It’s that time of year again. Time to bring out the pumpkin spice, wool sweaters - and, of course, the freaky-deaky monsters that make things go “bump” in the night. Check out the list below for the best ways to “spookify” your game nights!
10. Horrified
Team up to get down and dirty with some monster hunting.
Prepare to be horrified in this monsters come to life game. Players must team up and collaborate to defeat classic monsters such as Frankenstein’s Bride and the Wolf Man in order to win in this dynamic gameplay. Each monster has a different route across the board, and will require different strategies from the players in order to defeat it. Players must defeat the slew of miscreant and misunderstood beasts to protect the town and earn victory.
Choose This Game If You Like…
- Miniatures; Horrified comes equipped with high quality miniatures of each monster, each detailed and fun to move around the board. If you’re the kind of person that enjoys having realistic figurines for your DnD games, the craftsmanship is sure to appeal to you.
- Collaborative Game Play; Horrified is a rare game that involves all players working to a common goal against a metaphorical common enemy.
- Family Game Nights; While still incorporating that spooky vibe, Horrified is fun, light-hearted, and easy to understand, making it perfect for the whole family.
9. Paranormal Detectives
A murder you say? Well why don't we just ask the victim. . .
What easier way to solve a murder than to simply ask the person who died? In Paranormal Detectives, one player assumes the role of a recently murdered being who has transcended into being a ghostly form. The rest assume the roles of detectives, trying to solve the murder. Throughout the rounds, detectives are able to play “interaction cards” that determine how the ghost can answer their questions. These interactions can be anything from using tarot cards to drawing the answer on a detective’s hands. As the detectives ask questions to solve the murder, they get two tries to correctly guess the murderer, murder location, murder weapon, and the motive. If they get it correct, the detectives and ghosts win! If they don’t, and they run out of interaction cards or guess chances, everyone loses.
Choose This Game If You Like…
- Deduction; Paranormal Detectives is a deduction game that meets paranormal activity. If you’re into putting those critical thinking skills to use to solve crime, this is the game for you.
- Ghost Lore; Paranormal Detectives utilizes a breadth of ghost lore to determine how and when the ghost can interact with the detective.
- Clue; Just like the classic game Clue, detectives not only need to know whodunit, but also where, how, and why.
8. The Shining
Become the main character you were always meant to be.
It’s winter, and you’re in charge of the Overlook Hotel. Although the hotel is closed, it appears that you are not alone. As you and your fellow players slowly succumb to the evil influences of the past residents of the hotel, you must explore the hotel’s rooms and attempt to gain enough power to withstand the evil around you. One of the players, however, has already been corrupted, and will try and work against the rest of the players to keep you trapped at the hotel forever.
Choose This Game If You Like...
- The Shining; if you’re a fan of the classic horror movie and book, you’re sure to love this board game adaptation.
- Mafia Games; in The Shining: the Board Game, one of the players is secretly working against you. Part of the game involves finding out who the “mafia” player is and weeding them out before they succeed in corrupting your party.
- Collaborative Play; with the exception of the traitor player, The Shining: the Board Game involves working together with the other players in your party to reach success.
7. Yeti
What better way to spend the winter than searching for the Abominable Snowman?
Yeti features the Abominable Snowman and a group of mountaineers on a quest to find traces of the legend in the Himalayas. Players find footprints and take pictures of clues in order to collect points. You can improve your equipment and enlist the support of local sherpas to achieve your goal. Players need to be wary of snowfall however - too much accumulation and all research grinds to a halt.
Choose This Game If You Like…
- Family Friendly Adventures; with adorable illustrations and silly gameplay, Yeti is the perfect game for your paranormal loving gremlins.
- Something Simple; Yeti is a game with simple and easy to understand rules that make it a great choice if you’re not looking for something super intensive.
- Cute Illustrations; With adorable drawings and an even cuter cryptid waiting at the end of your journey, Yeti is ideal for everyone.
6. Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger
Are you brave enough to enter?
In this classic choose your own adventure type of game, players adventure through the House of Danger and explore its spooky contents. Players assume the role of detectives, investigating the mystery of the Marden Mansion’s missing owner. Players use their detective skills and psychic senses to explore the mansion and expose its secrets. Collect clues and items along the way as you cross paths with ghosts, secret labs, and more to solve the mystery of the mansion.
Choose This Game If You Like...
- Variable Endings; As with all choose your own adventure games, there are many different routes, endings, and solutions that players can explore, making this game easily replayable.
- Choose Your Own Adventure; If you like the freedom of choice in a game, you’ll love exploring all that the House of Danger has to offer.
