Monstrous
BGG rank
BGG #15,703
BGG rating
5.8

Monstrous

2016

Rules assistance for Monstrous

Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

  • 2–10 players
  • 15–30 min
  • 10+
  • Complexity 1.3/5

For 2 players

Rules assistant for Monstrous

What would you like to know?

Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.

Monstrous is a board game released in 2016 for 2–10 players, 15–30 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Kim Brebach and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Take That, and Variable Set-up.

Expansions

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About the game

Olympus is shaking to its foundations. Faith among the mortals is waning and with it the very power of the pantheon. Zeus is in a rage: "Hear me, gods! I command you to send forth my MONSTROUS pets. Make them rain from the sky and erupt from the underworld. We will rekindle these mortals' faith - through FEAR!" Monstrous is a game of gods and monsters, fear and faith, dexterous skills and tactical combos. Players are Greek gods throwing mythical monster cards from their hand onto a shared tableau of ancient Greek locations to gain as much 'Faith' as possible. But a strong guiding hand is not enough - cunning use of tactical monster and location powers is the key to gaining the most faith of all the gods, and the favor of Zeus. During setup, a number of large location cards equal to the number of gods are arranged on the table - these are selected from 12 ancient Greek cities where the insolent humans cower. Locations have special powers and provide Faith when hit by Monsters. Depending on the number of gods playing, each god has a randomly constructed deck of between 7 and 10 out of 12 mythical monster cards, each with their own special power. Each god shuffles and readies these decks, then draws 3 of their monster cards ready to throw at locations and monsters already on the table. On their turn, a god chooses a single monster from their hand, and throws it (without their hand crossing the table edge) attempting to hit: 1. a location - to use its special power, and any thrown monster power that affect locations, and gain its Faith. 2. other monster cards on the table - to use the special power of their thrown monster on the other gods’ monsters. 3. ideally both at the same time! Look for the best cards to throw and the best targets to throw at. But beware: monsters may do unpredictable and dangerous things. Some monsters even act like traps on the table, taking effect as soon as they are hit. If Olympus is in play, powerful legendary monsters can be gained for gods to throw too. Once a god has finished their turn, they draw a new monster and play proceeds to the next god. This proceeds until one god runs out of monster cards completely. Each other god then takes 1 final turn before the god with the highest Faith is declared the winner. Monstrous blends stunning art of mythic Greece with quick card throwing, fist pumping action and the tactical combos that gods and gamers love. Every game is different and there are optional rules to tailor your MONSTROUS experience for children, team play and longer games with legendary monsters. And yes, you can release the Kraken.

Questions and answers

Monstrous supports 2–10 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.