How to Play Scooby-Doo!: Hotel Mal-Assombrado

Game Objective

In Scooby-Doo: Haunted Hotel, players take on the roles of members of the Scooby gang or ghosts trying to haunt the hotel. The hotel staff's goal is to advance on the investigation track and uncover the ghost, while the ghosts aim to advance on the haunting track to haunt the hotel. The game ends when one of the tracks is completed or when the ghost is revealed by a trap.

Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table.
2. Position the markers at the start of their respective tracks (investigation track and haunting track).
3. Arrange the Scooby gang characters as indicated in the manual.
4. Shuffle the adventure cards and place them within reach of all players.
5. Prepare the identity card deck with a number of cards equal to the number of players. For 4 players, include 1 ghost and 3 hotel staff. For 5 or more players, include 2 ghosts and the rest as staff.
6. Each player draws an identity card and keeps it hidden until the end of the game.
7. Each player also draws 4 adventure cards to start the game.

Game Flow

The game is played in continuous turns, where each player chooses a Scooby gang character to perform an action. After the action, the next player to the left chooses another available character. The game continues until one of the tracks is completed or the ghost is revealed by a trap.

Actions and How to Play

Each Scooby gang character offers a unique action:

• Mystery Machine: The player and all others may discard all cards in their hand and draw new ones.
• Daphne: All players draw a card. Additionally, players with three traps in hand may discard two to "set" a trap.
• Velma: The player places a card under Velma's card. When three cards are placed there, they are revealed to advance on the investigation or haunting track.
• Fred: Divides players into two teams, who reveal cards to advance on the tracks.
• Shaggy: All players draw two cards and play one revealed and one hidden card, which are then revealed to advance on the tracks.
• Scooby-Doo: Players may discard a Scooby Snack to draw two cards or play a hidden card, which is revealed to advance on the tracks.

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when the marker reaches the end of one of the tracks. If the haunting track is completed, the ghost(s) win. If the investigation track is completed, players attempt to identify the ghost(s). Staff who guess correctly win as top investigators. If no one guesses correctly, all staff members share the victory.

Tips for Winning

• Use traps strategically to try and reveal the ghost.
• Maintain a balance between advancing on the investigation track and blocking progress on the haunting track.
• Observe other players' actions to try and deduce who the ghost is.