Final Girl – Core Rules: All basic rules for all Feature Film Boxes

Reading time approx. 8–10 minutes

This core rules guide explains all the rules that apply to every one of the 20+ Feature Film boxes – regardless of killer, location, or series. Read it through once, then use the box-specific quick-start guides only for each box's special mechanics.

This guide assumes no prior knowledge and is aimed at beginners as well as players who want to look up specific base rules.

1. What You Need

• Core Box: Contains all shared components – dice, action cards, meeples, and markers.
• Feature Film Box: Contains the Killer Board, Location Board, Terror cards, Event and Setup cards, plus the box's two Final Girls.

Base rule: Final Girl can't be played with the Core Box alone – you always need at least one Feature Film Box as well.

2. Objective of the Game

Victory: The killer loses all health points and their Final Health Token is empty.

Defeat: Your health points fall to 0 and your Final Health Token is also empty.

Special case: If you and the killer die at the same time, you win – the ultimate sacrifice!

Adjacent Spaces: Spaces are adjacent if they're connected by a line on the board – not based on visual proximity. When in doubt, always check the drawn connection lines.

3. The Boards

4. Setup – The Fixed Steps

1. Choose a Character: Choose one of the box's two Final Girl cards.
2. Starting Hand: Take all Zero-Cost action cards – recognizable by the golden hourglass symbol with a "0" – as your starting hand. Lay out the remaining action cards as the Action Tableau in ascending order.
3. Setup Card: Draw a random Setup card for the location. It shows the starting positions of all pieces and any special rules.
4. Event Card: Draw the top Event card and immediately follow its instructions. The card stays visible for the entire game.
5. Terror Deck: Shuffle the killer's and location's Terror cards together, and lay out exactly 10 of them as the Terror Deck. Return the rest to the box.
6. Items: Shuffle the item cards, placing 4 facedown on each of the 3 search piles. Reveal the top card of each pile.
7. Health Tokens: Place a black Final Health Token facedown on the Player Board – without looking at it. Fill the rest of the health track with regular heart markers.

Example: A Final Girl with 5 total HP = 1 black Final Health Token + 4 regular heart markers. A killer with 12 total HP = 1 black Final Health Token + 11 regular heart markers.

5. The Turn – 5 Phases

1. Action Phase

You play action cards from your hand to move, attack, search, or focus. Almost every card requires a Horror Roll.

Every action costs Time. The Time Token starts at 6. If it falls below zero, the Action Phase ends immediately – after finishing the current action. If it's exactly at zero, you may still keep playing.

Gaining Time: Discard hand cards at any point before the Action Phase ends – each grants +1 Time. Once the Time marker has fallen below zero, no further Time can be gained.

Attacking: You must be in the same space as the killer to attack – unless an ability or item explicitly allows a Ranged Attack.

Movement: You can bring up to 2 Victims along when you leave a space. Victims don't follow you into the killer's space. If Victims are already in the killer's space when you leave it, they do follow you.

Saving Victims: On a green Exit Space – even if you're only passing through – all Victims there can be rescued. Every rescued Victim grants an immediate bonus. Once all the spaces on your Final Girl card are filled, it's flipped and permanently unlocks your Ultimate Ability.

Commonly misplayed – Reaction Cards: Guard and Retaliate (recognizable by their blue card background) may only be played when the killer attacks you during the Killer Phase – not freely on your own turn. Only one Reaction Card may be played per attack. They protect only you – not Victims.

2. Planning Phase

1. Buy Cards: Buy new action cards from the Tableau with your remaining Time. You can always take Zero-Cost cards – even at zero or negative Time. Cards played or discarded this round can't be bought. Hand limit: 10 cards maximum.
2. Return Cards: Return all played and discarded cards to the Tableau.
3. Reset Time: Reset your Time marker to 6. Unused Time is lost.

Tip – Cards as a Resource: Buy cards even if you won't use them right away – more hand cards mean more chances to turn 3s and 4s into full successes. The 10-card hand limit always applies.

3. Killer Phase

1. Draw a Terror Card: Draw the top Terror card and fully resolve all its effects from top to bottom.
2. Minions Act: If the box includes Minions, they carry out their action according to the current Terror card.
3. Killer Action: The killer performs the action shown on the Finale Card next to the relevant symbol.

Finale Revealed: Once the Terror deck is empty, the Finale Card is revealed. From then on, drawing a Terror card no longer happens. The new Killer Action is printed on the Finale Card and makes the killer noticeably more dangerous.

4. Panic Phase

If at least one Victim died this round, all Victims in the same space as the killer panic. Roll for each of these Victims – the panic number on the board indicates the direction of movement.

