In our previous list, we played on the detective theme and provided you with board games that guided you through mysteries. Solving these mysteries must have given you a thrill, right? For this list, we're playing on that mystery theme again but adding a little scare into the mix. Whether it's trying to hide from a monster or perhaps trying to discern who is a traitor in your group of friends, the fear of the unknown exists in everyone, and these board games play on that and provide a thrill to everyone playing. Here is our top 15 Best Thriller Board Games to play.
15. Dark Stories: Real Crime Edition
If you have ever watched any crime-based tv shows, you’ve probably seen your fair share of intros where the unfortunate mailman, waitress, teenage hoodlum, etc., get into a situation where they find the body that subsequently launches the start of the episode. And that body is in some sort of scenario where it is either distorted, covered in some weird goo, or something that makes the heroes go “how did the heck did that happen” and proceed to solve the case. Now imagine that but in a card game instead.
In Dark Stories: Real Crime Edition, you will pull a card out of the pile and read the vague scenario to the other players. The answer to how that person died is on the back. The other players will talk with each other and ask you “yes or no” questions. There are no limits to how many questions are allowed per round. Eventually, after answering enough questions, they should be able to deduce how that person died, to which you reveal whether it is correct or not.
Guess your way through each death (this game comes in English too, I promise)
Essentially, this is a riddle game. And riddles can be fun! Figuring them out is the whole goal of the game. And once you’ve gone through all 50 cards, there may not be a whole lot of replay value, which is why this is ranked as only “fun” on this list. But players who want to solve crimes in a game without the hassle of moving tokens around, interrogating suspects, and coming up with clues will find enjoyment in this game! And if you are into the macabre, slightly twisted, sometimes scary ways of how some people have died, then give this a go.
Buy this game if:
- You enjoy riddles and/or crime-solving tv shows.
- You want something that you can take with you on the go.
14. echoes: The Cocktail
Your team of cops has discovered the location of an illegal alcohol bar and plans to raid it to put an end to it once and for all. But as your plan is put into action, you discover that everyone from that bar, and all of its criminals, have disappeared. What are you going to do?
The Echoes game series is a new series brought to you by Ravensburger. What is different from other games they have come out with is that these games come with an app, and most of the gameplay is done in this app by listening to sounds and clues to figure out the story behind the game.
Use the accompanying app to solve the mystery behinds The Cocktail
As the detective of the game, you have a unique ability to tell what happened to an object by listening to its “echoes,” which means that you can hear what happened to that object right before the bar and its tenants' disappearance. In The Cocktail, you are trying to solve the mystery of what happened moments before you arrive at the crime scene. Laying out all the tiles included, you’ll scan the object tiles with the smartphone app and listen to the sounds that come from them. Correctly guessing the order that the sounds take place will tell you what happened to that object. Little by little, you’ll be able to determine (from putting the sounds together) what happened to the people in the bar to cause them to disappear. Revealing that will unravel a greater mystery that you’ll solve in further chapters of the game.
This is a really fun concept: to be able to listen to sounds to figure out a mystery. While this was entertaining to play through, after it was all said and done, that’s it. There is no replay value after that, unfortunately. So while playing it at the time was fun, the fun was over after a little bit of time. As a result, echoes: The Cocktail ends up on this part of the list
Buy this game if:
- You want to bring a unique mystery game to the table for game night.
13. Hello Neighbor: The Secret Neighbor Party Game
As a kid, have you ever watched your neighbor in secret, with your imagination running rampant? Have you ever thought that your neighbor may be hiding a secret, something he doesn’t want the world to know? In your mind, have you run scenarios in your head on how you would somehow uncover those secrets? There are a couple of games on this list that will play that idea out, but in Hello Neighbor: The Secret Neighbor Party Game, one of you will secretly play as the villain.
Each member of your group will receive a card revealing who is a kid and who is a regular/secret neighbor. Object cards that will be important for the game are also handed to each player. One of you will play as the leader of the game and will not participate in the deduction parts of each round. Your only job is to make sure that everything runs smoothly.
Play as either the kids, the neighbor or the secret neighbor in this game!
During the first round, the Leader will instruct everyone to close their eyes and ask the regular neighbors to open their eyes so they know who is on their team. The secret neighbor does not know who are the regular neighbors. During each round after that, players will get up and trade their objects with one another. After a two-minute timer is up, everyone goes back to their seat. If you have three objects of the same kind in your hand, you can choose to use that object to take an action. You can either see another player’s hand, force them to drop their whole hand, or steal a key from the middle of the group (or from another player if all are claimed by that point) depending on the object cards that you have.
