We picked Shadow Hunters up at a local game shop. We were looking for something new to play and asked for a recommendation. Without hesitation the owner said Shadow Hunters. He was so sure we’d like it, he said if we didn’t, he would buy it back from us. We didn’t need to take him up on that because it’s a great game.
The first play through was a little rough. Some of the Hermit Cards can be a little confusing at first, and since you’re supposed to be all secretive about who you are, you can’t really ask questions during game play. Most cards instruct you to do different things depending on what type of character you are. For example, if you’re a Shadow you take 1 damage. That’s pretty straightforward. We got confused on the cards that had more than one option. “If you aren’t X, discard this card,” isn’t written on the card, but that’s what you do. It took us awhile to remember that, which was why we got confused, I think. One player in particular decided that if she didn’t understand what a card wanted her to do, she would just discard it. It made it very difficult to figure out what she was.
Looking at the cards now that I’ve played more, they make perfect sense to me. It’s one of those instances where I wonder why we couldn’t see it before, but it’s probably just a matter of spending time playing the game.
You also have to remember a lot of information. Unless you get the super awesome Hermit Card that just lets you see another player’s character card, you have to remember what you’ve “accused” people of being and how they responded. This also caused a bit of confusion the first time we played. Someone mixed up their information and ended up attacking and killing their ally. Oops!
It gets easier after the first couple times. Luckily for Signing Monkey she got an easy character card for her first time playing.
A play by play doesn’t really do the game justice because we can’t know what Hermit Cards are given, so we don’t really know what the responses mean. In any case, this is what happened:
Professor went first and rolled a 6 for the Church. He drew and played First Aid on Space Cat to move her to 7 damage.
Space Cat rolled an 8 for the Cemetery. She drew and played Vampire Bats, attacking Professor for 2 damage and healing herself for 1.
Clumsy Ninja rolled a 6 for the Church. She drew the equipment card Mystic Compass: roll 2x and choose which to use. She then attacked Professor for 2 damage.
Signing Monkey rolled a 4 for the Underworld Gate which meant she got to draw from the deck of her choice. She chose the Hermit (green) deck and gave the card to Professor who simply discarded it. She then attacked Professor for 1 damage.
Chubby Unicorn rolled a 6 for the Church. She drew Concealed Knowledge, a one time use card: when this turn is over it will be your turn again. She then rolled a 9 for the Weird Woods: you may either give 2 damage to any player or heal 1 damage of any player. She healed Professor for 1.
Professor also rolled a 9 for the Weird Woods and healed himself for 1.
Space Cat rolled a 3 for the Hermit’s Cabin. She drew from the Hermit Deck and gave the card to Professor who simply discarded it.
Clumsy Ninja rolled a 5 for the Underworld Gate and chose to draw from the Black deck. She drew Spiritual Doll: pick a character and roll a 6-sided die. If the die number rolled is 1-4, you give 3 points of damage to that character. If the die number is 5 or 6, you get 3 points of damage. She picked Chubby Unicorn, rolled a 3, and Chubby Unicorn received 3 damage. She then attacked Signing Monkey but failed.
Signing Monkey rolled a 3 for Hermit’s Cabin. She drew and gave the card to Clumsy Ninja who took 1 damage. She then attacked Chubby unicorn for 2 damage.
Chubby Unicorn rolled a 7 and chose to go to the Hermit’s Cabin. She drew and gave the card to Signing Monkey who took 1 damage. She then attacked Signing Monkey for 2 damage.
Professor rolled a 4 for the Underworld Gate and chose to draw from the Hermit Deck. He gave card to Chubby Unicorn who simply discarded it.
Space Cat rolled a 6 for the Church. She drew Silver Rosary: if you attack and kill another character you get all their Equipment cards. She then attacked Clumsy Ninja for 1 damage.
Clumsy Ninja rolled an 8 for the Cemetery. She drew Rusted Broad Axe: if your attack is successful, you give 1 point of extra damage. No attack.
Signing Monkey also rolled an 8 for the Cemetery. She drew Moody Goblin: steal an equipment card from any character. She stole Clumsy Ninja’s Mystic Compass and then attacked Clumsy Ninja for 4 damage.
Chubby Unicorn rolled a 6 for the Church. She drew Holy Robe: your attacks do 1 less damage and the amount of damage you receive from attacks is reduced by 1 point. No attack.
Professor rolled a 3 for the Hermit’s Cabin. He drew and gave the card to Chubby Unicorn who took 1 damage. No attack.
Space Cat rolled a 5 for the Underworld Gate. She chose to draw from the Hermit Deck and gave the card to Professor who healed 1 damage. No attack.
Clumsy Ninja rolled a 6 for the Church. She drew Blessing: pick a character other than yourself and roll a 6-sided die. That character heals an amount of damage equal to the die roll. She chose Space Cat who healed for 5 (full health). No attack.
