Ghosts (board game) facts for kids
Ghosts is a fun board game for two players. It was created by Alex Randolph and first came out in 1982. The game was published by Milton Bradley. It's a game of hidden information and strategy, where you try to outsmart your opponent without knowing all the facts!
Contents
How to Play Ghosts
The game is played on a board that looks like a haunted castle. It has 6 rows and 6 columns, making it a 6x6 grid.
Your Ghost Team
Each player gets eight ghost pieces. Four of these ghosts are 'good' (they have a blue dot on their back). The other four are 'evil' (they have a red dot on their back). At the start, players place their eight ghosts in two rows at their side of the board.
Hidden Secrets
Here's the tricky part: you don't know if your opponent's ghosts are good or evil! All ghosts look the same from the front. The special dots (blue for good, red for evil) are only on the back. This means you have to guess! At the start, you can arrange your good and evil ghosts however you want. This is part of your secret strategy.
Moving and Capturing
Players take turns moving their ghosts. On your turn, you pick one of your ghosts and move it one square. You can move it up, down, left, or right.
If your ghost moves onto a square occupied by an opponent's ghost, you 'capture' it. When a ghost is captured, its true identity is finally revealed! The player who owned the captured ghost turns it over so everyone can see if it was good (blue dot) or evil (red dot).
How to Win the Game
There are two ways to win in Ghosts:
- Capture Good Ghosts: If you capture all four of your opponent's good ghosts, you win the game!
- Escape the Castle: You can also win by moving one of your own good ghosts off the board. There are four 'exits' from the castle, one in each corner of the board. If you successfully move a good ghost to any of these exits on your opponent's side, you win!
How to Lose the Game
Be careful! There's also a way to lose:
- Capture Evil Ghosts: If you accidentally capture all four of your opponent's evil ghosts, you lose the game! This is why guessing which ghosts are which is so important.
Game Strategy
The main idea of the game is to try and figure out which of your opponent's ghosts are good and which are evil. You'll watch how they move. Are they trying to protect certain ghosts? Are they trying to move some ghosts towards the exits? You can also try to trick your opponent with your own ghost movements, making them think an evil ghost is good, or vice versa!
