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Move over, Hitchcock. Budge up, Shelley. There’s a new way to scare ourselves senseless this Halloween and it’s all down to gruesome and ghoulish games!
Not a fan of slasher movies, terrifying tales, or even haunted houses, I am getting my chills the cardboard way. And, what a shriek-worthy crop of killer titles we at Zatu have discovered! From mysteries and whodunnits to vampires and spirits, this list will keep you up all night (and not just because you want to play them all!). So, get ready to turn down the lights, turn up the frights, and have yourself a chilling time with these Halloween games!
Betrayal At House On The Hill - Craig Smith
There are few board games that can recreate the tension of a horror film. I do believe that Betrayal at House on the Hill is one of those games.
Each player is a character investigating what appears to be an abandoned house. As you move through doorways, new rooms start to appear. The rooms may have items in them. Items to fight a currently unknown enemy. They might also have events inside which may cause characters to gain or lose their powers. Or, worst of all, they could contain omens. After an omen is revealed, the person who revealed it does a haunt roll. If the number rolled is less than the number of omens on the board, the haunt begins.
When the haunt begins, there’s a very good chance one of you is about to become a traitor. It isn’t always the person who performed the haunt roll, and there are rare occasions where there’s no traitor at all. The traitor then goes and reads what they need to do to win the game in secret. The rest of the team must try and work out how to stop them. Then… the game of cat and mouse begins.
Most of the scenarios feature some form of strange and mystical creature, often too powerful for a player to beat by themselves. Working together, the rest of the team must meet their winning conditions and avoid a grizzly demise. Betrayal at House on the Hill is a horror movie in game form. It should be in everyone's line-up of Halloween games. The scenarios are often gruesome, and occasionally comical. With the right group of investigators, playing a game of Betrayal can be devilishly good fun.
Exit: Cemetery Of The Knight - Favouritefoe
Not being a fan of super scary, I was a little worried when I first saw Exit: Cemetery of the Knight. After all, cemeteries aren’t usually the jolliest places on earth!
But I was prepared to put on my big girl pants, come out from behind the sofa, and try a game from the Exit series by Kosmos. And do you know what? I am super glad that I did!
I can’t reveal what happens in this game – erm, hello spoiler central! - but I can tell you that there are ten riddles to work through. They vary nicely in their complexity from brain-warming to mind-melting!
If you aren’t familiar with the Exit series, they are one-time experiences. Just like real-life escape rooms. And, given that they are taking place on your table, they do a great job of drawing you in. The perfect atmosphere for Halloween games night. Granted, Exit: Cemetery of the Knight is not a beginner level Exit game. In fact, it is labelled as a 3/5 – intermediate puzzle. On that basis, you might want to ease yourself in with a slightly more straightforward one. If only to make yourself familiar with the style of cryptic conundrums you will be expected to solve. But, whether you ease in or dive headfirst, it is a great example of what Exit has to offer. And a good choice for those with some existing experience to enjoy. Plus, if you like getting stuck into Exit: Cemetery of the Knight this Halloween, there is a fantastic Exit Advent Calendar available this Christmas. Start each day in December with a hit of satisfying puzzliness!
I love a murder mystery. If I am in charge of the TV remote, then it will be a crime drama or documentary that is going on. Most of my favourite books are crime-related. The quintessentially British detective story has to be Arthur Conan-Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. As a man, incredibly annoying and frustrating I am sure. But my oh my, what a brain!
There are lots of escape room and crime-busting style games, but Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective trumps them all. This is not just a game, but an event. You and your bunch of merry men pore over the maps of Victorian London. You must work out if it were indeed possible for your suspect to hotfoot it to the crime scene, in the time since they last had an alibi.
Hunt through the replica newspapers. Search for clues in an attempt to cement your conclusions. You decide who you want to speak to next to try and piece together the story. Each box comes with 10 cases to work through, and each of those is an evening’s entertainment. They can even be played solo or cooperatively in a group. I, for one, am putting Sherlock down as a family event for the festive period. For Halloween games night and Christmas. All the festivities!
There are so many amazing stories in the Sherlock books. I love listening to them whilst driving, and I never get them right. And yet, I have managed to answer the majority of the questions for each case I have played correctly so far. The more people you speak to, and the more of the story you explore, the lower your point score at the end. But then again, the more enjoyment you get, the more value for money the game is. So I tend to score this game as “did I get the questions right?" Yes? I win. No? Well, I lose, but I have had fun trying!
It’s October, which means it’s time for things to get spooky (or spoopy, depending on your preference.) Personally, I’m not a fan. Not because I find things scary, but rather because I don’t. Horror films don’t have the same impact on me because they don’t make me jump. It’s like seeing a comedy film that isn’t funny. However, the board game medium is rich with great Halloween games. There are centuries of folklore, mythology and literature to draw from. No game does this better (in my opinion) than Fury of Dracula.
FoD is a one v many, cat and mouse game where one player becomes the titular vampire. The other one to four players take on the role of the vampire hunters from Bram Stoker’s book. The goal of the hunters is to find and defeat Dracula somewhere in Europe. The goal of Dracula is to spread evil and corruption. The adventurers have just three weeks to track down the first vampire before he wins. So, following the clues left behind, the hunters have to use deduction and fight the minions of evil. The strategy in this game is always different. Dracula can start wherever he likes. He also gets a different hand of cards, which he can leave behind as he moves each night. So when the witching hour strikes and the wolf howls to the moon, beware… the prince of darkness might be right behind you.
Bloodborne The Card Game - Callum Price
There’s nothing quite a chilling as the tales from the Mythos. Unfathomable abominations, elder gods, and mad cultists. Tied together in stories of mystery, tension, and investigation. Often resulting in the maddening of anyone involved! So, our classic chiller choice for this cool collaboration is Bloodborne The Card Game. A push your luck, set collection game with Mythos entwined themes and atrocities throughout. Bloodborne The Card Game is one of endless death (as Halloween games should be). Players are competing Hunters. They seek out the different abominations and horrors, aiming to be named the ultimate Hunter of the night.
Players take actions to defeat monsters, burning through their hands to gain blood. It is set up by choosing a Final Boss card and letting all players know its game-changing effect. Deal out seven monsters and three bosses, shuffling them into a stack. Each turn a card is revealed as the focus of the Hunt. Then players get to combat by playing trick weapon cards in secret. Cards have priority effects, meaning some may not contribute or score whatsoever. Cards are also resolved in clockwise order, so knowing how much damage to deal is important to get the most out of a Hunt!
However, not defeating a monster allows it to escape and, in some cases, deal massive damage as it does! But don’t mistake, the game isn’t cooperative. In reality, it’s 100% about risk management and knowing when to quit. Leaving a Hunt keeps your blood safe and scored you guaranteed points… But also removes you from the running for blood that round! Bloodborne The Card Game has a spooky, sinister feel to it which coincides beautifully with its “cooperative-not-cooperative” feel. You’ve got to work together to Hunt the nasties, but contribute best or smartest to get the most out of it. Nice guys will literally finish last in this one!
But, what's really spooky here is the danger produced by other players. That nerve-wracking knowledge that you alone cannot kill these feral beings, and if no one else contributes then it’s curtains for you all. Will their cowardice result in wasted cards? Or will they selfishly take cheap shots so your big hits are for nought? The whole experience has a sinister overtone to it, but it hits nicely in terms of player interaction and engagement. Your tactics for handling the monsters and the folk around the table will sharpen quickly as the game goes on… and have you questioning who the real monsters are!