Ghosts Galore
Ghosts Galore Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 5 player boards (two-sided)
- 78 track tiles
- 5 overview cards (two-sided)
- 5 minecarts (two pieces each) — assemble the minecarts as shown before your first play
- 1 lamp token (start marker)
- 1 scoring pad
Monster Scoring Icons (printed on the tiles)
- Dragon — each Dragon scores equal to the total of your Dragons; -5 if you have none.
- Ghost — 6 per Ghost on a path with 3+ Ghosts on it; 3 otherwise.
- Golem — 4/10/18/28/40 for 1/2/3/4/5 Golems that are not adjacent to other Golems.
- Satyr — each Satyr scores 1 per different monster on its path (including itself).
- Skeleton — each Skeleton scores 1 per symbol (disregarding its printed value).
- Slime — each Slime scores 1 per curve plus 2 per double curve.
- Bat — 5 per Bat if it is adjacent to another Bat; 0 otherwise.
- Werewolf — 4 per Werewolf plus one-time bonus of 10 (5 with 2 players) if you have the most.
- Wisp — 3/4/5 per Wisp if you have at least 1/4/7 Wisps total.
- Diamond — score their printed value.
- Special doors — score 2 per section of that path if connected to a matching door.
- All other connections — score 1 per section of that path.
Setup
- Each player takes a random player board and places it with either side facing up in front of them.
- Also take an overview card and minecart and place these items next to your player board.
- Turn all track tiles to the reverse side and mix them thoroughly. Then each player takes one track tile and places it face down in front of them. You may look at the front of your tile at any time but keep it hidden from the other players.
- Use the remaining tiles to form 8 face-down stacks and place them on the side. The number of tiles in each stack depends on the number of players:
| PLAYER COUNT | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TILES PER STACK | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
Return any leftover tiles to the game box—you will not need them.
- Determine a start player and give them the lamp token. Keep the scoring pad nearby—you will need it at the end of the game.
Now you are ready to play!
Goal of the Game
Round after round, you will be building track to expand your ghost train, filling it up with various monsters, each with its own quirks and likings. The player who best manages the preferences of each monster and builds their track most skillfully will win this game.
Course of Play
The game is played over eight rounds. In each round, you first claim a track tile from the current stack and then place it on your player board. After eight rounds, everyone must place their hidden tile (see step 3 of setup) to complete their board, which will then be scored.
Claiming Track
At the start of each round, move one of the stacks on the side (see step 4 of setup) to the center of the playing area, as the so-called current stack for that round. Then, beginning with the player with the lamp token, each player gets one or more turns, until all players have claimed one track tile each.
On your turn, you must carry out one of the following two actions:
A) Draw a track tile from the current stack and place it face up next to the stack. Then decide whether you want to claim it. If you do, place your minecart on top of that tile. Otherwise, leave it face up next to the stack. Even if there are face-up tiles next to the stack already, you may only claim the tile you just drew.
OR
B) Choose a face-up tile that has not been claimed yet by placing your minecart on it. This action is not available until there are unclaimed tiles next to the stack (see action A). You may choose a tile that you have placed there on a previous turn, but you do not have to. Note that, during this action, no tiles are drawn from the stack.
Then the next player in clockwise order takes a turn. Skip any players who have already claimed a track tile this round (i.e., whose minecart is on a tile in the center).
Important! As soon as only one player remains to claim a track tile, turn all tiles left in the current stack, if any, face up. That player must then carry out action B by choosing a track tile from the five available tiles.
Example (two-player game)
- A new round has begun. Greg has the lamp token and turns the top tile of the current stack face up, but he chooses not to claim it.
- Now it is Mary's turn. She could claim the tile that Greg has revealed from the stack, but she rather wants to draw a new one. She likes what she sees so she places her minecart on it.
- Because Greg is the only one left to claim a tile, he reveals all tiles from the stack and must choose one of the five tiles without minecart, placing his minecart on the chosen tile.
Placing Track
Once all players have claimed a track tile, you must place your claimed tile on an unoccupied space of your player board and take your minecart back, keeping it ready for the next round.
Placement rules:
- You may rotate the tile freely (but do not turn it face down).
- The new tile does not need to touch an existing one.
- Dead ends are allowed, i.e., track does not need to continue. For scoring purposes, you should avoid dead ends, though.
- You may not displace or cover a tile that you have placed on a previous turn.
