Curses

Curses are one of the most interesting parts of the game, as they actively challenge the seekers into having to do side quests or other things that give the hider a time advantage.

Playing curses can be emotionally trying for the seekers, especially when they come out of the blue, or are constantly cropping up without a break. Keep in mind the seeker’s mental state when playing them, especially near the end of the round or game day, when they will be tired. Keep in mind that the aim of this game is to have fun, and that comes above the seekers trying to find the hider or the hider trying to delay the seekers. If in doubt, remember that you’re going to have a drink with the seekers later, and you don’t want that to feel awkward.

As always, the Prime Directive applies.

Playing a Curse

The hider should take a picture of the curse card and send it to the seekers when it played. It is considered played as soon as the seekers receive it, even if it remains unread. Unless otherwise specified, any time related to the curse starts from when the card has been played. Once it has been played, then it should be discarded.

Casting Cost

Curses generally have a casting cost, which tends to correlate with how much time the seekers will have to lose in order to complete it, or alternatively happen to fit in with the Bit. This is indicated on the bottom of the card.

The casting cost must be played immediately alongside playing the card.

If the casting cost involves something that happens by chance, such as a dice roll, you only need to notify the seekers if the chance succeeds. If it fails, then it should be silently discarded.

If the casting cost requires the hider to discard a certain amount of time bonuses, then they must discard at least that amount of time in fixed value time bonuses. They cannot subdivide a card. e.g. if they are required to discard 15 minutes of time bonuses, but only have two 10 minute time bonuses, than they should discard both those time bonuses in order to play the card, and cannot make up the remaining 5 minutes. Percentage time bonuses cannot be used as part of the sum. Neither can the Veto Question or 15 Minute Time Bonus.

Clearing Curses

When the curse is completed, the seekers should generally send photographic or video evidence, and the hider can then declare the curse as cleared, meaning that the restrictions on it no longer apply. The seekers should send the evidence without delay.

Sometimes, photo or video evidence is not possible, in that case, the seekers can declare the curse cleared.

Blocking

Blocking Questions

Some curses will block further questions until the curse is cleared. The seekers can choose to ignore the curse, but they won’t be able to find out more information until it’s cleared.

If a curse is played between a question being asked and it being answered, the answer must still arrive in the normal amount of time, as the block does not apply retroactively.

Starting a thermometer does not count as asking a question. But seekers cannot finish a thermometer if they are blocked from asking questions. See Thermometer Mechanics for more information.

Blocking Transit

Some curses will stop the seekers from getting on transit until the curse is cleared. The seekers can choose to ignore the curse, but they won’t be able to get onto a vehicle until it is cleared.

If the seekers are already on a vehicle when the curse is played, they may stay on the vechicle until their destination, but may not block further transit until the curse is cleared.

Blocking Further Curses

Some curse cards will block further curses from being played until the curse is cleared. This is indicated in their individual card page, but the general rule is that if the curse blocks the seekers from answering questions or boarding transit then that card blocks further curses from being played.

Important

If there is a conflict between this general rule and what is on the individual card page, the individual card page takes precedence

Note

Blocking curses does not stop power ups from being played.

Curse Timeouts

In order to stop the game getting stale, most curses now have a timeout value. As a general rule, unless otherwise stated on the card, the curse will automatically be cleared after S 30 M 45 L 60 minutes. The hider should generally notify the seekers of the timeout, but the seekers can also declare this unilaterally.

Some cards will apply “until the end of the round”, and so they do not have a timeout.

Some cards are event-based, such as “for the next three questions”. They also do not have a timeout.

Each individual card page has a the timeout specified on it.

Important

If there is a conflict between these general rules and what is on the individual card page, the individual card page takes precedence

Immediate Vetoes

If the seekers find they can’t, or don’t want to clear the curse, and wish to keep the flow of the game going, they have the option of an immediate veto. This can be called at any point before a card times out, and means that the curse is cleared instantly, but the hider receives a time bonus equivalent to a maximum of 1.5 times the timeout period, rounded down to the nearest 15 minutes. If the card has no timeout period, then the maximum time bonus is S 45 M 60 L 90 minutes.

The time bonus that the hider received is calculated by subtracting the maximum time bonus from the time elapsed between the card being played and the immediate veto being called, rounded up to the nearest 5 minutes.

For example:

• Curse of the Unguided Tourist has a standard time-out of S 30 M 45 L 60 minutes. When playing a Large game, they decide after 27 minutes that they want to use the Immediate Veto option. The hider then gets a 65 minute time bonus, as 90-27=63, rounded up to the nearest 5 is 65 minutes.
• Curse of the U-Turn is event-based, and so has no time-out. If the seekers choose not to get off at the next stop, then they can choose to veto this card for a cost of S 45 M 60 L 90 minutes

Important

If there is a conflict between these general rules and what is on the individual card page, the individual card page takes precedence

Cards that can only be played once per round

To avoid annoying the seekers unnecessarily, some cards can only be played once per round. This means they can be duplicated, or returend to the hand, but they can only be used as discard cards if the curse has already been played. For example, there are several copies of Curse of the Impenetrable Fog in the deck, but it can only be played once.

The cards that can only be played once are marked as such on each individual card’s page.