Your bandaged hand grips the rusted metal of your vehicle as you slowly lift yourself to your feet.
The ground trembles once again, but this time you brace your boots against the torn and sweltering concrete. The ruined buildings angle gnarled against the setting sun.
Suddenly it is blotted out by an explosion of sand and rock. Against the swarm of sand, through slitted eyes and fingertips, you witness the destructive force towering above the desert.
The hideous Worm lets out a high-pitched screech that turns your stomach. Its centipede arms flex in waves.
Its mandibles drip pink saliva as they twitch around the grinding dark circle of spikes that is its open maw. You steel your nerves and take a deep breath. It's all on you this time.
Alone in the desert with these creatures, it's hunt or be hunted. In the Solo game, it's a race against time to complete your mission before the Worms have caused enough havoc for the military to force an evacuation.
Object of the Game
Choose a Scenario and complete the Objective before 15 Worm Attacks have been resolved, or your squad has been eliminated.
Each time a Worm Attack is resolved, the Worm card is placed into a discard pile as normal. However, when this discard contains 15 Worm cards, the game ends immediately and you lose.
(The Starter Worm cards do not count towards this amount).
Setup
Set up the game board for 2 players as described in the Standard Setup section on page 4. You may choose to use either the Canyon or Desert side of the game board.
The following changes will be made:
You only need one squad of characters, as there is no second player.
Remove the 3 Queen cards from the Worm deck and return them to the box. Then, shuffle the Worm deck as normal.
Remove all "Not for Solo" cards from the Character, Item, and Weapon decks.
Then, place your pawn on the Location in which you would like to start and choose a Scenario (see Solo Scenarios).
Solo Rules Differences
There are three main rules differences from the standard game. These special rules are also detailed as a reminder on the Solo Player Aid card for quick reference.
Terror Turn
The most significant change is the Terror Turn. The Worms now have their own turn that is resolved after each of your turns has ended.
As per the standard rules, if at any point during the Terror Turn a Worm reaches their Card Limit (even before dice are rolled) they will immediately resolve an Attack AND immediately be replaced with a new Worm card.
There are 2 steps to a terror turn:
-
Roll The Blue Die.
Roll the Blue coordinate die. The Terror zone is marked with 3 sets of numbers that indicate which Worm is affected by the roll (1-2, 3-4, 5-6).
Draw a Vehicle card and place it face up under the rolled Worm. Immediately resolve the Distraction arrows at the bottom of the drawn card. Ignore all other information on the card.
-
Roll the Red Die and resolve an Attack!
Roll the Red coordinate die and in the same way, determine which Worm is affected by the roll. This Worm immediately Attacks regardless of how many cards it has below it.
Locations
In the Solo version, Locations can be destroyed by Worm Attacks, and Rubble is always added to Locations during a Worm Attack. Because of this,
Locations are no longer safe from Worm Attacks, and you must always attempt to fight the Worm if caught in its attack pattern.
If a Location ever has 2 Rubble, it is immediately destroyed. If a Target token is ever on a Location when that Worm attacks, it is immediately destroyed. To destroy a Location, remove all Rubble from that Location and remove the Location tile from play.
A destroyed Location can no longer receive deliveries. For the rest of the game, any Bounties in the Bounty Line that match a destroyed Location are discarded and the line is refilled with new Bounties.
Only One Egg Per Space
If two or more Eggs are ever on the same space for any reason, discard all Eggs on that space. You may still carry multiple Eggs.
Solo Scenarios
Special Delivery (difficulty 
)
"Those eggs are our ticket outta here!" Pam cocked her shotgun and winked down at Merl from the driver's window of an abandoned eighteen wheeler.
"I've got it on good authority that the government suits'll pay top dollar for some pristine Worm omelettes. Or whatever they do with 'em. Key is, we need to get 'em and we need to get 'em All".
