Monsters Menace the World Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Monsters
• Setup
• Card Anatomy
• How to Win
  • Gaining Infamy
  • Losing Infamy
• The World & Movement
• Order of Play
  • Phase 1: Move
  • Phase 2: Fight
  • Phase 3: Encounter
  • Phase 4: Deploy
• End of Game
• Gameplay Example
• Military Unit Special Abilities
• Clarifications
• Player References
  • Phase Sequence
  • In-Game Infamy
  • End-Game Scoring
  • Icons
  • Battle

The Monsters

Chupacoloso: An apex predator always emerges. With the reappearance of many colossal monsters, it was only a matter of time before one of them became a hunter of the hunters. The Chupacoloso seems to be related to the legendary chupacabra, or perhaps those legends were based on fleeting sightings of the feline Chupacoloso. Either way, he has very little use for humans in his thirst for monster flesh.

Konk: Konk is the offspring of giant, prehistoric apes found on a small, craggy island near Cuba. He was captured by the owners of a Florida theme park, but escaped into the wild soon afterward. He spent much of the 2005 Rampage kidnapping "friends" and stealing barges for fun. Enjoys playing with rockets.

Nessie: Once thought to be nothing more than a Scottish legend, Nessie hid within the depths of Loch Ness for millions of years after her species became extinct at the end of the Mesozoic. A unique blend of radiation exuded from the vents beneath the lake, extending Nessie's lifespan and allowing her to grow to titanic size. Finally emerged because she was tired of pesky humans taking grainy photographs of her.

Strigoika: The Amazon is home to many mysteries and undiscovered species, even after decades of study. One such long-overlooked species was Strigoika, a giant vampire bat. He has been worshiped by cults in the heart of the Amazon for centuries. This arrangement suited Strigoika just fine, as it has provided him with easy access to food. Now, however, he has ventured beyond his jungle realm to satiate himself on his fellow monsters.

Tomanagi: He was the last of his kind: a tomanagisaurus – a Triassic dinosaur large enough to dine on several tyrannosaurus rex each day. Originally, he was awoken by a giant tsunami off the coast of Japan, and was one of the first monsters to assert his dominance in the years that followed. Attempts to nuke him with cruise missiles in the 2005 Rampage resulted in him spawning an offspring: Baby Tomanagi.

Zorb: A being of mysterious origins, Zorb was once thought to be an alien from the planet Opticus Omega. It grew to an immense size after being the subject of radiation experiments at Area 51. During the 2005 Rampage, it was discovered that it is at least partially robotic.

The Minions: Though these six are asserting their dominance, there are a plethora of other monsters which are almost as terrifying. After erupting from Krakatoa where his egg was sustained and mutated for millions of years, the Pterror of the Skies has been a scourge across Asia. The Mecha-Monster, originally developed by the United States military to confront the monsters during the 2005 Rampage, has turned on its creators and now wreaks havoc on its own. Frosty, often previously glimpsed and credited as the Abominable Snowman, has emerged from the Himalayas to bring a chill upon the world. These and others have formed alliances with the greater monsters and serve as their minions. Even the gentle Pollendust has been seen helping the other monsters.

Setup

Randomly determine who goes first, then set up the game as follows:

1. Place the game board in the center of the table. Place the 3 dice near the game board.

2. Place a supply of Stomp tokens near the board. The number used varies depending on player count.

   • 2 players: 12
   • 3 players: 16
   • 4 players: 20

3. Shuffle the 10 Minion cards and place them face down near the board.

4. Each player chooses a Monster and Military to play, taking the appropriate minis, player cards, and Health and Infamy trackers, and placing them in front of them.

5. Each player places their Infamy and Military trackers on the 0 spaces on the appropriate tracks, and places their Health tracker on the space indicated by their Starting Health on their Monster player card.

6. Each player draws a Minion card, takes that Minion's token, and places both in front of them. Place a Mutation cube on the top space of that Minion's track on its card to track its Health.

7. Place the starting Military units on the board as shown in the illustration below.

   When playing with less than 4 players, the starting units for the Military or Militaries not being played are still placed on the board. Those units do not move, but will defend themselves if there is a battle in their space. An inactive player should roll for their attacks and choose their targets when they are attacked.

