It s so hard to feel seen as a Cryptid these days. In this immersive strategy game, you ll navigate your love-hate relationship with humans and outwit your fellow Cryptids to earn your status as a true legend. As hunters, hikers, and researchers scatter across the wilderness hoping to catch a glimpse of you, you ll stage elaborate hoaxes, plant perfect decoys, and lurk discreetly in the shadows to build up your myth. You might even expose your true self once in a while, but be warned: vulnerability can come at a price…
A quick overview of some of the key aspects of gameplay:
-Cryptids- Pick your favorite Cryptid and get ready to play! Each Cryptid card features your unique Cryptid Power that you can leverage to your advantage during the Day Phase. Once per round, you may discard a card to use that Power on your turn.
-Hidden Traits- There s more to each Cryptid than meets the eye. You ll shuffle the Hidden Trait cards and deal two of them to each player. Choose the one that speaks to you and place it face down next to your Cryptid card. This card is a part of your Cryptid identity now, and it comes with a secret bonus objective to help boost your score at the end of the game.
-The Wilderness- The map is composed of 6 sites, collectively known as The Wilderness. It is here that you and your fellow Cryptids will hide from (and encounter) Humans.
-Hiding Spots- Why are you just standing there? You need to hide! Set up your 9 Sighting cards in 3 Stacks, then place your corresponding Hiding Spot tokens in The Wilderness. If there is an Encounter at the Site of one of your Hiding Spots, you ll have to reveal the top card of that Stack.
-Encounters- Encounters happen at the Site with the most Humans at the end of 3 turns each round. If you have a Hiding Spot at the Site of an Encounter, you ll reveal the top card of your corresponding Stack. Will it be a Hoax, a Decoy, or the real you?
-Humans- There are 3 Flavors of Humans that you ll encounter during the game: Hunters, Hikers, and Researchers. (Delicious!) Each Flavor of Human responds differently to each type of Cryptid Sighting and will either gain or lose you points (known as Myth). Let s just say that you wouldn t want Hunters to catch you sleeping…
-Events- Humans can be pretty unpredictable! At the start of each round, the First Player will flip over the top Event card to see how the Humans decided to move around The Wilderness locations on that particular Dawn.
-Actions- Manipulate Humans to your advantage by strategically playing Action cards! You can Lure, Scare, Attract, and Extract Humans around The Wilderness to sway where the next Encounter might occur.
At the end of 5 rounds, the Cryptid with the greatest Myth is named the True Legend!
Game includes: – 4 tarot-sized Crypid cards – 4 Cryptid meeples – 1 The Wilderness board – 61 Action cards – 10 Hidden Trait cards – 12 Event cards – 12 Hiding spot tokens – 12 double-sided Myth tokens – 1 Sinkhole token – 1 First Player token – 36 Human tokens – 36 Sighting cards (9 per Cryptid)
