3 + SHUFFLE cards work the same as they do in the Basic and Advanced Games.

Winning the Head Haunter Game

The Treasure Hunters win if they are able to get all eight Treasure Jewels and themselves out of the house.

The Head Haunter wins if they are able to place all six Hauntings on the board.

The Head Haunter can also win if each Treasure Hunter is stuck in a different Haunted room while holding a Treasure Jewel.