Cross the beams![]
The Marshmallow Man is stomping towards you. The four Ghostbusters must manage to cross their beams before he gets too close. But a black ghost is causing trouble as well…
This is a cooperative game where the players win or lose together depending on whether they manage to stop the Marshmallow man or not.
Components[]
(Note: This game is best with a few meeples, but can be played with the basic set using just the regular cubes) - All cards with pink and brown backgrounds
- 6 white cards to move the Marshmallow man
- 30 cards (red, yellow, green, blue and black) for the Ghostbusters beams
- 1 black die and 1 black meeple for the Ghost
- 1 white meeple for the Marshmallow Man
- Red, Green, Yellow, Blue meeples for the Ghostbusters
- 36 tiles to build the Marshmallow Mans path, including 12 face down brown tiles and 24 face up green tiles with symbols
Setup[]
Build MMs path consisting of twelve rows and three columns of tiles in the pattern of green and brown tiles shown in the example.
The middle column is positioned half a tile beneath the two others to achieve a hexagonal pattern.
Place the MM outside the path at the top, so he can enter at any of the tiles in the first row.
Shuffle the MM cards and put them in a face down pile on the table.
Shuffle the Ghostbuster cards and deal to each player:
5 if 1-2 players, 4 if 3 players, 3 if 4 players, 2 if 5 or 6 players
Place the 4 Ghostbuster meeples on the table. They need enough space in front of them for one column of cards each.
Place the Ghost and his die to the left of the Ghostbusters.
The starting player is the one who can recite the most quotes from the Ghostbuster movies.
Play[]
On your turn you perform the following actions in this order:
Enemy phase:
1: (not on the first turn)
Move the MM, unless a card was played to halt him. If the visible MM card symbol matches one of tiles in front of the MM, then he will move into this tile. If two of the same tiles are available he will prefer to move straight forward. If no match is found, then he may move into a face down brown tile if available. If the MM is already in the final row, he will move off the path, and the Ghostbusters will get stomped, ending the game.
2: (not on the first turn)
Move the Ghost to the next Ghostbuster to the right (or to the first one in the row if he has reached the rightmost GB). Now roll the die. If the number rolled is equal or lower than the number of cards in the beam, then the card in the position corresponding to the die roll is removed and discarded, and the other cards are shifted downwards to close the gap as needed. If the number rolled exceeds the number of cards in the beam, then the Ghost will remove the first black card in the beam. If there are no black cards then nothing happens. Loosing a card can be avoided if any player is able to “zap” the Ghost by playing a card with a number that equals the die roll. This card is then discarded.
3:
Turn up the top MM card.
Shuffle the MM cards first if all 6 have been spent. Now any player may play a card in order to stop the MM from moving next turn. The card played must match the number or the symbol of the revealed MM card. Flip the MM card face down to mark the event, and discard the played card.
Ghostbuster Phase:
1:
EITHER: Play one card from your to one of the Ghostbusters’ beams. Place your card somewhere in front of the Ghostbuster whose beam/cube matches the colour of your card. You can place the card anywhere in the beam, shifting other cards upwards to make room for yours.
OR: Exchange your card for one of the cards already played to the beam. The card you remove is placed in your hand.
OR: Just take one card from a beam to your hand without playing a new card to replace it. The other cards in the beam are shifted downwards to fill the gap. If you have no cards in your hand then this would be your only option.
Note: Black cards are wild and can be played to any beam.
2:
Draw exactly one new card from the deck. If the deck is empty you can draw no more cards. Discarded cards are never returned to the deck.
(If you are playing with only 1 player, then you first take one card from your hand and place it at the bottom of the deck, and then you draw two new cards.
3:
Check if you have managed to cross the beams. To cross the beams you must have achieved complete rows of cards that are “locked in” between the four beams. A lock means each card has a match for the neighbouring card(s) for either the symbol or the number.
If four complete rows of cards are completely locked in, then you have successfully crossed the beams, and the Marshmallow Man will get toasted, ending the game in your favour.
Game end:
You lose the game if the MM steps off the final row in the path, and you win the game if you are able to cross the beams before this happens.