• All about the game
• The Basic Rules
• Tips for players
• The history
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• Buy the game
• 1982 Version

• GHOULASH Adventures
• The mythos
• Characters
• FAQs

• Play by Twitter

• GHOULASH Translated

• T-shirts and more
• Free Goodies

As detailed in the History of GHOULASH, the original version of the game was created in 1982. It was marketed only for a brief time; then the idea was shelved until the current version was developed in the late '90s.

The original envelope, front and rear, from the 1982 version. Click either of the images to download the PDF (2MB) of the original GHOULASH.

Now, after almost 30 years, we've made the original, 1982 version of GHOULASH available to fans in a free PDF download (2MB).

While the basic mechanics were the same -- grid, buildings, Ghouls, first-aid kits, each player acting as the game master for the other -- the original GHOULASH was much more elaborate. In the current version, the entire game is played on one sheet of paper per person. In the 1982 version, each player needed three sheets of paper to play, two City Charts and a Tally Chart. Rules for today's version fit on one page; the rules for the original spanned four pages.

The original concept, which carries forward to today's version, was to create a "pocket RPG" or dungeon crawl, one that could be learned and played in a short time, without the need for stacks of rule books, charts or bags of dice (not that we're down on that stuff; you should see the RPG collection at GHOULASH Central).

In the original GHOULASH, there was but one scenario: The City, a maze of streets and buildings through which each player raced to find at least 30 pounds of food, all the time dodging holes, debris, Scavengers (they would steal all your food!) and, of course, Ghouls. (Early prototypes of the game experimented with cars, mad dogs and angry mobs; one version was played according to a strict timeline that offered safety from Ghouls during "daylight hours.")

The 1982 version was reviewed by the now-defunct Adventure Gaming magazine.

To play the original version, print two copies of the City Chart and one copy of the Tally Chart for each player. The current version of GHOULASH is best played with a clipboard, but for the original version it's almost a necessity, to keep all the charts together. (Another change from the current version: It's best to play the 1982 version with a pencil with a good eraser, not a pen.)

We hope you enjoy this journey through the GHOULASH history books.