Ancient Terrible Things

About this board game

Ancient Terrible Things is a pulp horror adventure game for 2–4 players, with a playing time of about 60 minutes. Each player becomes an intrepid adventurer exploring a dark jungle river, seeking Ancient Secrets while trying to avoid unleashing Terrible Things.

On every turn, travel to a Fateful Location, face an Ominous Encounter, and attempt to unlock its Ancient Secrets. Dice, tokens, and cards work together as you pursue the combinations needed to overcome each Encounter. Success adds valuable Secrets to your score, while failure unleashes a Terrible Thing that counts against you at the end of the game.

Dice rolls can create runs, pairs, three or more of a kind, or a single die showing a particular number or higher. These combinations help you overcome Encounter cards worth points at the end of the game and acquire resources that support your expedition.

• Focus tokens let you reroll individual dice.
• Courage tokens can overcome an Encounter before you roll.
• Treasure tokens purchase Swag cards from the Trading Post, providing permanent game effects.
• Feat tokens let you play Feat cards from your hand for one-shot effects.

Managing these resources is central to making the most of every dangerous expedition. Choose when to push your luck, when to spend your advantages, and how to turn dice results into progress.

The game ends at the Unspeakable Event. In Ancient Terrible Things, the winner is the adventurer with the most Ancient Secrets after Terrible Things have been counted against the final score.