It’s spooky season, and while it’s certainly okay to play games about werewolves and ghosts and witches any time of the year, Halloween is always a great time to break out some extra creature features. Here are some games that will have your guests shivering in their seats!
Our suggestions for this year’s list are from Alex Hart, Jonathan Liu, Paul Benson, and Michael Knight.
The Stifling Dark
Do you ever get that feeling that someone’s following you, but you turn around, and no one’s there? In this hidden movement game, a supernatural killer is on the loose. You’re a paranormal investigator, looking to survive and escape the house that you’re trapped in with the adversary. Unique to The Stifling Dark is a clear plastic flashlight template, which you can use to reveal hidden items, clues…and the adversary itself. Read the full review here. (PB)
Vampire Village
Build a cozy little village to attract villagers … but don’t forget to build up your defenses, because there are witches, werewolves, demons, and vampires roaming the outskirts. This card game plays quickly, just two rounds of building and monster attacks, and you’ll score points for villagers that survive the onslaught, plus any monsters that didn’t manage to get through your defenses. Read the full review here. (JL)
Girls vs Ghouls
Okay, this is one you won’t be able to break out for your game night this year, but you can back the Kickstarter so you’ll have it for future Halloweens! Girls vs Ghouls pits two teams against each other in a race to control the houses in a cul-de-sac using tricks and treats. The catch? You don’t know who’s on your team until the end of the game! Check out the full review here. (JL)
Horrified: World of Monsters
You’ve taken on classic movie monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and the Wolfman. You’ve faced American cryptids like Bigfoot, Mothman, and the Jersey Devil. You’ve even traveled back to Ancient Greece to encounter Cerberus and Medusa. Who’s left? Horrified: World of Monsters is the fourth title in this series, and pits you against the Sphinx, Jiangshi, Cthulhu, and the Yeti. Are you up for the challenge? Read the full review here. (MK)
DroPolter
This tiny box from Oink Games has a bunch of little trinkets: you hold them all in your hand, and then try to drop only the correct ones to satisfy the ghosts. Be the fastest, and you earn a bell … which also goes in your hand, so try not to drop it! A clever dexterity game that’s a real treat. (JL)
Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters
This cooperative kids’ game won the Kinderspiel des Jahres back in 2014 and it still holds up. Run into the ghost-filled house and grab the treasure, but be careful not to let too many spirits gather or it summons a haunting. The 10th anniversary edition includes a new one-vs-many play mode, so now one player can control all the ghosts against up to four treasure hunters! Unfortunately you’ll have to wait a bit for this one to make it to the US: the release date is in December, so put it on your holiday wish lists so you’ll have it ready for next year! (JL)
Disney Villainous Sugar and Spite
Did somebody say candy? The latest title in the Villainous series includes two villains: Shere Khan from The Jungle Book and King Candy from Wreck-It Ralph. Shere Khan needs to defeat Mowgli, but first must rid his realm of fire. King Candy has a unique board that looks like a race-track, and needs to beat Vanellope at a race while she’s glitching. Read the full review here. (MK)
Dracula vs. Van Helsing
This asymmetric two-player hand management game pits vampire against vampire hunter as each player attempts to manipulate the cards in their hand to gain control of the town’s five districts. At the end of a round, players will compare the five cards in their hand one at a time to see which one is strictly better, taking both value and trump suit into consideration. If Van Helsing wins a district, they’ll simply remove one of Dracula’s health points and if they manage to remove all 12 before the end of the game, then they win! Conversely, if Dracula wins a district, they’ll convert one of the humans in said district to a vampire – there are four humans in each district and if at any point, Dracula is able to convert an entire district to vampires, then they win! This game has a wonderful back and forth feel to it and it’s full of wild “gotcha” moments (read: jumpscares) that make it a tense and exciting experience all the way through. Pick this one up this spooky season for a killer night in! (AH)
Ghosts Love Candy Too
You love candy? So do ghosts! But they have trouble eating it themselves, being incorporeal and all, so the next best thing is to possess kids and have them eat it. Ghosts Love Candy is an old favorite of mine but it went out of print when the original publisher went out of business—and then got a second life through 25th Century Games back in 2022 as Ghosts Love Candy Too. You can order a copy directly from the publisher. And if you enjoy the theme, you could also check out the Ghosts Love Candy Too Roll & Fright print-and-play game. (JL)
Open Season
Heads will roll in Open Season, a clever tableau-building, set collection game for 2–4 players where you play as monsters with a love of taxidermy, collecting the heads of their enemies as trophies on their wall! In the game, you’ll be drafting trophies from the market row two at a time, but you’ve only got so much space in your den, so you’ll have to mount one of them on your wall and put the other one in your stock, to be added to your scoring pile at the end of the round. When placing trophies on your wall, you’ll have to pay attention to the various customs and conditions that come with the taxidermy tradition – some of the spaces will give you new scoring conditions, others might cause you to lose points, and still others can give you special actions that will help you secure exactly the right sets of trophies you need to come out a-head… see what I did there?! This one is really clever and while the actions are simple, the strategy can present a really tricky challenge for even the most seasoned of gamers. Grab your own copy of Open Season from the Sit Down Games website or wherever board games are sold! (AH)
Arkham Horror RPG – Starter Set: Hungering Abyss
Want a night of mystery, horror, and storytelling? Then why play a board game when you could play a tabletop roleplaying game instead? This affordable and comprehensive starter set has everything you need to jump into a long evening of adventure as up to 6 people can uncover the truth behind the recent disturbing disappearances in 1920s Arkham. With a “learn as you play” rulebook, premade characters, and plenty of player handouts, you’re sure to have a great time roleplaying in H.P. Lovecraft’s creations. Read my full review here. (PB)
Final Girl
You are the Final Girl in a horror movie, trying to survive the night and defeat the killer. There are several different “Feature Films,” each with their own Final Girl, killer, and setting. But you can mix and match all of these, creating your own unique horror movie that you play through. This solo-only GeekDad-Approved game got even better with the release of Series 2, which includes 5 more Feature Films. And a Kickstarter campaign for Series 3 will be shipping to backers shortly! Read my full review here. (PB)
Mists Over Carcassonne
Carcassonne was one of the games that got me into the hobby, and it’s one that I still enjoy now: I just love seeing the map come together over the course of the game. Mists Over Carcassonne turns it into a cooperative game, where you need to build out the walled cities without being overrun by ghosts! There are a number of scenarios to play through that get progressively more difficult—how long can you survive? Look for it at your local game store or order a copy from Z-Man Games. (JL)
Happy Halloween, and happy gaming!
