Shadow Hunters
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| Designer(s) | Yasutaka Ikeda |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) |
Game Republic (Japan) Z-Man Games (U.S.) |
| Publication date | 2005 |
| Players | 4-8 |
| Age range | 10+ |
| Setup time | 5 minutes |
| Playing time | 45-60 minutes |
| Random chance | High |
| Skill(s) required |
Strategic thought Team play Social skills |
Shadow Hunters (シャドウハンターズ shadō hantāzu?) is a board game designed by Yasutaka Ikeda（池田康隆） that was first published in 2005 by Game Republic in Japan. The game was later published in the United States by Z-Man Games in 2008. The art style of the game closely resembles the style found in Japanese anime and manga.
Players are secretly assigned the role of a character belonging to one of three factions: Shadows, which are supernatural creatures of the night, Hunters, which are humans attempting to exterminate the Shadows, and Neutrals, which are unaffiliated characters who are caught in the crossfire with individual victory conditions.
Each player does not know the identity or allegiance of any other player, and must use cards, negotiation, and guesswork to figure out who everyone else is. The game ends when one or more players have fulfilled their victory conditions. At this point all players who have fulfilled their objectives are declared winners, whether they are part of the same faction or even alive.
First, shuffle the six area cards and place them randomly on the designated spots on the game board. Next, shuffle the White, Black, and Hermit decks separately and place them face down on the marked area on the side of the board. Now each player must choose a color and place one piece in the No Damage circle on the board (the HP piece) and one piece in front of them for now (the Player piece). Shuffle the Shadow, Hunter, and Neutral character decks face down separately, and looking at the table below, pick out the appropriate amount of cards from each deck, shuffle all of the selected character cards together, then hand out one card to each player, face down. Make sure that other players cannot see your character card when you receive it. Once you have your character card, read over it to see your affiliation, your special ability, and your victory condition. Finally, randomly determine the starting player and begin the game.
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Wikipedia