The House. A game adaptation of Kelly Link s Stone Animals

Transcription

1 The House A game adaptation of Kelly Link s Stone Animals THE STORY Henry and Catherine and their two children Tilly and Carleton have just moved into a large new home in the country after wanting to get away from the city. But not long after their arrival, they begin to notice many strange things and occurrences, like the rabbits. The front yard is overrun with rabbits. And as the days go by, objects become haunted and unusable. Little by little, the House takes possessions of their things by haunting them until, finally, there is nothing left to haunt but the people. OBJECTIVE The House must haunt the three prized possessions of each family member before he can haunt them. Henry, Catherine, Tilly & Carleton must each find an object to break through the front door, get to the front door, and escape from the House before they become haunted.

2 In the beginning, the game is asymmetrical multi-player, with the family (Henry, Catherine, Tilly & Carleton) all having the same objective. However, if the House successfully haunts a family member, that member is now possessed by the House and has the same objective as the House. GAME BITS PLAYERS: The House Henry Catherine Tilly Carleton PRIZES POSSESSION TILES (3 per family member): Henry: Bicycle, robe, baseball cap Catherine: Paint brush, The New Yorker magazine, gas mask Tilly: Stuffed armadillo purse, subway token, lipstick Carleton: King Spanky the cat, toothbrush, box of Cheerios OTHER ITEM TILES: Keys x4 Haunted items Special items GAMEBOARD SETUP

3 1) Each family member must hide his or her 3 prized possessions by placing them anywhere on the board (item face up). 2) The House player should then scatter the cardboard box tiles around the house. Stacks can go up to 3 boxes. There should be at least 3 stacks in each room. 3) Henry & Catherine start in the master bedroom, Tilly & Carleton start in their respective bedrooms. The House starts by the front door. To set up the board, arrange the rooms as follows: GAMEPLAY Order of play is: Carleton, Tilly, Catherine, Henry, the House

4 Player rolls a 6-sided die to determine how many spaces to move. Player can move in any direction, including on spaces they were previously on. FAMILY MEMBERS If a player lands on a cardboard box and decide to look inside of it, they must take that object into their inventory. Player can only look at the box on top of the stack. Player CANNOT take from the same stack in their next turn. Players can hold max 2 objects (1 in each of their hands). o If a player is holding 2 objects and lands on another, the player can choose to drop one of them to pick the new one up o If players are holding 2 haunted objects, they cannot pick up another object until they dispose one o To escape, player MUST be holding a key o Players CANNOT escape if they are holding a haunted object Special object functions: o Rabbit: if you pick up a rabbit, none of your items can be haunted while you are holding it, but you MUST go to the front door to release it, because you cannot pick up any items while holding it o Talisman: if you are holding a talisman, you cannot be haunted o Neither the Rabbit or the Talisman will work if you are holding another haunted object There are 3 places you can destroy haunted objects: o Fireplace o Garbage disposal o Toilet in the master bedroom

5 Players can protect their prized possessions from being haunted by standing in one of the surrounding spaces THE HOUSE & THE HAUNTED FAMILY To haunt a prized possession object, player must land on it during their turn (then take it off the board). The House player flips a coin to see if they successfully haunt the object (heads = haunted, tails = failed at haunting). If the House fails, they cannot attempt to haunt the same object the next turn and must try a different one. The House CANNOT haunt an object if its owners is standing in one of the object s surrounding spaces. Once all three of one family member s prized possessions are haunted, the House can find the respective family member and land on them to haunt them. WINNING - If a family member successfully escapes, they win - If everyone in the house is haunted, the House wins