Stranger Things: Upside Down

To set up, first place the double-sided game board with the desired season (Season 1 or Season 2) facing up. Sort and shuffle the Season 1 Scene, Season 1 Ally, Item, and Action decks, placing them near the board. Separate the five Demogorgon tokens (with the Demogorgon icon) from the other Level tokens. Mix the remaining Level tokens face down into a central pool. Then, take seven random tokens from the pool, mix them with the five Demogorgon tokens, and create three stacks of four tokens each, placing them face down on the 'Rescue Will' spaces in the Upside Down. For all other numbered slots on the board, add the indicated number of tokens from the central pool, then flip the top token of each stack in the 'Town of Hawkins' (upper half) face up. Draw and place one Season 1 Ally card face up into each of the two 'Ally' spaces on the board, adding tokens to their adjacent slots equal to the ally's value. Place the Demogorgon miniature in the 'School' space in the Upside Down, and one Patrol van in the 'Laboratory' space in the Upside Down, and another in the 'Castle Byers' location in the Town of Hawkins. Each player chooses a character (excluding Eleven for setup), takes their corresponding dashboard, places a fear token on the 'Start' space of their fear track, and draws one random item if their character's ability indicates it. Finally, place the Eleven miniature on the first space of the 'Act Track' and deal each player an opening hand of five Action cards.

The primary objective of the game is cooperative: all players must work together to rescue Will. This is achieved by successfully removing all of the tokens from the three 'Rescue Will' slots located in the Upside Down. Players must coordinate their actions and abilities to clear these stacks before time runs out or fear overwhelms them.

A player's turn consists of four steps performed in order. First, the player may move their character up to their movement value (typically 1 or 2), optionally boosting it by playing Action cards. Movement is along roads to adjacent locations; entering a foe's space immediately ends movement. Second, the player may perform an action at their current location by playing at least one Action card. Actions can be 'uncontested' (like 'Gather Info' or 'Get Item', which always succeed) or 'contested' (like 'Rescue Will', 'Recruit Ally', 'Investigate the Lab', 'Help Eleven', or 'Fight the Foe', which require matching or exceeding a stack's value). If a foe is in the player's space, they must perform a 'Fight the Foe' action. Third, the player refills their hand by drawing Action cards until they have five. Fourth, the player reveals Scene cards equal to the total danger symbols on Action cards played this turn plus Eleven's current Act Track space number, resolving each Scene card's effect before drawing the next.

Stranger Things: Upside Down is a fully cooperative game, meaning all players either win or lose together. There is no individual scoring. Success is shared when Will is rescued, and failure is shared if any player becomes 'Terrified' or if Eleven reaches the end of her Act Track before Will is rescued.

The game can end in one of three ways. Players win immediately if all tokens are successfully removed from the three 'Rescue Will' slots on the board. Players lose immediately if any character's fear token reaches the 'Terrified' space on their dashboard. Players also lose immediately if Eleven's miniature reaches the third (final) space on the 'Act Track' and the Action deck needs to be reshuffled again. The 'End of the Day' Scene card, when drawn, reshuffles all Scene cards, moves the Demogorgon, and prevents further Scene card draws for that turn, signaling an approaching end to the game.