Shuffle the 12 face cards (K, Q, J) and place them

face up around the outer edge of the grid.

Set the two Jokers facedown off to the side for now.

Deal 3 cards from the Draw Pile to each player.

After Setup, the layout should look as follows:

Number
Cards

Player 2
Draw
Deck

COMPONENTS
Rulesheet

You will need a 52-card standard deck of playing Face Cards

cards (with 2 Jokers as well).
Player 1
PLAYERS
2 (co-op) TURN SEQUENCE
On their turn, the active player follows these steps:
BACKGROUND
The players have tracked the legendary vampires to Step 1: Play a Card
their dark castle. With the sun setting rapidly, the Step 2: Check Action
players must work together to rescue the villagers Step 3: Remove and Replace
and to destroy the vampire leaders before nightfall! Step 4: Draw a Card

WINNING AND LOSING Step 1: Play a Card

The players win if they rescue all 6 villagers OR if Choose a card from your hand and play it face up
they kill all 6 vampire leaders. on a card in the Castle. The card you play from your
hand must match either the NUMBER or the SUIT
The players lose if they completely run through the of the card in the Castle. For example, Player 1
deck 3 times, OR if both hunters are eliminated. wants to play the 3 Hearts card. He must play it on
another Hearts card OR on another 3 card.
SETUP
Remove the 12 face cards and the Jokers from the If a player cannot play a card, they take a Wound.
deck and set them aside for now. Shuffle the See Wounds.
number cards and place 9 cards face up in a 3x3
grid on the table. This is the Castle. Place the Step 2: Check Action
remaining number cards face down in a pile next to After playing a card, the players must check the grid
the grid. This is the draw pile. to see if any of the following actions trigger:

© 2021 Don Scurlock Vampires and Villagers donscurlockgames@gmail.com

Action #1: Rescue a Villager Action #2: Defeat a Vampire
Add up the total value of all the RED number cards Add up the total value of all the RED cards in the
in the same row or column of a Villager and then same row or column of a Vampire and then subtract
subtract the total value of all the BLACK number the total value of all the BLACK cards in that same
cards in that same row or column. If the final total is row or column. If the total is exactly equal to the
exactly equal to the value of the Villager card, the value of the Vampire card, the Vampire is defeated
Villager is rescued and is removed from play. and is removed from play.

EXAMPLE 1: EXAMPLE 3:

Player 1 checks to Player 2 checks to

see if he can rescue see if she can defeat
K the Villager in J the Vampire in
position C—the position B—the
7 King of Hearts (13). 9 Jack of Clubs (11).
He looks at all the She looks at all the
3 number cards in 3 number cards in
9 column CG. He
adds the Red 7 to
2 column BH. She
adds the Red 9 to
the Red 9 for a total the Red 2 for a total
of 16. He then of 11. She then
subtracts out the subtracts out the
Black 3 giving him a final total of 13 which is Black 3 giving her a final total of 8 which does not
exactly equal to the value of the King of Hearts exactly equal the value of the Jack of Clubs (11).
(13). He is able to rescue the King of Hearts She is not able to defeat the Jack of Clubs Vampire
Villager and removes the card from play. at this time.

EXAMPLE 2: EXAMPLE 4:
Player 2 wants to Player 1 checks to
rescue Villager in see if he can defeat
position L—the Jack the Vampire at
of Diamonds (11). position F—the
J 4 6 3 She looks at all the Queen of Spades
number cards in (12). He looks at all
Row LD. She adds the number cards in
the Red 4 to the Red
6 for a total of 10. 6 2 8Q Row JF. She adds
the Red 6 to the Red
She then adds the 8 for a total of 14.
Red 3 for a final He then subtracts
total of 13 which is out the Black 2 for
not exactly equal to a final total of 12 which is exactly equal to the value
the value of the Jack of Diamonds (11) so she is not of the Queen of Spades Vampire (12). He is able to
able to rescue that Villager at this time. defeat the Queen of Spades Vampire and removes
It is possible to rescue 2 Villagers at opposite ends the card from play.
of the same row or column at the same time if both It is possible to defeat 2 Vampires at opposite ends
cards are the same Rank (i.e. both are Queens). of the same row or column at the same time if both
cards are the same Rank (i.e. both are Jacks).

© 2021 Don Scurlock Vampires and Villagers donscurlockgames@gmail.com

Step 3: Remove and Replace
When a Villager is rescued, remove the Villager Corner number
face card from the grid. When a Vampire is card exposed on Corner number
defeated, remove the Vampire face Card from the only one side card exposed
grid. on two sides.

