Gamehelpmantisfalls

Below is a non-comprehensive set of quick references to help clarify rules as you play. For the complete rules, please see the manual.

PREMISE

You are in a mob-ruled town in the 1940s, and at least one of you was a witness to something you were not supposed to see. You need to make it across town alive to where there are people that can protect you, but your journey will be a dangerous one.

You are informed that another witness will join you. By working together, you may have a much better chance of surviving. But what if they are not who they claim to be?

ROLES AND OBJECTIVES

Each player receives one secret role card at game setup. This role may either be a witness or an assassin. Games may consist of only witnesses, or there could be one assassin:

A "SOMETIMES COOPERATIVE" GAME

• IF THERE ARE ONLY WITNESSES, then this is a cooperative game that the players win or lose together.
• IF THERE IS AN ASSASSIN, then this is a competitive game.

OBJECTIVES

• IF YOU ARE A WITNESS, your goal is for all witnesses (including you) to survive. Your game can end successfully if all players make it to the end alive OR with the death of an assassin.
• IF YOU ARE AN ASSASSIN, your goal is for a witness to die and for you to stay alive. Your game can end successfully only with the death of a witness.

TURN SEQUENCE

I. INITIAL MOVEMENT

• Move up to one road forward.
• You may expend Conserved Energy.

II. EVENT DRAW

• Show if “seen”; do not show if “unseen”.

III. MAIN PLAY (both active players choose one)

• Create Action Play: Place any number of action cards of a single suit face down in a selected order.
• Conserve Energy: Place one action card face up in Conserved Energy.
• Discard: Discard up to two action cards.
• Do Nothing

IV. ACTION REVEAL/PROCESSING

• In alternating order, reveal and process all cards from action plays.

V. EVENT PROCESSING

• Process the event and discard it (if it’s “unseen”, continue to not show it).

VI. DRAW

• Players replenish hands to seven.

LAST GASPS (very important to survival and endgame!)

• When a player reaches their maximum wounds, they are not yet dead! They first make a Last Gasp play:
  • This play is made as a normal action play (any number of action cards of the same suit), and is immediately processed as a sidebar to all other action.
  • After this, the player’s "gasp marker" advances one space right.
• It is possible to survive Last Gasps if wounds are reduced to below maximum and the gasp marker is below three. In this case, play continues from where it was suspended.

CONSERVED ENERGY (a way to trade cards, heal and move forward)

CONSERVING CARDS

As a “main play”, players may put one action card face up on an open space in Conserved Energy.

DRAWING FROM CONSERVED ENERGY

When drawing, players may draw from any space in Conserved Energy instead of the draw pile.

EXPENDING CONSERVED ENERGY

At start of their initial movement phase, a player may discard four cards from Conserved Energy to: (1) Add one road to the initial movement OR (2) Heal one wound

CONDITION CARDS (actions that have a lasting effect)

Some action cards have "condition" boxes on them. These are treated like regular action cards (put them in action plays and process them as normal, etc.) but one of the effects will instruct you to "keep the card as a condition". When you process this effect, the card moves to in front of you and begins to have the lasting effect written within the condition box.

Keep in mind these will not provide their condition effect until they are out as a condition.

THE BYSTANDER (three player games)

In 3P games, turns rotate clockwise. Players play as rotating pairs (”active players”), making one player each turn a “bystander”:

• ACTIVE PLAYERS: On your turn, you and the player to your right are the two “active players”. The active players face the turn together, with all references in the game to “the other player” (or “both players”, “either player”, “the players”, etc.) referring ONLY to active players (NEVER the bystander).
• BYSTANDER: The player not among the two “active players” is, for that turn, the “bystander”. The bystander cannot interact with the event, play cards, be the target of an attack, use/receive/lose conditions or allies, receive wounds, etc. What they can do is the following:
  • DISCARD/CONSERVE ENERGY: After the two active players have made their main plays, the bystander may either discard up to two cards or place one card face up in Conserved Energy.
  • DRAW: After the two active players have had their draw from the draw phase, the bystander also draws their hand to full.
  • BYSTANDER ABILITIES: Cards in the Triad Module may refer to the bystander by name. These cards are NOT played by the bystander directly, but when an active player processes such a card, it gives the bystander specific abilities or choices.

GAME END AND VICTORY

GAME ENDS AT:

• ESCAPE: A turn begins with all players alive at the end of the road

OR

• DEATH: A player is dead (and all necessary last gasps are done)

VICTORY CONDITIONS:

• Witnesses win if no witness is dead.
• Assassin wins if they are alive and a witness is dead.

(Games in which an assassin and a witness both die are tie games for all players.)