Once all keys are claimed, a player may declare that he wants someone to open a door. After discussion, you will select a player that you think is not the regular or secret neighbor. After a vote, if the person nominated is a kid, they successfully open a door. The kids must do this three times to win the game. If a neighbor is voted at any time, the neighbors win. Only by successfully deducing who could potentially be a neighbor will the kids ever win a game.
With a lot of similarities to Ultimate Werewolf, many people could find this game fun to play. But those who are not into social deduction games or just not good at them may not find enjoyment in playing, so be sure to have your group picked carefully for this one.
Buy this game if:
- You have many friends or family over to play. This game supports 5-10 players.
- You like social deduction games or the Hello Neighbor games that have been released in the past.
12. Inkognito
Ah, the Carnival of Venice! A time for people to gather together in the streets, share merriment, enjoy good food and drink, and on occasion, complete a little bit of espionage! In Inkognito, your goal is to find your other teammate on the board and complete your mission before other players do.
Everyone starts their game with: their color of choice, four tokens each (fat, short, tall, and skinny), an identity card, secret cards, and a passport. The passport is your notepad to keep track of your findings which helps you locate your partner-in-crime. You’ll know which partner you are supposed to look for when you receive your identity card. You then put your tokens on random spots on the map.
On your turn, you’ll shake the Phantom of Prophecy to determine your moves. Depending on what colored balls are revealed, you’ll move your pieces accordingly. When you land on the same spot as another player’s tokens, you can ask that player some questions, such as what their identity is or their token’s build. The player will give them two of their cards as their response (one that is the truth, and one that is a lie). You will make note of the cards that you now know the player has and move on.
Use the Phantom of Prophecy to determine where you can travel through Venice.
Once you gather enough information, you can determine which player is potentially your partner, and look at your mission. The game will tell you your mission by this point, which can be one of 24 possible scenarios, such as reaching a certain part of the map, landing on a certain player's spot, etc. Complete your mission and hold out your hand to your (possible) partner to shake. If he returns the shake, then he was indeed your partner. If he doesn’t, that means that he wasn’t your partner and all of the efforts you’ve made so far don’t count, therefore you cannot win the game.
This game is very creative! The Phantom of Prophecy mechanics really is the star of the board. Trying to figure out who your partner is but not knowing until you make the final move is anxiety-inducing. But since the game uses randomizing mechanics, winning the game can be all a matter of how lucky you get and not so much on strategy, so that can be a turnoff for a lot of players. Plus, if you don’t have exactly four players, the game can change its rules drastically depending on if you have only 3 or 5 players, which can be frustrating to keep track of at times.
Buy this game if:
- You are a fan of games that have interesting tokens to play with.
- You love games that have huge maps.
11. Escape Tales: Children of Wyrmwoods
Escape rooms have become popular over the past few years so it is no surprise to find that they are making their way into our tabletop games as of late. In the third installment of the Escape Tales series, you’ll find a challenge here as you would with any escape room you play.
In this particular story from Escape Tales, Children of Wyrmwoods, you take on the role of Gilbert. He lives in a small, reclusive town where everything outside its wall will either kill you or drive you insane. Your goal is to solve the game's mysteries and stay alive.
Join the protagonist and decide his fate with one of 60 different endings!
Depending on the actions you take or how you progress, you’ll end up at various locations using action tokens and certain cards. There is an app that you download onto your smartphone that will present you with most of the puzzles (which vary in difficulty) that you will face during your travels with Gilbert. And with over 60 different endings, you can replay this game many times to solve different parts of the mysteries of Wyrmwoods.
This game is enjoyable from beginning to end, and the story will keep you on the edge of your seat. The box says that a single playthrough can take up to 7.5 hours to play if you are playing solo, and maybe less than half that time with others unless you or your friends take it easy. If you are like most adults though, you may not have all the time in the world and have to keep tabs in order to play some more on a later day, which can be annoying to completionists or those who are really getting into the game. And if you don’t like having to solve one puzzle after the other in order to move forward with the story, then it may not be enjoyable for you. Buy this game if:
- You enjoy story-driven games.
- You want a game with multiple endings.
10. Mysterium Park
Another murder has happened in the world of Mysterium and it is up to you to solve it!
Just like in the original Mysterium, one player acts as the ghost that gives clues to the other players (about the murderer, location, and weapon)without speaking or giving gestures. It is up to the players to look at these cards and attempt to glean what information they can from them.
