Halloween
Halloween Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components and Setup
Game Board Set-Up
A. 1 Game Board. Place this in the center of the table, within easy reach of all players.
B. 2 Locked Car Tokens. Place one of these on each of the indicated spaces.
C. 20 Search Tokens. Place these with the search side face-up on each of the spaces with the corresponding colored frame.
D. 18 Damage Tokens. Put these in a pile to one side of the game board as part of the general supply. If you are instructed to heal a number of damage, return that many Damage tokens from your mat back to the general supply.
E. 12 Exert Tokens. Place these in a pile next to the Damage tokens as part of the general supply.
5 Attack Dice. Set these near the Game board.
F. 32 Item Cards. Set aside the 2 Starting Gun cards that depict Doctor Loomis and Sheriff Brackett on the back. Shuffle the rest of the Item cards, then divide them into 4 roughly equal face down Search decks. Place one near each colored edge of the Game board, as shown. This indicates that deck corresponds to that quadrant of the Game board.
4 Key Item Cards. Shuffle 1 random Key Item card without looking at it into the last 4 cards of each Search deck.
The board is divided into 4 quadrants. The middle row of the board is considered to be in both the top and the bottom quadrant.
Victim Set-Up
Decide which player will take the role of Michael Myers for this game. All other players are Victims.
3 Victim Mats. Give 1 of these to each of the other players. For a 2 player game, one player takes the role of Michael Myers and the other player takes 2 Victim mats. Return any unused Victim mats to the game box, they will not be used this game.
6 Victim Cards. Each Victim chooses a Starting Victim card (Bob, Annie, Lynda or Laurie). Place it on their Victim mat with the abilities visible. The Victim card on your Victim mat indicates the character(s) you are currently playing as.
Set aside any left over Victims for now. Also set aside Dr. Loomis and Sheriff Brackett with their Starting Gun Item cards.
Each Victim card shows: Victim Name, Starting Space, Ability, Health, and Card Limit. For example, Laurie Strode's card reads: "When attacked or rolling dice, Laurie may reroll one or more dice, but must take an Exert token for each one rerolled." Her Health is 3 and her Card Limit is 4.
6 Victim Figures. For each Victim card on a Victim mat, place the corresponding Victim figure on the Game board according to the specified starting space. Set all other Victim figures aside.
Michael Myers Set-Up
Give the Michael Myers player the following components.
G. 1 Michael Myers Mat. Place this mat in front of the player.
H. 1 Myers Action Card. Place this with the "READY" side face-up on the Michael Myers mat in the indicated space.
I. 1 Michael Myers Figure. Place this near the Michael Myers mat.
J. 1 Myers' Shadow Token. Place this near the Michael Myers mat.
K. 10 Myers Cards. Shuffle the Myers cards together into a Myers deck, and place it near the Michael Myers mat.
1 Secret Movement Board with Dry Erase Marker. After the Victim Set-up, the Michael Myers player should secretly choose any outdoor space (one that is not inside a house or car) and write the space indicator (letter and number combination) on the "0" line of the Movement board using the dry erase marker. This represents where Michael Myers begins the game. The other players may not look at the Movement board.
Gameplay Overview
The Victim players will each take turns performing 2 actions, moving around the board and searching for items while trying to avoid Michael Myers. The Victims win if they find Tommy and Lindsey, unlock the Blue or Yellow car with the matching Blue or Yellow Key and move inside the car. They can also win by dealing enough damage to Michael Myers.
The Myers player will take their turn, stalking the players by secretly indicating their movement on the Movement board. Michael Myers can win by killing enough Victims or reaching the end of a specific round without taking too much damage.
- 2/3-players: Kill 4 Victims or reach the 24th round.
- 4-players: Kill 3 Victims or reach the 18th round.
Gameplay in Detail
The Victim to the left of Michael Myers will take the first turn, then play will proceed clockwise around the table until the game ends.
Victim Actions
On your turn, Victims must choose 2 actions to perform from the following list (you may choose the same action twice). You must complete one action before performing another action:
- Move 4 spaces
- Move through a window
- Search
- Attack
- Use an Item
- Trade
- Rest
Line markings on the board:
- Solid Line — Blocks line-of-sight, movement and attack.
- Doors — Blocks line-of-sight. Free to move through.
- Windows — Does not block line-of-sight. Costs an action to move through.
Move 4 spaces
Move your Victim's figure up to 4 spaces on the board. All movement is orthogonal (not diagonal), and you may NOT move through the solid lines around walls, hedges, trees, and cars.
You may move through other Victims, but you may not stop in the same space as another Victim. At the end of your movement, indicate which direction your Victim is facing (facing also cannot be diagonal), then the Michael Myers player must check whether Myers is in your line-of-sight.
Line-of-sight is what your Victim can currently see in front of them. Starting in the space in front of your Victim and proceeding in a straight line forward in the direction your Victim is facing until ending at a solid line or the edge of the board.
Windows do not stop your line-of-sight. If Michael Myers current space is within your line-of-sight, the player controlling Myers must place his figure on the board where he is located. As soon as Myers is no longer within your line-of-sight (due to you or him moving), replace Myers' figure with the Myers Shadow token. Line-of-sight is not checked at any point during your Victim's movement. Only when they stop does their line-of-sight become active again.
