Spooky games for a scary time
The nights are drawing in and there’s a smell of pumpkin spice on the breeze… it can only mean one thing: Halloween is nigh.
For obvious reasons, this year’s spook fest is going to be a bit different than usual in this part of the world, with less trick-or-treating, fewer students roaming the streets in costume (one assumes, anyway) and more… well, staying in I guess. There’s a pretty reasonable argument to say that the world is scary enough right now without finding ways to add to it, but as anyone who has ever enjoyed a horror film knows, some ways of being scared are more fun than others, and a change is as good as a rest, right?
So, for those looking for ways to get into the spook zone without throwing a party or leaving your house, here are our top five board games for Halloween…
#1: Betrayal at House on the Hill
If Halloween is your favourite time of year, then Betrayal at House on the Hill might be about to become your new favourite board game. Just like the best horror films, it’s weird, suspenseful, atmospheric, unpredictable and often hilariously hammy.
In Betrayal, players take on the role of characters exploring a spooky mansion. You begin the game in the entrance hall, comfortable in the knowledge that you’re all on the same side, and feeling ready for an adventure. The mansion slowly reveals its secrets as you explore, which (spolier alert) pretty much always include some truly daft architectural choices, given that the room tiles are drawn at random. Some rooms contain items (often useful stuff like weapons, etc), while others trigger creepy little events or, most excitingly, reveal omens. Each time an omen is appears, six dice are rolled, and if the total number that comes out is lower than the number of omens you’ve encountered so far… then it’s officially SPOOK TIME, because The Haunt is about to begin.
This is the point at which Betrayal really comes into its own. The basic game comes with a book of 50 different scenarios which can trigger at this point. Which one you end up with is determined by the number on the omen card that tipped the balance, and which room it was found in (who’s to say a scary plot line can’t begin with a look-up table? Certainly not us!). The only thing the scenarios have in common is that they will pit one player (the traitor) against the rest. Who becomes the traitor is determined by the scenario, but whoever they are, they will now become the keeper of the Traitor’s Tome which will provide them with their new, secret win condition and let them know their new spooky powers.
We’ve played a few games of Betrayal ourselves and had a LOT of discussions with people who’ve playing it at the Treehouse, and are always astonished at the variety of plot lines. Yes, some of them are better-designed from a gameplay point of view than others, but we’ve never been disappointed with the narrative that develops: this game has genuinely produced some of our favourite board game storylines. If you’re up for some super-nerdy viewing, check out this episode of Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop, which does a great job of demonstrating just how funny and unpredictable Betrayal can be!
Pretty much the only downside to this game at the moment is that you do need at least three people to play it, and ideally 5-6 to experience it at it’s best. If you’re lucky enough to have the player count right now, we strongly recommend giving this one a go.
#2: Mysterium/ Mysterium Park
OK so we’re cheating a bit here by selecting two games instead of one, but hear us out as we explain our reasons…
Mysterium is a long-time favourite at The Treehouse, and has played its part as the centrepiece of a whole lot of fun-filled evenings. In this very weird but truly wonderful cooperative game, one player takes on the role of the ghost, trying to communicate from the afterlife to the other players via the medium of beautiful and surreal illustrated cards. The rest of the players are cast as psychics, trying to solve a murder which took place in the spooky manor in which the game is set.
During the first part of the game, the psychics must each identify their own specific set of clues (a location, suspect and murder weapon) from the array of cards on the table with the help of hints from the afterlife. If all players can get to their answer in time, everyone proceeds to phase two of the game, in which the ghost tries to point everyone towards to correct clue set.
If you’d like to see some entertaining nerds in great costumes demonstrating how this works in practice, we’d highly recommend checking out the Shut Up & Sit Down play-through here (we have an ambition to throw this party ourselves one day… maybe next year).
Mysterium is a genuinely fantastic game, but it does have a couple of flaws that hold it back. Firstly, getting the game set up is a real undertaking. The ghost sits behind an elaborate screen with pockets to hold a card set for each psychic to remind the ghost which clues belong to which player. Getting this ready involves a lot of rummaging through decks looking for specific numbered cards, and even once it’s sorted, it can be a bit confusing to navigate, especially if your ghost is indulging in a bit of other-worldly boozing during play. The second issue is that the game takes over 90 minutes to play, especially up at the higher player counts, which makes it a pretty big commitment for a game which is essentially a party game. This doubles down on the final issue, which is that the ghost has a very different playing experience from the other players, and their role is so crucial that if they’re not quite feeling it, no one will have fun.
