Final Girl - Carnage at the Carnival: Event Card Glossary

Reading time approx. 6–8 minutes

This article explains all photographed Event Cards from Carnival of Blood in German. The Carnage at the Carnival box contains a total of 10 Event Cards – 8 of which were available for this glossary. Event Cards shape every game from the start: one is drawn randomly at the beginning of the game and applies for the entire game. The remaining cards stay in the deck and can be drawn during the game by certain Terror Cards – specifically "Is This a Prop?" and "Welcome to the Greatest Show".

Note: These translations are unofficial and not authorized by Van Ryder Games. In case of doubt, the original English text of the card always applies. 2 of the 10 Event Cards were not available at the time of this documentation.

The complete quick start guide, including game setup, can be found in the Quick Start Guide article. An overview of all Terror Cards is available in the Terror Card Glossary.

Overview: All Event Cards at a Glance

🟦 = Fiancé  |  🟠 = Werewolf  |  ⬜ = Sibling  |  🚙 = Golf Cart Token

Impact Assessment of Event Cards (Community Rating)

This rating is not an official game rule, but a tactical assessment. You don't choose Event Cards – the starting card is drawn randomly. This is about how strongly the card influences your chances of winning.

Advantage = Predominantly positive for your chances of winning  |  Double-edged = Both opportunity and risk  |  Disadvantage = Makes the game harder  |  Very dangerous = Game-decidingly negative

The Cards in Detail

"Run! I'll Hold Them Off!" 🟦 – "Run! I'll Hold Them Off!"

"There's a fine line between courage and idiocy."

The victim closest to you becomes your Fiancé – identifiable by the blue game piece. The Fiancé has a special ability: if an enemy were to enter your current space while the Fiancé is also there, the enemy is stopped – instead, they drag the Fiancé to their doom. The Fiancé dies, the enemy remains in their space. If the Fiancé is killed by a Trap, you immediately gain 5 Time Tokens. If the Fiancé leaves the game (by rescue or death), this card is discarded.

Strategy: The Fiancé is a one-time "human shield" against enemy incursions into your space – especially useful when Geppetto or Puppets are marching towards you. The 5 Time Tokens upon trap death are a generous consolation that you can actively factor in: if a Trap Token is in your space, the Fiancé can serve as a sacrifice to give you an additional action phase. Be careful, however: if the Fiancé dies from regular enemy contact, there is no compensation.

Employee Transport – "Employee Transport"

"Looks like someone left the keys in the cart..."

Place a Golf Cart Token on one of the four corner spaces of the game board. During each Upkeep Phase, you and up to 2 victims in the same space as the Golf Cart may collectively drive it up to 2 spaces – but only on the outer path of the game board. If the Golf Cart is driven into a space with an enemy, you may discard it and immediately deal 3 damage to the enemy. If the Golf Cart is discarded, this Event Card is also discarded.

Strategy: One of the strongest Event Cards. The Golf Cart allows for quick victim transport via the outer ring without your own movement costs – ideal for the rescue phase. The one-time 3-damage ramming attack against an enemy is also the strongest single damage effect that can be triggered without an action card. Save it specifically for Geppetto when he is near an exit space.

Full Moon 🟠 – "Full Moon"

"I haven't heard that howl since the old country..."

The victim furthest from you reveals itself as a Werewolf – identifiable by the orange game piece. The Werewolf cannot be targeted by you, rescued, or killed. It also does not follow you. In the Upkeep Phase, the Werewolf panics and then attacks a target in its space: prioritizing Victim ► You ► Puppet ► Geppetto. The attack deals 2 damage.

Strategy: Double-edged in the best sense: the Werewolf attacks victims first (bad), but if no victims are nearby, it attacks puppets and even Geppetto (good!). With Distraction action cards, you can lure Geppetto near the Werewolf to generate passive damage. Actively positioning the Werewolf near Geppetto is a legitimate strategy. Don't forget: it cannot be rescued as long as other victims are in play – plan your rescue order accordingly.

Animal Panic! – "Animal Panic!"

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"

Each time the horror level increases, roll a number of dice corresponding to the new horror level. For each die result showing a success symbol (★), you may move a victim of your choice 1 space. For every two dice that do not show a success symbol, a victim is immediately killed.

Strategy: This card makes horror level control even more important than it already is. At level 5 or 6, you roll many dice – a bad result means several victims die simultaneously and increase Geppetto's bloodlust. Keeping the horror level low by regularly using the Focus action card is absolutely prioritized here. In the green zone of the horror track (3 dice), the damage from this card is still manageable.

"Did You Follow Me Here?" ⬜ – "Did You Follow Me Here?"

"Why do you always tag along?!"

