Beast

Overview

Beast is an asymmetric hidden-movement game set in a dangerous Northern Expanse. One player controls a ferocious Beast, while the other players form a team of hunters. The Beast wins by killing enough settlers; the hunters win by killing the Beast or surviving until reinforcements arrive after enough rounds pass. The Beast moves secretly using face-down movement cards, while hunters move openly and must search to reveal the Beast’s location before they can attack.

Components

6 Beast character mats and 6 Hunter character mats
1 map (double-sided)
2 contracts
16 action cards (shared between Beast and Hunters)
24 Beast ability cards
48 Beast movement cards
26 item cards (Hunters only)
25 Beastly talent cards (Beast only)
18 Hunter ability cards
18 summons (Beast)
18 grudge tokens (6x value 3, 12x value 1)
14 upgrade markers
15 trail tokens
4 ancient power tokens
4 watchtower tokens
20 habitat tokens
7 farmer settlers, 4 noble settlers
28 sheep, 19 boars, 4 bears
15 wound tokens (5x value 3, 10x value 1)
Character markers for all Beasts and Hunters

Setup

Supply: Place habitat tokens, wound tokens, grudges, upgrade markers, watchtowers, and ancient powers in a central supply.
Contract & Map: Choose a contract and use the corresponding map side.
Animals & Settlers: Place animals and settlers on map locations specified by the contract.
Beastly Talents: Shuffle the deck, place 3 face-up beside it.
Items: Shuffle the item deck, place 3 face-up beside it.
Action Cards: Shuffle the action card deck.
Beast Player: Choose a Beast, take its ability cards and summons, place Beast marker at contract start location.
Hunter Players: Each choose a hunter, take their ability cards. In a 2-player game, the hunter player controls 2 hunters.
Grudges & Trails: Distribute grudges per contract setup. Place trail tokens near the Beast player.

Turn Structure

The game is played over a series of rounds (days). Each round has 3 phases:

Phase 1: Dawn (Drafting)

Action cards are drafted between the Beast and hunters.
2 players: Special 2-player draft rules apply.
3 players: Each player receives and passes cards.
4 players: Standard draft.
Unused action cards are discarded.

Phase 2: Day (Actions)

Players take turns playing cards. On your turn, you may play up to one card with each of the two action symbols (up to 2 cards total per turn). Cards are played and resolved one at a time.

The Beast plays the bottom effects of action cards; hunters play the top effects.

Players may also pass or flee (hunters only – move away from danger).

Phase 3: Night

Check contract rewards – evaluate if any contract objectives are met.
Discard and reset – discard remaining cards, reset the market.
Restore health – killed hunters are resurrected at a settlement.
Upgrade – spend grudges to upgrade your character.

Actions

Beast Movement

The Beast moves secretly. For each step, the Beast player selects a movement card and places it face-down in the active movement section.
The Beast marker stays at its “last known location.” The Beast’s actual location follows the face-down movement trail.
“Rush” action: move up to 3 steps.
“No Movement” cards allow the Beast to stay in place (not allowed if sharing location with a hunter or settler).

Hunter Movement & Trails

Hunters move openly by moving their marker on the map.
When a hunter moves through a location matching one of the Beast’s active movement cards, the Beast must place a trail token there.
Trails help hunters track the Beast.

Searching

Play a card with a search effect. If the searched location matches the Beast’s actual location, the Beast is revealed (shows all active movement cards, discards them and trail tokens, moves marker to actual location).
The Beast can only be attacked when revealed.

Attacking

Play a card with an “Attack” effect. Every attack deals 1 damage (1 wound token).
When wounds equal a character’s starting health, they are dead.
Hunters can only attack summons and a revealed Beast.
The Beast can attack anything. The Beast is revealed whenever it attacks.
Ancient Power tokens add +1 damage to a single attack.

Summons (Beast only)

The Beast can place summons (creature allies) on the map.
Summons can attack animals, settlers, hunters, and watchtowers.
To gain grudges from kills, the Beast must strike the final blow.

Grudges

Resource tokens used for upgrades and playing certain cards.
Hunters gain grudges from contract rewards and card effects.
The Beast gains grudges primarily from killing animals, settlers, or hunters.

Upgrades (Night Phase)

Spend grudges to purchase upgrade markers that enhance your character.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Victory is determined by the chosen contract:

Beast wins when enough settlers are dead (as specified by the contract).
Hunters win when the Beast is dead, or when enough days (rounds) have passed and reinforcements arrive.
If the Beast dies, the game ends immediately and hunters win (unless the contract states otherwise).

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Killed hunters are resurrected during the Night phase at any settlement. They lose all item cards and grudges. If the Beast killed them, the Beast gains 1 grudge and randomly takes one of the hunter’s action cards.
Habitat tokens modify terrain and may be prerequisites for certain Beast actions.
Watchtowers provide vision advantages for hunters.
Reactions are special abilities that can be triggered outside your turn.
Beastly talents are special Beast-only cards acquired during the game.
Items are special Hunter-only cards acquired during the game.
Prerequisites on cards may require specific grudge counts, habitats, or zone locations.

Player Reference

Role	Win Condition
Beast	Kill enough settlers (per contract)
Hunters	Kill the Beast or survive enough rounds

Action Limit	Per Turn
Symbol 1 card	Up to 1
Symbol 2 card	Up to 1
Total cards	Up to 2

Attack Damage	1 wound per attack (+ Ancient Power for +1)
Death	Wounds = starting health
Revelation	Beast revealed when it attacks or is found by search