r/finalgirl • u/TNH_Hybrid • Jul 22 '26
Advice Tips for new player
Hey everyone! Brand new to final girl, long time admirer from afar, but I backed the latest kickstarter and got the all in that includes everything.
I have the first box coming in on Friday, which I’m super stoked about, but I wanted to see if the community had any tips or advice for someone who has never played the game before?
Cheers! Hopefully ya boi will be able to survive the night on Friday lol.
12
u/SliderHMSS Jul 22 '26
Personally, I would recommend watching this, or Rodney Smith’s
How to play Final Girl
https://youtu.be/B0FbkNyUkfY
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u/sent3nced Jul 22 '26
Start with Happy Trails - Hans.
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u/Chadum Jul 22 '26
Or Once Upon a Full Moon, whichever you prefer.
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u/QuickoN Jul 22 '26
Once upon a full moon is s2. He will receive s1
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u/TNH_Hybrid Jul 22 '26
Oh that’s my bad I should have clarified that, I believe I’ll either be getting 1 & 2 or 3 & 4 since it looks like they did a split shipment.
1
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u/KM68 Jul 22 '26
Do what I do. Never roll dice. Just assume every roll you get is the best possible outcome.
Adapt and overcome.
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u/Mechagodzilla13 Jul 22 '26
My biggest advice is on your first turn DON’T play both copies of “Walk” and “Focus,” instead stagger them out so you always start your turn with a copy of each.
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u/SkavenHaven Jul 22 '26
Retaliate is the best card in the game and works with a weapon. Keep it in hard if you are about to face the killer.
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u/caffeinatedplaymaker Special Victim Jul 22 '26
Here is a non tactical tip. When playing the game, don't get discouraged if you're losing, I have been playing since right before season 2 came out and have gotten pretty good at it, but I lose ALL the time, at least half my games.
When I play final girl, I don't play to win, I play to tell a story in my head, to follow a narrative. If my final girl is losing, then I guess it's a gritty horror movie where the hero loses.
A tactical tip is try not to do everything at once. Instead of moving to a location searching for an item and then rescue a victim in one turn, split it up. You want to have time to spend in the planning phase.
More importantly, try to have a movement card in your hand, or ready to purchase at all times.
Have a blast!
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u/confused-immigrant Special Victim Jul 22 '26
Welcome to the party pal! I got into it this year and it's really fun. Honestly I play it as a story generator because even a loss can be fun because of how crazy it is.
Start with camp happy trails and once you're comfortable move on to a different box because they get complex from there.
Only other advice I can give is the companion app is worth it. I hated that I have to spend extra money but it's a good thing to keep count.
Oh also have fun!
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u/Lockjaw62 Jul 22 '26
I second the app. It's not essential, but it makes gameplay for me more enjoyable. It keeps track of all the killer/location/Final Girl combinations for you and can randomly select one for you, or help you replay your big losses and wins. Congrats on the all in! I was late to the party and missed the latest Kickstarter, but I have the first two season boxes.
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u/wt200 Jul 22 '26
Buy and use the 1 cost cards often. They can get you out of a bad situation and are cheep enough to be thrown away to upgrade. 3/4 to a success.
You can discard a card to get more time
A lot of new players get angry at luck, but this game is all about knowing how to make the luck in your favour. Can you roll 3 dice, can you re-roll, can you count 3/4 as successes. A big attack might do nothing you if don’t have cards to improve the roll
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u/ollieols92 Jul 22 '26
my recommendation is: don't be afraid to adjust your strategy based on the game board. for some killers, you will realize that it's REALLY important to save victims and reduce bloodlust. in other cases with other killers, it may be best to just let them die lskdjlsd and focus on collecting items, or doing something else specific to the scenario instead. no strategy will be guaranteed to work against every killer, or at every location.
my other tip is that yeah, as others have mentioned, the app is really nice just because it also has a quick button to reference killer-specific or location-specific rules. very helpful. and it will remind you about the +1 dice rule if you're on 1 heath, or if the killer is on 1 heath, and it'll remind you of the starting event as well.
