Everyone's first
The Shadow
Two eyes in the dark, and nothing else you can see. Every hunter's first quarry.
Monsters
Every chapter ends in a lair, and every lair belongs to a monster that bends one rule. Beat it and you can wear it as your own.
The Count's tower
Fifty chapters, fifty lairs, from the Crone at the door to the Count at the top.
Chapter 1
The Crone
Knows what you did. Has written it down.
In its lair: Hex
Six seconds in, the rooms trade colours, and again with every second monster you place. The walls stay where they are.
Chapter 2
The Shade
Stands where the light stops. Stopped every clock in the house.
In its lair: Stopped clocks
The clock is hidden until the last 30 seconds.
Chapter 3
The Doll
Always faces the door, however you leave her.
In its lair: Strings
No auto-cross and no sweeping: every cross is yours, one tap at a time.
Chapter 4
The Straw
Guards the field. Has not said from what.
In its lair: Crows
The crows peck away your crosses: each X lasts 12 seconds, and every monster you place costs your oldest cross.
Chapter 5
The Bound
Four thousand years patient. You will not outwait it.
In its lair: Wrapped
One by one, every few seconds, the rooms are wrapped grey and lose their colours.
Chapter 6
The Creature
Made, not born. Has opinions about that.
In its lair: Stitched
The tower is sewn from many small, twisting rooms.
Chapter 7
The Wolf
Perfectly reasonable company for twenty-seven nights a month.
In its lair: Full moon
The clock runs 40% faster.
Chapter 8
The Imp
Small, quick, and delighted by every mistake you make.
In its lair: Mischief
Tap and double-tap are swapped, and they swap back and forth with every second monster you place.
Chapter 9
The Risen
Slow. Tireless. Knows where you live.
In its lair: The dead rise
Eight seconds in, a zombie climbs out of a cell you crossed, and again with every second monster you place. Lift them off.
Chapter 10
The Hollow
Grins all night. Nobody has asked what at.
In its lair: Candle-lit
Only the cells near your last touch are lit. The rest of the tower is dark.
Chapter 11
The Phantom
Walks the same corridor nightly. The corridor was demolished in 1890.
In its lair: Unseen
Half the rooms do not show how many hide there.
Chapter 12
The Ghoul
Keeps to the graveyard. Prefers the older plots.
In its lair: Grave-robber
Ten seconds in it digs up the oldest monster you placed, and again with every third monster. Put it back.
Chapter 13
The Butcher
Keeps a tidy shop. One room at a time.
In its lair: One room at a time
No monster and no cross goes into a new room while a room you have begun is unfinished.
Chapter 14
The Other
The respectable one is asleep. This one is not.
In its lair: Two faces
At a third of the monsters, and again at two thirds, the tower turns into its mirror image, your marks with it.
Chapter 15
The Wisp
A light in the marsh that is never where you walk.
In its lair: Wandering light
Only a band of three rows is lit, and it drifts up and down on its own.
Chapter 16
The Spider
Spins in the attic. Patience is her whole trade.
In its lair: Webs
Every 10 seconds a web covers a 3x3 patch. Tap it to tear it away.
Chapter 17
The Undertaker
Measures every guest for a box.
In its lair: In order
Monsters are buried top to bottom: only the highest row still without one takes a monster.
Chapter 18
The One-Eye
Misses nothing. There is less to blink with.
In its lair: Blink
Its eye closes: every few seconds the board goes dark for a moment.
Chapter 19
The Minotaur
Born in a maze. Has never wanted to leave.
In its lair: Labyrinth
The rooms are long winding corridors.
Chapter 20
The Hunger
Thinner every winter. Hungrier every night.
In its lair: Starving
The longer you go without placing a monster, the faster the clock runs, up to three times. Stand still and it runs three times at once.
Chapter 21
The Goblin
Steals what glitters. Keeps what doesn't.
In its lair: Greed
No auto-cross, and only 12 crosses on the board at once. Clear one to make another.
Chapter 22
The Wail
You will hear her before you see her. That is the point.
In its lair: Lament
Every 10 seconds, and with every second monster you place, one room's number fades from the board for good.
Chapter 23
The Doppelganger
Looks just like someone you know.
In its lair: Twins
Every room has a twin beside it, wearing the same colour. Only the walls part them.
Chapter 24
The Golem
Follows the instruction exactly. This is the problem.
In its lair: Colossal
The biggest board in the tower: 11 by 11.
Chapter 25
The Horned
Offers a fair deal. Reads the small print aloud.
In its lair: Bargain
The clock starts at 15 seconds. Every new monster you place buys back 5 seconds.
Chapter 26
The Echo
Repeats everything. Gets it a little wrong.
In its lair: Echo
Every cross you make, or clear, is echoed in the cell mirrored top to bottom. The echo's crosses are faint, so you can tell them from yours.
Chapter 27
The Plague
Makes house calls. Does not take cancellations.
In its lair: Miasma
A fog creeps in from one corner and hides your crosses in every cell it covers.
Chapter 28
The Sandman
Comes when your eyes grow heavy. Takes his time.
In its lair: Drowsy
Sleep creeps over the board, and fast while you stand still. Every monster you find wakes it a little.
Chapter 29
The Mimic
Not every chest holds treasure.
