How to Play

Elder Sign

1-8 players 90-90 min 7.0 Board Game Geek Rating

Players are investigators exploring a museum filled with occult artifacts that open dimensional gates releasing monsters. This cooperative dice game challenges 1-8 players to collect Elder Signs by completing adventures before an Ancient One awakens. Success requires managing sanity and stamina while racing against time to seal the portals and save humanity from destruction.

Published 2011

Elder Sign

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Choose investigators
Select 1 Investigator per player by selection, draft, or random draw
2
Set health values
Set each Investigator's Sanity and Stamina to their maximum values shown on their card
3
Draw starting items
Draw and assign random starting Items of each type specified on Investigator cards
4
Place entrance sheet
Put the Entrance sheet on the table as the central hub
5
Position investigators
Place all Investigator tokens on the Entrance location
6
Set up souvenir shop
Below the Entrance, place 1 face-up card from each stack: Common Item, Unique Item, Spell, Ally, and Investigator; place remaining stacks face down below
7
Position the clock
Beside the Entrance sheet, place the Clock set to 6 o'clock
8
Prepare mythos deck
Below the Clock, place the stack of Mythos cards face down
9
Prepare location decks
Above the Entrance sheet, place the Other World and regular Location stacks face down
10
Deal adventure locations
Draw 6 regular Locations and arrange them face up in 2 rows of 3 cards each
11
Select great old one
Choose a Great Old One by selection, draft, or random draw and place their card above the Adventure Locations
12
Prepare doom components
Place the number of Elder Signs and Doom tokens specified on the Great Old One's card below it
13
Lock required dice
Place any dice locked by Adventure Locations on their corresponding symbols
14
Position remaining dice
Place all remaining green, yellow, and red dice on the Entrance sheet
15
Determine first player
Decide upon the first player to begin the game

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Perform two actions
On your turn, you must perform 2 actions from the available options
2
Move action
Move your Investigator to a different Location
3
Attempt adventure action
Attempt an Adventure at your current Location
4
Use entrance facility action
Use exactly 1 Entrance facility if on the Entrance and no Monster is present
5
Give item action
Give 1 Item to another Investigator in the same Location if no Monster is present
6
Do nothing action
Pass if there are no Monsters in your current Location
7
Roll available dice
Roll your dice pool (default 6 green dice, plus any from Items)
8
Complete a task group
Place matching dice on Tasks to complete an entire Task group in one roll
9
Pay non-dice costs
If a Task shows Sanity loss, Stamina loss, or Clock symbols, pay those costs when completing that Task group
10
Roll remaining dice
After completing a Task group, roll remaining dice (not placed on Tasks) to attempt another group
11
Handle failed rolls
If you cannot or will not complete a Task group, discard 1 die for the remainder of the Adventure
12
Save dice to investigators
After a failed roll, you may place up to 1 rolled die on each Investigator at the Adventure for later use
13
Trigger terror effects
If at least one rolled die shows Tentacles and the Adventure has a Terror effect, resolve it
14
Continue or fail
If dice remain (including saved dice), roll again; if no dice remain and none are saved, the Adventure fails
15
Gain rewards on success
When all Task groups are completed, gain the Location as a Trophy and collect specified Rewards
16
Share rewards
You may share up to 1 Reward with each other Investigator on the same Adventure
17
Suffer penalties on failure
If the Adventure fails, apply the Adventure Penalty; other Investigators present lose 1 Sanity or 1 Stamina each
18
Collect monster trophies
Gain any defeated Monsters as Trophies regardless of Adventure success or failure
19
Use items freely
During your turn, use any number of Items at any point unless otherwise specified
20
Add dice from items
Common and Unique Items typically add Yellow dice, Red dice, or both to your pool
21
Save dice on spells
Most Spells allow saving 1-2 rolled dice results for future use by any Investigator
22
Discard empty spells
When all saved dice are removed from a Spell, discard it
23
First aid - free healing
Restore 1 Sanity or 1 Stamina for free
24
First aid - partial restore
Restore either Sanity or Stamina fully for Trophies worth 2 or more
25
First aid - full restore
Restore both Sanity and Stamina fully for Trophies worth 4 or more
26
Lost & found - roll dice
Roll 1 green die for each Investigator and Ally on the Entrance, then choose one result
27
Souvenir shop purchases
Buy exhibited Items: Common (2 Trophies), Unique (3), Spell (4), Ally (5), Investigator (6)
28
Monster placement priority
Place Monsters following this order: trigger rules, Great Old One location if awakened, empty Monster boxes clockwise from top-left, locations with fewer Monsters, then top-left location
29
Complete monster tasks
Monster Tasks must be completed in addition to Adventure Tasks
30
Defeat monsters independently
Completing a Monster's Task defeats it regardless of Adventure completion
31
Monster boxes covering tasks
If a Monster covers a Task group entirely, defeating it counts as completing that Task group
32
Monster boxes extending tasks
If a Monster extends a Task group, both Monster and uncovered Tasks must be completed together
33
Advance doom track
Add a Doom token to the Great Old One's Doom track
34
Check for monster spawn
If the Doom token lands on a Monster symbol, draw and place a Monster
35
Resolve location effects
Apply any Midnight effects from Adventure Locations
36
Resolve lingering effects
Apply the Lingering effect from the current Mythos card if any
37
Draw new mythos
Draw a new Mythos card, replacing the previous one
38
Resolve immediate effects
Apply the Immediate effect from the new Mythos card if any
39
Great old one attacks
If awakened, the Great Old One attacks as specified on their card
40
Trigger conditions
An Investigator is Devoured when their Sanity or Stamina reaches 0
41
Return trophies
Put all Trophies under their respective Adventure Location stacks or into the Monster cup
42
Drop items
Put all Items onto the Entrance when the Clock next strikes Midnight
43
Remove investigator
Remove the Investigator from play immediately
44
Add doom
Put a Doom token on the track immediately
45
Choose replacement
On your next turn, choose another available Investigator if any; otherwise skip turn but advance the Clock

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Victory condition
The Investigators win by placing all required Elder Signs on the Great Old One's Location
2
Unlock great old one location
The Location becomes accessible once Investigators have found the number of Elder Signs specified; it remains accessible even if Elder Signs are later lost
3
Seal the great old one
An Investigator with Elder Signs must Move to the Great Old One's Location and complete the Task on their card
4
Transfer elder signs
The Location Reward transfers all Elder Signs from that Investigator onto the Great Old One's Location
5
Achieve required total
When the specified number of Elder Signs has been collected on the Great Old One's card, the Investigators win
6
Loss condition
The Investigators lose if all Investigators are Devoured
7
Great old one awakening
If the Doom track reaches its end, the Great Old One awakens; remove all Doom tokens but the game continues with increased difficulty

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FULL rules

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