The Best Board Games to play on Halloween
By Richard Lynch
If you’re going to find yourself stuck at home this Halloween, here’s a list of some great horror themed board games to guarantee that things stay spooky.
5 – Zombies!!! – while not the most mechanically complex game out there, Zombies!!! manages to capture the feeling of classic zombie movies thanks to its expansive tile based board and its beautiful, gory art. Zombies is a semi-cooperative game where players may work together to survives against an expanding hoard of zombies or go off on their own all while keeping an eye out for the escape helicopter, but it’s important to remember that the helicopter only has room for one passenger. This game has been a mainstay for me for years; its random nature always manages to keep things interesting, and players each have an opportunity to move zombies every turn which can change thing up quickly. With dozens of themed expansions and spinoffs, there’s plenty of Zombies!!! Action to go around.
4 – One Night Ultimate Werewolf – One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a fast paced take on a classic party game where players take on the roles of various villagers who trying to the werewolf among them. At the beginning of the game, players are each assigned a role card with unique abilities and goals then gameplay consists of two phases, night and day. During the night phases players, will secretly take their actions based on the instructions of the narrator, actions can include seeing who else has your role, swapping roles with other players (without them knowing) or seeing who the werewolves are. Once things are properly mixed up, day begins, and players must decide who to hang for being a werewolf. Winning is determined based on who is chosen, and then the game ends. Werewolf is a fast-paced game with a lot of variation and very little downtime, perfect for when there’s a few minutes to kill between trick-or-treaters showing up.
3 – Fury of Dracula – Fury of Dracula is a race against time where one player takes on the title role of Dracula and secretly moves across Europe turning maidens into vampires and leaving a trail of havoc in their wake. Everyone else plays as part of a team of vampire hunters, following a trail of clues and they try to corner Dracula and put an end to his menace once and for all. Few games handle asynchronous gameplay as well as Fury of Dracula; each side has completely different advantages and disadvantages without ever feeling unfair. Dracula is designed to be tough to beat on his own which encourages teamwork and cooperation. Fury of Dracula is an excellent game for players who feel like they think they have what it takes to outsmart everyone else. But remember it’s not as easy as it seems.
2 – Betrayal at the House on the Hill – I’ve written about Betrayal before and with good reason. For those who’ve never played before, Betrayal is a cooperative horror game where players explore a tile based house until one of them triggers “the haunt” which causes one players to switch teams and play out one of hundreds of B-Horror movie scenarios. This game is a horror movie marathon in a box; there is so much variation that you may never see the same situation twice and with the game’s first-ever expansion just releasing now is the perfect time to jump in.
1–Dead of Winter– If Zombies!!! represents classic zombie movies on this list, then Dead of Winter is The Walking Dead. Players try to survive a zombie apocalypse in the height of winter; everyone is working together to complete the main objective while also trying to accomplish secret objectives to win. While working toward an objective, players must maintain morale, food supplies and keep down the zombie population, all of which can get you killed. This game can be complex, but once players figure it out, they’re sure to find an experience that drags you in and makes you really feel like you’re trying to survive in an episode of The Walking Dead.
Let us know your favorite Boardgame you’ll play on Halloween
The new Mansions of Madness is dripping with theme, extremely easy to setup, and ideal for a dark Halloween adventure. It can run long if players dither or take too long between turns, but the cooperative story telling is top notch.