In its lair: Decoy
Four monsters stand on the board from the start. Two of them are mimics: find them and lift them. Only two of the four may be off the board at once.
Chapter 30
The Poltergeist
Moves the furniture. Never while you are looking.
In its lair: Upheaval
Six seconds in, and with every second monster you place, the tower turns a quarter turn, your marks with it.
Chapter 31
The Medium
Speaks for the dead. They do not always agree.
In its lair: Planchette
You can only mark inside the planchette, a 4x4 window that sweeps the whole board, a different way each time.
Chapter 32
The Statues
They only move when nobody is looking.
In its lair: Stone
Every monster you place turns to stone after 10 seconds: it can't be lifted, and Undo can't take it back.
Chapter 33
The Lantern Man
Carries a light for lost travellers. Leads them further.
In its lair: Room light
Only the room you last touched is lit. A tap in a dark room carries the light there.
Chapter 34
The Changeling
Left in the cradle. Grew up wrong.
In its lair: Swap
Ten seconds in, and with every third monster you place, one of your monsters slips to a neighbouring cell. Put it back.
Chapter 35
The Leech
Small, patient, and always thirsty.
In its lair: Drain
Every monster on the board makes the clock run 30% faster.
Chapter 36
The Jester
Laughs at his own jokes. Only he gets them.
In its lair: Funhouse
Every tap lands on the cell mirrored across the middle of the board. A glow under your finger shows where.
Chapter 37
The Reaper
Not unkind. Simply punctual.
In its lair: The harvest
Every 20 seconds the scythe sweeps a row or a column and clears everything in it: monsters and crosses alike.
Chapter 38
The Worm
Lives in the walls. Hears every step.
In its lair: Burrow
A worm hunts the monsters you place. Its head goes a cell a second toward the newest one and eats any monster it lands on, growing a cell each time. It is three cells long in the lair's first room and two longer at the start of each room after. Its body hides the cells under it.
Chapter 39
The Owl
Sees in the dark. Never blinks first.
In its lair: Night sight
The board is dark but for a flash every 8 seconds. You can still mark in the dark.
Chapter 40
The Lich
Hid its heart somewhere else. Very patient about it.
In its lair: Undying
Two powers at once: the clock runs fast, and the rooms lose their colours.
Chapter 41
The Moth
Drawn to every light. Puts most of them out.
In its lair: Drawn to light
The tower is dark but around your monsters and your last touch. Every monster you find brings more light.
Chapter 42
The Siren
Sings from the flooded rooms. Do not answer.
In its lair: Lulled
No auto-cross, no Clue, no Check, no power-ups.
Chapter 43
The Harlequin
Never stands in a straight line.
In its lair: Diagonals
No two monsters may share a diagonal line, however far apart they stand.
Chapter 44
The Revenant
Came back for something it left behind.
In its lair: Unrest
Ten seconds in, and with every third monster, the oldest monster is dug up; eight seconds in, and with every second monster, the dead rise.
Chapter 45
The Wyrm
Counts its gold every night. Twice.
In its lair: Hoard
A fast clock, three hidden numbers, and no auto-cross.
Chapter 46
The Horseman
Rides the house at night. Lost his head, never his way.
In its lair: Hoofbeats
Every 15 seconds his hooves strike and every row moves down one; the bottom row comes round to the top. Your monsters and crosses move with it. The board is the same, only where you see it.
Chapter 47
The Whirlwind
A storm that learned to wait indoors.
In its lair: Spin
A whirlwind turns the whole tower while you hunt, once round every 20 seconds. Your taps turn with it.
Chapter 48
The Hydra
Cut one head off and learn your lesson.
In its lair: Two heads
Two monsters in every row and every column. They still never touch, and each room shows how many it holds. The clock runs twice as long.
Chapter 49
The Chimera
Lion, goat and serpent. All of them hungry.
In its lair: Three-headed
Candle-lit, and the crows take your crosses.
Chapter 50
The Count
Counts the grains if you spill rice. Cannot help it.
In its lair: The last night
Hidden numbers, no warnings, no aids, and only 60% of the time.
The Drowned Tower
Its first floor, open now. More floors are coming.
Chapter 1
The Gull
Screams over the rocks. Has never once been full.
In its lair: Swoop
Every 6 seconds a gull swoops low and hides a row or a column for 3 seconds.
Chapter 2
The Selkie
Takes off her skin to dance. Hides it where you will never look.
In its lair: Sinking
A monster you place stays in sight for 4 seconds, then sinks out of view. It is still there; you just can't see it.
Chapter 3
The Crab
Walks sideways, thinks sideways, pinches straight.
In its lair: Salt crust
Every 12 seconds the crab crusts a 3x3 patch of empty cells with salt. Tap a crusted cell to clear it before you can mark it.
Chapter 4
The Anglerfish
Its light is a promise. Its mouth is the rest of the sentence.
In its lair: The lure
The board is lit, except for a patch of dark that follows your last touch: you never see the cells around where you just played.
Chapter 5
The Kelpie
Offers you a ride. Never offers you the way back.
In its lair: Rising tide
Every 15 seconds the sea rises one row from the bottom and hides it. Place a monster in the row at the waterline and the water falls back a row.