Six Good Scary Board Games

Every year it brings hundreds of new board and card games to the market, and even the recent brake on social gatherings hasn’t stopped the flow. Without a doubt, each year some of the most popular themes include horror, monsters, magic, and mystery, perfect for a Halloween gathering.

Whether you’re looking to hit the game store and buy something for game night this weekend, or you’re planning further afield, and you’re just a fan of games about things that pop up at night, each of These recent releases provide a beautiful evening of fun, with the perfect combination of fun and spooky vibes.

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Horrified: American Monsters
Publisher: Ravensburger

A standalone continuation of Horrified’s original 2019 release, the new variant of American Monsters offers enough new content to justify a purchase if you already loved the first one. However, this version is also a perfectly solid entry point if this is your first lap. Where the first game featured baddies like Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula in a decidedly 1930s vibe, this new installment takes us back to the 1950s, with classic American mythology at stake, including monsters like Bigfoot, Mothman, and Jersey Devil. American Monsters avoids the label of being a reskin, because it does a good job of making each monster (and how to defeat them) unique.

Players work together to navigate the board and stop monsters as they terrorize a small town. Dynamic difficulty is as easy as choosing the number of monsters to be placed on the board; keep in mind that a four monster assault is a recipe for a great challenge. The interactivity and cooperative play are especially rewarding, as each player takes advantage of their character’s special abilities to help save the day. It also has to be said that the art team has done a stellar job remembering the small town horror aesthetic of the 1950s. Play this if you are a fan of old school Drive-In monster movies, or just want one. cooperative experience especially accessible and easy to learn.

Fathomless
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games

To capture the excitement behind Unfathomable, a short history lesson might be in order. In 2008, Fantasy Flight released a game based on the Battlestar Galactica television show. It was a fantastic launch, especially as it so skillfully captured the drama of that show, where most of the ship seemed to be working together, but the traitorous Cylons were working in secret, undermining the team’s goals. That game was discontinued for the various licensing reasons you might expect, but the excitement about the game has not faded.

Unfathomable takes most of that gameplay model and transforms the experience into the Lovecraftian horror universe of Fantasy Flight. Instead of a Galactica spacecraft, it’s an Atlantic steamer on its way to Boston in 1913. And instead of Cylons, it’s Father Dagon, Mother Hydra, and the Deep Ones, gradually infiltrating and attacking, until they drag everyone into the frigid ones. depths.

When the game starts, everyone seems to be performing in concert, but at least one player is a hybrid, working against your interests, carefully balancing events to help the monsters. In an especially fun twist, you can play a significant part of the game before an awakening phase reveals that you are also a hybrid, and your loyalties must change if you want to win.

Fathomless features dramatic twists and sometimes devastating changes of fate, especially if a traitor is capable of maneuvering into a position where he can cause real damage. But of course, that’s half the fun of the game – no one should take victory as the only goal. Rather, enjoy the tension and knowing smiles that run across the table, as well as the dazzling art and miniatures that bring Unfathomable to life. It’s a wonderful revival of a clever gaming system from over a decade ago, and it’s well worth the journey into the dark waters of the high seas.

Goonies: Never say die
Publisher: Funko Games

With each passing year The goonies The franchise feels like an increasingly dated reference. And yet the cult classic movie maintains a strong and enthusiastic audience – it’s a lot of fun. There’s nothing explicitly “Halloween-y” about the Goonies’ new board game, but the combination of kids on a wild adventure, a supernatural-tinged pirate scavenger hunt, and the threat of maniacal enemies on your heels feels especially fitting. for vacations.

In the game, most players work together as one of the children like Mikey or Chunk (and Sloth, of course), to outwit the evil Fratelli family and other enemies they encounter along the way. Those bad guys are controlled by the end player, who manages booby traps and other encounters to try and stop the Goonies from finding success and treasure. These adventures take place in nine different settings, which do a good job of following the threads of the film, as well as expanding them.