Provide visions as the ghost so that your murder can be solved!
The Ghost gives players visual cards that he thinks may best give the answer he wants them to pick. The cards are visual masterpieces and are wonderful to behold, but at the same time, they are somewhat disturbing and unsettling. If you like the original Mysterium, then you’ll enjoy taking a walk in the park with this version. And much like the original Mysterium, you’ll be spending a lot of time mulling over cards and hoping that you get the right guesses each time.
Other than the theme and some simpler rules and setup though, this is almost the exact same game as Mysterium so anyone hoping for major changes may be a little disappointed. But if you like the gameplay of its predecessor and want a different scenario, you’ll definitely want to play this.
Buy this game if:
- You like the gameplay of Dixit with a mystery twist.
- You liked the first Mysterium board game.
9. Fury Of Dracula
Dracula has come a long way since his novel introduction in 1897. Movies, sitcoms, and teen romance novels, but now it's the board game nerds’ turn to have a stab at the big guy! In this one-vs-all game, one player is Dracula and must spread his evil throughout all of Europe and the Hunters are attempting to stop him before it is too late.
Traverse through Europe as either Dracula or the Hunters.
Hunters take turns during daytime and nighttime phases. During the day, they can move around Europe’s cities and seas in search of Dracula. Night time is dangerous for hunters until they find the vampire’s location, so typically during a nighttime phase, they will investigate, collaborate, and prepare for the next daytime phase. They each have one action they take during both of these phases.
Will you come out on top as the Hunter? Or will Dracula elude your grasp?
Dracula will play differently. After the hunters finish their nighttime phase, the head vampire can take his own actions. He can move around Europe as well while creating supporters, additional vampires, and lay traps for Hunters. During the day, he has to stay in the location he ends up in until the next nighttime phase.
Everywhere you look, people say that this is a great game to play and it’s easy to see why. The mechanics are solid and provide hours of fun. But if you’re looking for a solo playthrough or have only 1-2 other players, you may not have as much fun. It’s definitely worth a shot though if you get your hands on a physical copy.
Buy this game if:
- You love classic monster movies/games.
- You love the one-versus-all games.
8. Tragedy Looper
In most games that you play, more often than not you are trying to stay alive as long as possible in order to win or achieve a goal. In Tragedy Looper, you need to die multiple times in order to win. Three players take on the role of three protagonists that need to break out of a time loop to ensure that everyone gets a happy future.
One player is the Mastermind that is trying to ruin that for everyone. The Mastermind will have everything laid out before him: the plots, the gameplay, everything. This means that while he is the villain, he is also the leader of the game.
Play as the protagonist or the villainous Mastermind and be the first to achieve your goals of the game!
Without going too much into gameplay (to avoid spoilers) the protagonists are trying to solve why a time loop is occurring and why the Mastermind is doing what he is doing and what they can do to stop him. All of the actions will be explained to them, but the Mastermind will call out everything he does. The protagonists will review their summary notes on what to do for each situation, but because they need to die in order to progress, they will fail time and time again until they get it right.
You’ll love this game if you enjoy the player versus everyone else gameplay. The anime art style on the cards will also appeal to many. This is not a game for those who enjoy light or quick playthroughs though. There is a huge learning curve in playing this, however, so your first game may be the most frustrating one unless there is someone in your group that has played this before. And even then, you may have to hold the hands of those new to the game, because it can still be difficult to simply run through until they get the hang of it.
Buy this game if:
- You want a challenging game where you need to try and try again in order to deduce where to go and how to win.
- You like the anime art style.
7. There’s Been A Murder
It starts to sound a little redundant, but you are once again thrown into a murder! In 1930s England, you and your friends have been asked to solve a murder that took place in a small country home, but will your combined efforts be enough?
Each of you will start with two cards in the beginning. On your turn, you’ll draw one card and play one, making sure that you only have two cards in your hand for the entire game. When you play a card, you need to make a choice on if you put it in the discard pile or give it to another player. What you may need to do could be stated on the card itself, so you’ll need to read each one carefully. You’re also not allowed to share what card you have unless, again, the card says that you can. And on top of that, you’ll need to keep track of what you did with each card as well as what other players have told you so far because that will be important later.
Find the right cards to win the game!
The game is won if the Detective card is drawn, and the player holding the detective card also ends up with the Murderer Card. The game is lost if the murderer and witness card end up in the same hand, or if there are no more cards left to draw before the murderer can be caught.
