The gamer plays the role of a samurai whose mission is to protect innocent people from attacks by ghosts. You and your fellow players will spend the game attacking ghosts, who appear and attack out of nowhere.

They’ll attack nonstop while moving towards the village until you defeat them. You can request assistance from specific villagers, but there may be consequences.

You continue to repeat these actions until you get far enough in the game for the powerful enemy, Wu-Feng, a big evil guy, to appear.

Defeating him is imperative to saving the village. You’ll live on as one of the heroes who saved the day. If The village is getting overrun by ghosts, you will lose.

If you make the right decisions at just the right moment, you will win the game. Otherwise, you and the whole team will Lose.

Game Components

The fantastic artwork is the first thing that you will notice about the Ghost Stories board game. The illustrations in the ghost and village cards are incredible. It brings the theme and setting to your home.

Also, all the tiles and cards are labeled with icons that are used to help players understand the functions and actions of each tile or card they come across. Although the icons can be a bit tricky to learn at first, once you get used to them, they will work great. 

The game package comes with some nicely sculpted minis of the samurai for players to use. The cardboard tiles and player boards are very thick and sturdy, making them perfect for handling.

The Ghost Stories board game comes in a standard-sized square box that is a perfect fit for your shelf. There were no adjustments needed to get it in the right place. This game is unique and offers an immersive experience like no other.

Game Setup

The 9 village tiles are randomly arranged to create a 3 x 3 square. As the game begins, no locations are haunted, so the villagers can be seen.

Place the four-game boards along each side of the square made from Village tiles so that they face the four players. Randomly assign each player color and also randomly select which side of the board each one will use.

Every gamer will take 4 Qi Tokens, a black Tao token, a Tao token in his color, the Yin-Yang token in his color, and place the Taoist figurine of his color on the central tile of the village. The other material will constitute the supply.

How To Play Ghost Stories Board Game?

A player is selected to begin, then the players play in turn, clockwise. In the Ghost Stories board game, every player’s turn consists of two phases: the Yin Phase (Ghosts) and the Yang Phase (Taoist)

1-Yin Phase

1-Check to see if your Taoist board is overrun with ghosts. This means that you already have three ghost cards on your board. If it is not overrun, you can move to step two. If they are ghosts there, you will lose one Qi token, and step two will be skipped.

2-Take a new ghost card and put it on a suitable Taoist board. Those cards are available in 5 colors which are yellow, green, red, blue, and black. The card is placed on the Taoist color board that matches it, while the black one goes on your own board automatically.

If the board you want is already overrun, just select any other one that is available to put your card in. Then Take action on this card immediately.

Ghost cards have special abilities that can be used. There are three spaces on each card’s bottom, and at least one of these spaces can represent the action that can be taken.

If an action is on the left side of the card, it must be resolved as soon as you draw the card. Those actions involve rolling the cursed die, which could lead to getting more ghosts or losing your tokens, summoning a ghost, or advancing spirits.

However, If this action is in the middle space, this means it can be done as long as the card is on the board. Some of those actions are the curse die and the spirit. If the action is rolling a curse die; for instance, you have to roll it in every turn until you exorcise the ghost.

When you take action on the right space, it’s resolved as soon as the ghost is exorcised. Those actions are a good opportunity to get some extra Tao tokens or reclaim your lost Yin-Yang token.

2-Yang Phase

1- Your Taoist can move only one space to the adjacent tile.

2-Make your decision, whether to take the village action or to battle a ghost. But remember, in order to battle a ghost, he must be directly in front of your Taoist.

–When you battle a ghost, the 3 Tao dice are used to battle ghosts. You will roll them and see which color shows up. Each one of those dice has six colors on it that include yellow, white, red, blue, green, or black; white is considered wild.

You need special colors to defeat each ghost card. Your colored Tao tokens can be used to fill in for rolls.

For instance, the Yellow Plague ghost needs 4 yellows to get rid of. The three dice were rolled, and you got a yellow, black, and white. Since white is considered wild in this game, you get two yellows.

