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GHOULASH is a fast-paced action-adventure game for two players, played entirely on paper, using specially designed charts. You don't need dice, spinners, reference books, batteries, extra RAM, video cards, joysticks or peripherals. In fact, the only hardware you need is a pencil! |  |
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Think of GHOULASH as a compact, portable RPG or dungeon crawl, with each player serving as the other's dungeon master: Two players "hide" their obstacles by writing them on a grid. As each player moves, the opponent announces what obstacles the player has encountered.
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The Basic Rules of GHOULASH are played across a variety of different scenarios. Each scenario has its own grid design and its own twist on the Basic Rules, to give the game new thrills every time you play!  |
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G scenarios are available in two formats -- as downloadable PDF files and in book form as stacks of pre-printed charts called Scenario Packs. You can purchase both formats right here on GHOULASH.com, at our Ghoulash Store. You might also still be able to find our print Scenario Packs at a number of fine game stores in the United States and around the world. |
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Download our free sample scenario, "GHOULASH Anyone?" (PDF, 248K), an entry-level version of GHOULASH that will guide you through all the twists, turns and thrills of the game. If you like the way "GHOULASH Anyone?" feels, then you'll be ready to take on even more real G action in our other scenarios. |
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Recommended
ages 10 and older*
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Read the complete BASIC RULES of GHOULASH and watch the video, How to Play GHOULASH. |
GHOULASH is a suspenseful game of high adventure in which you and your opponent race against time and each other on a series of quests, each one with its own set of thrills.
In one scenario, the goal could be a fantastic treasure, while in another it could be food or medicine, or just an escape from danger!
In each scenario you travel alone through hostile environments. There is a risk in every step you take. The greatest threat: the dreaded GHOUL, a monstrous mass of mayhem that would like nothing more than to tear you apart!
GHOULASH is played entirely on paper, using specially designed charts (shown at right). No dice, cards, spinners, combat formulas or movable pieces of any kind are used. All you need to play are the scenario charts (one per player) and something with which to write.
How it works
Think of GHOULASH as an elaborate version of the old notebook paper version of Battleship. You and your opponent each would draw a grid on a sheet of paper, then "hide" your ships. You would announce your move, your opponent would consult his or her grid and tell you if it was a "hit" or "miss."
GHOULASH
works in the same way, except that the grids are already prepared
for you. Each Scenario Chart uses two identical grids, the Movement
Grid and the Obstacle Grid. Before the game begins, you
and your opponent "hide" items, obstacles and Ghouls
from each other by entering them on your respective Obstacle Grids.
On your turn, you plot your course on your Movement Chart, searching for items and attempting to avoid the traps your opponent has hidden.
As you move, your opponent follows your course on his or her Obstacle Grid and tells you if you have fallen into any traps. During their turn, you consult your Obstacle Grid as they move.
Remember: The Obstacle Grid is your version of your opponent's Movement Grid, and vice versa.
Also on each Scenario Chart:
The Briefing, which outlines the items, obstacles and Ghouls to be hidden, as well as the goal for that scenario.
Ghoul Battle Figures, used to indicate the Ghouls' weak spots during Ghoul Battles.
Wound Meters, used to track wounds received. Get 15 wounds before finding a First-Aid Kit and you've lost the game!
About the scenarios
GHOULASH is made up of a variety of different scenarios, each with its own setting and victory conditions and, in some cases, its own variation on the basic rules. Each player must have his or her own chart from the selected scenario in order to play.
* Although we've heard of players as young as 6 enjoying GHOULASH.
**Including the pre-game obstacle-placing phase.
NOTE: This section is merely backstory to the settings and characters of GHOULASH. It's provided to add explanation and color to the game, but is not part of the actual rules.
If you've played any kind of strap-on-a-big-gun-and-shoot-anything-that-moves video or computer game in the past few years, or if you're a fan of movies like "I Am Legend" or "Mad Max" or "Resident Evil," you know the kind of post-apocalyptic, where-is-everybody, what's-out-there-to-kill-us world in which GHOULASH takes place.
Except this world has suffered not a nuclear disaster, but a chemical one. No one knows for sure what exactly swept the planet, or who caused it, but what is known is the result. Not disease, not famine, not mutation ... just Ghouls.
About Ghouls and Ghoo
In the wild and amazing world that hosts the various scenarios of GHOULASH, there are many assorted dangers, but none so fierce as the deadly fiends known as Ghouls.
Ghouls are not living creatures. Rather, they are mindless masses of an
inorganic matter known as Malectoplasm. Not much is known
about their creation, only that they are the product of a massive
chemical holocaust that swept the planet.
They don't eat. They don't sleep. All they do is attack, with a swift viciousness that catches most unaware. They are attracted by the movement of living creatures, and they strike from anywhere, at any time. Inside, outside, from above, from below, from small crevices or immense shadows. To lower your guard is to invite almost certain doom.
Can Ghouls be stopped? Well, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is, yes, there's a substance that can destroy the creatures, a slimy substance known as Ghoo. Harmless to everything and everyone else, Ghoo is able to disintegrate a Ghoul at the merest touch. The bad news is, it will only work if the Ghoul is struck in its weak spot. Where's the weak spot? Well, that depends on the Ghoul. Each Ghoul's weak spot is in a different place.
After suffering many losses from Ghouls, and learning about the destructive (to Ghouls) nature of Ghoo, innovative and survival-minded humans designed a practical device for firing the substance at Ghouls from a relatively safe distance -- namely the Ghoo Gun. Basically a large, modified air rifle, the Ghoo Gun fires masses of Ghoo in round, sticky globs. Unfortunately the term "relatively safe" isn't as safe as most humans would like. Ghouls move so fast that, should the human miss its weak spot with a blast, it can reach in and deliver a wounding blow in a second. So, the best thing to do is just pick a spot and start blasting.
Fortunately, Ghoo is fairly easy to find or to manufacture, so brave souls who venture out usually carry plenty of it as ammo for their Guns.
To read more about this dangerous world, follow the webcomics and short stories of GHOULASH Adventures.