Spookre Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Key Terms in Spookre
• The Cards
• Game Setup
• Each Night
• Each Meeting
• Resolving the Meeting
• Ghostly Abilities
  • The Grim Reaper
• Empty Draw Pile
• The Nights End
• The Games End
• Spooky Variants
• Common Questions
• The Spectral Gates
  • Feeding the Gates
  • The Grim Reaper
  • Spectral Setup
  • Deploy Ghosts
  • Resolving the Night
  • The Next Night
  • Game End

Key Terms in Spookre

Mansion: This is your score pile. Cards in your Mansion remain out of the game.

Night: This is a round which begins with filling the Graveyard and ends once all players have sent their last Ghost. The number of Nights is equal to the number of players.

Graveyard: At the beginning of the Night, 5 cards are revealed and placed in the center of the table to form the Graveyard.

Ghosts and Target Ghosts: The Target Ghost is the Meeting's current target from the Graveyard, whereas cards sent by players are referred to as Ghosts.

Meeting: The sequence of play in which a Target Ghost is chosen by the Lead and all the players send a Ghost from their hand.

Lead: Typically the winner of the last Meeting, this player chooses the next Target Ghost and sends a card from their hand.

Starting Lead: At the beginning of the Night, there is a Starting Lead who chooses the first Target Ghost. Each player gets a turn being the Starting Lead.

The Cards

The majority of the cards in Spookre have the following details:

• A: Portrait
• B: Strength
• C: Aura
• D: Class & Ability
• E: Player Count

The Portrait is simply a picture of the Ghost. Strength tells you how strong they are. By matching Auras with the Target Ghost, your Class Ability will trigger. These Abilities allow you to break the rules in a variety of ways. Finally, there is the Player Count. Cards without a player count are in every game. As you add more players, you'll add more cards.

The majority of the rules apply only to 3-5 player games. Special 2 Player Rules, referred to as The Spectral Gates, are found towards the back of the rulebook. It's recommended that you read all the rules.

Game Setup

Begin each game by setting up the deck of Ghosts. Remove the Spectral Gate cards from the game. Next, find the correct Ghost Cards for your player count. Decks have a Reaper and Ghosts 1-30, while four players adds 31-40 and five players adds a second Reaper and 31-50. Shuffle the deck and deal five cards to each player, then reveal five cards as the Graveyard. Give the youngest player the Ghost Meeple and Starting Lead card.

Each Night

At the beginning of each Night, the player with the Starting Lead card will begin the round. They will choose the first Target Ghost and play will proceed until players have no more cards in their hands. The next Night, the Starting Lead Card goes to the player to the left of the last Starting Lead.

Each Meeting

The Lead player chooses a Target Ghost in the Graveyard and places the Ghost Meeple on it. The goal is to be the strongest ghost but weaker than the Target Ghost. They play a card from their hand, followed by all the other players in a clockwise fashion.

Resolving the Meeting

Once all players have sent a Ghost, a winner is decided. If anyone has played the Grim Reaper, they win. Otherwise, the strongest ghost that's weaker than the Target Ghost wins. If all players sent ghosts stronger than the Target Ghost, then the strongest ghost overall wins.

The winner places the Target Ghost in their Mansion and claims the Ghost Meeple. The rest of the Ghost Cards enter a discard pile. The next Meeting, this player is the Lead.

Ghostly Abilities

Each ghost in Spookre has an Ability, and in order to activate these abilities, you need to Sync Auras with the Target Ghost. To do this, simply match the Aura on your ghost with the Target Ghost's Aura. If you Sync Auras, you have to use the Ability, if possible. The Ability triggers as soon as this card is played.

The Grim Reaper

If the Reaper is revealed in the Graveyard, every player discards a ghost from their hand into the discard. A Reaper played into a Meeting, most likely will win.

Empty Draw Pile

If an Ability allows a player to draw a card and the deck is empty, simply shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck. You should always have enough cards to play a full game. As a reminder, a Grim Reaper can never be won and only the Target Ghost enters a player's Mansion.