Immediately place 4 new victims on The Big Top. One of these victims is special – your younger Sibling, identifiable by the white game piece. As long as the Sibling is in your space, you can sacrifice 2 Health Points to re-roll any die once. If the Sibling dies, Geppetto's Bloodlust immediately increases by 2. If the Sibling leaves the game, this card is discarded.

Strategy: The 4 new victims are welcome rescue opportunities – especially if you still need to fill spaces on your Final Girl card. The die re-roll costs 2 Health Points, making it expensive, but very valuable in critical moments (e.g., during the final attack on Geppetto). Try to keep the Sibling with you without letting them die carelessly – the +2 Bloodlust upon death can accelerate Geppetto's Dark Power cards in the late game.

"How Dangerous Can It Be?" – "How Dangerous Can It Be?"

"Hold my beer."

During the Upkeep Phase, each victim on the board automatically moves 1 space towards the nearest Trap Token. If there is no Trap Token on the board, this card has no effect.

Tactics: This card is harmless at the start of the game – there are no Trap Tokens yet. However, it becomes the most dangerous card in the game once the first Terror Trap cards are activated. From the first Trap Token onwards, victims automatically move towards the trap every turn – with multiple traps on the board, they are attracted from everywhere. Found Footage to negate Terror Trap cards and Crystal Ball to foresee and avoid Trap cards are indispensable with this Event card. While Asami is immune to Item Traps, she is not immune to Terror Trap Tokens on the board.

So Much Junk

"Someone sure needs a hoarding intervention!"

When this card is revealed: Find the Item card Zappo the Carnival Monkey and immediately place it in your backpack. If the Item Decks are already depleted, they are first reset. If you lose Zappo – for any reason – for the rest of the game, you roll one less die (minimum: 1 die) for all Search Action cards.

Tactics: This card grants you Zappo without search effort or a die roll – one of the strongest early-game advantages. Zappo allows remote searching from 2 spaces away and provides a one-time protection against Item Trap effects (he flees and takes the trap effects with him). The permanent loss of a die upon Zappo's death makes protecting Zappo a worthwhile priority. If you play Asami, "So Much Junk" combines particularly well – Asami's search bonus and Zappo's remote search together enable very efficient Item Deck management.

Mirrors Everywhere

"I think I got 'em! Oh no..."

As long as this card is active: If you perform an attack and there are one or more victims in your space, for every 1 rolled, a victim dies immediately.

Tactics: This card severely punishes attacks with companions in your space. If you attack Geppetto or Puppets, you risk killing your own victims in the process – which increases Bloodlust and destroys rescue objectives. Three solutions: Either actively move victims out of your space before attacking, use Close Call to avoid rolling 1s, or use weapons with range 1 (Throwing Axe, Old Revolver) to attack from a victim-free space.

Commonly Misplayed

Event cards are active for the entire game: The Event card drawn at the beginning of the game remains active until the end of the game – it is not discarded at the end of a round. Exception: Cards with explicit discard conditions (e.g., when the Fiancé leaves the game).

"How Dangerous Can It Be?" is inactive with 0 Trap Tokens: If there are no Trap Tokens on the board, victims do not move during the Upkeep Phase. The effect only begins with the first Terror Trap Token placed.

The Werewolf (Full Moon) cannot be rescued – with one exception: He is only savable if he is the last remaining victim on the board. As long as other victims are alive, he is de facto unrescuable.

Golf Cart movement follows the outer path: The Golf Cart may not move through the inner spaces of the game board – only along the outer ring. The ramming attack (3 damage) is optional and discards the Golf Cart afterwards.

"Did You Follow Me Here?" costs health points, not time markers, when rerolling: The 2 health points are deducted immediately when you activate the die reroll – regardless of whether the new result is better.

Terror cards can trigger Event cards: The Terror cards "Is This a Prop?" and "Welcome to the Greatest Show" require drawing an Event card from the remaining deck. This card then immediately takes effect permanently – in addition to the already active starting card.

Conclusion

The Event cards of Carnival of Blood shape every game from the very first round. So Much Junk and Employee Transport are clear advantages – especially So Much Junk gives you Zappo without any effort, which is gold in combination with the Item Traps of this location. "How Dangerous Can It Be?" is the most dangerous card, turning every placed Terror Trap Token into an automatic death trap for victims. Since Terror cards like "Is This a Prop?" and "Welcome to the Greatest Show" can trigger further Event cards in the middle of the game, it's worth knowing the entire Event Deck.

Here is the link to the original rulebook and the link to the German translation.

The German rule translation, to which this post refers, was created by BGG user head bert and is a valuable resource for all German-speaking Final Girl fans. Many thanks for that.

Note: This is an unofficial fan glossary and is not affiliated with the manufacturer or publisher of the game. Final Girl and all associated names, cards, and game content are property of Van Ryder Games. This page is neither sponsored nor authorized by Van Ryder Games.

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