The video board game "Nightmare"

Game Summary

The Gatekeeper opens the game by declaring that his rules are absolute: players must answer when he calls their number or color, or face punishment. He immediately tests them, sending a player who fails to respond into the “black hole,” where they are barred from playing until he releases them.

The game unfolds through a theatrical cycle of dice rolls, keys, missed turns, and banishments. The Gatekeeper sets challenges based on players’ numbers and colors, asks them to add dice totals, and sometimes awards a key for a lucky roll. He also turns players against one another, inviting someone to choose an opponent to banish. At one point, he sends the player with the most keys to the black hole, taunting them with, “Because I can.”

Several challenges become personal:

• The oldest player must roll their exact age without going over.
• The youngest player later faces the same challenge, while the Gatekeeper calls them weak and asks if they’re “prey” or “meat.”
• A selected player takes on the “test of the chimes,” rolling repeatedly as the clock chimes.
• Another player must stare into the Gatekeeper’s eyes without blinking or lose a key.

The Gatekeeper even stages a close-up invitation before abruptly snapping, “Never ever come closer to me again, you maggot.”

The rules keep changing. Players flip coins for freedom or keys and roll according to whether their numbers are odd or even. In a “Havoc” round, each number must be rolled before its owner can play again. The Gatekeeper’s taunts—calling everyone “maggots,” mocking their names, and threatening punishment—are as much a part of the spectacle as the game itself.

In the final stretch, players compete for the remaining keys through high rolls and a risky “poker” challenge. They draw from the Nightmare pack: picking their fear means losing all their keys, while avoiding it could win the remaining keys. A last-minute dice roll offers one final chance to claim them.

The Gatekeeper declares that the players have lost as the ghost train approaches, then teases a sequel: Nightmare 2.

Personalities Featured

• The Gatekeeper — The domineering, taunting host who controls the game.
• The players — A group of unnamed participants, including players singled out as the oldest and youngest.