Spotlight

About the game

What is Spotlight?

Spotlight is a co-operative hidden object game in which you and your friends search with your trusty flashlight for wacky characters and items hidden in dark places brimming with absurd things. Your goal is to find as many as possible to advance your pawns on the track and cross the finish line, without any player being reached by the Moon pawn that is chasing you. The game is played over five rounds. Each player has a different board composed of a transparent layer on top, depicting a different part of the game scene, and a black cardboard background, that makes everything dark and difficult to see. At the beginning of each round, the hidden picture to search is determined by looking at the card on top of the deck. When everybody is ready, players start looking for the hidden picture on their board with their "magic" flashlight, which can illuminate the board thanks to its white spot. When the sand timer runs out, players must stop searching, put down their flashlights, and set their dial on the number of hidden picture they think they have found. Then, they reveal the back side of the hidden picture card, which shows how many it was actually possible to find. The more you found, the more your pawn advances on the track...but beware, the Moon pawn will advance, too! If the Moon overtakes any player's pawn, you can spend a rush token to get them back in front of the Moon, but if you lack rush tokens, the game is over and you all lose! If all players cross the finish line without being caught by the Moon, you all win! —description from the publisher

How it plays

Mechanics

On the shelf

Categories

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

• How do setup and the first turn work in Spotlight?
• When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
• How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?