It’s time for the spookiest of seasons and that also means its the BEST time to trot out the scariest, gothest, most morbid board games in your library to the assorted hayrides, Halloween parties, and coven sacrifices you’ll be attending this year. With plenty of dark evenings ahead, here’s our favorite recent spooky titles you can enjoy this October or, really, any time of year that demands more from the darker side of the table.
You can see our previous year’s Halloween recommendation lists here and here.
Dark Deeds
Publisher: Modiphius Entertainment
MSRP: $47
Created by Andy Chambers and Mark Gibbons, this second edition features revised and rebalanced rules, more cards, and dastardly grimy art from Gibbons. In Dark Deeds, you take on the role of malicious minions in service to an unnamed but very villainous Patron. You must perform acts of thievery, violence, and betrayal, all whilst avoiding the suspicious guards and interfering nemeses. Each turn has three phases. Players hit the street and take a target down, head to the tavern to either dig for dirt or lay low to remove suspicion, and then take stock. In the last phase of the turn, you check for arrests, and advance the street. Whichever card is an the last slot on the street leads to either a chase of the current player, most suspicious player, or that card being discard immediately. In this way, when advancing the street, all the players might have to resolve actions.
Throughout the game, you can (and should) also play plot or dark deed cards. Plot cards have various effects that will help you fulfill a Dark Deed card, which can be fulfilled once per phase per turn. The more of those that you fulfill, the more points that you have, leading to the win at the very end of the game. Dark Deeds is perfect for the season with all the tricking, trapping, and shenanigans going on. It’s super easy to get caught up in trying to attack guards or gain loot and forget about the nemeses or guards chasing! Anyone left at the end of the game will subtract from your total points, so don’t lose track of the end goal. Gaining the patron’s favor!
Horrified: World of Monsters
Publisher: Ravensburger
MSRP: $29.99
Following up on the more international flavor in the last installment, World of Monsters brings in new monsters from China (The Jiangshi), Egypt (The Sphinx), Tibet (The Yeti), and…uh, Rhode Island (Cthulhu). These four new monsters offer up new forms of terror as you follow the standard Horrified gameplay: travel around the board, save people, solve puzzles to defeat each unique monster. World of Monsters does two new things for the franchise that really change the game. The first is the multi-phase puzzle for Cthulhu, which happens in the Monster World and in his own realm. The second is that for the first time a Horrified title is backwards compatible. It’s only with Greek Monsters but it’s something people have been clamoring for and it’s implemented super well. Here’s hoping they can bring in some of the classics in eventually for a truly epic Monster Mash sometime soon.
Arkham Horror TTRPG Starter Set – Hungering Abyss
Publisher: EDGE Studio
MSRP: $34.99
While this obviously dips more into the TTPRG end of things, and of course I wholeheartedly recommend you give the base Arkham Horror and its many, MANY spinoffs a shot for a really fun Lovecraftian experience, Arkham Horror The Roleplaying Game does a really fun job at taking the board game design elements of the original and translating them into a roleplaying game. It leans more heavily on the puzzle solving and collective storytelling aspects of tabletop play and at times feels almost like an escape room in a box more than a traditional starter kit. Not only does it have all the dice, rules, and characters you need for the game, Hungering Abyss also features a ton of fun in-universe feelies that aid in the investigation and help the horror come to life. And admirable first effort for EDGE in the starter set world, and a good sign for the future of the Arkham Horror TTRPG adaptation.
Mori
Publisher: AllPlay
MSRP: $19
Mori is a game about death but also one about life. The eternal cycle in card game form. At its core a very basic game of trick-taking but with some fun extra mechanics thrown in like dice (which can change how you follow or use trumps) and keeping track of negative “X” cards. It’s a great little game that you can bring around to any party and teach quickly, and its an attractive option all year thanks to Beth Sobel’s beautifully macabre art.
This Game Is Killer
Publisher: Smirk & Dagger
MSRP: $14.99
This Game Is Killer is another fantastic get for your Halloween parties this season, especially if you know anyone who’s a big fan of Among Us or ALIEN. The premise of the game is that there’s an alien on board (as the title would imply) and your job as the crew is to survive its rampage. To do that you need to work together with your crew to escape and contain…but that also might mean sacrificing your fellows in order to maintain your own safety. The tone is light and fun considering the theme and creates the perfect black comic atmosphere that makes for a great Halloween game.
Images via respective owners
Have strong thoughts about this piece you need to share? Or maybe there’s something else on your mind you’re wanting to talk about with fellow Fandomentals? Head on over to our Community server to join in the conversation!
