Beast

Setup begins by choosing a scenario board (such as 'The Flooded Lands' or 'The Wastes of the North') and placing the corresponding landscape cards. Players then choose roles: one player acts as the hidden Beast, while the others form the hunting party. Distribute character boards, standees, monster abilities, action cards, and various tokens (spoor, spite, life points, and old might). The Beast takes its hidden movement board, while hunters prepare their tracking and combat gear around the main map.

The core objective depends on the chosen scenario. The Beast typically aims to eliminate specific targets, such as peasants or nobles, or survive three days of hunting. Conversely, the hunting party must track down the mystical Beast across the wilderness, protect the innocent creatures and villagers, and ultimately defeat the Beast in combat before time runs out.

A game round spans three days, each divided into dusk, day, and night. During dusk, players draft action cards using a drafting mechanism. During the day phase, players take turns playing action cards to move, search, attack, or set traps. The Beast moves secretly on its miniature tracking board, while hunters move openly on the main board and must deduce the Beast's location using spoor tokens and tracking cards.

Scoring and progression happen primarily at night, where players evaluate scenario goals, claim spite or hunter rewards, heal wounds, and level up their characters. Successfully hunting prey or evading hunters earns resources and unlocks powerful new abilities and old might tokens, shaping the balance of power for subsequent days.

The game concludes automatically at the end of the third night, or earlier if specific win conditions are met. The Beast wins by reaching its target kills or surviving, whereas the hunting party wins by slaying the Beast or fulfilling the scenario's specific victory requirements.