
- BGG rank
- BGG #6,727
- BGG rating
- 7.0
Deep State: New World Order
- 1–5 players
- 40–75 min
- Complexity 2.5/5
- 2019

2014
Rules assistance for Nightmarium
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 2 players

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Nightmarium is a board game released in 2014 for 2–5 players, 10–30 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Konstantin Seleznev and its main mechanics are Hand Management and Set Collection.
A game about building nightmares so terrifying you’ll see half of them in your dreams afterwards. You have cards representing Night Terrors, and the more of them you combine in the right order, the more monsters will come to life, and the more horrifying they become. Create monsters that will make your opponents gasp in horror. Nourish them with your own fear and make them stronger. Only then will you achieve victory and become the Master of Terror! Each Night Terror is also associated with one of four Legions of Horror: Necromunculi, Constricti, Mansters, or Chimeridae. A Terror's legion is indicated by the color of the card's background: blue stands for Necromunculi, brown for Constricti, green for Chimeridae, and red for Mansters. A creature can be made up of any Night Terrors, but players are better off weaving Creatures out of cards that all belong to the same legion. The game continues until one of the players completes five Creatures—this player immediately becomes the winner. During your turn you perform two actions, after which the next person to your left takes their his? turn. You can select any pair of actions out of three possibilities (you can also perform the same action twice). Possible actions A) Take a card from the deck B) Discard as many cards as you like from your hand and take half that number from the deck C) Play a card from your hand and activate a Creature abilities (if the Creature is complete). As soon as you complete a Creature (by adding a head to torso), perform all of its abilities top to bottom, starting with the Creature's head, proceeding with its torso, and ending with its legs. Abilities are activated one at a time in a very specific order. You cannot refuse to perform the abilities. If the completed Creature is comprised of Night Terrors of the same legion (in other words, if all three cards that make up the Creature have the same background color), each of your opponents must discard one card of that legion from their hands before its abilities can be performed. If your opponent does not have an appropriate card, they must discard any two cards. Creature Abilities • Herald: turn over two cards form the deck. Place them in front of you according to the usual rules if you can. Discard any cards that you cannot play. • Weeper: take any two cards from the deck. • Mocker: play one card from your hand according to the usual rules. • Executioner: add the top card from any other player's Creature to your hand. • Scavenger: discard any vulnerable (incomplete) Creature. • Devourer: discard the top card from any of your Creatures other than this one.
Nightmarium supports 2–5 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 Nightmarium is 10–30 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 Nightmarium for ages 10 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.
Nightmarium has a complexity rating of 1.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a 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.
Nightmarium belongs to these categories: Card Game and Fantasy. Its main mechanics are Hand Management and Set Collection. 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 Nightmarium are: Konstantin Seleznev. 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 Nightmarium 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.