This is a simple but fun mystery game, that adds a sense of thrill as you are trying to find the right cards but avoid passing the wrong card to the wrong player since it can result in a loss for the who group.
Buy this game if:
- You need a mystery game, but don’t want over-complicated rules.
- You need a quick game with friends.
6. Awkward Guests
Nothing kills the vibe of a dinner party more than murder. But still, someone has snuffed out poor Mr. Walton, so you should probably get on that before the soup gets cold. But you have to talk to some pretty awkward guests to get to the bottom of this.
During the Inquiry Phase, you have to interrogate family members question the staff, look through crime scenes, etc., if you hope to catch who committed the murder.
Go through interrogations, crime scenes, and more to solve the murder.
During the offer and exchange phases, you can swap cards with other players to learn more information such as motive, suspects, and weapons, which you will then check off on the notepad provided with the game. The first player to correctly Identify the suspect, the weapon, the motive, and (on certain occasions) the accomplice, wins!
Use your deduction skills to find everything you need to know to win!
The best thing about Awkward Guests is its capability for an infinite amount of gameplay without ever feeling like it's repeating itself. With over 243 cards that come with the game, you play with only 70 for one playthrough, so the chances of repeat games of how to solve the murder of Mr. Walton are rare. And with the use of the app only at the end, it doesn’t take away from the physical cards you have.
Buy this game if:
- You want a game where there are over 3600 different case solutions (according to the official rule book), so you want a game that will never feel stale.
5. Mr. Jack
The mystery of Jack the Ripper has eluded many people for many years. How was no one able to catch him? Perhaps it was because of the lack of evidence left behind. Maybe he had accomplices? Or maybe, just maybe he was someone in Whitechapel that was the least likely of suspects? Whatever the case, we’re going to try and catch him again, and this time, he’ll be someone very close to you.
Move your characters through London and try to find the culprit amongst them.
In Mr. Jack, you and one other player will become eight of the best investigators to catch the criminal. Except Mr. Jack is impersonating one of the investigators! Jack will know which character it is, so it is up to the detective to find out which one it is. There are eight characters in the game, and they will all be used for this game. The board itself included in the game will have alleys that are lit by gaslight, and some that are dark.
During each turn, you and the other player will each move four characters (two each). During odd-numbered turns, the first four investigators are drawn and the detective chooses which two he will move, and then Jack will move his two characters. During even-numbered turns, the remaining four character cards are drawn and played by both players.
Who is secretly Mr. Jack?
It is at this time that Jack will announce if his secret character can be seen in a lit street or not. Gaslights will go out one-by-one each round so the detective is at a greater disadvantage each turn. If by the end of the eighth round the detective is able to correctly identify which character is Jack, he wins. If he cannot, then Jack wins.
While this is focused as a game meant for children, adults can have a lot of fun with this as well. Successfully deducing one character out of eight is exhilarating and fun, and the replay value is high.
Buy this game if:
- You want a mystery game that kids can enjoy.
- You want another Jack the Ripper-themed game added to your collection.
4. Not Alone
Crash landing onto a planet isn’t fun. Crash landing onto a planet where a creature wants to absorb you into the planet itself? Now that’s a bad day.
In another one versus all situation, there will be a Hunter and the rest are the Hunted. On the board, the hunted will pick their secret location to start and so will the Hunter. The only difference is that the hunted must tell their location afterward. With each location that a hunted is on, they can use that location’s ability. If the Hunter is in the same spot as another player, that player will lose a will point and they are one step closer to becoming one with the planet and they cannot use that location’s ability.
Can you survive being absorbed into the planet?
On each turn, new locations can reveal new ways for the hunted to survive the game, including regaining will, or drawing more survival cards. The Hunter also has cards that he can play with, and doing so can help him do additional things such as going after two locations at once.
The Hunted can talk openly with each other and discuss their next moves, but of course, doing so can give the Hunter an advantage. HOWEVER, you can lie about where you are going in order to trick the Hunter to go away from you. It is from there that the Hunter should deduce whether or not to believe the player is telling the truth, because if can’t catch and assimilate everyone into the player before they escape the planet, he loses.
Certain locations can give you an advantage if you can make it alive.
As mentioned before, it is like many other one-vs-all situations, which can be stale if you’re looking for something new. It is nice though that the balances out the abilities of all players so everyone has an advantage in winning, but it is up to the Hunter to deduce and find out where everyone is actually going if he hopes to win.
