
- BGG rank
- BGG #1,308
- BGG rating
- 7.4
Phantom Ink
- 2–8 players
- 10–15 min
- Complexity 1.2/5
- 2022

2018
Rules assistance for Visitor in Blackwood Grove
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 3 players

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Visitor in Blackwood Grove is a board game released in 2018 for 3–6 players, 5–15 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Max Seidman and Mary Flanagan and its main mechanics are Push Your Luck, Team-Based Game, and Pattern Recognition.
A spacecraft crashes in Blackwood Grove, and the Kid is the only one watching. Federal Agents hunt down the signal, but no one can get near the craft due to its crushing forcefield. Why can some objects pass through it, but others are repelled? Hiding in the craft, the Visitor hopes the Kid can figure out the rule before the Agents and help it escape. The agents want to dissect the Visitor and keep the ship. Visitor in Blackwood Grove is an asymmetric, two-versus-many, inductive-reasoning game in which one player — the Visitor — makes up a secret rule like "Things that contain metal" to determine which objects can pass through the forcefield. The other players — the Agents and the Kid — try to figure out the rule by seeing which objects pass through the forcefield and which don't. The Agents secretly test cards from their hands to learn what passes the rule and what doesn't. The Kid tries to predict which cards will pass the rule, and she builds trust with the Visitor if she’s right. The Kid and the Visitor are on a team — if the Visitor makes a rule that's too easy, the agents will solve it first and he will lose. If the Visitor makes the rule too hard, nobody will be able to solve it and the Agents will win. If the Visitor makes the rule just right, the Kid will figure it out before the agents and both the Kid and the Visitor win! Awards & Honors: BostonFIG Fest // 2017 - Audience Choice Award IndieCade // 2017 Official Selection Mensa Mind Games // 2019 Finalist Indie Mega Booth PAX East // 2018 Official Selection
Visitor in Blackwood Grove supports 3–6 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 Visitor in Blackwood Grove is 5–15 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 Visitor in Blackwood Grove for ages 8 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.
Visitor in Blackwood Grove has a complexity rating of 1.4 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.
Visitor in Blackwood Grove belongs to these categories: Deduction, Puzzle, and Science Fiction. Its main mechanics are Push Your Luck, Team-Based Game, and Pattern Recognition. 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 Visitor in Blackwood Grove are: Max Seidman and Mary Flanagan. 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 Visitor in Blackwood Grove 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.