Common mistake: Only Victims in the same space as the killer panic – not all Victims nearby.

5. Upkeep Phase

• Finale Check: If there are no Terror cards left in the deck, the Finale Card is revealed. The endgame begins.
• Box-Specific Upkeep Effects: Some boxes have automatic effects in this phase (e.g. vehicle movement). These are described in the corresponding box-specific quick-start guide.
• Rearranging Items: Possible at any time – not just during the Upkeep Phase. Items in the Backpack can't be used directly.

6. Important Mechanics

Final Health Token

At the start, a black marker is placed facedown – without looking at it. Once you reach 0 HP, it's revealed:

• Heart symbol with a number (1–3): You barely survive! Place a white marker and fill in the indicated life total. The black marker leaves the game.
• Blank side: Immediate defeat.

If the white marker is later removed as well, there's no further chance.

Adrenaline Rush

As long as either you or the killer has only their Final Health Token left, you roll +1 die on every Horror Roll. If both of you are down to just that final marker: even +2 dice. Experienced players use this deliberately – sometimes it's worth fighting at 1 HP rather than spending valuable time healing.

Bloodlust and Dark Power

When a Victim dies, the killer's Bloodlust increases by 1. At certain points on the Bloodlust Track, one-time special effects trigger – including revealing the Dark Power Card, which grants the killer a permanent ability. The specific cards come from the respective Feature Film box and vary depending on which card is drawn.

Horror Level

Determines the number of dice you roll on a Horror Roll. The green zone of the Horror track (3 dice) is your most important goal! If the Horror Level rises above the track's maximum, the killer's Bloodlust immediately increases by 1. The Focus action lowers the Horror Level and returns Time – always play it when the level rises to 5–6.

Reaction Cards

Guard and Retaliate are recognizable by their blue card background. They may only be played when the killer attacks you. Only one Reaction Card may be played per attack. They protect only you – not Victims. Guard prevents the entire attack's damage. Retaliate deals damage back – combined with a strong melee weapon, often the strongest damage move in the game.

7. The Action Cards – Ratings and Combinations

The most important takeaway: more dice beats everything. Priority always: get the Horror Level into the green zone → find a weapon → rescue Victims. You can win games without a weapon or with many dead Victims – but never while stuck at just 1 die.

8. Core Principles

✔ More dice matters more than anything else – aim for the green zone of the Horror track
✔ Priority: 3 dice → weapon → rescue Victims – never the other way around
✔ Melee weapons are almost always superior to ranged weapons
✔ Always buy Close Call – the best card in the game
✔ Always keep 2× Guard and Retaliate in hand when the killer is within range
✔ Fight actively instead of hiding – killing the killer is the only goal
✔ Hand limit: 10 cards maximum – Zero-Cost cards count too
✔ Never go into the Finale unprepared: weapon equipped, Guard or Retaliate in hand, Close Call available
✔ Time management matters more than maximum card combinations

9. The Most Common Basic Mistakes

• Playing too cautiously: The killer is usually slower than you think. Attacking actively and moving away is better than hiding – hiding gives the killer time to grow stronger.
• Misreading the Time marker: If it lands on zero, you may still play. If it falls below zero, the Action Phase ends immediately – no further Time can be gained after that, by any means.
• Looking at the Final Health Token before it's needed: It's placed facedown – only reveal it once you reach 0 HP.
• Misapplying panic: Only Victims in the same space as the killer panic – not all Victims nearby.
• Playing Reaction Cards on your own turn: Guard and Retaliate are strictly a reaction to a killer attack during the Killer Phase.
• Wrong Planning Phase order: Buy first → then return cards → then reset Time. Not the other way around.
• Wrong Killer Phase order: Draw and resolve the Terror card first → then the killer acts. Not simultaneously.
• Ignoring the hand limit: Maximum 10 cards in hand – Zero-Cost cards count toward this too.

Conclusion and Further Reading

This core rules guide applies equally to all 20+ Feature Film boxes. The box-specific quick-start guides build on it and only explain each box's special mechanics – making them noticeably shorter and more focused.

You can find all box-specific quick-start guides, Terror card glossaries, Event card glossaries, and Item card glossaries in the overview of all quick-start guides (in German).

Here's the link to the original rulebook.

Note: This is an unofficial fan rules guide and has no connection to the manufacturer or publisher of the game. Final Girl, along with all associated names, cards, and game content, is the property of Van Ryder Games. This site is neither sponsored nor authorized by Van Ryder Games.

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Original text, translations, and compilation: © ReDesign.