If you would enter a space containing Michael Myers, and Myers is not currently staggered, the Myers player must say "STOP" and place their figure on the board in that space. Myers gets a free attack. Your movement action ends immediately in the space prior to the one Myers is in. Any remaining spaces of movement are lost for that action. If you have an action remaining, you may continue with your turn as normal.
You may optionally take a single Exert token at the beginning of the move action to increase your movement to 5 spaces instead of 4.
Line-of-sight example: Bob can see the space in front of him and through the window to the next space. His line-of-sight stops at the solid line of the hedge.
Move through a window
If your Victim's figure is directly next to a window, you may move it to the other side of the window.
As with the normal Move action, at the end of this movement you must indicate which direction your Victim is facing. Then the Michael Myers player must check whether Myers is within your line-of-sight, placing the Michael Myers figure on the board in the correct space if so.
As with normal movement, if you would enter Michael Myers' space, that player must immediately say "STOP", place their figure on the board, and end your action in the space before Myers'. Then Myers gets a free attack.
You may optionally take a single Exert token at the beginning of this action to move 1 space before or after crossing the blue window line.
Search
While on a search space or facing one from an adjacent space with no intervening solid line, you may Search. When you search, draw the top card of the Search deck from the quadrant you are in. If the Search token was on the searched side, flip it over to the found side. If it was already on the found side, remove the Search token from the board placing it next to that quadrant's Search deck. You may not search a space that has no Search token.
If you ever have more cards in your hand than your card limit, you must return cards of your choice from your hand to the top or bottom of the Search deck corresponding to your current quadrant. Continue returning cards until you have a quantity of cards left in hand equal to your card limit. This is not a discard - cards that are discarded are placed in a single face-up discard pile.
Attack
You may attack Michael Myers if your figure is directly adjacent to and facing Myers' figure, and there isn't a solid line between the two. You may attack through a door or window.
Roll 1 Attack dice. If you rolled a success, place a damage token on the Michael Myers mat, and flip the Myers Action card to the "STAGGERED" side.
If Michael Myers now has a number of damage tokens on their mat equal or exceeding their health value (12), they immediately lose and all the other players win!
Some Item cards you acquire are weapons and may allow you to attack from a farther distance or to roll additional dice during the attack. For example, the "roll 2 dice" symbol means you roll 2 dice instead of 1 during your Attack action. The "range 3" icon means that you may attack Myers if he is in the first, second, or third space away from your Victim's figure in a straight line and he is within your line-of-sight. When you attack, you may play 1 weapon card. Return it to your hand after the attack unless it instructs you to discard it.
Example Item card — Kitchen Knife (Item - Weapon): Attack Modifier roll 2 dice, Range Modifier 1 space. Ability: "When attacked, you may take an exert token to attack as a free action."
Use an Item
If you have an Item card with a description that starts with "As an action", you may use the ability printed on it as one of your actions. If it says "free action", this does not count as one of your actions for the turn.
Trade
You may show, give, receive, or trade Item or Key Item cards with a Victim whose figure is directly adjacent to your figure, with no solid line between them. The Victim must agree to this, you may not force them to trade with you.
Showing Cards. You may not show other Victims your cards unless you could trade with them. Otherwise, you can speak out loud about your cards, but the Myers player must be able to hear you.
If you receive cards and have exceeded your card limit, immediately return cards from your hand to the Search deck in your quadrant until you reach your card limit.
Rest
Discard all Exert tokens that you have acquired back to the general supply.
If you have 3 or more Exert tokens, you must select this action as your next action.
After you have performed 2 actions, play passes to the player on your left.
In a 2-player game, each Victim you control will take 2 actions.
Michael Myers Actions
If you are Michael Myers, you must select 2 actions from those printed on the face-up side of your Action card.
STAGGERED! This means if you have recently taken damage or had another card effect happen that causes you to be Staggered, and the "STAGGERED" side is up, you have more limited options. After taking any of these actions, if the Myers Action card has the "Staggered" side face-up, turn it so that it is face-down. Possible actions include:
Stalk
Move up to 5 spaces. You may not move through a solid line or dashed line in this way, or end your movement in a space with a Victim's figure.
Line-of-sight affects Myers anytime Myer's figure moves into a space that a Victim can currently "see".
Your movement is usually not seen by the Victims. They only know your exact location if your figure is on the board. If you move into someone's line-of-sight during your movement, place your figure on the board. As soon as you are no longer in the line-of-sight, replace your figure with the Myers' Shadow token marking your last known location.
You may move through a Victim's space if your figure is not currently on the board, and doing so does not cause you to place your figure on the board.
Infiltrate
If you are next to a window or hedge, represented by a dotted line on the Movement board, you may move to the space directly on the other side of it. You may not enter a space with a Victim's figure on it in this way.
Pursue
Move any number of spaces in a straight line. You may not move through a solid or dashed lines in this way, or end your movement in a space with a Victim. When moving during a Pursue action, you cannot end this movement within a Victim's line-of-sight.