Signing Monkey rolled a 3 for the Hermit’s Cabin. She drew and gave the card to Chubby Unicorn who simply discarded it. She then attacked Professor for 5 damage (ouch!)
Chubby Unicorn rolled a 5 for Underworld Gate. She chose to draw from the Hermit Deck and gave the card to Space Cat. Space Cat had to reveal her character card to Chubby Unicorn. She then attacked Clumsy Ninja for 2 damage.
Professor rolled a 7 and chose to go to the Underworld Gate. He chose to draw from the Hermit Deck and gave the card to Space Cat who took 1 damage. He then attacked Space Cat for 2 damage.
Space Cat also rolled a 7, but she chose to go to the Church. She drew the Spear of Longinus: if you’re a Hunter and your attack is successful, you may reveal your identity. If you do, or if you are already revealed, you give 2 points of extra damage. She then attacked Professor for 3 damage.
Professor died – he was Ultra Soul (Shadow)
Professor dies
Clumsy Ninja rolled a 5 for the Underworld Gate. She chose to draw from the Hermit Deck and gave the card to Signing Monkey who simply discarded it. She then attacked Chubby Unicorn for 3 damage.
Signing Monkey rolled a 7 and chose to go to the Erstwhile Altar: you may steal and Equipment card from any player. She stole the Silver Rosary from Space Cat. No attack (only because no one was in range!).
Chubby Unicorn rolled a 3 for the Hermit’s Cabin. She drew and gave the card to Clumsy Ninja who took 1 damage.
Space Cat rolled an 8 for the Cemetery. She drew Machine Gun: your attack will affect all characters in your attack range. She then attacked Signing Monkey for 1 damage.
Clumsy Ninja rolled a 7 and chose to go to the Cemetery. She drew Cursed Sword Masamune: you must attack another character on your turn. This attack uses the 4-sided die only (you can’t fail). She then attacked Space Cat for 3 damage.
Signing Monkey rolled a 9 for the Weird Woods: may either give 2 damage to any player or heal 1 damage of any player. She chose to give damage to Chubby Unicorn. No attack.
Chubby Unicorn rolled a 6 for the Church. She drew Talisman: you receive no damage from “Bloodthirsty Spider,” “Vampire Bat,” or “Dynamite.” No attack.
Space Cat rolled a 2 for the Hermit’s Cabin. She drew and gave the card to Signing Monkey who simply discarded it.
Clumsy Ninja rolled a 4 for the Underworld Gate. She chose to draw from the White Deck and drew Holy Water of Healing and healed 2 damage. She then attacked Chubby Unicorn for 1 damage.
Chubby Unicorn dies
Chubby Unicorn died – she was Fu-ka (Hunter)
Signing Monkey rolled a 10 for the Erstwhile Altar and stole the Machine Gun from Space Cat. No attack.
Space Cat rolled a 5 for the Underworld Gate and chose to draw from the White Deck. She drew Chocolate: if you are A, E, or U (characters) you may reveal your identity. If you do, you are fully healed. Space Cat was not one of them. She then attacked Clumsy Ninja for 1 damage.
Clumsy Ninja rolled a 9 for the Weird Woods and chose to give 2 damage to Space Cat. No attack.
Signing Monkey rolled a 4 for the Underworld Gate and chose to draw from the White Deck. She drew Guardian Angel: you get no damage from another character’s attack until your next turn. She then attacked Space Cat but failed.
Space Cat rolled a 6 for the Church. She drew Disenchant Mirror: if you are a Shadow except for Unknown, you must reveal your identity. Nothing happens. No attack.
Clumsy Ninja rolled a 6 for the Church. She drew Flare of Judgment: all characters except yourself receive 2 points of damage. She then attacked Space Cat for 3 more damage.
Signing Monkey rolled a 6 for the Church. She drew Advent: if you’re a Hunter, you may reveal your identity. If you do, or you are already revealed, you heal fully. Nothing happens. She then attacked Space Cat and Clumsy Ninja with Machine Gun for 2 damage each.
Space Cat died – she was Gregor (Hunter)
Space Cat dies. Clumsy Ninja and Signing Monkey win!
Clumsy Ninja and Signing Monkey won!
Professor also won (even though he died) because all Hunters died.
Clumsy Ninja was Valkyrie (Shadow). Win Condition: All the Hunter characters are dead OR 3 Neutral characters are dead
Signing Monkey was Catherine (Neutral). Win Condition: You die first OR you are one of the last two characters remaining
Because you have to have a minimum of 4 players to play, Professor and I only get to play this game with our gaming group, so it doesn’t see as much game play as 2+ player games. It’s still a lot of fun, and does move fairly quickly. Most of the time the only decisions you have to make are who to attack or who to give a Hermit Card to, so that helps. I imagine that if our group met more than once a month for gaming, we’d play this one more.