Quick Reference The Setup
Quick Reference Taking a Turn
Steps for Taking a Turn
1 Play a Maniac card from your hand.
*Optional. why?
2 Grab the Victim card in The Kill Spot (the lead Victim card in The Group).
If the Victim card instructs you to draw a Plot Twist card, do that now.
3 Play a Weapon and/or Mask card.
*Optional: These cards boost your score. Save one of each to kill The Final Girl.
4 Add the Victim card to your Collection.
When instructed, add other Maniac cards to your Collection.
5 Clean up the mess.
Move the remaining played Maniac and Plot Twist cards to their discard piles.
6 Draw one new Maniac card for each Maniac card played from your hand.
7 Move the remaining Victim cards in The Group forward, so there is a new Victim card in The Kill Spot.
There is always a Victim in The Kill Spot until all Victims have been killed.
Your turn is over
YOU ARE THE MANIAC! RULES
Object of the Game
1Collect Victims to earn more points than your opponents.
Each Victim card has a point value in the lower right corner.
2Increase points or thwart an opponent by playing Maniac Cards during your turn.
Use cunning strategy to find ways to beat your opponents.
3A Mask and a Weapon card may be played during your turn to further boost points.
(In addition to the points on the Victim card) Save a Weapon and a Mask card to kill The Final Girl at the end of each Movie.
A game takes place over 3 rounds, referred to as Movies.
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During the first Movie, 12 Victim cards are dealt, in order, to form The Group.
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When The Group has been killed or moved to the Survivor Stack, the Maniac confronts the Final Girl.
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These steps are repeated for the second and third Movies.
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At the end of the third Movie, the player with the highest score wins the game.
The Cards
Victim Cards
Victim cards make up The Group. Maniacs kill and collect Victim cards during their turn.
Each Victim has a point value. Some Victim cards have special instructions to draw and Plot Twist card or contain text about scoring.
The Victim Deck contains 4 character types
Bimbos engage in a variety of lascivious activities. Punish!
The Maniac doesn’t like sports. Waste of time… get rid of them!
These insignificant characters are good for a laugh. Bloody fun!
Suspects are creepy freaks branded by their bizarre behavior. Haters!
Maniac Cards
Maniac cards make up a player’s hand. They define the game’s actions.
Maniac cards are often played to move Victims in The Group to The Kill Spot, strategically discourage other Maniacs from capturing Victims, and boost your score.
The Maniac Deck also includes Mask and Weapon cards. One of each can be played during a turn, in addition to a Maniac “action” card.
Weapon and Mask Cards
Weapon and Masks are played during a turn as a player Kills a Victim. The cards added to a Maniac’s Collection to increase the score. A player may only play one Mask and one Weapon card during a Kill.
Note: The Final Girl requires one Weapon and one Mask card to be played in order to Kill her. Save one of each for the end of each Movie or find ways to get them from opponents.
Plot Twist Cards
Plot Twists can affect your turn in a good or bad way.
Plot Twists are drawn when you capture Victim Cards marked with special text instructing you to draw a Plot Twist card.
Final Girl Cards
The Final Girl is the last Victim at the end of each movie.
Each movie has a Final Girl card. The Maniac must play one Weapon and one Mask to kill her. Otherwise, she survives to star in a sequel or the whole trilogy where Maniacs attempt to finish her off.
Sequence of Play
Setup the game and play a Movie (round), repeat these steps for Movie Part 2 and 3, then end the game by tallying up your scores.
A) Setup the Game
See The Setup for more information
B) Play Movie Part 1
• Kill Victims and play Maniac cards until all Victims in The Group are added to a Maniac’s Collection or moved to the Survivor Stack.
• Confront The Final Girl for Movie Part 1.
C) Setup Movie Part 2
• Deal 12 Victims. Begin dealing from the Survivor Stack. If there are no Victims in the Survivor Stack, deal all 12 Victim cards from the Victim deck.
Note: Players keep their hand from Movie Part 1.
