Creature Feature
Creature Feature Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Each player is an agent for a collection of monsters during the golden age of monster movies in Hollywood. They will compete for roles in the movies the studios are making. After three seasons victory points (VP) are tallied and the agent with the highest total wins!
Goal of the Game
Have the most VP after 3 seasons. A season is a hand of 10 cards (8 cards for 6 players) played out fully.
Components
- 77 Monster Cards (numbered 1 to 11)
- 17 Special Helper Cards
- 6 Player Aides
- Movie Game Board
- Scoring and Priority Track
- Last Actor Marker
- 7 Feature Films
- 12 Short Features
- 6 Scoring Markers
- 6 Player Boards, with matching Player and Priority Pawns
Set Up
Give each player a Player Pawn, Priority Pawn, and a Player Board. Put the Movie Board in the center. Set the Short Features (tokens numbered 1-3) to the side. Give the Last Actor Marker to the player who last saw a monster movie that was made before 1970, or decide randomly. The player to their left places their Priority Pawn at the top of the queue, and clockwise around the table each player puts their Priority Pawn below the previous players – with the Last Actor being on the bottom. Each Priority Pawn other than the first will be associated with some victory points – those are earned at the start of the game and have no effect going forward.
Set up for each of the three seasons
Shuffle all the Monster cards and Special Helper cards together into a single deck. Deal each player 10 cards. Shuffle the 7 Feature Films, take 5 and stack them face down. The remaining 2 are set aside, they will be used only if there is a Double Feature.
Special Rules for 6 players
Deal each player 8 cards rather than 10. Use 4 Feature Films rather than 5 – and if a Double Feature appears randomly use 2 of the movies that were set aside.
Priority Track
During the game players will be competing for movies and sometimes they will tie with the same power. If that happens, the player who is higher on the Priority Track wins the showdown, and drops to the bottom of the track, moving all players that were below them up in the process. The VP on the track are assigned to the player that occupies that priority during set up – but has no further impact on the game.
Example: Four players start a game, and the Last Actor is chosen to be blue, and clockwise around the table there is orange, red, and green. This is how the board looks, and red begins the game with one VP, and green and blue begin with 2 VP.
Example: Later in the game, red and blue are in a showdown with a tie – and red wins because she is higher than blue (2 – 4). Red drops to the bottom and green and blue are both shifted up to have better priority in the future.
Playing a Season
There are 5 turns during a season. Each turn has these phases:
- Movie Time – Flip over a new Feature Film tile and Short Feature(s).
- Team Up – Each player chooses a Star and Co-Star.
- Audition – Players determine whether they will compete for the feature film, the short(s), or fold.
- Showdown – Wherever two or more players are competing for the same feature film or short they reveal their team and determine who won.
- Score – Winners score the tile they were vying for, their cards, and – if they won a showdown – their opponent's cards.
Movie Time
The top movie of the Feature Film stack is revealed. It is placed on the Movie Board in the box labeled 'Feature Film'. A Short Feature that is half the value of the Feature Film is placed in each box for a short. There is one such box for 3-4 players and 2 for 5-6. Player pawns are placed in the box to the left of the feature film.
If a Double Feature is revealed the two left over movies are placed in the Feature Film area instead. In a 6 player game this will be 2 of the 3 left over tiles chosen at random. Each movie of a double feature has its own short which is half of its value, placed in the area for shorts – and a second set of shorts in the appropriate area if there are 5+ players.
Example: In a 4 player game a turn begins with a 4 VP Feature Film being revealed. That means a 2 VP Short Feature is placed as well. In a 5 player game a second short of the same value would be placed below the first.
Example: In the same game a Double Feature is revealed. The two Feature Films that were not part of the 5 movie stack are revealed. They are placed as shown – they are a 2 and 4 VP movie so a 1 and 2 VP short are in the short box.
Team Up
All players play 2 monster cards face down on their play sheet – one in the box labeled Co-Star, the other in the box labeled Star. All players then reveal the card in the Co-Star box but leave the Star face down (though they can peek at it any time). In general the strength of a player's pair is the sum of their powers – this will be explained further under 'Showdown'.
Audition
Beginning with the player to the left of the Last Actor, players take turns deciding whether to stay or drop. A player that stays is ready to audition for the movie. A player that chooses to drop the first time will move their pawn from the feature film to the upper short, and further drops will move them to the fold box (3-4 player); or the lower short and then subsequently the fold box (5-6 players). After a player drops they become the Last Actor and take the Last Actor Marker. This continues until the Last Actor chooses to stay (which is mandatory if they are in the fold box). This might take several times around the table, and players might stay for a round or two then later decide to drop. A player cannot choose to drop if no other pawn is in their box.
Players in the fold box are not competing, but other than that all pawns that share a box at the end of this round are competing for the corresponding film – and so generally players are trying not to end up in the same box as someone that they think might beat their pair of monsters.
Showdown
If a box has two or more pawns in it they are auditioning for the same movie or short. To see who wins all the face down cards are revealed. In a showdown, if the Co-Star is equal to or larger than the Star it is called playing a "Twist". The winner is:
The highest combined power without a twist.
