This document will be regularly updated with clarifications, edge cases, and community questions as they arise. While it’s starting off simple, it will continue to grow over time - with plans to make the FAQ interactive, better looking and easier to search.
If you have a game question, feel free to message us directly here on Kickstarter or an email to [email protected]. After we respond, we may add your question (and answer!) to the Living FAQ to help fellow Slayers in the future.
For anyone who has not yet completed their survey, the deadline is August 1st, 2025. If you have not completed your survey and you would like us to hold on to your game, please send us an email to [email protected] before that date!
We are incredibly grateful for each and every backer, and we are so thankful you're coming on this journey to Dracula's castle with us. After all, it's dangerous to go alone!
We'll see you in the castle!
The Retro Plus Games Team
Game Tray Organization Guide, Creator Health Update & More
9 months ago
– Sun, Jul 20, 2025 at 04:45:26 PM
Hello Wonderful Slayers and Vampires,
As the games begin to land on tables and doorsteps around the world, we wanted to share a quick look inside Dracula's coffin - specifically, how to organize your game insert tray for smooth setup and storage. Watch the full breakdown below:
This next video is NOT game related. Rather, it’s a personal update. A behind the scenes look at my health and what’s been going on, for those curious or following along:
We’re planning another formal update soon that will include a Living FAQ - covering rules clarifications, edge cases, and all your most lawyerly questions.
Below is a quick preview of the types of topics we’ll be addressing, to give you a sense of what’s coming. We’ll do our best to make the FAQ clear, digestible, and easy to reference when the official link goes live!
1. Using, Equipping, and Discarding Cards
Q: Are cards discarded after being ‘used’? A: A discard only occurs if a card explicitly states it, or it was an active choice by the player to discard (not after use). For instance, with the MIND card Wand of Redsong, you are able to use the ability Energy Bolt if you discard a card. This discarded card can come from your hand or be equipped.
Q: What are ‘items’? A: Items are any card that has an equipment identifier at the bottom – including Helm, Body, Boots, Weapons, Accessories, and Consumables.
2. Castle Tile and Combat Card Setup
Q: During setup, do you shuffle all the castle room tiles together or keep them separated by door color? A: The game was originally designed with all castle room tiles in a single stack. However, for smoother and faster game play, this was later adjusted. The Main (gold), Underground (blue), and Upper Keep (red) room tiles should be kept as three separate decks, each shuffled individually.
The Dracula room tiles are an exception. All three door colors are combined into a single Dracula deck, which is shuffled and kept separate from the other room tile decks.
Q: During setup, do you shuffle all three tiers of combat cards together, or keep them separated by tier? A: All combat cards are shuffled together into a single deck. This unified deck is necessary for various game elements, including interactions with the Dracula combat Shadow token.
3. Tile Placement and Exploration
Q: What happens if a Slayer draws a tile during exploration that doesn’t connect through any of its doors? Can the tile be rotated, or should it be discarded? A: If a room is drawn and its doors don’t connect to any open doors, that’s completely fine — it is placed as-is, and those blocked doors are simply inaccessible for now.
However, if all doors on a particular floor are blocked off (e.g., all gold doors on the main floor are unreachable), the player may access one of these previously blocked doors. In this case, place a gold staircase token on that door, then start a new section of the map elsewhere on the table. Connect the newly drawn gold tile to that new space, using matching numerical staircase tokens to link the two areas.
4. Event Icons and Persistence
Q: Do event icons remain active after being triggered? For example, if a Slayer resolves a Force Challenge, does it stay active for other players? A: Yellow event icons are resolved once per game. Once triggered, they no longer activate again. Keep in mind that any event (or combat) ends that player’s movement immediately.
White event icons are rarer and follow a different set of rules. These come in two types: Optional and Persistent (listed on the Pentagram reference sheet).
Optional events can be completed once, and then are considered finished for the rest of the game. Place a red “X” token on the room to show that it has been completed.
Persistent events trigger every time a Slayer or Vampire enters or passes through the room.
5. Shadows and Shadow Mechanics
Q: What do you do if you have nowhere to put a Shadow that is legal? A: In the rare chance this happens – or the Slayers are intentionally trying to slow the game down (which is not in their interest to do so), reserve any Shadows which cannot be played until the following turn. For good housekeeping, place the reserved token on the Keep card, to ensure you know which is the correct Shadow to place.
