October is a great time to highlight our favorite terrifying board games. Why go trick-or-treating when you can stay at home with a ghastly horror board game? When playing scary games it always helps to create a little ambiance. Dim the lights and put on some spooky music (horror movie soundtracks often work well for this) to enjoy with the game.
First up is an old favorite and a new expansion.
The house on the hill has a wicked reputation. Those who dare to darken its door often leave steeped in madness and despair — if they leave at all.
Betrayal At House On The Hill is a cooperative storytelling horror board game where players take the role of supernatural investigators trying to find out what terror is at the heart of the house. Because the house is created dynamically, using map tiles, and the story threads are discovered randomly, using the game’s story book, it’s a new game every time! Players investigate the house until the twist comes and one of the players randomly becomes the betrayer. Then the players must stop their former colleague from killing them all! Each game takes about an hour to play.
Now the terror reaches new heights with Widow’s Walk, the first-ever expansion for the critically acclaimed horror board game Betrayal at House on the Hill. The house is expanded with the addition of twenty new rooms, including the roof, a previously unexplored floor. Also in its halls you will find new monsters, items, omens, events, and fifty brand-new haunts, penned by lead developer Mike Selinker’s all-star cast of contributors from the world of gaming and entertainment. In Widow’s Walk, terror and panic are taken to a whole new level Enter if you dare. Exit if you can…
Next up is Mysterium, a deduction game where you solve a murder with help from the victim’s ghost.
In the 1920s, Mr. MacDowell, a gifted astrologist, immediately detected a supernatural being upon entering his new house in Scotland. He gathered eminent mediums of his time for an extraordinary séance, and they have seven hours to contact the ghost and investigate any clues that it can provide to unlock an old mystery.
Unable to talk, the amnesic ghost communicates with the mediums through visions, which are represented in the game by illustrated cards. The mediums must decipher the images to help the ghost remember how he was murdered: Who did the crime? Where did it take place? Which weapon caused the death? The more the mediums cooperate and guess well, the easier it is to catch the right culprit.
One player takes the role of the ghost, passing out vision cards related to it’s death and the other players become the mediums trying to solve the crime. It’s an intriguing mix of Clue and Dixit , using visual storytelling and matchmaking to propel the investigation forward. Since you only have seven turns, or hours on the game’s clock, before the ghost fades away the game takes on a frantic and exciting pace the nearer the players get to the deadline. Mysterium has one expansion, Hidden Signs, which adds new cards to the game. Each game takes 30-40 minutes to play.
Finally, we recommend Mansions of Madness Second Edition, the tactical horror board game set in H.P. Lovecraft’s dark vision of Massachusetts.
Mansions of Madness is a scenario-driven horror board game of occult terror and mystery for two to five players. In the first edition a player would have to take the role of keeper and control the games monsters and villains. Now an app takes care of the sinister side of things and all players take on the roles of investigators who explore an eerie location in the hopes of solving a mystery before it’s too late. The investigators win or lose as a team, and must keep their wits about them to find the artifacts, weapons, and clues needed to stop the diabolical plot. Can a handful of brave investigators uncover the truth in time or will the wicked plans of evil cultists and dark horrors come to fruition?
This horror board game is very faithful to the Lovecraft mythos and is, as a result, perfect for fans of Cthulhu and the rest of his eldritch brethren. Mansions of Madness Second Edition has two expansions, Recurring Nightmares and Suppressed Memories. Each game takes one hour or more to play.
Be sure to check these out the next time you’re looking for a scary good horror board game!
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