   When a Military Base for a Military not being played is Stomped, the 2 Tanks are still placed. The next player in turn order choses where they are place. See page 6 for details on stomping a base.

8. Finally, the first player chooses a Lair space (icon) to place their Monster mini and Minion token. Then, the player to their left chooses a different Lair, and so on until all Monsters and Minions have been placed.

Card Anatomy

Monster Card

A. Monster Name: What the humans call your Monster as they run away screaming.

B. Stats:

• Health: The starting Health value of the Monster. You may gain Health during the game, to a maximum of 25.
• Move: The number of spaces the Monster can move per turn.
• Attack: The number of attacks an active Monster may perform during its turn.
• Defense: The value an attacker must roll (or better) to hit this Monster.
• Damage: The amount of damage the Monster's attack deals to Monsters and Minions when it hits.

C. Mutation Chart: When encountering Mutation Sites, you can gain these upgrades. Each Monster has 2 unique Mutations and 2 that they share with another Monster.

D. Special Ability: Each Monster has a special ability that makes them unique and defines their strategy.

Military Card

A. Military Name: Which faction your Military belongs to.

B. Home Continents: These continents are where your Military Bases are located, and are the continents in which you have more deployment options for your Military. Each Military has 2 home continents: one of their own, and one they share with another Military.

C. Military Unit Stats: All Militaries have 3 types of units. Their stats have the same meaning as Monster stats, however Military units never have Attack or Health stats.

D. Unit Special Abilities: Some Military units have special abilities listed after their stats.

E. Military Research Chart: If you roll for Military Upgrades during your Deploy Phase, these are the abilities you can gain.

Minion Card

A. Name: What the tiny terror is called.

B. Stats: These are identical to Monster stats.

C. Special Ability: Like Monsters, all Minions have a Special Ability that makes them unique and defines their playstyle.

D. Health Track: The Minion's Health. Track it using a Mutation cube. Unlike Monsters, a Minion may never exceed its starting value.

How to Win

Your ultimate goal is to be the most Infamous Monster at the end of the game.

Gaining Infamy

There are several ways to gain Infamy to achieve that goal. The different sources of Infamy are:

• Stomp a City: +1-3 Infamy
• Stomp a Military Base: +3 Infamy
• Mutate: +1 Infamy
• Defeat a Monster with your Monster or Minion(s): +6 Infamy
• Defeat a Minion with your Monster or Minion(s): +3 Infamy
• Defeat a Monster or Minion with ONLY Military Units: +0 Infamy

The Infamy rewards for defeating Monsters or Minions only care if your Monster or Minion participates in the battle, not who got the final hit. If your Monster (or Minion) is present, you get the applicable Infamy, even if another Monster or a Military unit deals the hit that defeats the Monster or Minion.

Losing Infamy

If your Monster is defeated in a battle that ONLY includes Military units as hostile forces, you lose 2 Infamy.

The World & Movement

The game board is divided into spaces. Moving between adjacent spaces costs 1 point of Move. All spaces on the board are either land spaces or ocean spaces. Monsters and Minions can move through any type of space, and are not inhibited by ocean spaces. Thematically, they are considered to all have some means of traversing water (e.g., Tomanagi swims, Strigoika flies, Konk commandeers a barge, etc.). Military units, on the other hand, often have a restriction to Land Only or Ocean Only. Typically, those units may only move to and through spaces of that type.

Some islands are connected to other nearby land spaces via dashed lines. These lines represent ferries. A Land Only Military unit may enter the ocean space from either of the connected spaces and may only move to the other. The ocean space requires 1 point of Move as usual, but the unit may not end its move in the ocean space. To take the ferry line, a unit must have sufficient movement to end its move in a land space on the other side.

Since the world is a globe, the board wraps around horizontally as indicated by the arrows on the left and right edges. Zones on the left edge of the board are considered to be adjacent to zones on the right edge, and vice versa. Units can only make a wrap-around move between adjacent zones, and 1 point of Move is required to do so.