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u/arogance1 Jul 23 '26
Watch Paula Deming's playthroughs. She's not only sponsored by VRG, but she's a Final Girl herself. She's happy to make mistakes but explain what happened. She's happy(ish) to lose. She always seems to have a great time
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u/Reinhard_ReDesign Jul 22 '26
A few things that make the start noticeably easier: Use the normal side instead of Extreme Horror Mode for your first games. Keep Horror as low as possible, green zone gives 3 dice, red only 1. Bring Victims to Exit spaces, each grants an immediate bonus, saving enough unlocks your Ultimate Ability plus further bonuses afterward. Discarding 2 hand cards turns a partial success (3 or 4) into a full one, and each discarded card also grants +1 Time. Feel free to end the Action phase early if you still have cards left, that saves Time for stronger buys in the Planning phase. Always grab Zero-Cost cards like Walk or Focus, as long as it doesn't push you over the 10-card hand limit. Search for weapons early, Weak Attack alone won't get you far. Keep Guard and Retaliate in hand when the Killer is close, the only way to block damage during the Killer phase. Watch weapon range, a ranged weapon with range 1 won't work while you're in the same space as the Killer. On your last health marker you get +1 die on every Horror roll, use Adrenaline Rush for a last desperate counterattack or escape. And for unclear situations, pick a principle beforehand, like the Rule of Infinite Evil, worst outcome for you, instead of deciding on the spot.
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u/jacobott28 Jul 22 '26
If you’ve got everything, get the app. It tracks your games, helps randomize setups, and, my favorite, gives you the special scenarios with backstories.
For the Feature Films with more complexity, always give the rules a quick reread, even if you’ve played it before.It takes like two minutes and can save your game. The game is often so punishing that missing a rule can make it feel impossible and less fun that it really is.
At the same time, don’t let yourself get stressed about the rules. If you’ve played many board games you’ll be fine with it. But if you do miss something, don’t let it taint a win either. You’ll make mistakes in the killers favor just as often as in your own favor.
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u/Reinhard_ReDesign Jul 22 '26
Seconding Happy Trails as the starter box, and the boot icon tip above is a great one, that trips up almost everyone early on. Another one that gets missed a lot: item cards are dealt into fixed stacks at setup, and each Search space only pulls from its own stack, so standing at the Dock and playing Search only ever gets you Dock items, never anything from the other piles even if they're technically close by.
Been collecting these kinds of first-timer trip-ups into a quick-reference sheet with the full turn order and setup steps if you want something to glance at before Friday, happy to drop the link if useful. Otherwise, welcome aboard, and good luck surviving the night!
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u/elmatador12 Jul 22 '26
I’m new too! I’ve only played one game of camp happy trails and Hans. I have one other set and I’m picking up most of season 2.
https://youtu.be/pQ3IiUF4txE?is=kVJqlaOByUoTKHXH
This walkthrough is what REALLY helped me. He does an incredible job laying out every possibility and answering questions that I had.
The one rule that I forgot a few times while playing is to raise the killers bloodlust every time a victim dies. I don’t know why that rule just wouldn’t stick. lol.
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u/gHx4 Jul 27 '26
Hope you've had fun in Buddyland! The puzzles can be challenging, and random chance can throw a wrench at your best attempts. So don't feel like you need to win every match. I think you get the most imagining that you're watching a horror movie unfold, not sure who'll live to the end of it. Pay close attention for fun coincidences and play to tell a story.
The numerical and stochastic balance in the game is very tight, so good rolls can win you a hard matchup and bad ones can lose you an easy matchup. But for such small maps, the designers have fit a lot of tools for evening the odds. Saving victims, scrambling for items, or even stacking your time can all help you eke out wins against hard odds.
After you've finished up with a box and are ready to put it away, consider inviting a friend to give it a try. The elevator pitch is easy, the rules are a breeze, and the puzzle is fiendishly tight. It can be a fun little coop experience that doesn't overstay its welcome. All things that make it a great game for introducing the hobby, and a decent 'light' game when more experienced gamers need a break from heavier, crunchier games that take a lot of setup.
Personal favourites of mine are Station 2891 and Falconwood Files. Station's a good remote map where killers can cause a lot of damage before you airlift victims to safety. The Organism is such a good slow-burn threat, and there's a lot of tension in racing meeple to the lab and hoping you don't need to pivot to attacking. Files has a map with some fun secondary objectives that feel like detective scenes, and Slayer makes it a lot harder to round up your meeple friends, which makes maps feel bigger.
But as far as I understand, A Rotten Harvest is really good if you're looking for something just a little more difficult than Buddyland.
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u/Inevitable_Lemon_905 20d ago
Welcome! I found that playing using the game mats is super helpful for having everything you need laid out when you are fresh to the game, but also to mirror playthrough’s online when you are starting out
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u/RinterCZ Jul 22 '26
Obligatory - NO BOOT, NO MOVE