Aimed specifically at devoted fans of the ’80s movie, it can be a very specific niche. But it’s still a wonderful game with tons of nods to the original fiction. If you really love what you find, you can even track down the “Under the Goondocks” expansion, which adds playable Teen Goonies, three new adventures, and more.

echoes: The Cocktail
Publisher: Ravensburger

If your spooky gathering is more about adults chilling out, rather than hardcore board gamers ready to learn a fancy new horror game, I’d like to introduce you to the Echoes series. This is an audio mystery game that requires you to sync it with a smartphone app to play it. The game then develops a mystery story told through a combination of in-app audio narratives and cards / board pieces that are placed on the table. The trick is that each player is an investigator who can hear the “echoes” of the objects left behind. Scan the object and listen carefully to solve the puzzle.

I played “The Cocktail”, one of the two initial offerings in this game series. In this installment, you are trying to unravel the identity of a mysterious mob boss. A separate set / delivery is also available; The Dancer is about the ghost of a young girl in a Scottish country house and how she died. Choose your poison.

In reality, each game only needs to be played once by a certain group; once you solve the puzzle, there are not many reasons to play again. But the novelty is definitely there, challenging the whole group to put the 24 parts of the story together in the correct order, each one subdivided into different chapters. I love the way the game challenges everyone to pause and listen carefully to the smallest details of the audio recordings, some of which may be key in taking the puzzle to the next step. Echoes is a great choice for fans of escape rooms, puzzles, and social play, and the relatively short one-hour playtime won’t get the party bogged down. A single copy is inexpensive, so you won’t be too disappointed when it’s all over, especially if you and your friends have a memorable puzzle-solving adventure along the way.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Core Set Revised
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games

One of the best horror games of the last decade, the Arkham Horror card game takes the popular board game universe and distills the same storytelling and adventure style into an amazing expandable card game. Players take on the role of characters in the small New England town of Arkham, racing against time to stop cultists, sanity-testing monsters, and ancient world-devouring monstrosities. The narrative is atmospheric and fun, and the gameplay is energetic and balanced, all about building a deck of cards and managing threats in different locations. However, it’s the way each scenario connects to the next that will keep you engaged as you watch your choices resonate throughout the campaign.

The wisely revised new basic set doesn’t upset the Lovecraftian apple cart (don’t eat them!). If you are already a devoted gamer, this is not the purchase for you. Instead, this new base set sets some important goals for new players. Perhaps most importantly, it supports four players instead of two with a single boxed set. It also adds some cards that originally didn’t appear until later expansions, expanding the initial range of upgrade options for researchers. And it also rearranges the contents of the box, aiming for a faster gaming experience.

If you’ve wanted a fun long-term campaign, rooted in horror overtones, but not overwhelming in complexity or mechanics, it’s an ideal offering from an established and popular franchise.

The magic war
Publisher: Blue Orange Games

A big part of Halloween is indulging in our darkest impulses, at least for fun. As such, Bellum Magica is ideal for families or groups of friends looking for an accessible and quick-to-learn engine building game. Players take on the role of evil lords fighting for power and control, but it’s all quite fun and colorful, rather than dark and petty.

Engine building games require you to gradually build a system of resources and units that increase in power and range with each passing turn. In this case, you are recruiting goblins and other cowardly creatures, which you can figuratively cast into the hapless human kingdom or your evil warlord enemies. Meanwhile, you are gathering treasures and increasing your power with claws.

In the realm of strategy games, Bellum Magica has bet on the light, fast and thematic over the complex and immaculately balanced. It’s easy for a single player to get crushed by everyone else for no particular reason, and rolling the dice adds a randomness that many veteran players can scoff at. But the playtime of less than an hour should be your hint that this is a game destined to be embraced for its wild control swings and the fun of being the bad guy. If everyone can join in on the concept, it’s beautifully illustrated and fun fun.

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If magic and horror aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other wonderful board games to discover at our Top of the Table hub. As always, if you’d like a personalized recommendation for your next game night, feel free to write to me and I’ll be happy to offer some suggestions. Happy Halloween!