A few spaces have special clarifications:

• Indonesia (containing Krakatoa) is a mixed land and ocean space. Ocean Only units may move there normally, and Land Only units may access it via the ferry lines.
• Though the Hudson Bay is contained within Northeast Canada, the space is considered Land Only.
• The Suez and Panama Canals have been damaged by the Monsters. They are inoperable and cannot be used.

There is a limit to the number of Military units that can be in the same space. No space may contain more than 5 Military units at a time, except when units are just passing through on their way to another space that has room available. This limit applies to all Militaries, and is not 5 per Military. The 5 units can be a mix of different Militaries. This limit does not apply to Monsters or Minions.

Order of Play

There are 4 phases to a turn, which the active player goes through in order:

1. Move: Move your Monster, Minion, and Military units up to their Move value.
2. Fight: Resolve any battles resulting from your moves.
3. Encounter: Encounter the space your Monster is in if it did not retreat from battle.
4. Deploy: Place new Military units or roll for Military Upgrades.

Once a player has completed their turn, play proceeds clockwise to the next player.

Phase 1: Move

During your turn, you may move your Monster, your Minions, and any number of your Military units up to their Move value. You may move them in any order you wish, and you can decline to move any number of them.

Through the course of your turn, your forces will encounter forces of the other players, some of which will be considered hostile. For Monsters and Minions, ALL Military units (including your own) are hostile, as are the other players' Monsters and Minions. For Military units, all Monsters and Minions are considered hostile, but the other players' Military units are not.

A Monster, Minion, or Military unit must stop its movement immediately if it enters a space with hostile forces (even if they are your own!), and a battle will ensue in the next phase.

Phase 2: Fight

You must fight 1 round of battle in each space that contains hostile forces, with the active player deciding the order in which the battles are resolved. Conduct each round of battle as follows:

1. Pre-emptive Attack Step: Abilities and units (such as Rocket Launchers) that allow a combatant to attack before a Monster happen now.
2. Monster Attack Step: The active player's Monster and/or Minion(s) attack. They each attack a number of times equal to their Attack value during this step.
3. Monster Counterattack Step: In turn order, any inactive players counterattack with their Monsters and Minions. For Minions, this counterattack is always a single attack, regardless of their listed Attack value. For Monsters, when only hostile Military and Minions are in the battle, the counterattack is also only a single attack. However, if there are one or more other Monsters present, they may make 2 counterattacks.
4. Military Attack Step: In turn order, starting with the active player, Military units attack.
5. Victory or Retreat: If any hostile units remain, the attacker (active player) must retreat to an adjacent space that contains no hostile forces. Military units which retreat must all retreat to the same space.

Special Note: You always follow the Fight Phase steps in order, so if the battle was initiated by Military units of the active player and their Monster is not present, the Monster Counterattack Step would still happen before the Military Attack Step.

Rolling Attacks: For each attack, you declare the target of your attack and roll 1 die. Compare the value you rolled to the Defense value of your target. If the number you rolled (after any modifiers, such as Konk's special ability) is higher than the Defense value of your target, the target is hit. If you are going to roll all of your attacks against the same target, you should roll them all at once.

Blocked Retreat: In rare cases, there might not be a valid space for an attacker's retreat. If a Monster or Minion cannot retreat, it is removed from the board, and at the end of the turn it is placed in a Lair space of the player's choice. If Military units must retreat to a space that would exceed that space's unit stacking limit, the retreating units' controller must choose enough of their retreating units to destroy to stay under the limit in that space.

Resolving Hits and Monster Defeats: Military units which are hit are immediately destroyed and removed from the board. Their controller may deploy them again during their Deploy Phase. Each time you destroy a hostile Military unit, record it on the Military Units Destroyed Track.

Monsters and Minions are not immediately destroyed, but take Damage as listed on the attacker's card. Adjust the Monster's or Minion's Health down by that amount on the appropriate Health track.

If a Monster or Minion is reduced to 0 Health, they are defeated. When a Minion is defeated, discard their Minion card and return their token to the box. When a Monster is defeated, they will come back! Lay their mini on the side to represent their defeat, and 3 Stomp tokens from the supply are removed from the game. At the start of that player's next turn, they place their Monster in a Lair space on a continent other than the one where they were defeated. If possible, this space must be empty of hostile forces. Then, they may proceed with their Move Phase as normal. If they are forced to place their Monster in a Lair space that contains hostile forces, they will not be able to Move and must conduct a battle there during that turn's Fight Phase.

