3. Basic Game Play

Terminology

Cards in this game are played either from your hand or from the table. Their powers and abilities may change depending upon which location they are played from, so it is important to differentiate.

• From the hand: Cards you hold in your hand are played 'from the hand'.
• To the board: The board is the table. Cards played 'to the board' go on the table in front of you.
• From the board: this means you play a card from the table in front of you, not from your hand.

Each player starts the turn with five cards.

• If you do not already have five, draw until you have five.
• Then do one of the following, but not both:
  1. Play one or more cards from your hand to the board, or
  2. Discard one card

There are three types of cards you can play to the board on your turn:

• Food
  1. Brains food. These look like humans with green brains. Feed to zombies.
  2. Blood food. These are humans with red hearts. Feed to vampires.
• Eaters
  1. Zombies. Attach them to brains families (a run of brains cards).
  2. Vampires. Attach them to blood families (a run of blood cards).
• Party Crashers
  1. Succubuses. Use them to steal a visible family or Monster Mash.
  2. Preachers. Use them to destroy a visible eater.
  3. NOTE: this type of card is an INSTANT. It can be played at any time, even on another player's turn.

To begin with, start laying down food families. In standard play, a family is 3 or more humans of the same type (blood or brains) numbered in consecutive, ascending order such as (3,4,5) or (3,4,5,6,7) but not (3,4,3) or (9,1,2). Cards are numbered from 1 to 9, so the biggest possible family is 9.

To start a family you need at least two consecutively numbered humans from your hand of the same type. For example, the 1 and 2 of brains. Then you place those two on the board at the same time. You cannot start a family on the board with just one card. It gets easier. Once you have started a family, you can add to it one card at a time, in later turns.

You can also play eaters to the board, either by attaching them to one of your families, or storing them in your Monster Mash.

Party Crashers can be used on your turn too. Either play them against an opponent, or put them in your Monster Mash.

The more cards you get rid of, the more cards you can draw on your next turn and the faster you collect food. But there are advantages to hoarding cards in your hand. No one can see them. And more importantly, no one can steal or destroy them. Here is the first point of strategy... hoard or reveal?

The Monster Mash is simply a holding tank for your vampires, zombies, succubi and preachers. More on that below.

HOW TO WIN
Take 9 humans to the graveyard to win a game. Typically this is done in two or three stages, with a few families of 3 each, or a family of 3 and 6 respectively. A corresponding eater must accompany the family to the graveyard.

EXAMPLE: a player starts a brains family by laying down the 3-4 of brains. On her next turn, she draws the 5 of brains and immediately plays it along with a zombie from her hand. She feeds the feast, taking the family and the zombie to the graveyard. Someone notes her score -- 3. She has 6 to go. Her turn is now over.

Now that you have the basics, let's envision the board. Here's an illustration of a two-player layout.

WINNING SETS
Since games last only 10-15 minutes, it's common to play until the set winner is known (best of 3 or 5 games).
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