The monsters are loose again!!! Well, that's actually not a bad thing - they make living in this mansion really fun! But right now, Grandma Frieda is standing outside the front door and she is terribly frightened of monsters.
You must catch all the monsters and hide them from Grandma before she sees them!
The monster cards show which monster must be captured next. Use the sliders to push the monster as quickly as possible to the middle of the mansion and into the monster trap! You will have to work together on teams to do this.
Components
- 1 Mansion with game board in box
- 4 Sliders
- 12 Monster tokens
- 1 Monster in sack figure
- 72 Monster cards
- 6 Location cards
- 4 Discard tiles
- 12 Eye tokens
- 1 Hourglass
- Rulebook
Object of the Game
Whoever has pushed the most monsters into the trap by the end of the game and collected the most monster cards is the best monster catcher - and wins the game.
Setup
The 3- and 4-player versions of this game are played in teams, proceeding clockwise.
Each player plays on two teams of two: one team with the player to the left and one with the player to the right.
The oldest player and the player on his or her left start as the first team. The following example shows how the teams are formed.
Example for 4 players:
When it is your team's turn, you must decide who is responsible for which pair of sliders on each side of the mansion: One player controls the vertical sliders, while the other player controls the horizontal sliders. See the example below. Put the mansion between both of you so that each player can reach both of the sliders.
The other players are responsible for the hourglass timer. They call out "On your monster, get set, go!" and flip the hourglass over ...
Now it is up to you to capture as many monsters as possible before the sand in the hourglass runs out!
Catch the Monsters
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Bring the sliders into their starting positions. In order to capture a new monster, the sliders must always be in the starting positions on the edges of the box! Only then can you reach all the monsters and push them in all directions.
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Reveal A Monster Card.
Reveal the top card from the deck of monster cards - this is the monster you are looking for. Quickly find where the monster token is on the game board!
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Move the sacked monster into the monster trap.
Place the sacked monster on the token of the monster that you are looking for. From now on you are only allowed to move the sacked monster piece using the sliders - you cannot touch it!
Move the monster as fast as you can through the corridors until it falls into the trap in the center of the board! To do this, use your left and right sliders. Communicate with your teammate. Say who pushes when and in which direction
Note: What happens if the sacked monster falls over or leaves the maze?
You have pushed the monster too hard and it has escaped! You have to place the sacked monster piece back on the token of the monster you are looking for and then push it back into the monster trap.
Tip for the other players: Watch the players whose turn it is carefully to make sure that the sacked monster is moving properly. If it falls over or leaves the maze, then you can shout, "Escape!"
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Place the monster card on the tray.
If you have pushed the monster into the monster trap, then quickly place the monster card on your team's discard pile.
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Catching The Next Monster:
If the hourglass has not run out, you can still try to catch the next monster as described in steps 1 though ..
The monsters can also escape from the monster trap again and again, so you may have to trap the same monster several times.
End of the Round
When the hourglass runs out, the other players shout, "Monster Trap!"
You must stop moving the sliders immediately. If the last monster has not been pushed into the trap, then you cannot place the monster card on your discard pile.
Instead, place the card face up next to the monster deck.
Now throw one of your eye tokens into the monster trap! This ends the round for your team.
Next Team's Turn
The next team (in the example on page 2, it is the yellow and purple players' turn) now places the mansion between them. The other players take the hourglass, shout "On your monster, get set, go!" ... and flip the hourglass over.
Now the new team tries to catch as many monsters as possible.
After each team has taken its turn, the first team plays again and so on. If the deck of monster cards is used up, shuffle all the face up cards that were placed next to the deck and continue to play with the new deck.
End of the Game
After 12 rounds, when all the eye tokens are in the monster trap, the game ends. Each team counts the collected monster cards on its common discard pile.
First, the team that collected the most monster cards is named the Top Monster-Catching Team.
Then each player adds the number of monster cards from each team they were in together. The player who collected the largest number of cards is named the Very Best Monster Catcher and wins the game.
In the case of a tie, there are several winners. Alternatively, you can count the number of open eyes on the monster cards each tied player has won (there are monsters with 0, 2, 3, and 5 eyes open). Whoever has collected the most open eyes wins.
Rules for Two Players
Play as described above, but with the following changes:
Each player plays by himself or herself. The monster discard pile is made up of the two pieces of the player's color and are placed dire' in front of you.
The game is played over six rounds. Each player takes three eye tokens and places them next to his or her discard tile. The remaining six are not used and can be set aside.
Each player moves all four sliders on their own, so they are given twice as much time per round. Once the hourglass has run out the other player immediately flips it over once again.
Only when the hourglass has run out a second time does the other player shout "Monster trap!"
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