Buy this game if:
- You want a science fiction-themed mystery board game to play.
3. Mantis Falls
You’ve become a witness to a terrible crime in the little mountain town of Mantis Falls and need to escape! You’ll provide your way to escape, but the mafia that committed the crime has hired someone to track you down and take you out before you make it out.
At the start of the game, you’ll place “start” and “end” road cards down at the beginning and end of the board. The other road cards are shuffled into their own piles for later drawing. After shuffling, they’ll be placed onto the parts of the board where they belong which will simulate the feel of the long drive out of town. These will be the sunset, night, and dark cards. Event and Ally cards will also be on the board for later play. Each player will then get six action cards.
On each turn, players will choose to move forward on the board or stay, use conservative energy cards to move more, or heal wounds (later in the game). Then they draw event cards, which must be followed. The player may immediately be harmed, or other players may be harmed.
Can you make it out of Mantis Falls alive?
All the while, the witness is on edge at all times, because one of his companions may be an assassin to take him out. Or worse, through a random draw, no one was selected as an assassin so everyone is on edge the entire time because they are unaware of that!
In short, this is a really fun game! There are no supernatural elements, no monsters, just you and your team. But not knowing who is going to stab you in the back as you near the end of your goal will make you nervous, and it is just as nice that the assassin can have just as much bad luck as you as he tries to get you.
Buy this game if:
- You want a game that keeps you guessing who is out to get you until the end.
2. Anomaly
Science Fiction isn’t getting a lot of love on this list and it shows. So here is another game that we found that we think you’ll enjoy. Here is Anomaly.
In traditional one-versus-all fashion, one player is the alien “anomaly” and the rest are crew members or “students.” The goal of the alien is to feed off all of the fuel supplies on the ship or on the students themselves, while the student's goal is to eliminate the monster by killing it or destroying its food sources. The students can take their turns whenever they would like, as long as they decide it as a group first. They cannot, however, show each other their cards, as that would give them an unfair advantage against the alien. They must talk about their plan out loud.
The alien can also use as many actions as he needs to as long as he still has action points to spare. He can listen in on the students' plans and make plans of his own on how to thwart them. He can also take special actions if the back of the cards that are played by the students specify as such. The alien also has the ability to evolve and develop new powers such as echolocation, phasing, and morphing, so the students must act fast if they hope to have the upper hand before too long.
Move around the ship carefully, or the Anomaly will get you...
All the while players are taking their actions, the spaceship is filling with radiation. Students that catch themselves in radiated rooms will slowly take damage, so that is another reason to be fast to complete all of their objectives.
I know, I know, there have been A LOT of one-versus-all games on this list. What makes this one different? First off, it’s fast-paced and runs under 60 minutes per playtime. A lot of the other games, while fun, can feel slow at times. Second, no one knows where anyone is on the board, even your own teammates. The only time you will know someone is near is through actions that you take.
The gameplay will feel slow if someone is taking their time on making their next choice, which isn’t going to happen often because sitting still for a long time will hurt your chances of winning. But that is a flaw though: there will be times when you get stuck with no way out and that can seem unfair at times. That being said, after you get used to how the game plays, this is one that you’ll go back to over and over again.
Buy this game if:
- You need a one-versus-all game with a sci-fi setting.
1. Rear Window
In Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Rear Window, viewers watched in horror as James Stewart’s character plays a peeping tom on his neighbors while recuperating from a broken leg, only to discover that one of them may be a murderer. In Funko Pop’s Rear Window, you’ll take on that role also and try to discover who is a murderer in your building.
Before the game starts, the players will shuffle attribute cards that represent the residents of the apartments in the area. They are then given to one player that will become the Director. The Director then comes up with the four residents as well as their attributes and provides clues for the Watchers, which is all other players. Much like in Mysterium, this player only participates by giving out clues for the watchers, making sure that they stay on the right track.
Find out if your neighbors have committed a horrible crime!
The Watchers must team up and find out the following: which residents live in the four different apartments, their traits, and whether they were capable of murder. They will only have a few in-game days to do this. The Director, through drawing his own special tiles, will know who the murderer is once that has been played. If he is able to guide the Watchers into guessing eight "Window" cards, they all win. If
A perfect mix of both mystery and a little bit of scary, Rear Window is sure to please players of all types. For fans of Mysterium and Alfred Hitchcock, play this game.
Buy this game if:
- You’ve been a fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s works.
- You want a game that plays like Mysterium.
