BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE, distribute the 3 Player Aids and the Order of Operations card as evenly as possible amongst the players. Each player should read both sides of their Player Aid carefully. They are the Rule Master for this aspect of the game when needed.

Continue set-up by performing the steps below. These steps update the set-up for more a consistent experience from the base game by spreading important tiles throughout the stack. After performing these steps complete set-up by following the base game set-up rules for the Board and Prisoner Materials according to your player count.

1. THE HOLLOW

Lay the Hollow Board next to the Main Board.

2. THE OTHER

Stack The Other sections in the starting space indicated on the Hollow Board.

3. EXPANSION DISCARD BOARD

Lay the Expansion Discard Board near the Base Game Discard Board.

4. RESERVE OPENING TILES & SHUFFLE BASIC TILES

Set aside the 6 Shriek tiles. Group the standard passages from the base game, add the 13 cracked passage tiles from Shrieking Hollow, and shuffle. Then draw 10 tiles and reserve them for Step 5. Now, add Wax Eaters according to player count. Shuffle those tiles and then divide them into 4 roughly equal piles. Set them in a row.

5. DISTRIBUTE THE SPECIAL TILES EVENLY

Place 1 Watched Key, 1 Gate, and 1 Shriek on top of each pile. Use the Watched Key Tiles included, not the base game Key Tiles. They operate differently!

Take the remaining 2 Shrieks and Watched Key Tiles (3 for 4 Prisoners, 4 for 5 Prisoners), mix face down, and distribute evenly to the piles, placing any remainder on the middle piles.

Shuffle each pile individually. DO NOT shuffle them all together! Then, stack them in the tile holder starting with the leftmost pile and ending with the rightmost. Last, place the 10 tiles reserved in Step 4 on top of the assembled stack.