Example: Greg places the tile he just claimed as shown. He could have placed it on any other unoccupied space, in any orientation.
Return the remaining four track tiles in the center to the game box and pass the lamp token to the left. Then play the next round in the same fashion.
Track Types
- Straight — shows one track section.
- Curve — shows one track section.
- Bridge — shows two track sections.
- Double Curve — shows two track sections.
Monsters always belong to the track section to which they are closest with their feet. This is relevant for the Satyr scoring (see Scoring below).
End of Game
At the end of the 8th round, all players must place their hidden tile on the last remaining space of their player board. Then take the scoring pad and score your boards as follows:
Scoring
Dragons: Count how many dragons you have and check the following table for how many points you get; you lose 5 points if you have none.
| Dragons | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | -5 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 36 | 49 | 64 |
Ghosts: On paths with at least 3 ghosts, each ghost scores 6 points. All other ghosts score only 3 points each.
Golems: Count how many golems you have that are not orthogonally adjacent to another golem and check the following table for how many points you get.
| Golems | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 0 | 4 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 40 |
Satyrs: Each satyr scores a number of points equal to the number of different types of monsters on the same path as that satyr, including itself.
Skeletons: Each skeleton scores a number of points equal to the number of diamond symbols you have on your tiles, disregarding their printed value.
Slimes: Each slime scores a number of points equal to the number of curves on your tiles, counting double curves as two curves.
Bats: Each bat scores 5 points if its tile is orthogonally adjacent to at least one tile with another bat; isolated bats are worth no points.
Werewolves: Each werewolf scores 4 points. If you have the most werewolves, you score an additional 10 points total (even if tied for most). Exception: In a 2-player game, you only score an additional 5 points (not 10) if you have the most wolves.
Wisps: Count how many wisps you have in total and check the following table for how many points you get per wisp.
| NUMBER OF WISPS | 0-3 | 4-6 | 7 or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| POINTS PER WISP | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Diamonds: Total the printed values of all diamonds on your tiles.
Bone doors: Check if there is an uninterrupted path from one bone door to the other. If there is, score 2 points per track section on that path.
Tooth doors: The same applies to the tooth doors.
Other paths: For all other paths from one door to another, you get 1 point per track section on that path. Paths connecting only one door or no door at all score no points.
Total the points from all 13 categories. The player with the most total points wins.
In case of a tie, the tied player who has fewer dead ends (i.e., track running into an empty tile edge) wins. If still tied, enjoy your shared victory!
Scoring Example
Mary and Greg have just completed a game and are now scoring their boards:
- Both players have one dragon each, so they score 1 point each.
- Greg is missing a 3rd ghost on his long path, so he gets only 6 points (3 per ghost). Mary has 4 ghosts on one path for a whopping 24 points.
- Both players have one golem each, so they score 4 points each.
- Greg's satyr sees 7 other monster types on its path (all but slime) so this satyr scores 8 points. Mary's satyr sees 4 other monster types for 5 points.
- Greg has 4 skeletons but only 2 diamonds—for 8 points. Mary, on the other hand, has 4 diamonds but only 1 skeleton—for 4 points.
- Thanks to a couple of double curves, Greg has 9 curves total so his only slime scores 9 points. Mary's only slime scores 7 points.
- Greg has 3 bats but only two of them are adjacent to one another, so he scores only 10 points. Mary has a similar problem: her bottom bat is disconnected from the rest.
- Greg has one more werewolf than Mary (3 vs. 2) so he scores the bonus 5 points for a total of 17 points (=3×4+5).
- Both players have not made it to the next scoring tier for wisps—Mary is missing only one wisp. If she had 4 wisps, she would have scored 4×4=16 points instead of 3×3=9 points.
- Greg has a "1" and a "3" diamond; Mary has two "1" diamonds more than him.
- For the bone doors, Greg took the short path comprising 3 sections; Mary took a detour over 5 sections. Both players score 2 points per section.
- For the tooth doors, Greg took a long and windy path over 8 sections (using both sections of the center tile); Mary took the short path over 4 sections. Again, both players score 2 points per section.
- Greg has an additional path at the bottom comprising 2 sections; Mary has a short one up top comprising 1 section.
In total, Greg scores 97 points; Mary scores 5 points more and wins.
Variant for Experienced Players
In step 3 of setup, take two track tiles each instead of just one and choose one of the two tiles to keep as your hidden tile. Mix the other tile with the rest, before forming the eight stacks during step 4.