Horrified: Greek Monsters

Horrified: Greek Monsters rules at a glance

Your entire team wins by defeating every monster chosen during setup. Each has a specific challenge, shown on its Monster mat, which normally must be completed before the final Defeat action is available. Unlike a traditional combat game, you cannot simply spend any collection of items to remove a monster regardless of its puzzle.

A turn has two phases: the active player takes Hero actions—moving, gathering items, helping Legends, using powers and solving challenges—and then resolves a Monster card. The Monster card supplies more items, triggers an Event and activates the monsters named by its strike symbols. Because a card is consumed after nearly every player turn, the group has a practical time limit.

The heroes lose in either of two circumstances: Terror reaches its maximum, or the Monster deck is empty when a further card must be drawn. They win immediately after the last selected monster is defeated. No individual hero accumulates a separate winner’s score.

Ravensburger recommends Basilisk and Cerberus as the first-game pair. Play with two monsters for a novice game, three for the standard game, or four for a challenging one. This guide concentrates on the 2023 Greek Monsters box, keeping the rules of Universal Monsters, American Monsters and World of Monsters separate.

Setup: gameboard, lairs, monsters, heroes and item bag

Unfold the Isle of Elysium board. Shuffle the four Lair tokens facedown and place them at their indicated sites: Mount Iliad, Necropolis, Gaseous Swamp and Statue of Talos. None is revealed at setup; knowing which token hides which lair is part of the challenge. Put the Terror marker at zero for a normal multiplayer game.

Shuffle the 30 Monster cards. Choose the monsters your team is facing, put their mats in Frenzy Order and carry out each mat’s printed setup. Place the Frenzy marker on the chosen monster with the lowest Order. Keep unused Monster figures, mats and special tokens out of the game, rather than letting their events or tasks affect the selected monsters.

Each participant takes one of the seven Hero tiles, the matching standee and a reference card, then places the Hero at the location named on the tile. Shuffle the Perk deck and deal one starting Perk per player. Put all 60 item tokens in the bag; draw 12 items and distribute them to their printed locations.

The game also includes 10 Legend standees, four lairs, attack dice and monster-specific puzzle tokens. Set these aside until the associated effect requires them. Each Monster mat tells you which special pieces begin on the board and which are added during play.

Setup reminder: locations such as the Underworld Door, Labyrinth, Chimera’s Cave and Statue Garden correspond to hidden lairs. They are not all known as physical locations at the beginning of the game; discovery matters.

Hero Phase: seven familiar actions plus Reveal a Lair

Every Hero has a different printed action allowance. The active player may spend up to that number, repeat actions and take them in any order. The standard actions are:

1. Move: go one connected space along a path, bringing any number of Legends in your space.
2. Guide: move one Legend from your location to an adjacent one, or from an adjacent location into yours.
3. Pick Up: collect any number of items from your current space in one action.
4. Share: allow Heroes in your space to exchange items, even if you personally are not one of the traders.
5. Advance: use the appropriate items or effect at the required location to progress a Monster mat.
6. Defeat: after the challenge is finished, pay the matching final requirement to remove a monster.
7. Favor of the Gods: use the special power described on your Hero tile; check whether it costs an action or is an always-on benefit.
8. Reveal a Lair: at an unrevealed lair token, spend qualifying item strength to flip it face up and expose its identity.

Some action descriptions require one specific item, while others allow any number of the named color and ask you to add their strengths. The reference icons and Monster mat specify which convention applies. Do not replace ‘one teal item’ with ‘teal items totaling a number’ or vice versa.

Perks are separate from actions. Any player may play Perk cards during any Hero Phase without reducing the active Hero’s action allowance. Completing a Legend’s rescue route can generate more Perks, but the Monster clock continues advancing whenever that Hero turn ends.

How to reveal a lair: locations, item cost and timing

Lairs are Greek Monsters’ main addition to the original Horrified structure. At setup, the four facedown tokens are shuffled across the four marked board spaces. A Hero standing on a facedown token can take one Reveal a Lair action, discarding items of any colors whose combined strength is three or more. Reveal the token and turn it face up.

Worked example: your Hero reaches Necropolis with a strength-2 yellow item and a strength-1 teal item. These total 3, so they can be discarded together to pay for the reveal. A single item worth 3 or more is also enough. The cost is not one item from each of three colors, and the pieces you spend are gone unless another effect recovers them.