BUT… in a probably-not-that-surprising twist given that this is a ‘top 5’ list, these problems appear to have a solution in the form of brand-spanking-new release Mysterium Park, which has arrived at The Treehouse only THIS WEEK! Given that it’s so new we haven’t had a chance to give it a test run yet, but if early reviews like this one are to be believed, Mysterium Park takes all the great stuff from Mysterium and distils it down into a more compact and streamlined playing experience which can be set up in seconds and played to its conclusion in under 45 minutes. We cannot wait to see it in action and see if it lives up to the hype.
#3: EXIT: The Game
Oh all right, we’re cheating again. This isn’t a single game either, but is in fact an entire series. The EXIT games are designed to recreate the experience of an escape room in a tiny box, and we think they do an astonishingly good job of it. Each game can be played only once since some of the components are usually destroyed along the way, but what these neat designs lack in replayability they more than make up for in inventiveness, with a whole batch of ‘ah ha!’ moments packed into each edition. The fact you can only play the game once also gives it a certain sense of occasion, and special occasions are something we’re all a bit short of at the moment, right?
Another useful aspect of this series right now is that all the games work perfectly well with small player counts - two players is ideal, or if you like a challenge you can even get stuck in all by yourself.
If you haven’t tried these before, the original in the series which won the prestigious Kennerspiel Des Jahres award in 2017 is a good place to start, especially as it’s seasonably scary! If you’re an old hand, then we’d highly recommend trying out the Catacombs of Horror bumper edition, which is twice as long as the usual games and contains THE COOLEST puzzle we’ve seen yet.
#4: Sub Terra
If you’re looking for a game that offers a tense, immersive experience with a great narrative arc and you don’t mind getting to grips with a few rules, then Sub Terra could be right up your culvert!
The game begins with a caving expedition gone horribly wrong: your characters have tumbled down a deeper shaft and must now frantically search for the exit before their flashlights run out… or something worse befalls them. The cave system you’re all trapped in gradually reveals itself as you explore, and - surprise, surprise - contains plenty of dangers and hazards. The good news is that until the very final stages of the game, you characters can’t actually die: in the worst case scenario they only fall unconscious, and can be revived with a bit of TLC from another character on the same space. The bad news is that to win the game, you don’t have to get everyone out, so it might not make sense for anyone to come to your rescue. Oh, and did we mention, there’s something nasty down there with you that definitely wishes you harm?
Sub Terra does a fantastic job of ramping up the tension and telling a great story, with players encouraged to take risks and push their characters to limit. The characters themselves are well-drawn and pleasingly diverse, and you can’t help but get attached to them as they struggle for their lives. As in the best horror films, the terrifying things that are hunting you are the only part of the game that lacks detail, leaving your imagination plenty of room to fill in the gaps.
Although probably at its best with four or more players, Sub Terra can work with two: it just means that each player takes on two characters and has a little more to think about. With a range of different character abilities and a different board each time, if you’re anything like us this is a game that you’ll keep coming back to, especially as it’s really quite tough to win!
#5: Ghost (“Geistes”) Blitz
OK maybe that’s enough ‘actual’ scariness for now. Given that it features a ghost and is quite possibly the most played game at The Treehouse, it seems only right and proper to round off this list with quick and silly delight that is Ghost Blitz!
If you’ve yet to play it Ghost Blitz is a face-paced grabbing game that can be taught in under a minute. Five endearing wooden objects sit in the middle of the table: a ghost, a chair, a book, a bottle and a mouse. Why those five objects? Nobody knows, but the important thing is that they are easily recognisable in pictures!
The only other component in the game is a deck of cards, each showing a cartoon featuring two of the objects. On your turn, flip over the top card in the deck so that everyone playing can see it. If one of the objects is shown in its correct colour (i.e. the colour of the corresponding wooden object), everyone races to grab that object. If not… you need to identify the thing that’s missing, i.e. the one object whose shape or colour DOESN’T appear on the card. Whoever grabs the right object first wins the card, and once the deck runs out, the person with the most cards is the winner!
It sounds simple, but spotting the answer under pressure requires a surprising amount of mental agility, and the high-speed grabbing aspect is pretty much guaranteed to get the competitive juices flowing! This is pretty much the perfect filler game, suitable for most age groups (the box says 8+ but we reckon plenty of younger ones could manage it too) and a wide range of group sizes (playing it with two is VERY intense but totally works, and the only real upper limit on player count is the number of people who can reach the objects and see the cards).
If the world feels scary enough but lacking in laughs, this is a great little game to have handy.