D) Play Movie Part 2
• Kill Victims and play Maniac cards until all Victims in The Group are added to a Maniac’s Collection or moved to the Survivor Stack.
• Confront The Final Girl for Movie Part 2.
E) Setup Movie Part 3
• Deal 12 Victims. Begin dealing from the Survivor Stack. If there are no Victims in the Survivor Stack, deal all 12 Victim cards from the Victim deck.
Note: Players keep their hand from Movie Part 2.
F) Play Movie Part 3
• Kill Victims and play Maniac cards until all Victims in The Group are added to a Maniac’s Collection or moved to the Survivor Stack.
• Confront The Final Girl for Movie Part 3.
G) Scoring
• Players add the points from the cards in their Collection. The Player with the most points wins!
• In case of a tie game, the Player with the most Final Girl cards wins. If still tied, battle to the death?!
Note: If the Maniac or Plot Twist decks run out of cards to draw from, reshuffle the discard pile and restock the deck.
Still have more questions about the Playing? Visit the FAQ.
The Play Area
Getting Ready to Play
To play YOU are the Maniac! you need:
- 2-4 players
- Cards included with this game
Allow 45 minutes to play a game.
The first time you play takes over an hour.
Example of the Play Area for a 4-Player game
Learn more about Organizing the Collection
Still have more questions about the Collection? Visit the FAQ.
The Setup
The central playing area consists of:
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The Group – 12 Victim cards are placed faceup in numerical order beginning with The Kill Spot.
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Victim, Maniac, Plot Twist, and Final Girl decks.
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The Survivor Stack, Maniac and Plot Twist Discard piles and a place to confront the Final Girl.
How to Setup a Movie
1Shuffle the Victim, Maniac, and Plot Twist decks.
2Deal each player 7 Maniac cards facedown (Do not show your hand to other players).
3Position the Victim, Maniac, Plot Twist, and Final Girl game decks facedown, as shown below.
4Deal 12 Victim cards faceup in numerical order, as shown. These cards are referred to as The Group.
Deal the Victim cards in order from the top of the Victim deck, following the red arrows shown below.
During a turn, the player always collects the Victim card residing in The Kill Spot (shown below in red), unless instructed otherwise.
Setup Movie Part 2 and 3
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Begin dealing The Group with Victim cards from the Survivor Stack first, in order from the top.
This may include The Final Girl if she was not killed in a previous Movie.
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Deal the top Survivor Stack card to The Kill Spot, the second card from the Survivor Stack in Victim 2 spot, and so on.
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If there are no survivors in The Survivor Stack then deal 12 Victims from the Victim deck.
Still have more questions about the Setup? Visit the FAQ.
Playing
The Player with the most blank, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes-the Devil’s eyes-goes first.
Turns go clockwise.
Example of How to Setup the Play Area
After setting up the Movie: Part 1, the player looks at The Group of Victims and then Victim 1 residing in The Kill Spot. It’s a Fodder card, Will The Voice of Reason who is worth 1 point.
Taking a Turn
1Play one Maniac card from your hand.
Lay the Maniac card faceup in front of you and read the card out loud so all players can hear. Then, perform the action written on the Maniac card.
Playing a Maniac card is optional because there can be scenarios where the effect of the cards in your hand will not benefit your overall score.
If this is the case, move to step 2.
The player decides to play the Athlete’s Foot card from their hand. This card has the effect of moving any Athlete card to The Kill Spot. In this case the player moves Rick the Dick who is worth 5 points.
The player moves the Athlete card, Rick the Dick who is worth 5 points, to The Kill Spot and slides the other Victims cards in The Group backward in order.
2Collect the Victim card from The Kill Spot.
If the Victim card has a special instruction written on the bottom of the card, like a Plot Twist, perform the action immediately and/or make a note of the special scoring attributes of some Victim cards.
The player takes Rick the Dick from The Group and notices this card has insctructions to draw a Plot Twist card. The player immediately draws a Plot Twist card, reads the card out loud and performs the action.
*3Play one Weapon and/or one Mask card from your hand.
* Note: Step 3 is optional. Remember to save one Weapon and one Mask card to confront The Final Girl at the end of each Movie.