The revealed lair remains face up for the rest of the game—even if its associated monster is not among the monsters chosen for the session. The four possibilities are the Underworld Door, Chimera’s Cave, Statue Garden and Labyrinth. Only the relevant monster benefits from the discovery, but the face-up token is still usable as a revealed location thereafter.

Because you may need to visit more than one site to find the specific lair you require, the team should consider efficient searching routes. A Hero positioned near two concealed tokens might reveal one and then quickly reach another, while a slow or item-poor Hero may be more useful gathering resources for the actual monster challenge.

One important exception: Basilisk and Siren have no lair. They can be completed through their own tasks without spending an action on a hidden token. Choosing them together removes the need for discovery, although other monster tasks and ordinary Monster attacks still apply.

Items and Legends: what each token does

There are three item groups in this edition: yellow physical, blue relic, and teal artistic. Every item also has a strength number and a location printed on it. Those details are not interchangeable. The Siren’s challenge requires blue items for its puzzle, while defeating her requires teal strength; Medusa’s final condition similarly uses teal items.

A Hero may carry multiple items without an ordinary hand limit. The Pick Up action can take any number from one location, so concentrating travel around a busy space can save actions. Items spent for challenges or blocking damage generally go to the item discard pile, which is reshuffled into the bag when the bag needs a draw and is empty.

Some Monster cards cause Legends to enter the map. Each Legend has a destination indicated on its standee. Heroes can escort these characters by moving with them or using Guide. When a Legend reaches the marked safe location, remove it from the board and give the active player one Perk.

Legends are also a liability: monsters may target and defeat them, increasing the Terror level. An opportunistic rescue can both protect against future Terror and grant a bonus action effect, but a long detour could still cost more Monster deck cards than the team can afford.

Monster Phase: item draw, Event and attack symbols

At the end of the Hero Phase, reveal a Monster card and resolve it from top to bottom. First, draw the indicated number of item tokens from the bag and put them in the printed locations. Next, read and resolve the card’s Event. An Event referring to a monster that is absent or already defeated is ignored when appropriate.

Finally, read the Monster Attack icons left to right. Greek Monsters uses Greek deity symbols and colors to tell you which monsters activate. The Frenzy symbol activates whichever monster currently holds the Frenzy marker, and a monster may act twice in the same Monster Phase if both its individual symbol and Frenzy appear.

An activated monster generally moves along the shortest path toward the nearest Hero or Legend, preferring Heroes on equal-distance ties, and stops if it shares a location with a character. Then, if it shares a location with someone, it attacks using the number of dice printed on the Monster card. Monsters do not automatically attack just because an Event names them.

Resolve Power symbols before Hit symbols on the attack dice. A Power effect can move a Hero or monster, changing whether the later hits apply. After resolving powers, if the Hero remains a target, discard one item per Hit symbol to prevent damage. If an unblocked Hit defeats a Hero, Terror rises one step and the Hero is removed until the start of that player’s next turn.

Unlike the 2019 Universal Monsters setting, defeated Heroes in this edition return at the Temple of Nyx, retaining their carried items and Perks. Defeated Legends are removed permanently; Heroes cannot spend items from another location to protect them from an attack.

All six monsters: quick challenge and finishing conditions

Each monster uses a distinct puzzle and finishing requirement. These summaries are useful for planning, but always check the selected Monster mat’s printed instructions, especially when the task uses tokens or dice.

Pay attention to quantity versus strength. Chimera asks for three individual items of named colors; Siren’s finishing payment asks for an overall teal strength total. The Basilisk has a much larger threshold but offers a way to improve the value of its blessed items.

Basilisk: bless items at the Temples

The Basilisk starts at the Gaseous Swamp and is classified as a low-complexity monster. It has no concealed lair, so the entire challenge is visible from the beginning. The heroes must visit each Temple location and use an Advance action to place a yellow item on the matching space of its Monster mat.

These become Blessed items. The final Defeat action takes place in the Basilisk’s location and requires items totaling at least 30 strength in any color. Blessed items may be used in that final payment at their printed value plus 2. The bonus is valuable because 30 is a high sum to assemble from ordinary items alone.

For example, three blessed strength-5 items contribute 21 combined strength, not 15, leaving nine more to find from other available items. The arithmetic illustrates the bonus; check which Temple item slots you have actually completed during play.

