Description from the publisher:

The Story

Thornhill Mansion holds many secrets. Just before the turn into the 20th century Irwin Biddle purchased the house and turned it into what he called an orphanage care facility. But his severe governorship of the orphanage made the home for lost children anything but a haven. A fire in 1939 nearly destroyed the Thornhill Mansion. All but 13 children escaped the blaze. It wasn't until 1956 that Arthur Holland, a mining tycoon, purchased the Thornhill and footed the bill for a full renovation. However, it became clear within weeks of moving his family into the Thornhill that the Victorian mansion was far from settled. Holland's personal account of his family's stay in the Thornhill tells of unexplained children's voices, the sounds of little feet running through the night, of moaning heard inside the walls, even of parts of the house shifting. After leaving the Thornhill, Holland declared, "The place is a house of the dead. No sane person can live well within its walls."

13 ghosts live in the Thornhill, victims of the devastating fire that happened so long ago. As a ghost hunter, you welcome the chance to stay in the ghostly orphanage. Will you be the one to finally put the children to rest? Or will the malevolent child spirits drive you insane?

How to Play

In Children the game, you wander around the Thornhill Mansion trying to trap ghosts.

At the beginning of the game, you deal the 13 Ghosts deck face down off to the side on the table. You then deal the 13 Toys cards face up over the 13 Ghosts cards, creating 13 2-card stacks. Each player gets 5 cards (the hand limit at the beginning of the game) from the Children deck.

Players collectively build the Thornhill Mansion during their turns by placing room cards face up on the table in a grid pattern. The mansion is built in 4 levels--basement, 1st floor, 2nd floor, and 3rd floor. Each room card indicates on which floor it must be placed.

You search for toys and helpful devices by moving your pawn from room to room throughout the mansion. Each time you enter a room, you draw a card and add it to your hand. With a 5-card hand limit, players are forced to leave cards in rooms by placing them facedown beneath room cards. Players may also leave traps beneath room cards. You look at left-behind cards when you enter rooms. Left-behind traps spring immediately. You may add other left-behind cards to your hand.

You place ghost cards into the mansion when they appear at the top of the draw pile. Ghost cards are placed face up beneath room cards so players can read ghosts' names and see the toy icons on the tops of the cards.

To trap ghosts you must have Toy cards. Each ghost card is marked with a toy icon. If you are in a room with a ghost and you have its corresponding toy in your hand, you immediately trap the ghost and put it, along with the toy card, in front of you to keep score.

When you trap a ghost, you must see if another ghost in the house becomes enraged. To do this, flip over the 2-card stack you made at the beginning of the game that corresponds with the toy you used to trap the ghost. If the revealed ghost is in the mansion, flip its card over to its enraged (red) side. Every enraged ghost in the house reduces the hand limit by 1 card. If the hand limit reaches 0 cards, no players win. The ghosts take the game.

Games