Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Low interaction
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Each night, a secret war is waged. The battlefield is always the same, but the enemy changes; some nights, taking the form of spiders and creepy-crawlies, other nights, taking the form of unknown shapes that shift on the edge of your vision.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
Each night, a secret war is waged. The battlefield is always the same, but the enemy changes; some nights, taking the form of spiders and creepy-crawlies, other nights, taking the form of unknown shapes that shift on the edge of your vision. Your duty is to defend the serenity of dreams from the corruption of the Nightmare by ensuring that the Nightlight stays lit. Take control of a stuffed animal animated by the Child’s imagination and given strength by the magic of dreams themselves! Rounds are divided into phases, with the players and the Nightmare deck each taking turns to act. First, the stuffed animals raid the Toy Chest for Weapon and Skill cards that they can use to defend against the enemies of the Nightmare. Then, each player is dealt two Nightmare cards, which could either be enemies or Crises, that their stuffed animal must deal with during the next phase. Finally, the dreamscape shifts, and a new Dream card is flipped, adding a new weakness for the Nightmare to exploit. After each side has prepared, the enemies and stuffed animals take turns attacking. Once every enemy has attacked, each side is granted a short reprieve before starting a new round. Every round is more dire than the last, but if at least one stuffed animal survives until the end of the third round, the Nightlight has survived until dawn and the players have won the game! Fight hard, but don’t let the changing nature of dreams distract your stuffed animal and give the Nightmare an opportunity to strike!