Its Power, Gaze of Death, moves the Basilisk to the current player’s location and deals one special Hit that can be blocked only with a yellow item. Keeping a low-strength yellow item available for emergencies can preserve the team’s Terror allowance even when other carried items have higher strength.

Cerberus: find the Underworld Door and open the locks

Cerberus begins at the Temple of Hades. Its Monster mat has five Door tokens representing the locked passage back to the Underworld. The team must first reveal the Underworld Door lair somewhere on the map.

At the revealed Door, a Hero takes an Advance action by spending one yellow item to roll three Monster dice. If the dice contain symbols required by a Door token, remove one matching lock section. The rules allow the player to spend a teal item to reroll several dice, limited by the teal item’s printed strength, before choosing the token removed.

Repeat until all five locks are open. Finishing is unusual: do not simply spend enough item strength while standing with Cerberus. Instead, a Hero at his current location spends a teal item to move Cerberus along pathways up to the item’s strength. When he reaches the Underworld Door, he is defeated and returned to Hades.

Cerberus’s Power is a deck clock accelerator: it discards the top card of the Monster deck. This can cut down your remaining Hero turns without directly increasing Terror. If Cerberus repeatedly activates, prioritize its doors and final escort before the draw pile becomes too thin.

Chimera: three heads, three item requirements

Chimera starts at the Ruins and has its own hidden Chimera’s Cave lair. Reveal that lair before using its Advance action to quiet the creature’s three heads. The head tokens represent the Snake, Lion and Goat, each with a separate item requirement.

At Chimera’s Cave, the Snake requires one yellow item, the Lion requires two blue items, and the Goat requires three yellow items. Each head needs a separate Advance action, and each head tile is flipped as its requirement is met. These are numbers of individual items, not their summed strength.

After all three heads are asleep, a Hero sharing Chimera’s location completes the Defeat action by spending one item in each of teal, blue and yellow. It is worth reserving this finishing trio instead of consuming every blue or yellow item to sleep the heads without a follow-up plan.

Chimera’s Power can force the monster to relocate to the space containing the most items and put those items back into the item bag. This can disrupt a carefully prepared pile of tokens at a crucial location, so heroes should collect essential items instead of relying on them remaining on the ground.

Medusa: lead her through four mirrors

Medusa begins at the Bay of Ghosts and uses four mirror tokens placed around the Isle. The task represents exposing Medusa to her own gaze. First, Heroes standing in Medusa’s location can spend a yellow item to move her up to that item’s strength along the map.

When she enters a space with a mirror, the movement stops and the corresponding mirror is moved to her Monster mat. Repeat until all four mirrors have been collected. The mirror sites are Battlefield, Forest of Dryads, Vineyards and Acropolis. Moving efficiently between them is the puzzle: a yellow item with very high strength is not necessarily the most efficient if the next mirror is only one space away.

Then reveal the Statue Garden hidden lair if it remains concealed. Bring Medusa to that location and spend teal items totaling at least six strength to defeat her. She does not have to be defeated at the fourth mirror, and simply discovering the Statue Garden does not skip the mirror route.

Medusa’s Power can teleport a Hero away from her to the Temple farthest from Medusa, costing travel time. Coordinate your final item collection and last mirror with that threat in mind; a hero forced away just before the last move may need assistance from a Perk or another Hero.

Minotaur: build and solve the Labyrinth

Minotaur starts at the Acropolis. Place the Labyrinth Center on its Monster mat and prepare five shuffled Labyrinth tokens as directed by setup. Before progressing, the Heroes must discover the Labyrinth lair, hidden under one of the four facedown tokens.

At the revealed Labyrinth, a Hero spends one blue item for an Advance action and uses it either to place the next Labyrinth tile or switch the positions of two tiles already placed. Continue until the required path is successfully assembled according to the maze diagram. The puzzle is spatial; collecting five tiles without arranging them correctly does not automatically complete it.

Once the Labyrinth has been completed, perform the final Defeat action at the Labyrinth, spending yellow items totaling nine or more strength. It is especially important to verify whether a hero’s present action is being spent placing a tile, swapping two tiles or finishing the monster, because those are not interchangeable.

Minotaur’s Power threatens team progress indirectly: a player must discard a blue item or the team increases Terror by one. Blue supplies are already required to build the maze, so repeatedly surrendering them can delay the challenge even if Terror does not rise.

