Monster Pit

Name: Monster Pit
Brand: Elzra Games
SKU: ELZ-1302
Availability: InStock

Credits

Game Design

Nick Seddon, Aron West

Illustration

Kwanchai Moriya, Gong Studios, Carly A-F, Caliburn West, Connor West

Graphic Design

Jordan Silvestri

Game Specifications

👥

Players

1-4 players

⏱️

Play Time

60-120 minutes

🎂

Age

14 and up

🎮

Type

Base Game

🏷️

SKU

ELZ-1302

Game Overview

Monster Pit is a cooperative fantasy adventure set in the Catacombs universe. After over 1000 years of peace, the Monster Pit has opened, unleashing horrors and creatures that threaten the Citadel. The King has summoned Captains from nearby outposts to defend the kingdom.

Players take on the role of Captains who must build their forces and defeat the Monster before it reaches the Citadel Gate. The game can be played fully cooperatively with all players working together against the game, or one player can control the Monster directly for a one-versus-many experience.

Captains build their Outpost by recruiting soldiers, wizards, heroes, mounts, and wyverns from various Districts within the Citadel. Each recruited character contributes dice to the Captain’s pool and provides unique abilities. The game blends dice drafting, tableau building on extra-large player boards, and worker placement as Captains visit different buildings.

Victory requires reducing the Monster’s health to zero before it advances along the Vengeance Track and destroys the Citadel.

Key Features

Six Unique Captains

Each Captain starts with their own character card and one Paladin. Captains have different starting abilities and can build their forces in multiple ways. The Captain card remains on the player board throughout the game, providing dice and abilities for attacking and defending.

Player boards are extra-large, consisting of two halves that form an Outpost. Characters are placed in slots on the Outpost, where they contribute their dice and abilities. When the Outpost fills up, new recruits push existing characters into a Reserve area where they no longer provide benefits.

Five Distinct Monsters

Players choose which Monster to face: Dragon, Enchantress, Behemoth, Vampire Queen, or Orc War Chief. Each Monster has A and B sides, with the B side offering greater challenge and variation. The Enchantress is recommended for first games.

The Monster advances toward the Citadel Gate using area manipulation, card play, and asymmetric powers. Each Monster has its own board showing unique abilities and health tracking. If the Monster reaches the final space on the Vengeance Track before being defeated, the Captains lose immediately.

Districts and Buildings

During the Midday Phase, Captains visit one of six Districts within the Citadel. Each District contains structures that provide different services. There are 17 total structures offering unique actions.

The Barracks District allows Captains to recruit soldiers and reorganize their forces, moving characters between slots and the Reserve area. The Tavern District offers heroes for hire with special abilities. The Town Hall sells powerful items that provide ongoing benefits. The Stables District provides mounts that grant mobility and combat advantages. The Eyrie District houses wyverns for aerial support. The Sanctuary District offers healing and protection.

Captains can also complete Quests for the King, fight Creatures invading the streets of the Citadel, upgrade equipment at the Armoury, visit the Dwarven Grotto for gold, and search the Fountain for helpful trinkets.

Dice Pool and Progress Rolls

Each character in a Captain’s Outpost provides dice to that Captain’s pool. There are white dice, yellow dice, and red dice, with different values and probabilities.

During the Morning Phase, each Captain performs a Progress Roll using up to eight dice from their pool, plus the Rune Die. Results determine how much Gold the Captain receives for that round. Gold is spent to recruit characters and purchase items.

The dice pool is also used for attacking the Monster and defending against its attacks. Building an effective dice pool is central to the strategy, balancing between characters that provide strong dice versus those with useful abilities.

Four-Phase Round Structure

Each round consists of four distinct phases.

Morning Phase: All Captains perform their Progress Roll to gain Gold. The Monster may advance closer to the Citadel Gate.

Midday Phase: The Citadel Districts open for business. Each Captain visits one District and performs actions available at the structures within. Captains can also choose to attack Creatures that have invaded the Citadel instead of visiting a District.

Twilight Phase: The Monster’s Twilight Roll determines which action from the Monster Board gets performed. This often includes attacking the Captains, advancing on the Vengeance Track, or spawning Creatures.

Night Phase: The play area is prepared for the next round. Characters may trigger special Night Phase abilities. The King’s Messenger passes to the next player, who becomes the new Lead Captain.

Multiple Play Modes

The game supports true solo play where one player controls a single Captain against the game. In cooperative multiplayer, 2-4 players each control a Captain and work together. In one-versus-one mode, one player controls the Monster while the other plays as a Captain. The game also supports one Monster player versus up to four Captain players.

All modes feature both long and short game variants, adjusting the starting difficulty and game length.