A card game

nosferatu
Is coming
Is coming
To town

OK
B O
L E
RU

by Emmanouil Rovithis

© 2023 Emmanouil Rovithis

 overview
This is a card game for 2-5 players. Players must travel trough
various locations of Transylvania, in order to locate and destroy
Count Orlock’s (Nosferatu) coffins, before he manages to reach
the town of Wisborg, bringing with him the plague, the black
death. The game is inspired by the 1922 movie “Nosferatu: A
Symphony of Horror” a silent German Expressionist horror film
directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count
Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife of his estate agent and
brings the plague to their town.

Components

 5 Hero’s cards (double - sided)

Sample:

Human state Possessed state

Hero’s color and

special ability

 Vampiric state indicator card male and female (for Hellen hero)
The cards:

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 14 Location cards:

Towns (4) (WISBORG, DEJ, BISTRITZ, TARGOVISTE)

Nosferatu’s castle
Inn
Old church
Ruins
Standing stones
Caves
Borgo pass
Terrain cards (3) (mountain, forest, plain)

Sample:

Location card back

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  Roads (paths)/terrain deck:

54 cards (suggested for a 5 player game) *: 15 mountain paths, 15

forest paths, 24 plain roads / paths
Each card shows the encounter (enemy) type that can attack the
player during the night phase of a round.

The cards:

Mountain Forest Plain

Cards back

* The number and the relative ratio of the cards in each deck are indica-
tive only and can be modified according to the number of players and the
desired level of difficulty and duration of the game. The numbers sug-
gested here are for a 5 player’s game. (Easy level)

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  Weather deck

30 cards: 12 sunny day, 6 stormy clouds, 6 storm and

rain, 6 thick fog

On each card, the corresponding effect is shown.

Sample:

Card back

 Wound tokens (10)

 Hourglass token (1)

5
  Day / night indicator card

Front Back

 Market deck
84 cards:
6 Holy water cards
6 Crucifix cards
12 Stake and hammer cards
6 Weather modification cards
8 Knife cards
10 Revolver cards
10 Riffle cards
10 Hourglass cards
6 Medication cards
2 Horse cards
2 Carriage cards
2 Joker (wildcard) cards
4 Map cards

Sample of market cards

Card back

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 Exploration deck

68 cards:

3 Holy water cards

3 Crucifix cards
10 Stake and hammer cards
2 Weather modification cards
2 Knife cards
4 Revolver cards
5 Riffle cards
8 Hourglass cards
4 Medication cards
2 Horse cards
2 Carriage cards
2 Joker (wildcard) cards
2 Map cards
9 Coffin cards
10 Rat (nothing) cards
Sample of various exploration cards

Card back

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 Night encounters deck (enemies)

65 cards:

9 Nosferatu cards
5 Bandits of type 1
5 Bandits of type 2
9 Bears
9 Wolves
9 Wild boars
10 Bats (nothing)

Sample of various night encounter cards 1

On each card, the weapons needed for defense are shown. Also
shown are the wounds the players are dealt if defeated in a fight with
bandits or wild animals (see relevant section).

Sample of various night encounter cards 2

Card back

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 Nosferatu advancement deck (path to Wisborg)

Twelve cards with roman numbers that function as countdown

track. Must be placed in arithmetic order in the correspondent
deck. Each card has a unique back. As the game progresses they
form a row on which Nosferatu’s pawn is advances. After the
VIII card is revealed, Knock is activated and this is market by his
pawn being placed on that card. Knock’s pawn doesn’t advance.

Sample:

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 If the last card of a deck is drawn, (applies to market,
roads/terrain/ exploration and night encounters decks) the
corresponding discard pile is shuffled to form a new deck.

 Additional components

Players need to provide a pawn and a wooden cube with the cor-
responding color for each hero. In addition, a black pawn (a big-
ger sized pawn) - ideally a black knight chess piece - for Nos-
feratu and a smaller black pawn, (similar to these of the hero’s )
for Knock, the Nosferatu’s minion. (See section: “Nosferatu path
to Wisborg”).

Finally two D6 dice (preferably of different color) should be pro-

vided.