With the two yellow tokens you have, it totals up to four yellows. This means that the ghost has been removed from this board, and it no longer poses a threat.

–If you want to take the action of the village, you must perform this action on the tile you are on. Every tile is helpful and unique in its own way. Those actions involve healing a Taoist, gaining two Tao tokens, pushing back spirits, and gaining back Qi

Some ghost cards can call for spirits in order to attack the village. When you get this type of card, put it under a spirit miniature. Before every next turn, the spirit goes towards the village. If they reach their destination, then you flip over this tile. This tile is not active anymore; Its special ability can no longer be used.

If the ghosts reach three villages, then it’s game over for you. Note that these spirits will keep hunting as long as this card is in play. But there’s still hope; you can use your Yin Yang token to turn back a haunted tile.

When Using this token, it is gone forever. Getting it back is too difficult. Keep in mind that if there are spirits on your Taoist board, advance those spirits first, then draw a ghost card on your turn.

Your Yin And Yang Phases Are Both Completed

Once you are done with your actions, the next player will start. If it is a two-player game, the other player will be on the opposite side, and the right and left Taoists are considered neutral boards. They will take turns, but they do not get ghost cards. You just perform the Yin phase with them.

But, every real gamer will receive a token that helps him to summon these neutral boards if he wants. So in your turn, you can use the special ability of that Taoist.

When you use this token, it is placed in the center of the village, where you can get it back on the next turn. However, it is important to note that these neutral Taoists also can die when losing their Qi.

If that happens, then you will no longer be able to use any of the abilities on it, so probably best to make sure their board games aren’t overrun with ghosts.

If you want to know what the special abilities of the Taoists are, here we go.

Every board comes with two sides. Each side has various abilities. As a player, you have to pick one side and stick with it the whole game. Red is able to move the Taoist 2 spaces instead of only one or move another Taoist after moving himself.

Blue is used for using the village spaces two times or battling ghosts, or using the village tile and battle. Green will give you an extra die rolling but not a curse one. Also, it can reroll any die once.

Yellow will select a Tao token of their choice before each turn or choose a ghost and put a Mantra on him. In this way, you can weaken this ghost with only one color. You can use those abilities each turn; however, some ghost cards can take them away temporarily.

End Of The Game

The Ghost Stories board game comes with different levels. In this game, you may have to defeat more than one Wu-Feng. This all depends on your difficulty level.

However, If 3 tiles have been haunted, the last ghost card is put in play with Wu-Feng still undefeated, or all the Taoists die, then you will lose the game. But only when you defeat the Wu-Feng, will you win this game.

Our Opinion About The Ghost Stories Board Game

Repos Production Ghost stories board games are fun cooperative board games that you can play solo or create a team of four players.

If you want to take the role of the hero who will save the village from an evil power, this game is the best for you. You can play it with your friends or have a family game night that is full of adventures.

This game will last for around 60 minutes, and it comes with a lot of variety. For example, there are ten various incarnations of Wu Feng, different ways to arrange the village tiles and select different Taoist abilities. It is really cool to try other arrangements to find out which will work best.

Also, the game comes with different difficulty levels. All of this will make each game a unique one and give the Ghost Stories board game huge replayability.

Another advantage, this game is easy to set up and tear down. So when your friends come, they can jump right into the game. Also, after a long, fun game night, you can tear the game down easily in no time.

The gamer’s special powers are completely unique and essential to the game. They force every gamer into specific roles, forcing them into a discussion about how to maximize their chances for victory, all while having a lot of fun.

The Ghost Stories board game is a whole package full of laughs from the start-to-finish; it will never become old or boring because there is always something new happening on every turn, even if you’ve played this before.

This great game has a perfect ratio of luck and skill. You need to create a great strategy to win, but there is also some luck here.

When the victory is too close, you are just about to taste it, and bam, you draw a ghost card that will require you to get another ghost card, that will require you to get yet another card, and so on.

That is really fun because when you finally win this game, it will give you a great feeling like climbing Mount Everest. How awesome is that? These co-op games are a nice mixture of easy mechanics and deep play.