Siren: match the Tone tokens to quiet her song

The Siren begins at the Lighthouse and is the other base-game monster with no hidden lair. Her challenge uses eight facedown Tone tokens. These are pairs, but players cannot inspect the whole board at once as though every matching symbol were public.

At the Siren’s current location, a Hero takes an Advance action by discarding one blue item and looking at two face-down Tone tokens. If they match, remove the pair from the puzzle. Whether they match or not, move the Siren to the location printed on the discarded item, as directed by the mat.

Repeat until the matching Tone pairs are removed. Once the challenge is complete, the final Defeat action occurs in the Siren’s space and requires teal items totaling six or more strength. The difficulty therefore lies in remembering which symbols have already been seen, choosing useful blue items and remaining mobile enough to follow her changing position.

The Siren’s Power can cause a Hit to every Hero in her space, and moves the other Heroes one location toward her. That may concentrate players in a dangerous place just before a later Monster activation. Spread out when appropriate and keep enough spare items to absorb an unexpected attack.

Monster Frenzy, special abilities and defense

Frenzy always belongs to one active monster. At the start, the marker is placed on the mat with the lowest Frenzy Order; certain Events move it to the next surviving monster in ascending order. When the Monster card shows Frenzy, the marked monster acts even if it already acted due to another matching Greek symbol on that card.

Unlike a regular Hit, a Power effect may not always be preventable by spending any-color items. For example, Basilisk’s Gaze requires a yellow item to avoid its special Hit, and Cerberus may consume the Monster deck rather than attack a nearby Hero. Read the current Monster mat before assigning generic attack damage.

After resolving any Power symbols, check if the intended target is still at the monster’s location, then apply Hit symbols. If the Hero has insufficient items to cover the hits, that Hero is defeated and Terror increases once for the defeat; the Hero returns on their next turn at Temple of Nyx with their carried resources intact.

Legends do not have the same defense. A Hit defeats one, removes its standee and raises Terror. Being able to escort one Legend to safety can be worth more than the immediate Perk reward if the alternative is a likely attack in the coming Monster Phase.

How the game ends: three possible outcomes

Horrified: Greek Monsters has a clear cooperative ending. The team wins as soon as all selected monsters have been defeated, regardless of how many items or Legends remain on the board.

The team loses if the Terror Level reaches its printed maximum. This can happen through defeated Heroes, Legends and particular monster powers. You cannot postpone the loss until the end of a round after reaching the maximum.

The team also loses if the Monster deck is empty when a further Monster card must be drawn. Drawing the very last card and resolving it is not an immediate loss: the next active Hero still gets a final Hero Phase and may be able to finish a remaining monster before the next required draw.

Special powers that discard cards directly from the Monster deck, such as Cerberus’s, can shorten this clock. Do not mistake the 60-item bag for the Monster deck: discarded items are recycled when their bag runs out, but ordinary Monster cards are not returned to make another draw pile.

Solo play: the published change to the Terror track

The box supports one to five players. The rulebook’s solo instruction is notably concise: start with the Terror marker at level three, rather than zero, because Legends are less confident in one Hero’s ability to protect them.

Other normal systems, such as the chosen monster mats, their unique tasks, item supply, lair setup and Hero action values, still apply unless a printed Hero or card effect makes a specific exception. The Greek Monsters rulebook does not introduce an independent automa deck or multi-handed Hero requirement for solo mode.

If you previously played Universal Monsters or American Monsters, do not automatically transfer those editions’ forbidden Hero or Perk-card lists into Greek Monsters. Use this box’s actual text and current player materials. Starting at Terror three leaves less margin for failed movement plans and uncovered monster attacks.

Beginner strategy: discover the right lairs efficiently

1. Choose an appropriate pair. Basilisk and Cerberus teach the basic system while requiring only one relevant hidden lair, instead of starting with several difficult route and token puzzles.
2. Balance scouting with strength. Reveal a Lair costs a Hero action and items totaling at least three strength. Do not use an item intended for the final monster payment unless finding the lair now is worth the delay.
3. Prioritize multiple-item pickup sites. Since one Pick Up action collects every item in the current location, a modest detour may be more efficient than visiting separate spaces for weaker tokens.
4. Reserve specific finishing colors. Chimera needs one of each color, Minotaur needs yellow nine, Medusa and Siren need teal six. Avoid assuming any large stack of items works for every monster.
5. Watch Cerberus’s deck pressure. Losing extra cards to his Power can cause an Out-of-Time defeat even if Terror is still manageable.
6. Use Legend rescues for Perks. Bonus cards can help the current Hero complete an otherwise expensive travel or sharing sequence.
7. Keep the active Monster’s Frenzy symbol in mind. A monster can take two strike actions from a single card, and not every Power is countered by the usual discard-one-item defense.