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 Game setup
Setup the game according to image below (example setup for a 2 player game)

11
31

12
4

18
13a
5

13b

Places row
6

15
7
8

Roads

14
ro w
9

16
10

17

Player’s area

See also youtube video https://youtu.be/xO2tSfnSakU

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 Game setup
An example setup for 2 players is shown on the previous page:

 Shuffle and place the decks as shown on the previous

page (2,3,5,7,9,11,15).
 Make space for the discard piles (4,6,8,10).
 Give each player, a card with the hero (A),(B), and the
correspondent pawn and cube.
 Place the “Day/Night indicator card” as shown.
 From the “locations deck”(11), find and place, face up,
the “Wisborg” (13a) and the “Nosferatu castle””(14)
cards to form the “places row”. Make a second row with
the 3 “terrain type” cards (13b). Place the cards, in the
following order: “Mountain”, “forest”, “plain”. Lastly
find the “ Borgo Pass” card and place it at the bottom of
the remaining locations deck (11).
 Draw the 3 top cards from the “market deck” (3), and
place them adjacent to the Wisborg card (12). These
represent the market of the town.
 Place face up a “coffin”, a “Nosferatu” and a “Bandit”
card, next to Nosferatu castle card (14).
 Place “Nosferatu’s advancement” deck (15) as shown.
Take care to arrange the cards in their proper order, ac-
cording to their roman number (from I - top, to XII -
bottom). Flip open the card with the roman number I,
and place Nosferatu’s pawn on it.
 Place both the pawn and the cubes of each player on the
Wisborg location card (13a)
 Set aside the dice, the wound tokens (17), the hourglass
token, the Knock’s pawn (18) and the vampiric state
indication cards (16)
 Deal each player 8 cards from the market deck (3) in
order to form his/her initial hand.

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 Playing the game
synopsis
Heroes explore through Transylvania, in order to locate and destroy
Count Orlock’s (Nosferatu) coffins. At the same time Nosferatu who
prey’s Hellen, (Hutter’s wife), is travelling by land and sea to Wisborg
bringing with him the plague, the black death.
The (main) objective of the players is a) to destroy all coffins before
Nosferatu reaches Wisborg and b) remain in human state at the end of
the game.
(see “Game end”)

Day phase
In his /her turn the player should perform the following actions:
1. Flips the Day/Night indicator card to Day side.
2. Reveals the top card of the weather deck.
3. Moves or camps for the night
4. Opens and Explores locations.
5. Obtain resources from the markets or other locations
6. Discards the excess cards from his hand. (Maximum number of
cards in hand is 8 - not counting road/terrain cards).

Then the next player takes his/her turn. When all player have completed
the day phase, the first player flips the Day/Night indicator card to Night
side, and the Night phase begins.

Night phase
In his /her turn the player may perform the following actions:
1. Advances Nosferatu pawn on its path to Wisborg.
2. Fight enemies either physical or metaphysical
3. Attack other players if possessed or converter to vampire.
4. Refills his/her hand to 8 cards

When all player have completed the night phase, the game proceeds with
a new round.

A detailed description of each action follows on the next pages .

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Movement and camping for the night

To better understanding the movement mechanism, a thorough expla-

nation is necessary:

As the game progresses, locations cards form two rows (see page 11):
A) The “places row” that starts with the Wisborg card and ends
with Nosferatu’s castle card.
B) The “roads/terrain row” which is formed from the three cards
depicting a mountain path, a forest path and a road on a plane.

Until all the places have been opened, only forward movement is al-
lowed on row A. Afterwards the players may also move backwards
without restriction.

Conversely the movement on the row B is bidirectional depending on

the cards drawn from the roads/terrain deck.

Movement is a mandatory action. A player is not allowed to stay in

the same location for more than 1 round.

In order for a player to move, he/she must draw a card from the
roads deck. If the card drawn is a road on a plane, an extra card may
be drawn unless the player is wounded.

The hero Hutter, if not wounded, may, twice in the game, use his
special ability to draw an additional card (maximum 3 cards).

Then player keeps the road card(s) in his area and move his/her
pawn on the corresponded terrain type (that of the last card drawn)
on the row B. There he/she will camp for the night until he/she can
move again in his/her next turn.

