Author: Cédric Millet
Illustrations: Markus Erdt
Editor: Patrick Tonn
Playing time: approx. 20 minutes

The curtain rises for the most incredible monster acts that the world has ever seen! We warmly welcome you to the world of The Next MonStar. In this spooktacular talent show the Spooky-Stars of tomorrow show what they've got.

However, the jury is demanding and has its own preferences: some love power vocals, others breathtaking dance moves or scary-chic looks. There are also judges who are big fans of disgusting and creepy acts. So cast in this game the favorites of the jury - then the audience will also be enthusiastic and reward you with popularity points on the Applause-O-Meter!

Who after three rounds the most popularity points has collected, wins.

• 45 MonStar cards (including 5 Mega-MonStars)

• 12 jury cards

• 4 stages

• 4 score spinners

• 1 applause O-meter

[Image of sample card + talents on the left, explanatory text on the right]

[Text as a bulleted list to the right of the image]

• Spotlight symbol:

  The MonStar may only be placed on the yellow/green/red part of the stage.

• Power duo (as a variant!)

  Some MonStars form a power duo. For a pair with the same power duo symbols, an extra popularity point can be earned.

• Talents:

  Each normal MonStar has 2 different talents. In total there are 5 talents: scare, singing, disgust, style, dance.

1. Each player takes one podium and places it in front of them. The color-matching points spinner goes in the green slime section on the applause O-meter.

2. Remove the 5 Mega MonStar cards. You will only need these in the third round. If you play with two or three players, you only need 10 jury cards (2 per talent). Only if you play with four, do you use all 15 cards.

3. Distribute all remaining MonStar and jury cards face down in the middle of the table. Now flip over 6 random cards (it doesn't matter whether it's a MonStar or a juror).

4. Find the soundtrack that matches your number of players.the audio files to listen to and to download on this page.

You play taking turns, clockwise, and this in 3 rounds. Each round consists of 2 phases:

• In the casting phase you collect cards to the rhythm of the soundtrack. You place these on your stage: MonStars in one of the 3 upper stage sections and the jury below on their chairs.

• Your goal is in the applause phase at the end of each round, to have as many talent symbols on your MonStar cards as possible that match the talent symbols on your jury cards. For each match you receive popularity points, which you mark with your point spinner on the applause-O-meter.

Casting phase: collecting cards

You all have an equal chance to place cards (these are MonStar and jury cards) on your stage and to have it completely filled by the end of the round. Only in the first round must one jury spot remain free. After all, one monster always arrives late to the show!

Who among you is the spookiest? You start in the first round. Start the soundtrack.

If you hear the tense gasping for air in the soundtrack, you must flip another facedown card. If you hear a buzzer and cheering , you may take an already face-up card and place it on your stage. If the next time you hear the tense gasping for air, it is the person to your left is up. At that moment you may therefore no longer take cards, put them back or on your stage move.

Note: it is important that you always listen carefully to the soundtrack cues (gasping for air and buzzer)! If you miss or ignore them, you'll quickly lose track and may unfairly exclude someone. Fairness above all on 'The Next MonStar' (even more important than 'Don't eat the audience!').

As soon as the big applause sounds, the casting phase is over. Pause the soundtrack at this moment.

Applause phase: receive popularity points

Celebrate together with your MonStars! After the casting phase, it's (hopefully) raining applause and with it popularity points.

To do this, check all the cards on your respective stages. Do the following:

1. Return duplicates: each card (MonStar or jury) may only be on your stages once. Choose one card of each character and put the rest back in the middle.

2. Flip incorrectly placed MonStars: Is there a MonStar card on the wrong part of the stage (see the spotlight symbol)? Then flip it.

3. Count popularity points: compare the talent symbols of your MonStar cards with those on your jury cards. For each matching talent symbol you receive 1 popularity point. For each flipped card you lose 1 popularity point.

4. Move point spinners

   : Mark your current point total on the applause O-meter with your point spinner. Whoever goes past the star at 30 flips their point spinner to the star side. That way you know who already has more than 30 popularity points.

[Detail image of point spinner] + [Example image with all cases: 1 duplicate, 1 incorrectly placed, 1 favorite, 3 juries]

After the point spinners are placed, all the cards from the stages back to the center are brought. Flip all the cards over, shuffle them well and turn over 6 random cards again.

Turn the soundtrack back on. This time the person to the left of the spookiest one starts.

• Round 1: You may only occupy 2 of the 3 jury cards and play without Mega MonStar cards.

• Round 2: You may occupy all jury cards and play without Mega MonStar cards.

• Round 3: You may occupy all jury cards and at the start of the casting phase the 5 Mega MonStar cards hereby shuffle them face-down.

After the third round the game ends.

Whose point spinner has come the furthest?

Congratulations: you have won the hearts of the audience and you may rightly call yourself 'The Next MonStar'! At least until the next challenge comes - because one thing is clear: The Show must go on!

Is there a tie? Then the player who has received the most popularity points in the third applause phase is the winner.

This variant makes the game even more exciting and may also add a touch of schadenfreude. Now it all comes down to the power duo symbols, which are depicted on many of the MonStar cards. Try to get pairs with the same symbols on your stage - you get 1 bonus popularity point for a matching power duo in the applause phase!

However, don't cheer too soon! After all, whoever already has a MonStar card with a power duo symbol on their own stage may pick the card with the same symbol from another stage. Wait for your buzzer signal in the casting phase and grab the missing power duo card instead of a card from the middle. The person who was robbed has one fewer card on their own stage until the end of the round. Sneaky? Hey, you're monsters - of course that's sneaky!