Halloween, the night of horror - on October 31st, board game fans can get scared again, ideally of course with a selection of good titles that provide terrible, scary excitement. There are many horror board games, so the selection is large. However, five insider tips ensure extraordinary experiences.
Board game fans also often use the horror of Halloween as an opportunity to play a spooky game: invite friends, provide suitable finger food and bring a selection of spooky board games to the table. The latter is not that easy – depending on the composition of the group. It's not uncommon for people to make it easy for themselves and resort to the classics: hey presto, you've got Mansions of Madness on the table again, you can conjure up Nemesis from the shelf or get Cthulhu: Death May Die out of the basement for the third Halloween in a row. It takes a little more courage if you not only want to invite your scary guests, but also entertain them.
Monster Slaughter
Monster Slaughter turns the genre of horror board games on its head: instead of slipping into the shoes of heroic characters, game fans can enjoy their evil side. In this title you play as part of a monster family and hunt students who have holed up in a forest hut.
The setting is as familiar as it is classic, but the distribution of roles is new.
That's exactly what makes Monster Slaughter so much fun. Things get even more entertaining in the board game, which is available in this country in a localized version from Board Game Box, because you can see the rest
Monster families have to get ahead of them - because they too are on the hunt. Zombies, there are, but also werewolves or even psychopaths - all factions spread fear and terror and the whole thing looks pretty good on the board game table. A hut as a stand, small figures, everything beautifully colorful.
Monster Slaughter is a board game that ends up on the table far too rarely; even on Halloween it usually goes under the radar.
This year it's time to change that! The title is aimed at up to five players aged 14 and over.
Monster Slaughter is a big carnage: fast, entertaining, monster-like, but also quite colorful. It is aimed at fans of shallow horror. If you prefer to serve your board games medium-rare on Night of Terror, you should choose Friday the 13th - such a coincidence.
Friday 13.
Jason is back. You don't know exactly how many times. In any case, it's time to party again at Camp Crystal Lake. Young people come together there on vacation to spend a carefree time in a secluded idyll.
Your problem: A madman in a hockey mask enjoys sharp, blunt, but above all deadly weapons - and he has his sights on everything and everyone, including the colorful group of students.
The plot of The Op Games board game is known from the films:
Serial killer Jason Vorhees roams the summer camp. He's hunting. The young people also roam around the holiday camp. Much more panicked, however. They are the prey.
The board game takes this premise to absurdity, because it's fundamentally not about confrontations, but about collecting resources. In the end, only one person survives - namely the fan who was able to collect the most points. Sounds shallow? It is, but it's just right for families on Halloween.
In order to create horror with board games on Halloween, you don't have to resort to film fantasies; sometimes it's enough to rely on a game concept that feels unusual and therefore quite exciting. Of all things, this works exceptionally well with a game from the publisher Noris Spiele: Nightmare.
Nightmare
Sharp axes are scary, as are bloody knives, lonely forest paths or clowns - but in the end, nothing is as scary as the unknown.
Noris Spiele uses this idea for the board game Nightmare. The title is aimed at groups of four to five players and is suitable for ages 16 and up. The story-based game focuses on a family murder in an old estate. Players are supposed to solve the bloody crime that happened many years ago. Your bad luck: the power goes out.
Fans should like the fact that there are five masks in the board game box
So you were really intimidated when you unpacked it. This board game is so scary because it is particularly immersive, allowing game fans to feel what is happening first hand. If the lights go out in the game, the lights also go out for those playing: it's time to put on your masks. From this moment on, an app takes over and guides you through everything that happens. You can demonize hybrid games, but you should play this one - especially on Halloween. In the night of horror and, in the case of Nightmare, also of darkness.
So far we've missed out on Eldritch Horror and excursions into the card game realm of Arkham - far too classic for insider tips. But you don't have to completely forego the use of Cthulhu when it comes to board games on Halloween. With Abyssal Deep you can bring a comparatively new title from the Arkham cycle to the table. This is a little less of an insider tip than the previous board games, but it's worth it.
Abyssal
Who does not know it? You're on a cruise on a steamship and, just when the trip is particularly beautiful, monsters emerge from the sea and want to get to you...
That's exactly what happens to three to six fans with Abyssalty, a horror board game from Fantasy Flight Games that is localized in this country Asmodee has come onto the market. They take on various roles as the ship's crew, plagued by nightmares and dark thoughts, and try to save the steamer from sinking.
Good sailors know what to do in such situations: rescue passengers, fend off fish people and keep an eye on the other team members. “Treason!” is what echoes through the foyer. Something is not right. Gamblers spread doubts and cause unrest. It's all reminiscent of Battlestar Galactica and plays like that, but it's more beginner-friendly and offers a much scarier setting. The game rounds take a while: Abyssal is not a quick snack, but more of an evening filler for Halloween.
The best comes last. This is also the case with the good board games for Halloween. Every film has the “Final Girl,” a symbol of a character who survives to the end to take on a serial killer or monster. This is particularly familiar from slasher films. The Final Girls have a long history; they have already appeared in classics such as Psycho or Nightmare on Elm Street. In short: There is no good horror without Final Girl. This also applies to board games. The only annoyance: it is purely a solo title. As a fan of horror board games, you don't want to miss it!
Final Girl
The concept of the horror board game Final Girl is basically based 1:1 on horror films and watching films: You first buy the basic box with relevant game material - without it nothing works. Afterwards, you can be flexible and pick up the theme boxes that appeal to you most.
We recommend starting with “Hans”, the butcher serial killer with the pig mask. This is how you learn the first steps, experience your first “films”, maybe even survive them – and then you can
Play across Van Ryder Games' Final Girl portfolio. It's expensive, but it's also worth it. The experience of this horror board game is unique. It's like going back to the eighties to pop in a videotape of your favorite horror movie and just have a good evening.
Thematically, the creators have plenty to offer: there are film boxes based on many classics of the genre. A girl alone in the forest; a girl alone in a house; a girl alone with aliens, a girl alone in the circus...
You have to play!
The selection of expansions for Final Girl is huge. The solo board game recently started its third season, with five more new feature films. In total there will soon be a proud fifteen - and all of them can be combined with each other, ultimately leading to 225 variations, each composed of killer and location. Anyone who buys new Final Girl expansions is not tied to the given setting. This extends the fun and provides added value.
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