Villager is rescued
and removed from
grid.

Corner Corner
number card number card
exposed on not exposed
only one side

Step 4: Draw a Card

Rescued Villager The active player draws the top card of the Draw
When a Villager is rescued, discard all the Number Deck and place it in his hand. Play passes to the
cards in the row or column of the rescued Villager other player.
and draw new cards from the Draw Deck to replace
them. Example 1 (cont’d): Since the King of Hearts Exhausting The Draw Deck
Villager was rescued, discard all cards in column If a player needs to draw a card from the Draw
CG (i.e. the Red 7, Black 3, and Red 9) and replace Deck, but there are no more cards left, shuffle the
them with new cards from the Draw Deck. discards to form a new deck. Randomly remove 5
cards from the deck (and the game) to indicate the
Defeated Vampire passing of time. If all the cards in the deck get
When a Vampire is defeated, discard all the completely removed before the players are able
Number cards in the row or column of the defeated to complete a winning condition they lose.
Vampire and draw new cards from the Draw Deck
to replace them. Example 4 (cont’d): Since the Slowing Time
Queen of Spades Vampire was defeated, discard all By rescuing Diamond card Villagers, players can
cards in row JF (i.e. Red 6, Black 2, and Red 8) and return discarded cards back into the Draw Deck.
replace them with new cards from the Draw Deck. When the Jack of Diamonds Villager gets
rescued, players can choose 3 cards from the
Additional Rules discard pile and shuffle them back into the deck.
If rescuing a Villager or defeating a Vampire would When the Queen of Diamonds Villager gets
result in a corner number card to be exposed on two rescued, players can choose 4 cards from the
sides, remove that corner number card from the grid discard pile and shuffle them back into the deck.
and DO NOT replace it. Players can no longer play When the King of Diamonds Villager gets
cards onto that space. If the corner number is rescued, players can choose 5 cards from the
exposed on only one side, it is not removed from discard pile and shuffle them back into the deck.
the grid. (See figure below)
WOUNDS
If a player is unable to play a card from their hand
into the Castle, they take a wound. They choose a
card from their hand and turn that card facedown
(leaving the facedown card in their hand) to indicate

© 2021 Don Scurlock Vampires and Villagers donscurlockgames@gmail.com

the wound. They discard the remaining 2 cards and
draw new cards to replace them. If a player takes 3
Game Design and Illustrated
wounds, they are eliminated from the game. by Don Scurlock
© 2021 Don Scurlock
Additional Rules
-Wounds count toward the players’ hand size. Rules Version 1.1 (December 2021)
-Wounds cannot be played or removed from a
player’s hand except by healing. Playtesters: Don Scurlock

HEALING WOUNDS If you have any questions or comments,

Wounds can be healed by rescuing Heart card please email:
Villagers (J, Q, or K of Hearts). When a wound is donscurlockgames@gmail.com.
healed, the player removes it from their hand and
draws a card from the Draw Deck to replace it. Facebook:
When the Jack of Hearts Villager gets facebook.com/donscurlockgames/
rescued, a total of 1 wound can be healed from
players (discard the wound card). Twitter: @don_scurlock
When the Queen of Hearts Villager gets
rescued, a total of 2 wounds can be healed from
players (discard the wound card).
When the King of Hearts Villager gets
rescued, a total of 3 wounds can be healed from
player (discard the wound card).

RED CARDS
Red Cards (Hearts and Diamonds) represent the
Hunters and the Villagers.
Hunters: Red number cards (A-10) are
Hunter Cards. They have a value equal to their
respective rank. Aces have a value of 1.
Villagers: Red face cards (Jack, Queen, and
King) are Villager cards. They have respective
values of 11, 12, and 13.

BLACK CARDS
Black Cards (Clubs and Spades) represent the
Vampires.
Vampire Minions: Black number cards (A-
10) are Vampire Minions. They have a value equal
to their respective rank. Aces have a value of 1.
Vampire Lords: Black face cards (Jack,
Queen, and King) are Vampire Lords. They have
respective values of 11, 12, and 13.

THE DECK
The deck represents the fading hours of daylight
before nightfall. If the deck completely runs out
before the players can complete at least one of the
winning condition, they lose.

© 2021 Don Scurlock Vampires and Villagers donscurlockgames@gmail.com