If all players have a twist then the winner is:
The highest combined power.
In either case – ties are resolved using the Priority Track.
You might wonder why someone would play a twist – since they are always able to play without it (unless they are playing a pair of the same monster). There are two reasons, the first is that players might think your hand is more powerful than it is if you play your bigger card face up. The second is that when you do win with a twist you will score more points (see Score).
Example: Here the players have not played with a twist. On the left the Star is 9, which is bigger than their 8, and on the right the Star is 10 which is bigger than their 6. The left has a power of 9+8=17, the right has a power of 6+10=16, so the left wins with a werewolf & devil.
Example: The left has a twist since their Co-Star (7) is not smaller than their Star (7). The right does not have a twist, so they win.
Example: Here both players have a twist, so the higher combined power wins – and the right player wins with their twisted Vampire/Robot.
Example: Here neither player has a twist – and they have the same combined power! The winner is the player who is higher on the Priority Track, who then drops to the bottom of the track with other players sliding up to take the opened space.
Helpers
There are 5 different types of helper cards. Whenever they are played immediately draw a card to replace it. Also, during the team up phase if you decide you don't want them in your hand at all you may discard them and draw a replacement. You are not allowed to play them as part of your team – so you may find yourself forced to discard them to find monsters for your team.
Score
Players put their scored cards, movies, and shorts in the score area on their Player Board. Players who win a showdown score both their cards and their opponents as well as the movie or short for which they were auditioning. Players who were not contested score their cards and the relevant movie or short. Players who ended up in the fold box just score their cards. Cards are generally scored face down, and are worth 1 point each. If a player wins with a twist they score their cards face up. Captured cards are always scored face down unless captured by a team with the Devil (see the Monsters section of the rules). An uncontested player is not obligated to show their cards, but if they want to claim their twist and score them face up they must reveal them. Players who are in the fold box do not score face up even if they had a twist.
Example: In this competition both players had a twist, and the one on the right wins because their combined power is higher (16 – 14). The right player would grab the movie or short that they were auditioning for, and the two mummies of their opponent. The mummies would be placed face down for 1VP each. Normally the Vampire and Robot would also be played face down – but since they were played and won with a twist – they are scored face up – for 3 and 2 points respectively.
Winning
At the end of the season all players update their score on the score track, counting 1 point for each face down card, the VP value of all face up cards, movies, and shorts they have captured. If this was the third season there is a bonus of 2VP for each film and 1VP for each short that was won during this season, and the game is over!
Otherwise, shuffle all the cards back together and deal each player a fresh 10 cards (8 cards for 6 players). Collect the Feature Films, shuffle them, and choose 5 to compete for as in the other seasons – setting the two left over aside in case there is a double feature (4 when playing with 6 players, with 3 set aside). Collect all the shorts and set them to the side where they can be accessed for the next season.
Creature Features
Some of the monsters have special powers. "Win" powers (Puny Human, Devil) are triggered when winning. "Lose" powers (Zombie) are triggered when losing. Neither trigger when folding.
Monsters
1 – PUNY HUMAN (5 VP) This card is so pathetic it is hard to win with it. But if you do, you score it face up – and get a tidy 5 VP!
2 – ALIEN (2 VP) Whoever scores an alien card draws 2 cards. This happens even if the alien is folded, or scored by the opponent.
3 – ZOMBIE (3 VP) If the zombie is part of a losing team both cards of the team are returned to your hand rather than being scored by the opponent.
4 – GHOST (3 VP) The ghost can declare your team as no longer having a twist – even if there clearly is one! This can convert a losing showdown for you into a winning showdown… but, if you use this power you will not score monsters face-up as you would when playing a twist, since you turned that off when you called on the ghost for help! You are not obligated to use this power.
5 – WITCH (4 VP) During the Showdown the witch's team will get +5 power for each Devil (9) opposing them. This won't count devils on the witch's team but could conceivably trigger several times off the same or different opponents.
6 – ROBOT (2 VP)
7 – MUMMY (2 VP)
8 – WEREWOLF (2 VP)
9 – DEVIL (5 VP) A winning team with a devil scores their opponent's cards face-up. This happens even if the team did not have a Twist. Note that this will have no effect if the devil's team won with no opposition.
10 – VAMPIRE (3 VP)
11 – FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER (4 VP)
Special Helpers
IGOR Play this only after retreating to the fold box. Then you draw a card in addition to the one you normally draw for playing or discarding a helper.
DISCRETE BUTLER Play this when you are teaming up. You do not reveal your Co-Star – so your opponents won't have much idea of what they are up against!
BATS Use this whenever you want to peek at someone's Star. Or their Co-Star if they happen to have a discrete butler.
NURSE During a showdown (after Stars are revealed) you may play a Nurse to get an additional +1 power for the team. It does not affect your team having a twist or not, it only affects your total power.
MAD DOCTOR During the showdown you may discard your Star and replace it with the top monster card of the deck – reveal and discard cards until a monster, not a helper, is revealed. You may use this even if uncontested, though not if you folded.