Weapon and Masks may only be played while killing a Victim during Step 3, or while confronting the Final Girl.
The player chooses to boost their score for this turn by playing one Weapon and one Mask card from their hand, adding 3 more points in this example.
Maniac! Pro-Tip:
Announce out loud who you are killing with the name of the Weapon and/or Mask.
Example: “I am killing Danny The Wonder Llama with a Machete while wearing my Goalie Mask.”
See how fun it is?! Go ahead and bloody up these descriptions with all the gory details. Afterall, YOU are the Maniac!
4Add the Victim card to your Collection. When instructed, add other Maniac cards to your Collection.
Victims, Weapons, Masks, and specially marked Maniac cards are stored in your Collection in front of you.
The cards in your Collection are added up at the end of the trilogy.
Now, the player adds Rick the Dick along with the Weapon and Mask cards to their Collection, faceup in front of them on the playing surface.
5Clean up the mess.
Move the remaining played Maniac and Plot Twist cards to their discard piles.
If any of the Victims or Final Girl survived, then move them to the Survivor Stack where they will reappear in the sequel or the trilogy as recurring characters for you to kill later.
Then, the player places the Athlete’s Foot card and the Plot Twist card faceup in the corresponding discard piles.
6Draw from the Maniac deck.
Draw one Maniac card for each Maniac card played from your hand during your turn.
If you run out of Maniac cards to draw, then shuffle the Maniac discard pile and draw from there.
During this example turn, the player played the Athlete’s Foot card and one Weapon and one Mask card, so they draw 3 new Maniac cards from the top of the Maniac deck and add them to their hand.
7Move the remaining Victim cards in The Group forward, so there is a new Victim card in The Kill Spot.
There is always a Victim in The Kill Spot until all Victims have been killed.
The Kill Spot is the lead Victim card in The Group of Victims.
Finally, the player ends their turn by moving all the Victim cards remaining in The Group FORWARD in line. In this example, Jenny the Blonde is moved to The Kill Spot.
The turn is now over
Still have more questions about Playing and Taking a Turn? Visit the FAQ.
Plot Twists
Some Victim cards instruct the player to draw a Plot Twist card before killing a Victim.
Draw the top card from the Plot Twist deck, read it, and immediately perform the action BEFORE adding the Victim card to your Collection.
Once complete, place the Plot Twist card in the Plot Twist discard pile and finish your turn.
Note: Read the Plot Twist card text for all players to hear.
Plot Twist Cards
Some Plot Twist cards instruct the player to grab a Victim from an opponent’s Collection.
If this newly acquired Victim card from an opponent’s Collection instructs the player to Draw a Plot Twist card, DO NOT do so, as this Victim was already killed by another player during a previous turn. You are simply taking points from another player’s Victim card.
If the Plot Twist card instructs you to grab another Victim from The Group and that Victim card instructs the player to draw a Plot Twist card, the player DOES do this.
Plot Twist Nemesis Cards
If the player draws a Nemesis card they have two options:
- Place the Victim card(s) in the Survivor Stack. Do not play any Weapon or Mask cards. End your turn by drawing the amount of Maniac cards played before drawing the Plot Twist.
- Play Defeat a Nemesis from your hand if you have one. Lay this card faceup to cancel the effects of the Nemesis card and send it to hell by moving the Nemesis to the Plot Twist discard pile. Finally, continue your turn as usual by killing the Victim.
Note: Playing Defeat a Nemesis counts as a Maniac card played from your hand, during your turn, so you should draw a new Maniac card for playing this card before your turn ends.
Maniac! Pro-Tip:
‘Defeat a Nemesis’ can be useful while confronting the Final Girl.
Plot Twists can be a little tricky depending on the situation. Visit the FAQ for examples of each Plot Twist card.
The Collection
The area where each player’s cards are stored faceup (collected) as a result of killing Victims, playing Masks and Weapons, and holding specially marked Maniac cards.
At the end of the game, each player adds their score based on the cards in their Collection.
