Greenville 1989 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Content
• Setup
• How to Play
• 1. The Narration
• 2. The Guide
• 3. The Wandering
• 4. The Checking: Verifying the Choices
• End of a Round
• End of the Game
• Objects

Content

• 1 board representing the Passages to the Other World.
• 84 cards
• 1 Rulebook
• 6 small Character boards
• 5 Object tokens: a Rubik's Cube, a Plastic Duck, a 20-sided die, Simon, and the Garden's Dwarf
• 12 Character/Wandering tokens and 2 Ectoplasm tokens
• 1 Guide token (the Game Master)
• 6 Character Validation tokens and 1 Ectoplasm Validation token

The Ectoplasm is a mysterious substance that will take different shapes over the course of the game. Its presence is symbolized by an additional card around the board because in order to make the players lose the game.

These tokens are identical so that in if one is damaged or marked, you can use that one on the Passages to the Other World board and keep the unmarked one for the Guide phase. Likewise, only one Ectoplasm token is needed to play Greenville. The second token is a spare in case the first is damaged or simply marked.

Setup

1. Place the board representing the Passages to the Other World in the middle of the table.
2. Each player chooses a Character and takes the various elements of the matching color: 1 small board to be placed in front of them, 2 Character tokens (one to be kept in front of them, hereafter named Character token, and the second to be placed in the center of the Passages to Other World board, hereafter named Wandering token) and 1 Validation token. Return the unused material to the box. Then place an Ectoplasm token near the Passages to the Other Worlds board and return the second one to the box.
3. Shuffle the 84 cards into a face down draw deck and place it beside the board.
4. Place one random Object token, face up, on each of the 3 dedicated spots on the Passages to the Other World board. The 2 remaining Object tokens are returned to the box. They will not be used during this game.
5. Each player then draws one card and place it face-up in front of them, above their Character board.
6. The last player to have watched a horror movie or a horror TV show starts the first round as the Guide. They take the Guide token and place it in front of them. Each player than hands the newly appointed Guide their Character token (including the Guide's himself) to which is added the Ectoplasm token.

How to Play

A game of Greenville 1989 unravels over the course of several rounds, each being composed of 4 distinct phases:

1. The Narration Phase: Each player describes their most recent card as well as the intents of their Character (flee, battle, search for a car, enter a building, etc.).
2. The Guide's Phase: The Game Master, also called "the Guide" in these rules, draws cards and reveals them to all by positioning them on the Passages to the Other World board. Then the Guide places one face-down Character token on each of these cards, trying to figure out the one that will best fit the story developed by each player.
3. The Wandering Phase: The other players put their heads together in order to try to correctly guess the pairs Card/Character made by the Guide.
4. The Checking Phase: The Guide reveals its choices and determine the fate of your group. If your guess is correct, you get closer from your meeting point and from victory. If not, you advance on the Passages to the Other World and get closer from utter defeat.

Objective: The players try to reach their meeting point so as to escape together the strangeness of their town. They win the game immediately if each player ends up with 4 cards in front of them. But if a player reaches the end of one of the three Passages to the Other World, then they immediately lose the game.

1. The Narration

IMPORTANT: during this phase, the players will speak in turns while the others must pay close attention to all the details that may be given in order to have a chance to win the game!

One after the other, in clockwise order, each player describes its most recent card, the one placed the farthest from its Character board.

The card each Player starts with represents the situation of its Character at the beginning of the game. Describe it as precisely as you can to the other players, even if they can see it too. There are a lot of small details that you may want to highlight. Also describe your intents, that is to say what your Character will do next. All this will eventually come handy to the Guide when comes for him the time to imagine which cards best matches your story.

If your card has not changed from the previous round, try to give more information to the new Guide. Build on what was said and do not hesitate to alter you story and to change your Character's intents if you think it would work better with the trend of thoughts developed by the group.

Example of Julius' description: I am in front of a manor, the road number being 13. I am a bit scared as a strange red glow transpire from the windows of the building! On the first floor, a strange shadow is visible. Is it human? Maybe not... Who knows... Especially as behind the manor, two gigantic spider legs seem to try to embrace the mansion. Up in the sky, the moon is black with a white halo around it, just like if an eclipse was in process.

Example of the Character's intent #1: I feel pretty curious about this shadow. Maybe it is one of you looking for help. Without giving it a second thought, I jump over the fence and heads toward the manor!

Example of the Character's intent #2: This giant spider is intriguing. I will try to find a discrete path around the manor in order to learn more about it. Thus I head toward the trees, looking for some hidden passage there.

Example of the Character's intent #3: No way, not a chance I will stay here a minute longer! I turn my back to this scary place as fast as I can, looking for some means of transportation that I could "borrow" to get out of here! HEELLLPPPP!

2. The Guide

IMPORTANT: During this phase, no player may talk or interact with the Guide to try to influence his decisions.

Reveal new cards: The Guide draws a number of cards equal to the number of players +1 and place them face-up and in the order they are drawn, on the Passages to the Other World board.

Attribute the Character and the Ectoplasm tokens: After having given it some thoughts, the Guide associates the Character and the Ectoplasm tokens to the cards that were just revealed. To do so, the Guide places one face-down token per card, starting with the first revealed card and going clockwise (to avoid giving too many clues to the other players).

The Guide must make their choice based on what they think is the best follow-up to each player's story, that is to say which card would fit best with those already placed in front of each player (including themselves). The Guide must also place the Ectoplasm token on the one card that they think does not correspond to any Character. It is in some ways a trap, an additional difficulty that reflects the uncertainty and the dangers in which the players are evolving.

