Schloss Schlotterstein
Schloss Schlotterstein Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 1 Shiver-stone Castle, in various sections (bottom of the game box, 4 corner bases, 4 fixing balls, 4 walls)
- 1 ghost
- 1 ghosting wand
- 36 paintings (square)
- 9 little room cards (round)
- 1 egg-timer
- 1 set of game instructions
Obstacles to complicate the haunting: 4 mysterious balls, 1 treasure chest, 9 gold coins, and an additional leaflet "Spooks Olympics" with further game ideas.
Assembling the Castle
First you have to assemble the castle:
Take all the material out of the game box and put it in the lid of the box. In each corner of the bottom of the box there is a little hole. Take a corner base and insert the thin metal point, from underneath, through one of the holes. Then from above screw in the little fixing ball. Fix all four corner bases in this way.
Place the bottom of the box on the table. First connect the four walls by the slots so that the resulting rooms go together and then insert them into the bottom of the box. By the way, you can connect the walls any way you want.
Now you have the Shiver-stone Castle with its nine equally big rooms in front of you.
Haunting Is a Question of Practice!
Before starting to play, the players should practice haunting a little. You'll see, with a bit of practice, it won't be at all difficult!
Place the ghost in any room. Take the ghosting wand by its thin end and hold the other end with the disk underneath the castle. Watch out: The metal disk must point upwards! Hold the disk directly underneath the ghost and you will start to feel a magic power. The ghost follows the movements of the wand as if moved by a magic hand.
Hint: At first move the wand slowly so that it doesn't lose contact with the ghost. While doing that, it's best that you or another player holds the castle steady. It may happen that the magic power is so strong that it makes the whole castle move.
The cards with the paintings show the various inhabitants of the castle. It will be your task to discover where exactly they are and what they are doing at a given moment. Watch out: don't just search for paintings, but also the persons depicted on them. Sometimes it will be quite tricky to discover them!
Game 1: The Haunting Exam
Aim of the Game
Whoever is skillful and quick will be able to frighten lots of inhabitants of the castle, thereby winning the game.
Preparation
Place the castle in the center of the table. Get the egg-timer, the ghosting wand and the ghost next to the box ready. The nine round room cards are shuffled and piled up face down. The 36 paintings also are put face down and shuffled.
The four mysterious balls, the treasure chest and the nine gold coins are not needed in this game and stay in the lid of the box.
How to Play
Play in a clockwise direction. Whoever is the quickest in saying "Shiver-stone Castle" three times, may start and takes the ghostly wand.
Uncover the upper round card of the pile and place the ghost into the center of the corresponding room.
The player on your left is your haunting helper. They uncover the painting on the top of the pile, show it to you and put it face up in front of you. The ghost should now frighten the inhabitant depicted on the painting.
- Whoever's turn it is, doesn't have to stay seated: at any time they can get up, have a close look at the walls and steer the ghost from different spots.
- Hint for searching: look at the paintings and observe the kind of wall on which they are hanging: there are stone walls and walls with tapestry. You will find that all the inhabitants who have their painting hung on a stone wall, are on the four external walls of the castle. The inhabitants who have their painting hung on a wall with tapestry you will find on one of the four internal walls. You can simplify the search by using only the paintings hanging on a stone wall or only the ones hanging on a wall with tapestry.
Once you have discovered into which room you have to guide the ghost, in order to frighten an inhabitant, your haunting helper turns round the egg-timer. From now on, time is passing ...
The haunting starts ... Hold the mysterious wand underneath the castle and direct it just underneath the ghost.
Now try to guide the ghost, as quickly as possible, to the inhabitant of the castle you are looking for. Once the ghost has reached the right room, it should touch the inhabitant. At the same time shout: "Boooo" in order to frighten them.
- Important: Some inhabitants are shown high on the wall so that the ghost won't be able to reach them. In this case the ghost touches the wall below the corresponding picture.
- Meanwhile all other players watch that the right inhabitant has been found and frightened. Did you by mistake frighten the wrong inhabitant? Quickly guide the ghost to the right one.
