Top 5 Spooky Games to play this Halloween!
Halloween is only a week away! Now is the perfect time to grab some spooky board and card games to set up a suitably creepy Halloween games night! Check out our top 5 picks that have a delightfully spooky theme perfect for any October games night.
Any of these games can be played on their own or, if you want to game into the dead of night, combined to create a gauntlet of gaming terror! Keep reading to get all the details and start organising your Halloween gaming extravaganza!
Dungeons & Dungeons - Tyrants of the Underdark
We start off with a D&D inspired game that melds the expected fantasy tropes with a splash of intrigue and creepiness. Tyrants of the Underdark is a game that puts you in charge of a Drow (or dark elf for the D&D newbs) House in the very creepy and aptly named Underdark. Essentially the game is a territory control game with deck-building elements! The game can be played by 2 to 4 players, but we definitely recommend the full 4 players for the best Underdark experience.
Each player leads a house of Drow in a section of the Underdark below the Sword Coast. The Drow House is represented by a deck of cards, with each card being a minion in that player's deck. Players gain points by controlling sites, recruiting valuable minions, promoting minions to your inner circle, and assassinating troops, and whoever ends the game with the most points wins.
{{widget type="Magefan\ProductWidget\Block\Widget\Product\Block" product_id="product/132190" display_image="1" display_reviews="0" display_price="1" display_add_to_cart="1" display_description="3" description_text=" New format, expanded content, same great game! The classic 2016 edition including the Aberrations and Undead expansion so you can now get the complete Tyrants of the Underdark experience in one box! Tyrants of the Underdark is a territory control game with a deck-building element.!"display_read_more="0"custom_template="Magefan_ProductWidget::blog.phtml"}}Ticket to Ride - Ghost Train
Fans of the classic Ticket to Ride gameplay will definitely enjoy this pick! Not only has the fan-favourite train game had a Halloween makeover, it has also been simplified to appeal to younger players. That's why we think Ghost Train is the perfect pick for those with children or younger players at their game night! Again, this game can accommodate 2 to 4 players, but Ghost Train plays just as well with 3 players as it does 4.
In general, players collect parade float cards, claim routes on the map, and try to connect locations such as the Mad Scientist's Lab, the Gingerbread House, and the Lonely Barn that are shown on their tickets. In more detail, the game board shows a map of a city with certain locations being connected by coloured paths. Each player starts with four coloured parade float cards in hand and two tickets; each ticket shows two locations, and you're trying to connect those two locations with a contiguous path of your trains in order to complete the ticket.
{{widget type="Magefan\ProductWidget\Block\Widget\Product\Block" product_id="product/184894" display_image="1" display_reviews="0" display_price="1" display_add_to_cart="1" display_description="3" description_text=" Ticket to Ride: Ghost Train takes the gameplay of the Ticket to Ride series and scales it down for a younger audience. In general, players collect parade float cards, claim routes on the map, and try to connect locations such as the Mad Scientist's Lab, the Gingerbread House, and the Lonely Barn that are shown on their tickets."display_read_more="0"custom_template="Magefan_ProductWidget::blog.phtml"}}Poisons
Poisons is a short and sweet bluffing game that is a great fit for more casual groups. Arguably it is the simplest game on this list! The game supports any number of players from 3 to 8 and is relatively short to play at only 15 minutes.
Each turn, players secretly add a card from their hand to each opponent's drink: an innocuous liquid or a deadly poison. When everyone has their cup filled, each player decides whether they will drink the contents of their cup. Those that don't partake, get a small amount of points. Those who quaff their entire drink have the opportunity to score big, but if even a tiny bit of poison is in their glass, then they get nothing! They lose! Good day sir!
{{widget type="Magefan\ProductWidget\Block\Widget\Product\Block" product_id="product/129567" display_image="1" display_reviews="0" display_price="1" display_add_to_cart="1" display_description="3" description_text="Welcome to the party! Please, have a drink. There’s only a slight chance that one of the other guests have poisoned it! Will you take the risk? Poisons is a bluff-based card game in which players have to carefully weight their risks to earn points."display_read_more="0"custom_template="Magefan_ProductWidget::blog.phtml"}}Betrayal at Baldur's Gate
What could be spookier than the modern classic of Betrayal! This version of Betrayal at House on the Hill has had a makeover and takes place in the world of the Forgotten Realms. Baldur's Gate is more popular than ever, given the new video game and of course the crossover with Magic the Gathering! If you're a D&D fan, we couldn't recommend this game more!
In the game, you explore the city of Baldur's Gate with a party of adventurers (the original game saw you exploring a spooky haunted house.) After the initial exploration phase of the game, 1 of 50 different scenarios is then triggered. A pivotal aspect of this game is that the large number of scenarios offer fun and exciting variations on the base gameplay, meaning that the replay value is huge.
The game supports 3 to 6 players, but we would advise against playing with a full table of 6. Scenarios tend to be more trivial and easier for groups to overcome with the more players, which is why 5 players is a good balance.
{{widget type="Magefan\ProductWidget\Block\Widget\Product\Block" product_id="product/130033" display_image="1" display_reviews="0" display_price="1" display_add_to_cart="1" display_description="3" description_text=" The shadow of Bhaal has come over Baldur's Gate, summoning monsters and other horrors from the darkness! As you build and explore the iconic city's dark alleys and deadly catacombs, you must work with your fellow adventurers to survive the terrors ahead. That is, until some horrific evil turns one — or possibly more — of you against each other."display_read_more="0"custom_template="Magefan_ProductWidget::blog.phtml"}}The Werewolves of Miller's Hollow
Nothing quite beats the social deduction game of the Werewolves of Miller's Hollow. This game is surprisingly simple in it's execution but has enough optional variants to keep it interesting over multiple playthroughs.
Each player is secretly assigned a role - Werewolf, Ordinary Townsfolk, or special character such as The Sheriff, The Hunter, the Witch, the Little Girl, The Fortune Teller and so on... There is also a Moderator player who controls the flow of the game. The game alternates between night and day phases. At night, the Werewolves secretly choose a Villager to kill. During the day, the Villager who was killed is revealed and is out of the game. The remaining Villagers (normal and special villagers alike) then deliberate and vote on a player they suspect is a Werewolf, helped (or hindered) by the clues the special characters add to the general deliberation. The chosen player is "lynched", reveals their role and is out of the game.
Werewolves advises that it can accommodate 8 to 18 players, and though we wouldn't advise dropping below 7 or 8 players, we can definitely say that the game can be scaled up (especially if you have multiple copies), to include almost any number of players.
{{widget type="Magefan\ProductWidget\Block\Widget\Product\Block" product_id="product/164356" display_image="1" display_reviews="0" display_price="1" display_add_to_cart="1" display_description="3" description_text="Werewolves of Miller's Hollow is a game that takes place in a small village which is haunted by werewolves. Werewolf is a social game that requires no equipment to play, and can accommodate almost any large group of players."display_read_more="0"custom_template="Magefan_ProductWidget::blog.phtml"}}If none of these spooky games catch your eye, then make sure to check out our entire range of board games by clicking the button below. Whilst you're at it, don't forget to browse our awesome Halloween sale!