Phase 3: Encounter

After all battles are resolved, if the active Monster did not retreat and is in a space with a Military Base, City, or Mutation Site, they can encounter that space. You may only encounter one of these special locations each turn if your current space contains more than one. If the space has an unstomped Military Base and a City, you can only encounter the Military Base. Otherwise, you choose.

• Stomp a Military Base: Place a Stomp token on the Military Base and gain 3 Infamy. Then, this causes the associated Military or Militaries to marshal their forces: They place 2 of their Tanks in any other space of their choice on the same continent. They must be placed in a space with no hostile forces, if possible.
• Stomp a City: Place a Stomp token on the City. Each City has a value of 1-3. You gain Infamy equal to the listed value, then gain Health equal to twice the value. For example, if you Stomp a City with a value of 2, you would gain 2 Infamy and 4 Health. If your Minion is in the same space when you Stomp a City, you may gain up to 2 less Health for your Minion to gain that much instead.
• Mutate at a Mutation Site: Place a Stomp token on the Mutation Site. Gain 1 Infamy. Then, roll a die and consult your Mutation chart. Place a Mutation cube on your Monster card on the number of the Mutation you rolled. If you rolled a 5, you may choose any of the 4 Mutation options you do not already have. If you roll a 6 and you have less than 2 Minions, draw a Minion (see below). If you roll a number for a Mutation you already have or roll a 6 when you have 2 Minions, treat the result as a 5 and pick the Mutation of your choice.

Phase 4: Deploy

Your Military may deploy 3 units each turn. These units can be deployed to spaces in your home continents with unstomped Cities or to spaces anywhere in the world with unstomped Military Bases. Additionally, to be a valid deployment space, there must be no hostile units in the space. You may only deploy 1 unit per space per turn, so these 3 units must be deployed to different spaces. When you deploy a Submarine, place it in a valid deployment space, then at the end of the phase, move it to an adjacent ocean space. You are limited by the pieces in the game: you may only deploy units that you have available (including destroyed units removed earlier).

When you choose units to deploy, instead of deploying 1 or more units from your supply, you may redeploy units that are already on the board. The spaces they may deploy to are the same, but this can be used to reposition units quickly.

Instead of deploying, you may instead choose to conduct Military Research. The process for Military Research is similar to Mutations: Roll a die, and consult your Military's chart. Place a Mutation cube on the number corresponding to the number you rolled. A roll of a 5 allows you to pick the Upgrade of your choice, while a 6 allows you to deploy 2 units to any unstomped City in the world. If you roll an Upgrade you already have, treat the result as a 5 and pick the Upgrade of your choice.

Once a player has completed their Deploy Phase, play proceeds clockwise to the next player.

End of Game

When there are no more Stomp tokens in the supply (they have all been placed or discarded), the game ends immediately. Each player adds additional Infamy to their total based on the following criteria, rounding down any remainders for Mutations/Upgrades and defeated Military units:

• If you control 1 or more surviving Minions: +3 Infamy
• Per 2 total Mutations/Upgrades: +1 Infamy
• If you have more Health than your Starting Health: +3 Infamy
• Per 5 defeated Military units: +1 Infamy

The highest total Infamy after these bonuses is the winner!

For example, Tomanagi finished the game with 14 Infamy, 3 Mutations, 2 Military Upgrades, 19 Health, and has defeated 15 Military units. Unfortunately, he did not have any surviving Minions. However, he did end at more Health than his starting Health of 18. He would add 2 Infamy for his Mutations and Upgrades, 3 for his Health, and 3 for the Military units he defeated, for a final score of 22 Infamy.

Gameplay Example

Fresh off of causing mayhem and stomping Johannesburg, Chupacoloso has his eyes set on Zorb. However, Zorb is pretty safe behind a number of Military units. During his Move Phase, Chupacoloso decides to move his Atlantic Defense Force Fighter away before moving into central Africa himself to engage the Asiatic Alliance Military units that remain. He also chooses to move his Minion, Pollendust, into the space with Mt. Roraima.