A player can have at any time, no more than 4 road cards in his area.
Road cards don’t count for the player's hand

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Example of a simple movement:

The red player (Hellen) is on Wisborg. She must travel forward to

the place “Standing stones”. Therefore she draws the top road card
form the road/terrain deck. The card is a forest path. She keeps it,
and places her pawn of the forest terrain of row B. Her cube remains
on Wisborg. Hellen will spend the night in the forest.

Card drawn:

Movement:

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Moving to a new location:

In order to advance to a new location, player must play (discard) 3

road/terrain cards, each of a different type:

Example of movement—continued

The red player (Hellen) coming from Wisborg, spent the night in
the forest. She must travel forward to the place “Standing
stones” (which is already opened in a previous round by another
player). Therefore she draws the top road card form the road/
terrain deck. The card is a road on plain card. This allows her to
draw another card. This time she draws a mountain card. Having
all 3 different terrain cards, discards them and advances both her
pawn and cube to the new location. She then proceeds to explore
it. (see below)

Alternative ways of movement:

A player whose cube is on towns (Wisborg, Dej, Bistritz, Targoviste)
or on the Inn, can move anywhere on the row A, by playing the card
“horse” (no need to play road/terrain cards). The same effects can be
achieved by playing the card “carriage”. In the latter case he/she may
only move from town to town or to/from the inn to a town.

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Opening a new location

New location can only be opened by a player whose cube is in the far-
thest location. To do so he/she must discard 3 road/terrain cards, each of
a different type (similarly to movement).

Example:

The red player can open a new location. The grey player cannot.

The grey player must first move to “standing stones”, before he/she
can go to the newly opened town of “Targoviste”

Both players can open a new location.

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When a new town or inn, card is opened, 2 cards from the market deck
should be placed face up adjacent to it, representing the market of this
town.
Example: The town of Targoviste is just opened by the red player who
also drew 2 cards from the market deck (a knife and a crucifix) and
placed them face-up next to the town.

Every player who opens or arrives in a town or inn location, may

exchange up to 2 cards from his hand with the cards of the town’s
market. (Exception: “Rat-nothing” cards cannot be exchanged)

Exploration - finding and destroying coffins

A player who arrives onto a location must perform an exploration ac-
tion. This is done by first discarding a card from his hand to the dis-
card pile (8) (see page 11) and then by drawing the top card from the
exploration deck.

If the card drawn is a coffin, the player may keep it and place it in his
area (not in his/her hand) to obtain victory points. To keep (destroy)
the coffin that he/she must have a “stake and hammer” (or a
“joker”card) in his hand and show it to his fellow players. Otherwise
he/she leaves the coffin card face up next to the location, to be
claimed by another player later in the game.

A player may not perform exploration more than once in a round.

When all locations have been opened, all the remaining cards of the
exploration deck are divided and distributed equally between the loca-
tions excluding Wisborg, Borgo Pass and Nosferatu castle. The cards
are placed face down on top of the location cards.

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 To gain the coffin located in the Nosferatu’s castle, a player (or a
group of players) must defeat both the bandit and Nosferatu who
guard the coffin (in that order). (See rules on fighting enemies in the
corresponding section)

Interaction of players on the same location

 Players who are on the same location may exchange up to 2
cards from their hands. (see images below for clarification)
 Any wounded player who is on the same location with “Dr.
Bulwer” is healed completely. (This can be done twice in the
game).
 A player may also “collect” (exchange) up to 2 cards found
on a location after a lost combat by a previous player . (see
combat section)

The red and the gray players are on the same location

The red and the gray players are NOT on the same location

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Weather cards

There are 4 types of weather cards sunny day, stormy clouds, storm
and rain, thick fog. (see page 5)
On each card, the corresponding effect is shown as well as the card
that cancels it, if played.
The effect of the weather is resolved immediately and simultaneously
by all players.
Any movement caused by the weather effect does not count as a nor-
mal movement action.
Certain cards (i.e. map/compass, carriage and joker) that negate the
weather effect should be played (discarded) at that time.

Special action cards

 Weather modification card:

May be played anytime in the day phase of a round when
the weather is cloudy. The player may select the weather
conditions of his/her choice that are applied immediately
(see above).