Hurry! The other players, of course, will keep an eye on the egg-timer.
Have you frightened the first inhabitant and the egg-timer is still running? Your haunting helper uncovers the next painting and you start the next search. Watch out: Unlike in the first round, time is already passing. The other players, of course, can help you search for the inhabitant.
Has the last grain of sand slipped through the egg-timer? Whoever notices it first yells "One, two, three - haunting is over". Immediately put down the ghosting wand and take the paintings of the inhabitants you have frightened. You didn't have enough time to frighten the last inhabitant? The corresponding painting is returned to the bottom of the pile. Then it's the turn of the next player.
End of the Game
The game ends ...
- ... once each player has guided the ghost three times
- ... or all the paintings have been distributed.
The player with the most paintings wins the game and is the best ghost of the class. If two or more players have the same amount of paintings, they win together.
Game 2: Team Haunting at Shiver-stone Castle
A ghost exam with teamwork.
Aim of the Game
The players try together to frighten a certain number of inhabitants within a limited period of time.
Preparation
Assembling of the castle as in game 1, with the following difference: The number of paintings depends on the number of players taking part.
- 2 players = any 6 paintings
- 3 players = any 9 paintings
- 4 players = any 12 paintings
- 5 players = any 15 paintings
- 6 players = any 18 paintings
Put the paintings face down, shuffle them and get them ready next to the game board.
How to Play
The youngest player starts. The player on their left will be the haunting helper and uncovers a room card, from where the ghost starts moving. The helper uncovers the painting on top of the pile and shows it. Turn the egg-timer round and the haunting begins.
All players help searching and give hints. Once the ghost has reached the right inhabitant, everybody yells together as eerily and loud as they can "Boooo".
Each player can go on frightening inhabitants until the egg-timer has run out. Then it's the turn of the next player, in a clockwise direction. Turn the egg-timer upside down again. If the last uncovered painting is still lying there face up, the new player has to frighten the corresponding inhabitant first, before uncovering a new one.
Variation: There's Rumbling and Thumping in the Castle!
- In order to make the steering of the ghost more difficult, you can distribute the obstacles throughout the rooms of the castle.
- Try and see what happens when you distribute the mysterious balls in the castle. Practise how to guide the ghost so that it avoids the gold coins and the treasure chest.
- Decide together how many and which obstacles you want to bring into the game and distribute them differently each time it's the turn of the next player.
End of the Game
The game ends ...
- ... as soon as all inhabitants have been frightened
- ... or when each player has had their turn at guiding the ghost.
If you were able to frighten all the inhabitants, you were a great haunting team and have won together. If you were not so successful, you have to go on practising a little. Maybe it works better next time.
Game 3: Seven at One Fell Swoop
For skilled players.
Aim of the Game
Whoever has a bit of luck and a scarily good overview will be able to frighten the most inhabitants.
Preparation
As for game 1.
How to Play
All players yell together "Boooo". Whoever yells for the longest time without taking a breath, may start and gets the ghosting wand.
Now not only one single painting is uncovered, but seven. When it's your turn you may sort the paintings so that you can see them well.
You have to try to frighten as many inhabitants as possible while the egg-timer is running. You are free to decide in which order you want to frighten them. Remember, you have the support of a helper and they cover the paintings of the inhabitants you have frightened.
The time has lapsed? Now you get all the covered paintings. It's the turn of the next player. They take the paintings left facing up and shuffle them with the paintings in the pile and uncover seven of them, placing them in front of them.
End of the Game
If there are less than seven paintings to be uncovered, the game ends. Whoever has collected the most paintings, wins the game. If various players have the same amount, they win together.
Variation: Seven at One Fell Swoop, for Individual Ghosts
The variation can be played perfectly by a single player competing against time. Have you frightened at least seven inhabitants before the the egg-timer runs out? Congratulations: You passed the exam.
Note: the German text of this variant says at least three of the seven inhabitants; the English text is transcribed here as printed.