During his Fight Phase, Chupacoloso decides to resolve his battle with the Military units first. Since he is the active player's Monster and there are no Pre-Emptive attack abilities, he rolls his 4 attacks first, opting to target each Military unit with 2 attacks. Against the Fighter, he rolls a 2 and a 4, while against the Tank he rolls 5 and 5. His special ability gives him -1 to hit Military units, but that leaves him with a 3 to hit the Fighter and two 4 results to hit the Tank. The Military units are removed immediately and do not attack back.

Normally, with the battle resolved, Chupacoloso would pick another battle to resolve, but earlier in the game, he got the Rampage Mutation, which lets him initiate a battle in an adjacent space with hostile units after concluding a battle. He elects to do so, and moves into Zorb's space. He chooses to target Zorb with all 4 of his attacks, and rolls 6, 2, 4, and 3. Zorb has a Defense value of 3, so that's a total of three hits! Zorb takes 2 Damage from all three attacks, for a total of 6 Damage. Since Chupacoloso only attacked Monsters (Zorb), his Monster Special Ability lets him perform 2 additional attacks, for which he rolls a 1 and a 3. That's another hit, and 2 more Damage to Zorb!

Fortunately, Zorb does have the It's a Robot Mutation, which causes Chupacoloso to take 1 Damage each for the two attacks that missed. Now it is Zorb's turn to counterattack. Since Chupacoloso is a Monster, Zorb gets 2 counterattacks. He rolls a 6 and a 1. His Monster Special Ability lets him re-roll up to 2 attacks per battle, so he re-rolls the 1 and gets a 4 instead! His Damage stat is 2, so Chupacoloso takes a total of 4 Damage from the attacks. Though Zorb is looking in pretty bad shape, he is still standing, so Chupacoloso is forced to retreat.

Since Chupacoloso had to retreat, there is no Site, City, or Base for him to Encounter. However, Pollendust has a special ability that allows her to use Mutation Sites, unlike most minions. Since she is in Mt. Roraima's space, she uses her ability, and places a Stomp token on Mt. Roraima. She places a Mutation cube on her card, which Chupacoloso will be able to use if they meet up later.

Finally, in his Deploy Phase, Chupacoloso places a Fighter at the Military Base in Europe, a Fighter at Lima, and a Cruise Missile at Rio de Janeiro (South America is the Atlantic Defense Force's Home Continent). At the end of the phase, he must fire the Cruise Missile at a Monster within 3 spaces. Zorb is 3 spaces away. Monsters do not get to counterattack Cruise Missiles so Chupacoloso rolls its attack. He rolls a 3 which is enough to hit Zorb! The Cruise Missile deals 3 Damage to Zorb, which finishes him off. Zorb is defeated. Three Stomp tokens from the supply are removed from the game, and since it was only Military units that defeated him (the Cruise Missile attack was outside his combat with Chupacoloso), he loses 2 Infamy. It is the end of the Deploy Phase, so Chupacoloso's turn ends. Play passes to the next player.

Military Unit Special Abilities

Cruise Missiles: Cruise Missiles are a unique type of Military unit. Once per turn during your Deploy Phase, you may deploy 1 Cruise Missile. Use one of the Submarines from your supply, and place it on the board upright to show it is a Cruise Missile. At the end of that Deploy Phase, you must fire it at a Monster within 3 spaces. The Monster gets no counterattack. After the Cruise Missile performs its attack, hit or miss, it is permanently removed from the game (you may not deploy it later as a Submarine). Be warned! If this attack rolls a 1, that Monster mutates!

Rocket Launchers: Rocket Launchers may perform an extra attack before the Monster attacks (in the Pre-emptive Attack Step). They also perform their normal attack during the Military Attack Step. If a Monster or Minion also gets a Pre-emptive Attack before Monster Attacks (such as Gargantis), it would attack before any Rocket Launchers.

Submarines: Submarines are restricted to ocean spaces. They may only move through ocean spaces, but they may attack adjacent land spaces. They attack during the Military Attack Step, but they cannot be the target of attacks in such battles.

Fighters: Fighters may move through both ocean spaces and land spaces, but they must end their move in a land space. They also may not retreat into an ocean space.