After having placed all tokens (Characters and Ectoplasm), the Guide may still change some pairings as they see fit. Once they are satisfied with their choices, they say so to the other players, triggering the next phase.

IMPORTANT: It is forbidden to follow a process such as "the red player will always be associated to the first card drawn from the draw deck".

Example: Marty is the Guide for this round. He must place face-down the Character tokens of Julius, Cindy, Kim, his own and the one for the Ectoplasm, one on each of the 5 cards that were revealed at the beginning of the round.

3. The Wandering

IMPORTANT: During this phase, the Guide may not speak nor interact whatsoever with the other players.

Associating the cards to the Validation tokens: The players (except for the Guide who does not participate to this phase of the game) discuss and decide jointly of which card best relates to each Character. To do so, they place their Validation token on top of the card that they think is the best follow-up to their story. They must do so for the Guide as well. They also must place the Ectoplasm token on the one card that they think has been left aside by the Guide.

The players may further discuss and change their minds, as long as they respect the golden rule of one unique Validation token per card.

Only when they think they are done, do they say so to the Guide, triggering the beginning of the next phase.

Example: Marty, the Guide, cannot participate to the Wandering phase. He must let Cindy, Julius and Kim guess what his choices were. So, Cindy, Julius and Kim must decide together which Validation token to associate to each card, placing that token on top of the card that best continue the story of the corresponding Character. They must also position the Ectoplasm token on the card that they think is the least connected to the ongoing stories...

4. The Checking: Verifying the Choices

The Guide reveals each Character token, one at a time, in clockwise order, starting with the one located on the first card to be drawn during the Narration phase. Then the players verify whether:

It matches the Validation token: the corresponding player takes back their Validation token as well as the card. The latter is placed in front of them, above the ones they already have. The player will then have to describe it during the Narration phase of the next round.

As soon as a player has 4 cards in front of them, they have reached their point of rendezvous. However, they still need to play in order to help the others to catch up with them. If, during the next rounds, new cards are correctly identified, then the one closest from the player's Character board is discarded so that the 4 visible cards are always the latest to have been played by that player.

Example: Cindy's card has been correctly identified by the players. She picks it up and place it in front of her, above the previous one.

It does not match the Validation token: the player takes back their Validation token and discard the card it was on. Then the player moves their Wandering token one step forward on the Passages to the Other World board. If it is the first time a player has to move their Wandering token, they must choose one of the three Passages to the Other World depicted on the board. Once chosen, they will never be allowed to move backward nor to change track. Hence, they will have to progress along the one initially picked if their Validation and Character tokens do not match during later rounds. If a Character reaches a spot with an Object token, they pick it up and place it in front of them to be used next round, with the other players' approval.

More than one Wandering token may be on the same spot.

When the Wandering token of a player reaches the last position of the Passage to the Other World on which it was progressing, the game ends immediately and is a loss!

Note: if the card of a player already having 4 cards in front of them is wrongly guessed, that player must nevertheless move their Wandering token forward. Even if it means losing the game!

Example: Julius' card has been linked to the wrong Character. The card is discarded and its Wandering token is moved forward 1 step on the Passage to the Other World of its choosing (it is the first time he makes an error). As its Wandering token moves onto an object (the Plastic Duck), he picks it up and places it in front of him. This object will be usable later by the players.

Example: Julius' card has been linked to the wrong Character. The card is discarded and its Wandering token is moved forward 1 step on the Passage to the Other World he is already on. As its wandering token reaches the last section of the Passage, the end of the game is triggered with the Players losing the game!

End of a Round

If none of the endgame conditions have been met (see next paragraph), a new round starts immediately. The Guide passes the Guide token to the player seating on their left who thus becomes the new Guide for the new round.

The card that was associated to the Ectoplasm is discarded and the players go back to Phase #1: The Narration Phase. Each player having gained a new card will have to describe their new card and pursue their story using that card.

End of the Game

A game may end in two ways:

• If a Character token reaches the last section of one of the 3 Passages to the Other World, that Character goes insane and the group has lost the game!
• At any time during the game, if all players have 4 cards in front of them, then they successfully reached their rendezvous point. They escape Greenville safely and win the game!

Example: All the Characters have successfully collected 4 cards in front of their Character board. They win the game!

Objects

Each Object may be used only once. Return the Object token to the game box after having used it. It is possible to use several objects during the same round.

The Plastic Duck: Name a Character in play. Before or after the Character tokens have been placed by the players, but prior to the Guide revealing them, the players may discard the Plastic Duck to ask the Guide which card is linked to this Character. They may then reposition the different Character tokens on the cards to take advantage of this information.

The Rubik's Cube: Once all the Character tokens have been positioned on the cards, but prior to the Guide revealing them, the Players may discard the Simon token and point a card to the Guide who may then exchange the Validation token with another one. Then, the players may still change their choices.

Simon: When all the Character tokens have been placed on the cards, but before the Guide reveals them, the Players may discard the Simon token to ask the Guide how many correct guesses they have made. They may then reposition the different Character tokens on the cards to take advantage of this information.

The Garden's Dwarf: To be used before the Guide reveals the tokens. Discard the Garden's Dwarf: if all players save 1, end the round with 4 cards in front of them, they immediately win the game.

The 20-sided die: To be used before the Guide reveals the tokens. Discard the 20-sided die: choose one of the 3 Passages to the Other World. During this round, no Character's token may progress on this path in the Wandering phase.