Organizing the Collection
An example of how to organize the Collection.
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Organize cards into groups according to Victim types.
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Group: Weapons, Masks, and various Maniac cards as shown.
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Place Serial Slasher cards at the top of each Victim class.
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Organizing the Collection makes gameplay, strategy, and scoring easier.
Maniac! Pro-Tips:
Serial Slasher cards are a great way to enhance the Collection.
Play Maniac cards to kill Victims who are specially designed to boost the score like Cheerleaders, Football Players, Prom King & Queen, and the Hipsters.
Still have more questions about the Collection? Visit the FAQ.
Survivor Stack
When you are told to place a Victim and/or Final Girl in the Survivor Stack, place the card faceup to the right of the Victim card deck.
This means the Victim survived being killed by a Maniac for the duration of a Movie, but will return in the sequel or trilogy to be killed off.
Survivors can be pulled back to The Group by some Maniac or Plot Twist cards.
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Nemesis cards, found in the Plot Twist deck, can prevent a Victim from being murdered by moving them to the Survivor Stack.
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Play the Defeat a Nemesis Maniac card to override this action and proceed with killing a Victim.
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Victims residing in the Survivor Stack are dealt back into The Group for Movies Part 2 and 3.
Survivor Stack Victims are dealt first, followed by new Victim cards from the Victim deck.
Put the top Survivor Stack card in The Kill Spot, the second card from the Survivor Stack in Victim 2 spot, and so on.
If a Final Girl returns from the Survivor Stack to The Group for Movie Part 2 or 3, follow the instructions on her card.
Learn more about The Final Girl
Still have more questions about the Survivor Stack? Visit the FAQ.
The Final Girl
When all the Victims in The Group have been killed or added to the Survivor Stack, it is time to confront Victim number 13, The Final Girl.
Begin by dealing the Final Girl for the corresponding Movie you are playing.
Confronting the Final Girl
1Play one Maniac card from your hand.
Playing a Maniac card is optional because there can be scenarios where the effect of the cards in your hand will not benefit your overall score.
Maniac! Pro-Tips:
If you do not have a Weapon or Mask card, play a Maniac card that might help you get one from the Maniac discard pile or an opponent.
Play a Maniac card to thwart an opponent from killing the Final Girl during their attempt to Confront the Final Girl.
2Draw a Plot Twist card and perform the action.
If the Final Girl is moved to the Survivor Stack, end your turn here by drawing the number of Maniac cards played. This triggers the end of the current movie and (during Movie Part 3) the end of the game. If the Final Girl is not moved to the Survivor Stack, continue to Step 3.
3Play a Weapon AND Mask card from your hand to kill the Final Girl and end the current movie.
If you cannot play a Weapon and Mask, end your turn here by drawing the number of Maniac cards played.
The Final Girl is now passed to the next Player to Confront The Final Girl, beginning with Step 1.
Each Player gets one attempt to kill the Final Girl if the preceding Player cannot kill her.
If you can play a Weapon and Mask card you have successfully killed the Final Girl.
Add her to your Collection along with the Weapon and Mask cards, used for this kill.
End your turn here by drawing the number of Maniac cards played during your turn.
The movie has now come to an end.
What if the Final Girl escapes death!?
If play returns to the first player who attempted to Confront the Final Girl and the Final Girl has neither been killed by a player nor moved to the Survivor Stack by a Plot Twist, then place her in the Survivor Stack, as she has escaped the wrath of the Maniac for this Movie.
For Movie Part 2, and Movie Part 3, she will be the first card dealt back into The Group to star in a sequel, and potentially be killed.
It is possible:
- Final Girl Movie Part 1 AND Part 2 appear in The Group during Movie Part 3, before confronting Final Girl Movie Part 3
- No player is able to kill the Final Girl Movie Part 3
Still have more questions about the Final Girl? Visit the FAQ.
Ending the Game
When all 3 Movies have ended, Maniacs add up the points in their Collection.
- Each Victim card has a numerical value printed on a bloody thumbprint.