The Nights End

When all players have sent their last ghost, the Night is over. Shuffle the discard and draw pile together to form a new deck. Deal each player five cards and reveal five new cards into the Graveyard. The player to the left of the previous Night's Starting Lead gets the Ghost Meeple and is the Starting Lead. This will continue until all players have had a turn to be the Starting Lead.

The Games End

Once every player has started a Night, the game is over. The players count how many Ghosts they've gathered into their Mansion, with the highest total being the winner. If there is a tie, the player with the strongest Ghost breaks the tie.

Spooky Variants

For a less Chaotic game, ignore all Abilities aside from the Grim Reapers.

For a more Chaotic Game, play with all 52 Ghosts regardless of player count.

To play Spookre in Teams (4 player), simply sit teams across the table from one another. They cannot reveal which cards they have to a team mate. Their Mansions combine at the end of the game.

Common Questions

Can someone play a Reaper after a Reaper has been played? Absolutely. The most recently played Reaper then becomes Trump. Likewise, Abilities can steal who has the Reaper.

Can I use my Ability later in the Meeting? No, Ghost Abilities must be used, if possible, as soon as they are triggered.

How does the Clergy Ability work? Their ability reverses the winning condition. So the Weakest Ghost stronger than the Target Ghost would win.

The Spectral Gates

The source gives no separate heading for this section; "The Spectral Gates" is the name the rulebook uses for its 2 Player Rules.

This is a 2 player version of Spookre which uses the 10 Spectral Gate cards and the full deck of Ghosts. There are a significant number of changes from Spookre itself. No Class Abilities work in this version.

Feeding the Gates

The Spectral Gates play a significant role in this mode and each one matches a Class. At the beginning of the game, all the Gates are open, but as play progresses, Ghosts are sent to their matching Gates. If any Gate acquires 3 or more Ghosts, the Gate slams shut. The Ghosts on the Gates are permanently sealed and any matching Ghosts in your Mansion are pulled into the Gate. Manipulating when these Gates close is the core mechanic.

The Grim Reaper

In The Spectral Gates, Reapers only guide Ghosts to the Gates themselves. Reapers are a Gate Manipulation Tactic.

Spectral Setup

To begin, set the 10 Spectral Gates to the side with the Open face up. Next, shuffle the 52 Ghosts and deal each player 9 Ghosts. From the Deck, reveal six Ghosts in a row. This will begin your first Night.

Deploy Ghosts

Each player will send a Ghost from their hand to each Ghost in the Graveyard, face down. The goal is to be the closest to the Target Ghost's Strength. They do not take turns doing this. Once all players have sent a Ghost to each Target Ghost, they select 1 of the 3 Ghosts they have left to Feed the Gate. The last 2 Ghosts are discarded.

Resolving the Night

Start by revealing which Ghost each player sent to the Gates, placing them on their matching Gates. Then, starting with the Ghost closest to the Deck, each player reveals the Ghost they sent. The player who is closest to the Target Ghost's strength wins that Ghost for their Mansion. In the case of a tie, the player who is weaker than the Target Ghost wins. The Ghosts players sent then go onto their matching Gates.

Continue to resolve each Target Ghost until all 6 are awarded. Any Ghosts in the same location as a Reaper immediately go to their Spectral Gate, and the Reaper is discarded.

At any time, once a Spectral Gate has 3 Ghosts, it will close. Turn this Gate over, place the 3 Ghosts below it, and all players with a Ghost of that type in their Mansion put that Ghost below the Gate. Once a Gate is closed, this Ghost Class no longer goes to their Gates.

The Next Night

To set up the next Night, start by checking the Gates. Remove 1 Ghost of each type from any Open Gates and place them in the discard. Shuffle the Ghosts together and reveal the Graveyard first. Then deal out 9 (or remainder) Ghosts evenly to each player.

Game End

At the end of the Third Night, the game is over. Players then tally the number of Ghosts who have stayed in their Mansion. Ties are broken by the single strongest Ghost.