 Hourglass cards.
If played, block the Nosferatu’s advancement (in the
night phase) for the current round. The hourglass token
is placed on the most recently opened Nosferatu ad-
vancement card as an indicator. The token is removed
when the night phase ends.

 Joker card
It functions as a wildcard and can substitute any resource
card depicted on it.

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 Night phase

When all players have completed their day phase turn, the first
player flips the day/night indicator to the night side .

Then he/she advances Nosferatu’s pawn by opening a card from

the Nosferatu advancement deck ( 15) (see page 11). As the game
progresses, a row is formed. This row functions as countdown and
makes the game progressively more difficult for the players.

Exception: If a player had played a hourglass card in the day

phase of the current round, the advancement of Nosferatu is
skipped for the rest of this round. The hourglass token is placed
instead, on the last card of the advancement row, until the round
ends..

Effects of the Nosferatu advancenment

 If the card with the number VI of the Nosferatu advance-

ment deck has been opened (ie Nosferatu has boarded the
ship “Embusa”), player subtracts 1 from his/her roll when
fighting Nosferatu in the night phase (see Fighting section).
If card X has been opened (ie. Nosferatu has arrived to
Wisborg) player subtracts 2 from the roll

 If Knock have been activated (the card with the number

VIII of Nosferatu’s advancement path has been opened),
the bandit may reroll once. (see Fighting section).

 When the last cards from the advanced deck is opened, the
game ends (See End of Game section)

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 Night phase

All players whose pawns are on road and locations other that towns
and the inn, must draw a card from the night encounters deck. This
deck consists of cards representing enemies attacking players. There are
three type of enemies: Wild animals (under the influence of Nosferatu),
bandits (Nosferatu’s minions) and Nosferatu himself (in different poses)
(See images below)

On each enemy card there are icons with the necessary weapons to de-
feat it/him as well as the number of wounds dealt to the player when a
fight is lost.

If the card with the number X of the Nosferatu advancement deck

has been opened (ie. Nosferatu has arrived to Wisborg) Nosferatu
can attack on all locations including the towns.

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fight againts wild animals
Player must have the necessary weapons. If not, he/she loses immediately.
Otherwise he/she discards the weapon cards in the corresponding pile and
rolls ONE die. Any previous wound is subtracted from the number rolled.
If he/she rolls 4, 5 or 6, he/she wins. He/she takes the killed animal card
and places it in his area, to score victory point at the end of the game.
If the payer has more than one of the necessary weapons, he may roll
once again (discarding the weapon card)

If the player loses he/she takes the corresponding number of wound to-
kens placing them on his player card.

The “victorious” animal card, stays face up in the combat location, wait-
ing for the next passing player. (Night phase of the next round). The maxi-
mum allowed number of open enemy cards in any location is two. Any
subsequent card after a lost fight, is discarded.

“Remedy cards” from the players hand may be discarded if available to

heal the same number of wounds.

fight against bandits

Player must have the necessary weapons. If not, he/she loses immediately.
Otherwise he/she discards the weapon cards in the corresponding pile and
rolls TWO dice, one for himself and one for his/her enemy. Any previous
wound is subtracted from the number rolled. The highest number wins.

If the player wins, he/she takes the defeated bandit card and places it in his
area, to score victory point at the end of the game.

If the payer has more than one of the necessary weapons, he may roll once
again (discarding the corresponding card).

If Knock have been activated (the card with the number VIII of Nosferatu’s
advancement path has been opened), the bandit rerolls once.

If the player loses he/she takes the corresponding number of wound tokens
placing them on his player card. Additionally he/she loses 2 resources
cards of his/her choice that remain open (face up) on the fight location to
be claimed (exchanged) later by another player.

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fight against bandits—continued

The “victorious” bandit card, stays face up in the combat location, waiting
for the next passing player. (Night phase of the next round). If an open
enemy card.The maximum allowed number of open enemy cards in any
location is two. Any subsequent card after a lost fight, is discarded.

“Remedy cards” from the players hand may be discarded if available to

heal the same number of wounds.

A player with two of more wound, returns (pawn and cube) to the nearest
town to be healed.

