Phantomonium

Description

You died. Congratulations. But the afterlife doesn't mean eternal rest. You still have to work. The good news: the Department of Supernatural Affairs (D.S.A.) is looking for a ghost to join their Special Apparitions Unit, their elite haunting team. Believe us. It's better than filing paperwork in the D.S.A. back office for eternity. Unfortunately, there's only one spot open, and you need to compete for it. In Phantomonium, players are recently deceased ghosts assigned to haunt the residents of Briarwood Court. The goal: accumulate the most Haunt Points before the neighborhood is so frightened that they organize an Exorcism. Each round, players summon Ability cards face down to win revealed Haunt cards. Abilities are resolved through sequential reveal and cancellation -- matching cards eliminate each other, leaving survivors to claim their haunts. Special use cards called Relics are mixed into player hands and bend the rules: Steal points, cancel rivals, double scores, or force chaos at exactly the wrong moment. Relics can cancel each other and chain into cascading (often chaotic) effects. Abilities also have secondary effects that might help you change your stake at the table. Briarwood Court is filled with a cast of neighbors who never quite notice why their lives keep getting stranger by the day. Their personalities reveal themselves through Backlash cards as the game unfolds. A shared Fright Meter as you haunt. If it reaches maximum before any player gets to 13 Haunt Points, the Exorcism occurs and ends the game early. You're only saving grace when that happens is collecting enough Haunt Insurance to help you survive. The ghost who wins is declared the Ghost With the Most and earns their place as the D.S.A.'s newest haunting operative. Note: Phantomonium is currently in development with a Kickstarter campaign planned for 2027. —description from the publisher

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