During a year filled with real-world frights and horrors, the traditional Halloween scares can be almost a relief. For those of you looking for some familiar monsters to spend the evening with, here’s a list of thirteen suggestions from Paul Benson, Jonathan Liu, Rob Huddleston, Michael Pistiolas, Jim Kelly, and Michael Knight.
Horrified
While Universal hasn’t been too successful uniting its library of classic horror villains on the screen yet, with the help of Ravensburger you can at least play against all of them in the wonderfully fun game Horrified. Players join forces in the cooperative game to defeat Dracula, Wolfman, the Invisible Man, Frankenstein and the Bride, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Mummy. Each time you play you can face off against two or more of the creatures in any combination you choose, allowing almost endless replayability. Read my full review for more details. (RH)
Zombicide: Invader, Zombicide: Black Plague, Zombicide: Green Horde
The latest iteration of CMON’s popular Zombicide series takes the franchise into space with Zombicide: Invader. You and your friends play as a team of six survivors, cooperating together to fight off hordes of zombified aliens which are invading your outpost on planet PK-L7. You can read my review here. (PB)
Or if you prefer fantasy instead of sci-fi, Zombicide: Black Plague and Zombicide: Green Horde pit your team of survivors against zombies, necromancers, and undead orcs within a medieval setting. Use swords, bows, and spells to fight your way to victory. You can read my review of Black Plague here. (MP)
Escape the Room: The Cursed Dollhouse
Nothing like spending a couple of hours trapped with creepy talking dolls to set the mood for Halloween! This latest title in ThinkFun’s Escape the Room series is more elaborate, with an actual 3D dollhouse, tougher puzzles, and several surprises tucked away around the house. (What’s in that armoire? Guess you’ll have to play to find out.) Read my full review here. (JL)
The Bloody Inn
Inspired by actual historical events, The Bloody Inn has you playing as a family of greedy rural farmers running an inn in 19th Century France. And you’ve realized that there may be more profit in killing your guests and robbing them than simply charging them for lodging. But be sure to bury those bodies before the local police find evidence of your crimes! The Bloody Inn is a competitive small box game from Pearl Games, and there’s even an expansion, The Bloody Inn: The Carnies, available to add to the ghoulish fun. (PB)
The Menace Among Us
I’m a big fan of games that involve a traitor aspect, and the sci-fi based Menace promised a fun spin on the game type. In the game, you play a member of a ship that has experienced a catastrophe. The ship must be repaired and power restored before all the oxygen is depleted, but almost every action you take uses up that valuable O2. Actions taken are submitted using cards from various players, but one player doesn’t want the story to end well… and that player will be attempting to sabotage repairs and other actions. The goal is not only to fix the ship but to try to identify the traitor and get them stunned and sent below deck. I can highly recommend it as a definite Halloween-suited game! [Editor’s note: despite the similar title and theme, this has no direct connection to the online game Among Us.] (JK)
Something Wicked
Double, bubble, toil, and trouble in this quick game about collecting wands from a cauldron. Each of the actions—bubble, toil, and trouble—allows you to manipulate the wands in some way, in the hopes of getting thirteen of the same color. It’s for 2 or 3 witches, and is available from Breaking Games. Read our review here. (JL)
The Haunted Mansion: Call of the Spirits
Are you missing going to Disneyland or Walt Disney World this year for Halloween? You can bring some of that feel to your gaming table with The Haunted Mansion: Call of the Spirits from Funko Games. This fun family game is filled with great artwork and a ton of callbacks to the Disney attraction. In The Haunted Mansion, you’ll be socializing with ghosts, trying to collect the most sets of them. But, beware of hitchiking ghosts…they’ll give you haunt cards, which may force you to discard your largest set! You can read my review of The Haunted Mansion: Call of the Spirits on GeekDad, or Sarah Pinault’s review on GeekMom. (PB)
Unmatched: Cobble & Fog
If your horror tends towards the gothic variety, then the GeekDad Approved Unmatched: Cobble & Fog is for you! In this skirmish game for 2-4 players from Mondo and Restoration Games, you’ll be facing off against iconic Victorian characters Dracula, Dr. Jekyll, The Invisible Man, and Sherlock Holmes on both the streets of Soho and in the halls of Baskerville Manor. Each character in the Unmatched series comes with their own special abilities and unique deck of cards. And even better, each game in the series is compatible. Want to see if Dracula’s strength is comparable to Bigfoot’s? Or if Sherlock Holmes’ fighting prowess can measure up to Bruce Lee? You can with Unmatched. Read my review of Unmatched: Cobble & Fog, and keep an eye peeled for the newest game in the series, Unmatched: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which should be hitting stores soon. (PB)
Friday the 13th: Horror at Camp Crystal Lake
After you put the kids to bed, it’s time to bring out Friday the 13th: Horror at Camp Crystal Lake, new from The Op Games. You play as stereotypical teens such as The Jock, The Nerd, and of course, The Final Girl. Jason is on a rampage at Camp Crystal Lake, and you’re trying to gather supplies to stay alive over the course of 5 nights. But it’s everyone for themselves, and you can use your hand of Fear Cards to sabotage your friends. It’s a game of push your luck and take that, and you never know when Jason will show up with his machete. I’ll be reviewing it soon for GeekDad. (PB)
King of Tokyo: Dark Edition
The original family classic by Richard Garfield debuted back in 2011. This year, IELLO introduced a special limited “Dark” edition of King of Tokyo. In the game, you’re going to be rolling dice, drafting cards with special abilities, and fighting over which giant monster can control Tokyo. It’s a ton of fun, and with the Dark Edition, the artwork and components have definitely been taken up a notch. Plus those frosted dice are amazing! Even though it’s limited, you can still easily find copies of King of Tokyo: Dark Edition in stores, or if you prefer, you can also go for the original. Read my review of King of Tokyo: Dark Edition and decide for yourself! (PB)
Scooby-Doo: Betrayal at Mystery Mansion
Are you looking for a creepy game that is great for children and families? Scooby-Doo: Betrayal at Mystery Mansion offers exploration, cooperation, and even Scooby snacks. Players take the roles of the five members of Mystery Inc. as they search a mysterious mansion for clues. Eventually, one of the characters is removed from the game and that player becomes the monster. The rest of the players then compete against the monster as each tries to complete their objective before the other side. There are 25 different monsters, all of which are from the original Scooby-Doo animated series, and each has their own story and way to win. For more details, read my review of Scooby-Doo: Betrayal at Mystery Mansion. (MK)
Disney Hocus Pocus: The Game
It may have taken almost 30 years, but lots of people’s favorite Halloween movie is now a board game! Players cooperate to play just the right combination of ingredients into the cauldron to stun the witches. If they can do that four times before sunrise, they win! They have Binx to help them, but it’s still challenging, because the exact cards each player has is hidden from the others. A combination of strategy and luck combine in this fast-paced game. For more details, read either my review or GeekMom Sarah’s. (RH)
Jaws
You can now relive all of the great moments in the movie that defined the Hollywood blockbuster (and generated countless “opening the beaches too soon” memes this year). In this one-versus-many game, one player takes on the roll of the Bruce the shark, while the rest play Brody, Hooper or Quint. Just like in the movie, the first half of the game takes place on Amity Island as the heroes try to figure out which beaches to close to keep the shark from snacking on too many swimmers. But then, the action shifts to the Orca, as our intrepid crew try to survive one deadly attack after another. Read my full review of the game. (RH)
Happy Halloween!
