You may earn the opportunity to close your location in a number of ways. If the scenario lists a henchman with the word “closing,” you may attempt to close your location after defeating that henchman from that location. If your location is empty, you may attempt to close it during the Close Your Location step of your turn (see the Your Turn section for more details). You can never attempt to close a distant location or a location that is guarded. (Guarding stops a villain from escaping to a guarded location, but does not close it; see the Attempt to Guard Distant Locations section for more details.)

When you have the opportunity and want to close your location, do whatever the location’s To Close section says. Locations often require specific checks to close them; otherwise, they list specific tasks you must perform. If a location says you may close it automatically, you don’t need to do anything else. If the To Close text offers multiple options separated by “or,” choose one of the options before you use any powers, play any cards, or roll any dice. If you succeed at meeting the To Close requirement, search the location for villains. If you find any, banish all non-villain cards from the location. The location is not closed—but at least you know where those villains are!

If you didn’t find any villains, perform the When Closed effect: First, apply any effects that say “before closing.” Then banish all of the cards from the location; it is now closed. Finally, apply any effects that say “on closing” and put the location card back into the vault. The location is no longer in play, and all characters that were at that location always immediately move.

If a location is closed during your explore step, you may no longer explore.