Game Objective

In Mystery Tales, you and your crew are a rescue team searching for Lieutenant Colonel Percy Fawcett. Your mission is to bring him home safely and uncover the secrets of the mythical Lost City of Z. Depending on the mode chosen, your goals vary:

• Campaign Mode: You must work together to successfully complete 5 Scenarios in ascending order. Each Scenario has unique goals, such as building specific objects or exploring new areas.
• Horror Mode: This mode enriches the base game and existing Scenarios with new horror-themed mechanics and challenges.

The ultimate victory in the Campaign Mode is achieved by successfully finishing the 5th Scenario.

Preparation (Setup)

The setup varies slightly between modes, but the general process for the first Scenario ("The Arrival") with 4 players is as follows:

1. Board and Markers: Place the board in the middle. Place the Round marker on the first space. Place a white marker on the 0 space of the Morale track. Place black and green markers on the topmost space of the Weapon level track (level 0).
2. Characters: Each player takes a Character board and 2 Action pawns of the matching color. Players draw or choose a Character card (playable side up) and place it on their board. Place the 3 associated Insanity cards face down next to the board.
3. NPCs: Remaining Character cards are placed NPC side up. Their Sanity markers start at the Start space, and their Insanity cards are placed underneath.
4. Decks:
   • Adventure cards: Sorted by back into three decks with their corresponding Action dice.
   • Cultist cards: Shuffled and placed on the Cultist tile. Beast cards from the base game form the Beast deck.
   • Mystery deck: Base game Mystery cards and expansion Mystery cards are shuffled together (excluding Clue cards).
   • Condition deck: Shuffled Condition cards are placed face down.
   • Event deck: Use the preconstructed deck for the specific Scenario.
5. Island and Resources: Place Island tile 8 on the Starting Space with the Camp token. Shuffle other Island tiles into a stack. Draw 2 Starting Equipment cards and place 2 white markers on each.
6. Special Tiles: Place the Hunt tile above the Hunting deck and the Traps tile above the Gathering deck. Place 2 white markers on the Traps tile to cover food sources.
7. Dice Stickers: Before the first game, place stickers with the Sanity loss icon on an empty side of the Wound die of the matching color.

Game Flow

A game round consists of 6 phases resolved in this specific order:

1. Event Phase: (Note: This is not skipped in the first round, except in the first Scenario).
2. Morale Phase.
3. Production Phase.
4. Action Phase.
5. Weather Phase.
6. Night Phase.

Special Event: Breakdown: If a Breakdown token is on the Night Phase space, players must decide which 2 resources/tokens to remove from the Available Resources space before feeding anyone. If they cannot, all players suffer 1 Sanity loss for each missing resource (Unfulfilled Demand).

Actions and How to Play

Character Abilities

Playable Characters have 2 Special Abilities. To use them, players must discard the required number of Determination tokens. These can be used once per round.

NPCs provide a NPC Special Ability that any player can use without Determination tokens. However, the NPC suffers 1 Sanity loss each time their ability is used. This is limited to once per round.

New Action Mechanics

• Scout Hunt Action: By stacking 3 pawns, the topmost character performs a Hunt Action but draws 2 cards from the Hunting deck, choosing which one to face and discarding or shuffling the other.
• Setting up the Traps: To unlock unavailable food sources (marked with white markers), a player must perform a Gather Action on that source with a Weapon level of 1 or higher. A die roll determines if the trap is perfect (unlocks the resource), backfires, fails, or does nothing.

Combat and Sanity

• Mystical Combat: Used against Cultists and Mystical Creatures. It compares the Mystical Weapon level against the enemy's power. If the level is lower, the character suffers Sanity loss. The Mystical Weapon level is then reduced.
• Sanity Loss: When a character suffers Sanity loss, the Sanity marker moves right. If a Breakdown icon is skipped, a Breakdown token is placed on the Night Phase space.
• Madness Tokens: If a Madness token is on an Adventure deck, the player performing that action takes 1 Sanity loss regardless of the dice roll.

End of Game and Scoring

End of Scenario

A Scenario ends when its specific goals (found in the Campaign Book) are achieved or the time limit is reached.

Victory and Defeat

• Campaign Victory: Successfully completing all 5 Scenarios in the Campaign Book.
• Campaign Defeat:
  • Failing to achieve a Scenario goal within the time limit.
  • Running out of crew members (no more NPCs available to replace a character who died or went Insane).

Character Death and Insanity

• Death: Occurs when the Wound marker reaches the last space. The character is removed, and the player chooses an NPC to replace them. Morale drops 2 spaces.
• Going Insane: Occurs when the Sanity marker reaches the last space. The character is removed, and their Insanity cards are shuffled into the Adventure decks. Morale does not drop.

Tips for Winning

• Manage the NPC Pool: When replacing a dead or insane character, it may be strategic to choose an NPC who is already low on the Sanity track to avoid depleting your future NPC pool too quickly.
• Prioritize Trap Setup: Early in the Campaign, focus on learning how to set traps via Gather Actions to avoid starvation, as some food sources are initially unavailable.
• Resource Sacrifice: You can avoid Sanity loss from Madness tokens or Wound die results by removing 1 resource from the Available Resources space.