Clarifications

Armored Plating (Atlantic Defense Force Upgrade): When a Tank receives 1 hit, turn its mini on the side to indicate it has been damaged. Another hit will destroy it as usual. These Tanks cannot be repaired, and the damage persists between battles.

Captain Colossal: Captain Colossal can move through spaces with other players' Military units, but if he ends his move in a space with other players' Military units, he must battle them. He only does not battle your own Military units.

Colossal Ally (Asiatic Alliance/Mediterranean Coalition Upgrade): The Minion drawn by this ability interacts with Military units as if they are a Military unit. That is, they are not hostile to any player's Military, and they cannot attack Military units. They are, however, still a Minion, and attack during the appropriate battle steps.

Gargantis: The extra attack from Gargantis's special ability functions the same as the Rocket Launchers' special ability, but only when Gargantis's player is the active player. If there are Rocket Launchers present when Gargantis would be able to perform his extra attack, he attacks before the Rocket Launchers.

Long-Range Guidance (Mediterranean Coalition Upgrade): You cannot initiate a battle with only Rocket Launchers from a different space. The battle must be initiated by a different unit. Rocket Launchers using this ability only get the attack from this ability. Since they are not actually in the battle, they do not get their normal attack.

Pollendust: When Pollendust encounters a Mutation Site, place a token on it, just like when a Monster uses a Mutation Site. However, the player does not gain Infamy. If the Monster is present in the same space when Pollendust uses her ability, she may immediately give them the cube. Be sure to keep the cube separate from the cube tracking her Health.

Seething Terror (Strigoika Mutation): The Military unit is destroying itself, so Strigoika's special ability does not trigger.

Lord of Monsters (Tomanagi Mutation): This ability only triggers when Tomanagi initiates a battle (not when another Monster or Military units attack him). The Minion is drawn before any attacks are made, and any special ability it has that would affect the battle is active. For example, if Frosty is drawn and joins the battle, all other Monsters and Minions would have reduced Defense. At the end of the battle, whether or not they are defeated, the Minion is removed from the board and discarded.

War Spikes (Chupacoloso Mutation): The attacker chooses the additional Military unit hit.

Winged Horror (Strigoika/Zorb Mutation): The player controlling the Military units decides to which space the units retreat to. If that Military is not being played, the next player in turn order decides.

Player References

Phase Sequence

Phase 1: Move – Move your forces (Monster & Military) up to their Move value.

Phase 2: Fight – Conduct 1 round of battle in each space that contains hostile forces.

Phase 3: Encounter – Unless the active Monster retreated, it encounters its space by stomping a Military Base or City, or Mutating at a Site.

Phase 4: Deploy – Deploy up to 3 Military units at unstomped Cities on your home continents or unstomped Military Bases anywhere in the world.

In-Game Infamy

• Stomp a City: +1-3 Infamy
• Stomp a Military Base: +3 Infamy
• Mutate: +1 Infamy
• Defeat a Monster with your Monster/Minion: +6 Infamy
• Defeat a Minion with your Monster/Minion: +3 Infamy
• Defeat Monster/Minion with ONLY Military units: +0 Infamy

Military units cannot attack or defeat other Military units.

If your Monster is defeated by ONLY Military units, you lose 2 Infamy.

End-Game Scoring

• Having 1+ surviving Minion: +3 Infamy
• Per 2 total Mutations/Upgrades: +1 Infamy
• If you are above your Starting Health: +3 Infamy
• Per 5 defeated Military units: +1 Infamy

Icons

• Lair (icon)
• Military Base (icon)
• Mutation Site, art varies (icon)
• Asiatic Alliance (icon)
• Atlantic Defense Force (icon)
• Mediterranean Coalition (icon)
• Northern Union (icon)
• Health (icon)
• Move (icon)
• Attack (icon)
• Defense (icon)
• Damage (icon)
• Infamy (icon)
• Destroyed Military (icon)

Battle

• Pre-emptive Attack: Rocket Launchers, etc. attack
• Monster Attack: Active Monster & Minions attack
• Monster Counterattack: Inactive Monsters & Minions each attack 1 time (plus abilities)
• Military Attack: All Military units attack
• Victory or Retreat: If hostile forces remain, attacker retreats