Your studio makes horror movies. To be a box office success, you’ll need to combine the right scripts, actors, props, locations, and music. You’ll probably need a director too, but the most successful horror movies always seem to have a new or no-name director, and you’re not one to argue with results. To get the biggest thrillers and chillers will take some networking – and, of course, some money.
A 1 GAME BOARD – place this in the center of the table, within easy reach of all players.
5 PLAYER SCREENS representing a studio and places it in front of them. Return any that are unchosen to the game box, they will not be used this game.
93 PRODUCTION TILES - 4 Legendary Creatures - 15 Creatures - 13 Props - 13 Music Composers - 19 Directors - 13 Locations - 7 Cameos - 9 Contracts
B Separate out the 4 Legendary Creatures and shuffle them into a face-down stack on the indicated spot on the Game board. Shuffle all the other tiles together in a face-down stack to form the supply and place them beside the Game board.
22 SCREENPLAY STRIPS – each player takes 3 Screenplay strips corresponding to the studio on their Player screen, placing them face-up in front of their screen. Return any Screenplay strips belonging to unchosen studios to the game box, they will not be used this game. Shuffle the 7 remaining strips into a face-up stack, so only the top one is visible, and place the stack beside the Game board.
When playing with only 2 players, Player screens are not used. Instead only give each player a set of 3 Screenplays that are from the same studio.
C 30 RATING MARKERS – place these around the movie reel on the Game board, on the spaces matching their value. The markers valued 8-14 have two markers; place the one with the + on top.
50 MONEY TOKENS – if playing with 5 players, give each player 10 of these tokens. Otherwise, give each player 12 of these tokens. If you have a Player screen, you may keep your money hidden behind it.
D 11 AWARDS WITH 11 PLASTIC STANDS – slot each give this to the player who most recently saw a horror movie.
The game consists of 4 rounds, during which you will visit each of the 8 spaces on the board. At each space you will have the option to earn tiles which are immediately placed onto your Screenplay strips. When you complete a Screenplay, you earn a Rating
marker equal to the star value generated by the Screenplay. You may also earn Awards over the course of the game. At the end of the game, if you have the highest total value of Rating markers and Awards, you win!
The game will be played over the course of 4 rounds. At the beginning of each round, place Production tiles onto the board spaces in the following manner:
Place the top Legendary Creature tile face-up onto the first space of the board.
On both of the Horror Con spaces of the board, place a number of face-down Production tiles equal to the number of players in the game.
On each of the five city spaces of the board, place a number of face-up Production tiles equal to the number printed on the space.
Then, beginning with the space containing the Legendary Creature and proceeding along the film track, you will resolve each of the 8 spaces on the board. These spaces will be resolved one a time, and all the tiles in a space will be distributed before moving on to the next space.
The tiles are distributed in the following manner, depending on the type of space they are in:
When resolving the LEGENDARY CREATURE space or a CITY space the tiles are auctioned off as a group
proceeds clockwise around the table to the next available player.
• When you have the option and choose to bid, you must choose a number that is higher than any previous bid during the current auction, and you may not choose a number that exceeds the amount of Money tokens you currently have (if nobody else has bid yet, you may choose to bid zero).
• If you choose to pass, you may no longer bid in the current auction.
The player with the Start Player marker has the first option to bid or pass, then the option to bid or pass
This continues around the table (possibly multiple times), skipping over players that previously passed, until all players but the one with the highest bid have passed. Then, if you have the highest bid, take all the Production tiles from the space, as well as the Start Player marker. Then pay for these tiles by placing an amount of your Money tokens equal to your bid onto that board space.
tiles on the Horror Con space are flipped
and then each player will have the opportunity to take 1 of those
player with the highest combined number of Creatures and Cameo tiles on their Screenplays chooses which tile they will take first. Then the player with the second highest quantity of Creatures and Cameos must choose a tile, and so forth, until each player has taken one tile from the space. If there is a tie, the
player closest to the Start Player in turn order
earlier (this would be the tied player with the Start Player marker, or the first tied player seated
around the table from them).
When you receive one or more Production tiles, each tile must be immediately placed onto a space on one of your Screenplays or discarded to the game box. Production tiles can be placed onto any space of your Screenplays with a symbol matching the one on the tile. You may also place a tile in a matching space that already contains a tile – when you do this, discard the previously placed tile to the game box.
As soon as a Screenplay is complete, you must determine its rating. Total the number of all stars printed on the tiles that have been placed on that Screenplay, then add the number of stars printed on the Screenplay itself to that total. Take the Rating marker from the board with the corresponding value and place it on that Screenplay. If there are multiple Rating markers left on the board with a matching value, take the one with the plus sign [+] after the value (a Rating marker with a + on it is worth more than a Rating marker of the same value without a +). If there are no Rating markers left on the board with a matching value, take the available Rating marker with the next lower value from the board instead.