Q: Can the Dracula player look at his Shadows at any time to check their icons? A: Yes. Dracula may check the identity of his Shadow tokens at any time. This is the standard rule and helps prevent movement mistakes or misidentifying the Dracula token. That said, this can be modified as a house rule to increase difficulty – we tested versions where Dracula was not allowed to check, but this can lead to unintentional errors.
Q: If Dracula replaces the Dracula token by spending 1 Essence, does this trigger the recall of all the Shadows (and re-deployment on the following turn)? A: This can never happen, as once the Dracula Shadow is removed from the board, all other Shadows are removed along with it. All Shadows are then placed back into the castle on the following turn under the normal rules.
Q: Is removing the Dracula Shadow token an ‘event’ that ends the turn? A: Yes, investigating any Shadow is an event and will begin the end phase of that player's turn.
6. Stacking Shadows and Stack Powers
Q: What happens if you try to use Architect but have no room tiles in hand? Can you draw? A: No, this does not allow you to draw additional castle tiles. You may only use the Architect ability (and consume the Shadow stack) if you are able to play a Dracula tile and follow the ability to its conclusion. There are many scenarios where it's possible for Dracula to have a large number of tiles in his hand – all depending on the RNG (and how fast the Slayers explore the Underground/Upper Keep).
Q: Does the Bat Storm stack get removed from the board after dealing damage? A: The Bat Storm ability will cause the stack to be removed if it ends its movement on a room with a Slayer (Dracula/Vampire players each have discretion on Shadow interaction). This is a great distinction here, and the verbiage really should read "Fly up to maximum movement" (rather than "move") to avoid ambiguity. If it's a 4 Shadow stack, this would not cause the stack to be removed in any circumstance.
Worth noting: The Bat Storm ability also brings an end to that stack’s actions/movement. In other words, a 4 Shadow stack Dracula cannot use Bat Storm to "land" on a player, then also do combat with the player (causing that player to lose 2 Life in one turn). However, Bat Storm could be used for a combo with a single Shadow, wherein you would "fly" a 3 Shadow stack through players (not landing on a player), then have the single Shadow move and stack on top of the 3 stack.
Q: Does a 4-token stack remain on the board after dealing damage? A: Yes, a 4 Shadow Stack remains on the board until defeated (AR 25) – unless removed by another means (like the previously discussed Architect ability). Slayers that begin their turn in a room with a 4 Dracula stack may move away without provoking combat (no opportunity attack, so to speak). This applies to Vampire/Slayer interactions as well.
Q: What does 'direct line of sight' mean with Fireball? What if there’s more than one player in the room? A: The Fireball can pass through doors, but not walls, and cannot turn corners. It will hit the first player it arrives at (and will not "penetrate"). Fireball will damage all players in a given room.
Q: What does ‘pick up and replace all Shadows’ mean in the context of Regeneration? A: Regeneration would dismantle the stack and have Dracula place them back into the castle under normal placement rules (as if they were all off the board at the start of his turn). After placing the Shadows, they behave just as if placed normally on that turn, with no movement or action.
7. The Keep
Q: Can Dracula look through the room tiles and choose which one to build — or is it random? A: Dracula may look through the Halls, Chambers, and Spires and build them however he pleases.
8. Keywords
Q: Why are ‘Legend’ and ‘Shattered’ used? What do they mean? A:Legend is shorthand for the main antagonist, either Dracula or Cthulhu, depending on the version you're playing. This allows some cards to work across both without rewriting text. Shattered is the "vampire-like" state in the Cthulhu's Curse expansion a player transitions into after losing their Life or Sanity.
Q: What does “Adjacent” mean? A: Adjacent refers to any room within 1 movement through doors and stairs – including the room the player is currently in.
Cthulhu's Curse
Star Alignment: Cthulhu will start the game with 2 Stars already aligned on his Star Tracker.
For anyone who has not yet completed their survey, we have pushed the deadline back again to August 1st, 2025. If you have not completed your survey and you would like us to hold on to your game, please send us an email to [email protected] before that date!
We are incredibly grateful for each and every backer, and we are so thankful you're coming on this journey to Dracula's castle with us. After all, it's dangerous to go alone!
We'll see you in the castle!
The Retro Plus Games Team
Cthulhu Awakes…with 2 Stars aligned!
9 months ago
– Sun, Jul 20, 2025 at 01:32:50 PM
Hello wonderful Slayers and Eldritch Cultists,
As the Cthulhu Expansion begins arriving at tables, we wanted to share a quick setup note to ensure your game plays as intended:
🌀 The player controlling Cthulhu should begin the game with 2 stars on their Star Tracker.
