OBSCURIO

Obscurio is a cool game where we each have special roles that affect how we play. Most of us are wizards who want to escape this tricky library we’ve found ourselves stuck in. But there’s a twist! One of us is a traitor, trying to keep everyone trapped forever by fooling the wizards.

SETUP

When we set up the game, we first choose our characters. Then, one of us becomes the Grimoire, a magical book with a mind of its own. The Grimoire gives us clues about which door will lead us to freedom. But be careful, because there’s a sneaky traitor among us!

Before we start playing, we need to shuffle the loyalty cards. There should be one less card than the number of players. Each card is a secret and tells a wizard whether they’re on the loyal side or if they’re the traitor. Good luck, wizards!

As I sit here with my fellow wizards, we begin to prepare for a mystical game of Obscurio. The first step is to set up the Grimoire’s part of the game. We shuffle the illusion cards and secretly slip 8 of them into the cardholder slots. Once that’s done, we place the game board in the center of the table and the book board in front of the Grimoire, along with two butterfly tokens. The hourglass and bag of traps are also placed nearby, adding to the excitement.

Now it’s time for us players to make our move. We each place our markers on the center of the game board. To add some mystery to the game, we put cohesion tokens on the board based on the chart in the rulebook. With everything set up, we’re ready to embark on our magical journey.

Let the Game Begin!

Obscurio is a game of strategy and teamwork that unfolds over multiple rounds. The goal is simple: the wizards must find a way to escape or remove all the cohesion tokens from the board before it’s too late and they lose.

When we begin a round, I pull a trap. The trap chart in the rulebook helps me determine what the trap means for this round. I also secretly choose an illusion card from the Grimoire, which will be the correct door. I keep it facedown for later. Then, I select two more illusion cards and place them on the book board. Now it’s time to make clues for the wizards.

I use butterfly tokens to point at specific parts of the picture that will lead the wizards to the secret door they saw earlier. Once the clues are ready, I show them to the wizards. They have a moment to look and discuss before I tell them to close their eyes.

Now that everyone’s eyes are closed, I ask the traitor to open their eyes. The traitor can choose up to two cards from the cardholder to confuse the wizards. The cardholder is always refilled whenever a card is taken. After the traitor has made their selection, they close their eyes again.

Next, I shuffle the traitor’s cards along with the real answer card. I also draw a few random cards to make a total of six. When everything is shuffled, all players can open their eyes. We place the cards around the board for everyone to see. The wizards now have one minute to discuss and choose a room they think is the correct answer. They don’t have to pick the same room, and they don’t need to agree with each other.

If the timer runs out before the wizards make a decision, we flip the timer and add more traps in the next round (check the front of the cardholder for the time track).

When we wizards choose our rooms, the magical Grimoire reveals who has made the right decision. If I’m wrong, I must take a cohesion token from the board. But if any of us get it right, the room tile moves up on the tracker at the top of the board.

If none of us get it right, the tile stays put.

The rounds keep going like this, with traps appearing every now and then. If we remove all the cohesion tokens from one part of the board, we must accuse one of us of being a traitor. And for every wrong accusation, we lose two cohesion tokens.

Once we expose the traitor, and if there are still cohesion tokens left, we keep playing the same way. Except now, the traitor is revealed and can’t join in the discussions or choose rooms. The traitor, though, can still make the wrong choices with the Grimoire.

THE GAME ENDS

Hey there, let’s talk about how the game works! So, the game ends in two ways: either when the room tile is moved forward from the last room slot, or when all the cohesion tokens are taken off the board.

If the tile is moved first, then the wizards win. On the other hand, if they run out of cohesion tokens before that happens, then the traitor wins. It’s an exciting race to see who will come out on top!