Merl fixed his ballcap and spit. It sizzled along the cracked desert road. "Now, Pam, I don't know about..".
"Get in the truck, Merl". Pam snarled and revved the engine. A dust cloud erupted from the chrome exhaust pipe above her head. "Time for an egg hunt".
Object of the Game
Complete a Delivery Bounty to 4 of the 5 Locations.
Special Rule
Once you have completed a Bounty for a Location, remove all Bounties for this Location from the Bounty Line and discard them whenever they are drawn for the rest of the game.
(You might notice that sometimes Worms will need to be Hunted to free up space on the Bounty Line. It'd be great to take along a Suspicious Briefcase).
Total Extermination (difficulty 
)
She had calluses on her knuckles and even those calluses had calluses. Alan wondered why her hands were always so 'well-used,' but he never dared to ask. He looked down at his own pale fingers shaking as they held a pistol for the first time.
Natasha tucked a weathered .45 under her belt and lifted the semi-automatic rifle to her shoulder like an old friend looking for comfort. "Hot today. And it's about to get hotter". She looked over at her disheveled step-brother in his clay-covered smock and mussy man-bun.
Disappointing as usual, but she was out of options. "The men in suits want us to bring them some samples of those creatures for testing. Alive or Dead. We'll take your car. We can use your pottery to pick up the leftover pieces"
Her eyes steeled when she heard a screeching sound in the distance. Her tanned bicep flexed like a snake swallowing its prey. The words rumbled low in her throat. "The hunt is on".
Object of the Game
Complete a Hunt Bounty for 3 different Worm types. When you complete a Bounty, claim the Worm standee as your trophy.
Special Rule
Once you have claimed a standee for a specific Worm type, remove all Bounties of that type from the Bounty Line and discard them whenever they are drawn for the rest of the game.
"Any Worm" Bounties allow you to Hunt any type of Worm, so be sure to claim the correct Worm standee after completing the Bounty.
Scramble (difficulty 
)
"Are you nuts? Have you looked outside, lady? Ain't nobody gonna go driving around the desert playing cowboy, rustling up those things!" Will shuttered the side windows, nearly knocking over a display of hard candies as he made his way back behind the counter.
He smoothed his flannel shirt and eyed the peculiar woman in a power-suit, who calmly scanned the interior of his shop as if giant worms hadn't just appeared from the desert sands to destroy all of humanity".
"My employer has taken a keen interest in acquiring some specimens. If you would be unable to assist my search, I will however be in need of supplies". Selia knew that the military would quarantine the area soon; this superfluous conversation notwithstanding.
She had no time to haggle. She retrieved a thick roll of bills from her breast pocket. It dropped beside the cash register with enough weight to rattle the metal. "This should cover it. Your further assistance will result in compensation of a significantly higher amount".
Will stared in shock at a stack of bills in the thousands. The sunset through the storefront cast a greedy pink glow to his eyes. "Yes, ma'am!" He stuttered. "W-what are we waiting for?"
Object of the Game
Complete Bounties and collect points. Race the clock to gain 20 points any way that you can!
Special Rule
You also lose if 3 or more Locations are destroyed.
Advanced Difficulty
In addition to each Scenario's difficulty rating, as a daring Worm hunter you may want to further increase the challenge by including these advanced variants. And if you are successful, you will be rewarded with a higher score.
- During Setup, shuffle the Queens into the Worm deck.
- During Setup, return up to 2 members of your Squad to the box.
Scoring
Once you have conquered the challenges provided by the Solo version of Terror Below, it is important to catalogue your victories. Write down the date, the Scenario, and your score based on the following:
- Count up all VP scored during the game (completed Bounties and bonus VP).
- Gain an additional VP for each Worm Attack fewer than 15.
- Gain 3 VP if you shuffled the Queens into the Worm deck.
- Gain 3 VP for each Squad Member you did not take with you at the start.
- Gain 1 VP if you end the game wearing a Hat.
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