That’s it - simple but vital for balance. Those stars are the foundation of Cthulhu’s power and momentum, and without them, he’s more soggy fish than ancient god.
We’ve included a quick visual reference below showing where the stars go on the Sunken City board, and this note will be added to the digital rulebook, the Living FAQ (link coming soon in a following update), and made available as a printable reference sheet.
Cthulhu thanks you for aligning the stars - and for unleashing the expansion as intended.
We are incredibly grateful for each and every backer, and we are so thankful you're coming on this journey to Dracula's castle with us. After all, it's dangerous to go alone!
We'll see you in the castle!
The Retro Plus Games Team
From Concept to Curse - Now Shipping!
9 months ago
– Mon, Jul 14, 2025 at 06:40:58 PM
Hello Wonderful Slayers and Vampires,
The hunt is nearly upon us - games are officially beginning to ship, and slayers everywhere are preparing for the battles ahead! While you await the arrival of the game at your doorstep, we thought this was the perfect moment to take you behind the scenes and reflect on the incredible journey that brought this game to life!
Over our eight years of development, Dracula’s Curse has undergone countless changes, experiments and revamps (couldn't resist the pun). The game has evolved through four distinct generations, each one bringing us closer to the haunting experience you’ll soon unbox!
The curtain is about to rise. Let’s take a look back in time - at rough sketches, scrapped ideas, early prototypes, and the winding road that led us here.
During the second generation, I created each and every one of these tiles myself in "Dungeon Painter Studio". It was an incredibly long process! For years, the castle was designed and played from the top down perspective.*Not pictured above: a whole bunch more of these second generation designs I created!
Here we are painting the 3rd Generation prototype tiles by hand! I sketched hundreds of concepts out on my Remarkable tablet (which helped shape the vision for the castle) *seen bottom left of the top image
Waiting for the first batch to dry!
The finished product! Here’s a medley of the hand painted tiles we created. It may not look like much at a glance, but this took a tremendous amount of work and precision to ensure the doors and castle edges lined up perfectly across pieces.
As the fourth generation of development began, we shared this sketch with our brilliant castle artist, Daniel Cunha. It became the springboard for dialing in the tone, atmosphere, and overall vision of Dracula’s castle.
Here you can see all four generations of the castle, including the very first prototypes of the castle and game over the past 8 years!
Here we are honing the vision of the final castle look and feel between Generation 3 & 4 - with our sketch, prototype and final piece (left to right).
Here's a look from our hand painted prototypes versus the final vision!
The evolution of our item art - with our final pieces created by the ever talented artist Kate Draconi!
Here is a look at the Curse Card changes - On the left you will see examples of the very first Curse cards from Generation 1!
Here’s a quick look at how our character cards have evolved over the years! In the earliest version of the game (top), we used classic RPG style stats: Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence - complete with dice rolling for combat! As the game grew, so did the design philosophy. These core attributes transformed into the Force, Speed, and Mind decks. They still reflect the original stat concepts, but in a much more dynamic and exciting way, giving players interesting decisions to make every turn!
On the left is the very first Dracula character card from eight years ago. Dracula’s “build” now encompasses the Cloak (seen above), stackable Shadows, and the Keep - on which he can construct chambers, halls, and spires.
Here’s a look at the early sketches we used to shape and refine our character concepts for the character cards (portrait view) and player tokens (profile view) - art by the incredible Jhony Caballero.
A personal play through of Super Castlevania IV *Note - we are not affiliated with Castlevania in any way, other than an abundant admiration and love of the series.
A personal play through of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
A personal play through of Dracula X (*note PLEASE play Rondo of Blood instead - it is infinitely better)
A personal play through of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Suck it, Dracula (pun intended)
Adieu, but not goodbye.
For those who have expressed kindness and well wishes for my health - thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will share more on this topic, should you be interested, in the coming weeks and months.
Keep an eye out for your tracking numbers and always feel free to send us a direct message here on Kickstarter or an email to [email protected] and we'll do our best to assist as quickly as possible! We receive a lot of messages, and we greatly appreciate your patience!
We are incredibly grateful for each and every backer, and we are so thankful you're coming on this journey to Dracula's castle with us. After all, it's dangerous to go alone!
We'll see you in the castle!