- Exploring; Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger involves players slowly exploring and discovering the House of Danger to unveil the mystery within.
5. Haunt The House
Let's try a little role-reversal.
In a twist on the normal way of things, in Haunt the House, players are ghosts competing to scare ghost hunters out of the various rooms of the haunted house, and collecting their exploration gear as trophies. Different combinations of scares will affect ghost hunters differently - each player holds a hand of scares to use against the ghost hunters. Players are allowed to play their scare cards face up or face down, to conceal what they’ve played from other ghosts. When ready, players can call BOO!, pointing to a ghost hunter and revealing or adding to their scares to rid them of the house.
Collect the most valuable gear to win the game!
Choose This Game If You Like...
- Haunting; if you’ve always wanted to experience the other side of the story and be the ghost in the tales of horror, Haunt the House will appeal to you.
- Raiding; Ghosts raid the abandoned equipment of the fleeing ghost hunters in order to win the game.
- Strategy; Control how you play and reveal your cards to get an edge up on your fellow players and achieve the best scares.
4. Eldritch Horror
I sure hope you're ready to be a hero.
The world is ending and it’s all up to you and your trusted group of heroes to band together to save the world from an ancient evil. Players work together to solve clues, figure out mysteries, and protect the world from the Ancient One. With a range of ancient ones mimicking cryptids from a variety of paranormal lore, players get drawn into a supernatural battle for the world. As rounds proceed, players draw cards that have tasks and mysteries for them to solve. The goal of the game is to banish the Ancient One from Earth.
Choose This Game If You Like...
- Pre-Set Characters; Each player can choose an “investigator” character to play that will determine their character features. With twelve to choose from, there’s still enough variety to have fun choosing which you want.
- Variable Decks; Eldritch Horror features a wide array of Ancient Ones, Card Decks, Investigators and so on that makes each round you play a unique experience.
- Ancient Monsters; The Ancient Ones of Eldritch Horror feature well-known creatures of mythology. If that’s your thing, you should give this game a try.
3. TIME Stories
Timey-wimey monsters? Say less!
Players are engaged as time agents in T.I.M.E Stories. Start at “home base” and receive missions. Win the game by completing your mission in as few actions as possible. Missions can be a range of different catastrophes from across the timeline, and will require players to time hop into different host bodies to complete their tasks.
Choose This Game If You Like...
- Mission Play; If you like having missions to complete to rack up points, this game will appeal to you.
- Stories; T.I.M.E Stories has a range of different problems and solutions that you’ll have to navigate in order to complete your missions (or be sent back to base in failure).
- Horror/Mystery; A lot of the encounters in T.I.M.E Stories can fall under the horror or mystery bracket, involving anything a paranormal fanatic would love.
2. Zombie Fluxx
At least you can blame being brain-dead on the zombies this time.
Zombie Fluxx is the zombie based card game of your little paranormal dreams. Draw cards with weapons you can use against the zombies, and work with Friend cards to destroy the zombies and elude the Creeper card, which will hinder your winning chances. Be prepared to turn on your friends if they turn into zombies!
Gameplay changes as players are allowed to introduce and change rules throughout the rounds as they please.
Choose This Game If You Like...
- Card-Based Games; Zombie Fluxx is a card game with a huge variety of cards to switch up gameplay everytime you play.
- Turning on Friends; In the ever changing game play, players must be prepared for allies to turn into enemies in an instant.
- Chaotic Gameplay; With ever changing rules, Zombie Fluxx has the ability to switch up at any moment at the whims of the players.
1. Betrayal at the House on the Hill
Get ready traitors, your time has come.
Players are able to choose from a range of characters, each with different strengths and weaknesses, and set about exploring a haunted house. As players explore, they build the board from a number of tiles, finding a number of omens that will eventually trigger “the haunting”.
The player that triggered the haunting becomes the “Traitor”. There are a plethora of different haunts that can occur, each featuring a slew of paranormal activity such as ghosts, witches, demon possession, zombie attacks, and more.
Choose This Game If You Like...
- Building Your Board; Betrayal has a whole host of rooms for players to build the haunted house of their dreams.
- Pre-set characters; Betrayal has set characters, each with their own starting stats (that can be raised or lowered throughout the game through different actions). Sometimes character creation can be too much of a head-ache or burden, and Betrayal does the work for you.
- Variable Game Play; The haunt, traitor, and goal of the game depend on the room of the house and the omen that was pulled. Therefore, it is very rare to get the same haunting twice in a row. Over the numerous times I’ve played, I’ve yet to repeat a haunting - and even if you do, there’s no guarantee to how it will go, making replays still as thrilling as the first time.