- Include points from Mask, Weapon, Serial Slasher and various point based Maniac cards.
- Subtract negative points from the total, if you have any.
- Subtract points from unplayed Weapon and Mask cards residing in your hand.
The Maniac with the most points wins!
- In case of a tie game, the Player with the most Final Girl cards wins. If still tied, battle to the death!?
Still have more questions? Need help with scoring? Visit the FAQ.
Glossary of Terms
Athlete – A character class of the Victim Deck, indicated by their green and yellow school colors. They include Cheerleaders, Football Players, Team Captains, and more. Kill Athletes to increase your score.
Bimbo – A character class of the Victim Deck, indicated by their hot pink heading. Kill Bimbos to increase your score.
Collection – The game area near each Maniac where Killed Victims, Masks, Weapons, and specifically marked Maniac cards are organized. At the end of the game, each Maniac adds up their score based on the cards in their Collection.
Final Girl card – The Final Girl refers to a common theme in horror movies where the last woman, or girl, remains alive to confront the Maniac at the end of the movie. The Final Girl Deck is composed of 3 cards, one for each Movie.
Fodder – A character class of the Victim Deck, indicated by their purple heading. They include collectible pairs: The Prom King & Queen, The Hipsters, and more. Kill Fodder to increase your score.
The Group – The game area where Victim cards are placed in numerical order beginning with The Kill Spot to the final Victim to be Killed in The Group. A Movie begins when 12 Victims are dealt to The Group, and all the Maniacs have their Maniac Cards in their Hand.
Kill – Victims are “Killed” by Maniacs and added to your Collection, affecting your score.
The Kill Spot – The lead Victim card in The Group. The Victim in the Kill Spot is Killed or sent to the Survivor Stack during a Maniac’s turn. There is always a Victim card in The Kill Spot until you have killed all the Victims in The Group.
Maniac – You and your opponent players are Maniacs.
Maniac card – Maniac cards define the game’s actions. These cards are played to: move Victim cards in The Group, strategically discourage other Maniacs from capturing Victims, boost your score, and decrease an opponents score. The Maniac Deck also includes Mask and Weapon score enhancements played during a Kill.
Mask – An item class of the Maniac Deck. Masks are played during a turn as a Maniac Kills a Victim, then added to a Maniac’s Collection to increase the score. Maniacs may only play one Mask card during a Kill. The Final Girl requires one Mask card (and one Weapon card) to be played in order to Kill her.
Movie – 1 out of 3 “rounds” of the game where Victims are dealt from the Victim Deck/Survivor Stack to The Group, and the game is played until the Movie ends. A Movie ends when: All Victims in The Group are killed, a Final Girl is Killed, or sent to the Survivor Stack. When Movie Part 3 ends, Maniacs add up the points in their Collection to determine the winner of the game.
Nemesis – A character class of the Plot Twist Deck, indicated by their grey “Nemesis” heading. Nemeses prevent a Victim from being killed by sending them to the Survivor Stack unless a Maniac can play Defeat a Nemesis during their turn.
Plot Twist card – A plot twist is a moment during a movie where an unexpected change in direction occurs. Specifically marked Victims direct the Maniac to draw a Plot Twist card before they are killed. Plot Twist cards can both positively and negatively affect the Maniac’s turn.
Survivor Stack – An area where Victim cards are placed, removing them from play in The Group. Victims are dealt from the Survivor Stack at the beginning of Movies 2 & 3, followed by the Victim Deck.
Suspect – A character class of the Victim Deck, indicated by their red heading. Kill Suspects to increase your score.
Victim card – Victim cards define the cast of characters for each of the 3 Movies. At the beginning of each movie, they are dealt to The Group in numerical order upon which they are drawn from the Victim Deck. Maniacs Kill Victims from The Group during their turn.
Weapon – An item class of the Maniac Deck. Weapons are played during a turn as a Maniac Kills a Victim, then added to a Maniac’s Collection to increase the score. Maniacs may only play one Weapon card during a Kill. The Final Girl requires one Weapon card (and one Mask card) to be played in order to Kill her.