The Retro Plus Games Team
***UPDATED – Additional item and weapon art added above***
A Heartfelt Update: Shipping, Support & Some Personal News
9 months ago
– Wed, Jun 25, 2025 at 11:13:57 AM
Hello Wonderful Slayers and Vampires,
First, from the bottom of our hearts: Thank you! Over 2,500 of you have completed your surveys, and we are thrilled that the journey to your doorsteps is nearly here. Our distribution partner (not EasyShip) is telling us to expect shipping to begin in early July. We’ll post a formal update as soon as boxes start flying out the door and we cannot wait for you to step foot in the castle!
💔 For backers who have NOT yet completed your survey, especially in the UK, Canada or Australia, this next section is for you:
We want to say this clearly, directly, and without sugarcoating: The import taxes, duty and costs some of you are being asked to pay are absolutely outrageous. We were shocked when we saw the numbers - and we’re still shocked. When we made the decision last week to contribute $20 to our backers as a shipping credit we hoped it would tip the scales in a meaningful way, and for some, it did. But for many of you, it simply wasn’t enough. That stings, and we’re just as heartbroken about it as you are.
The worst part? Right now, we don’t have a perfect fix. We wish we could wave a wand and make those taxes disappear - but international taxes and duties, especially in the current political climate, are wildly inconsistent from country to country, and they've hit some regions especially hard.
Some UK backers have chosen to complete their surveys with the “post paid” shipping option. On average, they’ve seen shipping costs around $30 - but there’s still a big question mark around what taxes will be charged when the game is delivered. While we can’t confidently recommend it, we also can’t tell you not to go that route - as many backers already have.
To be transparent: EU backers are paying on average around €17 total for shipping. We’re not saying that to make anyone feel worse - we just want to show how uneven and bizarre these systems can be, and how blindsided we were.
Here’s what we can promise, right now, today:
-We will honor your pledge and store your game for up to one full year (exact deadline coming in a future update).
-We will eat the cost of extra storage or potentially moving your game to another warehouse if needed.
-We will continue fighting to find a better solution - alternate shipping paths, fulfillment options, or anything that helps reduce costs.
-We will stay transparent and communicative with you the entire way.
With all that said, we want to be clear and grounded:
We don’t know yet if we can fix this - but we will do everything in our power to bring costs down. If we are unable to find a way to circumvent the taxes and duties, the last thing we want is for people to face double disappointment by waiting AND still facing down high costs.
If you want to exercise patience in the hope something changes, please send us an email to [email protected] and we'll notate your pledge as held.
A Personal Health Note
This next part isn’t easy for me to share, but I think it’s important context.
In mid May, I started experiencing persistent headaches. I’m not someone who usually gets headaches, so it was strange but not alarming. By May 29th, the headaches were joined by a sharp pain behind my eyes.
Then, on the morning of June 3rd, I woke up to something terrifying: my vision in my right eye was suddenly and dramatically altered. My overall vision was blurry, doubled, washed out in color - almost like I’d stared into the sun for too long.
We rushed to an ophthalmologist, and since that day, it’s been a whirlwind. I’ve been to the ER, in and out of the hospital, through MRIs and CT scans, receiving IV infusions, sitting through endless rounds of specialist visits, and navigating an often frustrating medical system. Even this very morning, just hours before writing this, I was once again in a cold, sterile room, with an IV in my arm.
On June 20th (last Friday), and after fighting for weeks to find answers, we were finally able to see a neurologist (who our first neurologist referred us over to) who could give us some clarity. It was a tough appointment and I’m not ready to share her diagnosis just yet, but I will when the time is right.
What I can share is that I’ve been told it may take up to 90 days for my vision to return - if it does.
Every task has become harder. Writing this update, sending emails, managing the backend of the project - things that used to be second nature now come with enormous strain. We considered delaying the survey rollout so I could rest and heal…but that didn’t feel fair to you.
I’m sharing all of this not for sympathy - but for transparency on why response times may take longer right now. This project is deeply personal, and I’ve poured every ounce of myself into it. I’m the sole designer, the one who answers every email and message, and now, a reluctant patient in the middle of the most intense medical experience of my life.
Despite all that - I’m still here, and I’m still fighting for this game, and for you.
Thank you for your patience, your support, and your kindness through all of this. We are so close to the finish line, and we want nothing more than for every backer, no matter where they live, to feel the same excitement and joy when their game arrives.
We will keep communicating. We will keep working. And we will keep fighting.
We are incredibly grateful for each and every backer, and we are so thankful you're coming on this journey to Dracula's castle with us. After all, it's dangerous to go alone!
