- BGG rating
- 7.4
Ghostel: Family Values
- 2–6 players
- 2017
- BGG rank
- BGG #7,397
- BGG rating
- 7.0
Ghostel
2017
Rules assistance for Ghostel
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 60 min
- 14+
- Complexity 2.0/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Ghostel
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Ghostel is a board game released in 2017 for 2–4 players, 60 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by Bevan Clatworthy and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling and Worker Placement.
Expansions
Similar games
- BGG rank
- BGG #72
- BGG rating
- 8.0
The White Castle
- 1–4 players
- 80 min
- Complexity 3.1/5
- 2023
- BGG rank
- BGG #169
- BGG rating
- 7.7
Rajas of the Ganges
- 2–4 players
- 45–75 min
- Complexity 2.9/5
- 2017
- BGG rank
- BGG #171
- BGG rating
- 7.7
Champions of Midgard
- 2–4 players
- 60–90 min
- Complexity 2.6/5
- 2015
- BGG rank
- BGG #190
- BGG rating
- 7.5
Stone Age
- 2–4 players
- 60–90 min
- Complexity 2.5/5
- 2008
- BGG rank
- BGG #209
- BGG rating
- 7.9
Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan
- 2–4 players
- 60–120 min
- Complexity 3.4/5
- 2019
- BGG rank
- BGG #251
- BGG rating
- 7.6
The Taverns of Tiefenthal
- 2–4 players
- 60 min
- Complexity 2.7/5
- 2019
- BGG rank
- BGG #339
- BGG rating
- 7.6
Bora Bora
- 2–4 players
- 60–120 min
- Complexity 3.7/5
- 2013
- BGG rank
- BGG #380
- BGG rating
- 7.7
The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire
- 1–5 players
- 60–120 min
- Complexity 3.1/5
- 2016
- BGG rank
- BGG #690
- BGG rating
- 7.5
Atlantis Rising (Second Edition)
- 1–7 players
- 60–120 min
- Complexity 2.5/5
- 2019
- BGG rank
- BGG #874
- BGG rating
- 7.8
Saltfjord
- 1–4 players
- 45–90 min
- Complexity 3.0/5
- 2024
- BGG rank
- BGG #929
- BGG rating
- 7.5
Circadians: First Light
- 1–4 players
- 60–90 min
- Complexity 3.4/5
- 2019
- BGG rank
- BGG #972
- BGG rating
- 7.1
Dice Hospital
- 1–4 players
- 45–90 min
- Complexity 2.3/5
- 2018
About the game
Creepstone Manor has been closed for nearly a hundred years, standing dark and silent above the town of Creepstone, and that’s just the way resident ghost Spookie likes it! But now, the manor has been reopened and turned into a hotel for the living. You play the part of one of Spookie’s ghostly minions, charged with ridding the house of these warm-bodied usurpers. Use your skills of terror to send them fleeing into the night and win Spookie’s patronage. Who will be top ghost? Ghostel is a semi-cooperative family game where players prey on the phobias of guests by turning into their worst nightmares. Work with other ghosts to combine forces, and scare away the hardiest of hotel patrons to earn upgrades and get even scarier! The game of Ghostel is made of rounds, and each round is split into a Day Phase and a Night Phase. The randomised guest and dice roll mechanic means each round is different from the next, but there’s more than luck to winning the game. During the day, new people will enter the hotel whilst those who already spent the night and survived will calm down from their twilight visitations. Meanwhile, the ghosts are hiding in the attic, preparing for the next night by buying more Terror Dice, Scare Tactics to improve their scaring and Spookie favours to give those extra little bonuses. During the night, the ghosts walk the rooms, using all their creepy tactics to frighten the humans away and show off for Spookie himself. At the start of the night Phase, each player rolls their Terror dice to determine how scary they are for that night. Players can move one room per turn, leaving behind a Terror die as they move. If the total of all dice in a room exceeds the courage of the human in residence of that room, they're scared out of the hotel! Players then score based on who placed the highest scoring dice; however, scoring is graduated so even a single pip die will still score the canny player some victory points.
Categories
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Tinkerbot Games
Questions and answers
Ghostel supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Ghostel is 60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Ghostel for ages 14 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Ghostel has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Ghostel belongs to these categories: Dice. Its main mechanics are Dice Rolling and Worker Placement. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Ghostel are: Bevan Clatworthy. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Ghostel as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.