Thespacewitha Cameosymbolonitis entirelyoptional.You mayplaceaCameo tile on it ornot, and if alltheotherspaces ontheScreenplayare alreadyfilledbutthe Cameospaceisnot, theScreenplayisstill consideredcomplete.
Contracts are a special kind of Production tile that can be placed onto any space of your Screenplays except the Cameo space. They contribute their stars to the value of the Screenplay and help you complete the Screenplay, but are still only considered to be a “Contract” tile. This means that they are not considered to be a Creature or Cameo tile when determining pick order on Horror Con spaces.
After placing tiles onto your Screenplays, if any Screenplay just had the last non-Cameo spaces on it filled with tiles, that Screenplay is considered “complete”, and no further tiles can be added to it.
If you just completed the first Screenplay of the game from a particular category - Creature Feature - Slasher - Supernatural take the corresponding Award from the board and place it on that Screenplay.
Finally, after completing a Screenplay, take a new Screenplay from the top of the stack beside the board (if there are any remaining) and place it faceup in front of your screen.
THE DEVIL’S HOUSE
Abomination Director Machete
Haunted House
Music Composer
Swamp Creature
Once you have resolved all 8 spaces on the board, the round ends.
• If this is the end of one of the first 3 rounds, place a “Best Movie” trophy on the completed Screenplay with the highest value Rating marker (remember that a Rating marker with a + is considered to have a higher Rating than one of the same number that does not have a +). This does
not have to be a Screenplay that was completed this round – it’s possible for a Screenplay to receive a “Best Movie” trophy multiple rounds in a row if it remains the highest rated one. Then begin the next round by distributing new Production tiles onto the board as normal.
• If this was the end of the 4th round (there was no “Best Movie” trophy remaining to award), proceed to the Game End and Final Scoring.
At the end of the 4th round, place a “Movie of the Year” Award onto the completed screenplay in each of the three categories
- Creature Feature - Slasher - Supernatural that has the highest Rating marker for that category.
Then give the “Best Casting” Award to the player with the highest combined star value of Creatures and Legendary Creatures among all their completed Screenplays. If there is a tie for the highest value, this Award is discarded to the box instead. Remember that while Contracts may be placed onto spaces with a Creature symbol, they are not Creatures themselves and do not count towards this Award.
Next give the “Worst Movie” Award to the player with the single lowest Rating marker on any of their completed Screenplays.
Finally, determine the final score for each player by adding up the following values:
• The value of Rating markers on their completed Screenplays
• The value of any Awards they or their Screenplays have received
• The number of Money tokens they have left at the end of the game.
The player with the highest final score wins! If there is a tie for highest final score, the tied player with the single highest Rating marker wins!
CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER THEMONSTERHUMAN FEED ME!
Shuffle the Legendary Creature tiles and place them on the board.
Shuffle the other Production tiles into their own stack.
Shuffle the non-player-specific Screenplays into a single stack.
Place Awards and Rating markers on their assigned spaces.
Assign the Start Player marker.
Each player gets:
12 Money tokens (10 in a 5 player game)
1 Player screen
3 Screenplays matching their Player screen
Resolve each space on the board in order.
The Legendary Creature space and numbered spaces each trigger an auction for their contents. Winner pays their bid, which is split evenly among the other players. Any remainder of money after the split is left on the board until the next auction.
Flip over a Legendary Creature tile onto the first space.
Deal a number of face-up Production tiles onto City spaces equal to the number shown on each space.
Deal a number of face-down Production tiles onto the Horror Con spaces equal to the number of players.
The Horror Con spaces have their tiles flipped face-up, and players take turns picking 1 tile to receive. Pick order is determined by the highest number of Creature and Cameo tiles, with ties broken by turn order.
When you receive tiles they must immediately go on appropriate spaces on your Screenplays or be discarded.
When all spaces in a Screenplay are full (aside from the Cameo space, if applicable), the Screenplay earns a Rating marker based on the number of stars the Screenplay has, plus the stars on its tiles. Take the next lowest marker if there is none that matches exactly. Markers with a + are better than those without.
At the end of each of the first 3 rounds, the Screenplay with the highest Rating marker earns a Best Movie Award.
Assign Movie of the Year Awards to the best Screenplay in each category.
Assign the Best Casting Award to the Screenplay with the highest star value of Legendary and regular Creatures.
Game Design: Reiner Knizia
Illustration: Dug Nation
Game Producer: Chris Zephro
Graphic Design: Jody Henning
Project Management: Andy Van Zandt
Give the Worst Movie Award to the lowest rated Screenplay.
Add up the Rating markers, Awards, and Money tokens.
The player with the highest total wins! Ties are broken in favor of the player with the single highest Rating marker.
©2022 Dr. Reiner Knizia. All rights reserved.
“The Dice Tower Seal of Excellence” is a trademark of The Dice Tower, LLC and is used with permission.