Attack
If a Victim's figure is directly adjacent to the space you are in and there is no solid line between the two spaces, face that Victim's figure towards you so that you are in its line-of-sight, place your figure on the Game board in the appropriate space, and roll 3 Attack dice. For each success rolled, place a damage token on that player's Victim mat.
Movement board line legend:
- Solid — Walls: Blocks line-of-sight, movement and attack.
- Hollow — Doors: Blocks line-of-sight unless a Victim is adjacent.
- Dashed Black — Hedge: Blocks line-of-sight. Costs an action to move through.
- Dashed Blue — Windows: Does not block line of sight. Costs an action to move through.
After performing your 2 actions for the turn, secretly note your current position on the next empty line of the Movement board. Tell the other players what number round just ended.
If this is a line with a card on it, draw a Myers card from the deck. You may use Myers cards on future turns, as indicated by the card. You may have any number of these cards, and playing them is usually a free action - it does not count as one of your actions for the turn. After they are used, they are placed in a discard pile.
If the line you noted your position on was the 18th line for a 4-player game, or the 24th line for a 2/3 player, the game ends immediately and you win!
Death!
After an attack from Michael Myers, if a Victim now has a number of damage tokens equal to or exceeding the health value printed on their Victim card, that character is now dead. If this is the 3rd time a character has died during a 4-player game, or the 4th time a character has died during 2/3-player game, the game ends immediately and Michael Myers wins!
Otherwise: The dead character's Item cards are put back on the top or bottom of the Search deck in the quadrant of the board they died in. They may choose which cards go on the top or the bottom of the deck.
Place all Search tokens corresponding to that quadrant back on the Game board in their starting positions and flip them to the searched side.
Remove the dead character's figure from the board and lay the figure down in front of the Michael Myers mat representing the Victim's death, discard the Victim card from their Victim mat, and return all damage tokens on that Victim mat to the general supply. That player must now take a new Victim from those set aside at the beginning of the game and place it on their Victim mat. Dr. Loomis and Sheriff Brackett start with a Starting Gun Item card. Then they must place the corresponding Victim's figure onto one of the entry spaces on the street (A12 or R12, denoted by an arrow icon). This is now the Character they are in control of.
If Victims were in the middle of the street when they died, they choose which quadrant they were in from the two they were next to. When a new Victim is chosen they start on space A12 or R12, denoted by an arrow icon.
Game End
Michael Myers Wins If:
The Michael Myers player immediately wins if:
Victims die:
- 2/3 player game: 4 Victims die.
- 4 player game: 3 Victims die.
OR
Michael Myers survives:
- 2/3 player game: Michael Myers position was just noted on the 24th line of the Movement board.
- 4 player game: Michael Myers position was just noted on the 18th line of the Movement board.
Victims Win If:
The Victims immediately win as a group when:
- Any number of Victims are on an unlocked Car space, and they have the Tommy and Lindsey cards, as well as the corresponding Key for the Car space they are occupying (for example, the Blue Car Key card for the Blue Car space).
OR
- Michael Myers has a number of damage tokens equal to or exceeding their health value (12).
Quick Setup & Win Condition
- Place Search tokens on each search space.
- Divide Items into 4 decks.
- Shuffle 1 random Key Item into the bottom 4 cards of each deck.
- Place 2 locked cars on board.
- Place Victims controlled by players on their designated starting spots.
- Myers shuffles his deck and secretly chooses an outdoor starting space, writing it on the movement board.
Myers Victory:
- 2 or 3 players — 4 Victims die, or Myers notes his position on the 24th line.
- 4 players — 3 Victims die, or Myers notes his position on the 18th line.
Victim Victory:
1 or more Victims on an unlocked Car space with Tommy, Lindsey, and the corresponding Car Key.
OR
Myers currently has 12 or more damage.
Adjusting Difficulty
When playing with new players and/or players with different levels of experience, you may want to adjust the difficulty for either side.
More difficult for Michael Myers. To make the game more difficult for the Michael Myers player, at the beginning of the game the Victims may choose a number of cards to draw from the item decks. They may divide these cards among the players as they choose. For example, while playing a 4 player game you might choose to start with 2 Item cards, two Victims receive a card and one doesn't.
More difficult for the Victims. To make the game more difficult for the Victims, at the beginning of the game the Myers player may choose a number of cards to draw from the Myers deck. For example, they might choose to draw 1 card for a small boost, or 3 cards for a more substantial boost.
Credits
Game Design: Emerson Matsuuchi Illustration: Nathan Milliner Game Producer: Chris Zephro Producer: Ryan Freimann, Malek Akkad Production: Further Front Graphic Design: Jody Henning Project Management: Andy Van Zandt
Playtesters: Rich Young, Ann Young, Joel Velez, Jason Teague, Amos Rozet, Zach Connelly, Alex Sennert, Eric Buscemi, Eric Alvarado, Laura Erwin, Jesse Harchack, Oleg Mu, Joe Stoken, Shannon Sullivan, Laura Blum, Sarah Wilson, Paul Tapias
© 2023 Compass International Pictures, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Trick or Treat Studios.