These are editorial tactics derived from the published rules, not claims of hands-on playtesting. Monster combinations, Hero powers and where the lairs were hidden determine the best choice in each game.

Greek Monsters compared with Universal, American and World of Monsters

All Horrified titles follow a recognizable cooperative pattern, but the boxes are not just interchangeable sets of monster figures. Universal Monsters (2019) uses iconic film monsters on a village map. American Monsters (2021) uses cryptids and its own item sets and town. Greek Monsters (2023) moves to the Isle of Elysium and makes hidden lairs central to four monster challenges.

World of Monsters also has lair-related rules, and Ravensburger explicitly says World of Monsters and Greek Monsters can be combined under their provided mixing instructions. That does not mean Greek Monsters should automatically be mixed with Universal Monsters or American Monsters using untested combinations of mats and cards.

Read our Universal Monsters guide for Dracula, Mummy and Creature objectives, and American Monsters guide for Bigfoot, Chupacabra and Jersey Devil challenges. The D&D Ravenloft guide concerns another standalone game. These pages target different rules and search intent to avoid duplicating one another.

For another cooperative board game with a shared countdown and specialization, try Pandemic or Forbidden Island. Unlike Horrified, their cooperative challenges are not based around resolving independent unique monster puzzles.

Horrified: Greek Monsters FAQ

How many people can play Horrified: Greek Monsters?

One to five people, with shared victory and a separate solo starting Terror rule.

Is Greek Monsters an expansion for original Horrified?

No. It is a complete standalone game. Ravensburger separately supports combining Greek Monsters with World of Monsters using the published instructions.

Which two monsters are recommended for beginners?

Basilisk and Cerberus, according to the official Greek Monsters rulebook.

How do you reveal a hidden lair?

Stand at a facedown lair and use a Hero action to discard items of any color totaling three or more strength. Turn the lair token face up.

Are the lairs in known positions?

The four lair tokens are shuffled among four fixed sites, so the sites are known but which hidden lair occupies each one is unknown.

Do Basilisk and Siren need a lair?

No. Those two monster challenges have no hidden lair.

Can you defeat a monster without completing its challenge?

No. Complete the Advance requirements first, then meet its Defeat condition at the required location.

Does Basilisk require exactly 30 points of yellow items?

No. Its final challenge needs at least 30 strength in any colors. Blessed items count at their printed value plus two.

How do you defeat Cerberus?

Open all five door locks at the Underworld Door, then use a teal item to move Cerberus to that location.

What items defeat Chimera?

One yellow, one blue and one teal item, after all three heads have been put to sleep at Chimera’s Cave.

What is needed to defeat Medusa?

Guide her into all four mirrors, reveal Statue Garden, bring her there and spend teal items totaling six or more strength.

What is the Minotaur’s puzzle?

Reveal Labyrinth, arrange its maze tokens using blue-item Advance actions, then defeat the monster at Labyrinth with yellow items totaling nine strength.

How does the Siren’s tone puzzle work?

Use blue items to inspect pairs of hidden Tone tokens at her location, removing matches. Finish by spending teal items totaling six strength.

Where does a defeated Hero return?

At the Temple of Nyx at the start of that Hero’s next turn, still holding their items and Perks.

Does Greek Monsters support solo play?

Yes. Begin at Terror Level 3 instead of zero.

When does the Monster deck end the game?

When you must draw a new Monster card but no cards remain. The team still gets a final Hero Phase after the last Monster card is resolved.

Official sources, edition scope and disclosures

• Ravensburger — Horrified: Greek Monsters official product page and box contents
• Horrified: Greek Monsters English rulebook — searchable text (RulesPal)
• BoardGameGeek — 2023 game profile, release and designer credits
• Ravensburger UK — rules variants and World of Monsters compatibility

Rule details checked October 16, 2026 against the published English rulebook, with the official Ravensburger product pages used for edition identity, product specifications and compatibility statements. This article is an independent paraphrase, not a reproduction of the rulebook or original artwork, and does not claim personal gameplay experience. Worked examples and strategic recommendations are editorial explanations. Monster and game names are used for identification without any affiliation with the publisher.