When two or more players are fighting wild animals or bandits on the
same location, they can “join forces” to clear the site: If one player is
defeated, the enemy if fought by the next player who in that case doesn’t
have to draw a card from the night encounter deck.

fight against nosferatu

To defend him/herself against Nosferatu, the player must have a stake and
hammer plus either a crucifix or a Holy water bottle in his hand. If not,
he/she loses and is immediately transformed to a vampire (vampiric
conversion - see next).

Otherwise, having discarded the cards, he/she rolls TWO dice, one for him/
herself and one for his/her enemy. The highest roll wins.

If the card with the number VI of the Nosferatu advancement deck has
been opened (i.e. Nosferatu has boarded the ship “Embusa”), player sub-
tracts 1 from his/her roll. If card X has been opened (i.e.. Nosferatu has
arrived to Wisborg) player subtracts 2.

If the payer has more than one copy of the necessary weapons, he may re-
roll once (discarding the corresponding cards).

If the player wins, the Nosferatu card is discarded. If player is defeated he/
she immediately becomes possessed.

The “winner” Nosferatu card is returned to a random place in the night

encounters deck.

Players in the possessed or vampiric state , immediately attack other

players as described in the next section.

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Possessed player
The player in a possessed state flips his player card to possessed side. Then
attacks the player (ONE) who is in the nearest location (place ot terrain/
road).
The attack is resolved by a dice roll. The highest number wins the fight.

The attacked player doesn’t need any special weapon. If he/she loses he/she
becomes possessed too and proceed to attack another player.

The initial possessed players remains thereafter inactive until the end of the
night phase.

All possessed players are healed and become humans again, as soon as the
night phase ends.

Player in vampiric state

A player who turned into a vampire takes a Nosferatu indicator card in
front of him and temporarily puts the human player card aside. He/she
also takes a Nosferatu card from the night encounters deck.

He/she immediately attacks any player who wants except of the pos-
sessed and those located in towns or the inn.

Exception: If the card with the number X of the Nosferatu advancement

deck has been opened (i.e.. Nosferatu has arrived to Wisborg) Nosferatu
can attack on all locations including the towns./inn.

All fights are resolved as per page 23 (paragraph: FIGHT AGAINS

NOSFERATU)

If Nosferatu player is defeated, the is healed and resumes his/her human

state.
If he/she wins he remains lurking in the location or road/terrain of his/her
choice (leaves an open Nosferatu card from the night stack) on the corre-
sponding road/location and does not participate in the day phase of the
next round.

When all the fights of the night are over, the last player flips the day/night
indicator on the day side. He/she also removes the hourglass token from
the Nosferatu’s advancement row.

All possessed players are healed immediately, and a new round begins.

All players discard “rat-nothing”card and replenish their hand(to a maxi-

mum of 8), taking cards from the market deck .

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 End of game

The game ends when either of the conditions below is met.

1. Players have found all Nosferatu’s coffins.

2. The last card (XII) of the Nosferatu advancement deck is opened
before the players manage to locate and destroy all the coffins
3. All players have been converted to vampires or are possessed.

Condition 1: Winner is announced the player (human ) with the most

victory points (VP). VPs are calculated as follows: Every player receives
2 VPs for each coffin gained, plus 1 VP for every boar and wolf killed, 2
VP for every bear and 3 VPs for each bandit. For every wound a VP is
subtracted. Finally the player whose pawn is at the farthest location re-
ceives 2 bonus VPs. In case of a tie, house rules may be applied e.g. win-
ner is the player with the more coffins / more victories / more resources
etc.

Condition 2. All human players lose. The winner is the Nosferatu player
(if any) who owns the most coffins. In case of a tie, winner is the Nos-
feratu player who posses the fewer metaphysical weapon cards (ie Cru-
cifix, Holy water and hammer/stakes).

Condition 3. The winner is the Nosferatu player who owns the most
coffins. In case of a tie, winner is the Nosferatu player who has the
fewer metaphysical weapon cards (ie Crucifix, Holy water and hammer/
stakes).
If all players are possessed the winner is the one with the most victory
points (VP). VPs are calculated as per condition 1 (see above).

Final note

House rules are encouraged. The difficulty level of the game may
be modified at will by increasing or decreasing the number and
the relative ratio of the resources, coffins, or weather cards.

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