- BGG rating
- 8.7
The Presence: Spirit Talking Board
- 2–5 players
- 60–90 min
- Complexity 2.0/5
- 2025
- BGG rank
- BGG #7,582
- BGG rating
- 7.7
The Presence
2025
Rules assistance for The Presence
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–5 players
- 60–90 min
- 12+
- Complexity 3.5/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for The Presence
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Presence is a board game released in 2025 for 2–5 players, 60–90 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Sam Gullman and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Hand Management, and Player Elimination.
Expansions
- BGG rating
- 10.0
The Presence: Blood & Betrayal
- 2–5 players
- 60–90 min
- 2027
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About the game
The Presence is a strategic horror-game that puts you in a Victorian-era ghost story. Each game is either fully cooperative or one-versus-all, only you have no way of knowing which one. One player plays as a spirit with unknown intentions. The others play as the visitors, who need to work together to determine whether the spirit is on their side, while also trying to find out what it wants. The visitors will try to work together while struggling with darkness, isolation, and the constant haunting of the spirit, who in turn either tries to earn their trust or secretly plan their demise. Regardless of the intentions of the spirit-player, the trust of the visitors is valuable to its goals. A benevolent spirit needs their trust to play its more powerful actions. If it does not believe that they will manage in time, it can instead turn on them and win by other means. A vengeful spirit can bide its time, sabotaging their efforts in hidden ways and use their trust to make the visitors expose themselves. Then, when they are vulnerable it can reveal its true nature. The visitors are represented on the board while the spirit moves through the house ethereally and can be in multiple locations at once. While visitors are limited by doors and passageways, the spirit can move freely, surrounding them. While the spirit-player may have very limited means to communicate, the visitors have an even tougher choice to make. If they separate and go different ways, they will not be able to speak at all. Then, they can only watch on in horror as their friend must make a perilous choice with no support. The actions of the spirit leave clues as to its true intentions and, when the secrets of the house are gradually revealed, the visitors may realize what they think they know is fatally wrong.
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Purple Lantern Games
Questions and answers
The Presence 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 The Presence is 60–90 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 The Presence for ages 12 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.
The Presence has a complexity rating of 3.5 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight 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.
The Presence belongs to these categories: Mature / Adult, Deduction, and Murder / Mystery. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Hand Management, and Player Elimination. 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 The Presence are: Sam Gullman. 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 The Presence 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.