With the likes of Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Dead By Daylight, there’s no shortage of horror video games to play during the weeks approaching Halloween. What about tabletop games, though? Below is a list of just some of the best horror board games and card games to play for those looking for a spooky time.

Zombies!!!

Zombies!!! has players decide if they want to work together or sabotage each other as they fight through endless hordes of the undead to get to the rescue helicopter. Loot buildings for supplies, battle zombies, and navigate your way through the maze-like city in hopes of survival. This one can be an absolute rush.

Dead of Winter

Dead of Winter is another zombie game, but very different from Zombies!!! and much more strategic. Players are faction leaders who must work together to ensure their colony survives during the apocalypse. Cooperate to ensure everyone has enough food, fuel, and medicine to survive the harsh, zombie-filled winter. Be sure to pick up new survivors to make sure humanity doesn’t die out.

Mansions of Madness

In Mansions of Madness, players cooperate to play out a variety of scenarios. Each scenario has them explore mansions, search for clues, and solve spooky mysteries. Monsters and other horrors await your arrival, making it quite the creepy experience. What makes this game stand out is the companion app that goes along with it. Mansions of Madness is very immersive and in depth, yet simple to pick up. There are just a lot of pieces and a high price point to go along with it. Regardless, this one is worth replaying again and again for the variety of scenarios.

ZPocolypse

ZPocolypse is THE zombie survival game for those just looking to survive a seemingly endless swarm of the undead. Players cooperate to find weapons and kill armies of zombies and survive the apocalypse. It takes a lot of strategy and communication to prepare for the next night. Survive each night and win the game. However, if a player’s health runs out, they’re eliminated from the game and a zombie rises in their place, so be careful.

Mysterium

Mysterium is a delightfully unique game that blends together elements from murder mysteries and card-based guessing games. One person plays as the ghost of a murder victim who sends visions to the other players in the form of illustrated cards. The other players are psychic mediums who must work together to use the visions to identify the suspect, location, and murder weapon. The game is thought-provoking, tons of fun, and approachable for any level of gamer. Best of all, it’s all tied up in a particularly eerie atmosphere.

The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31

The Thing is arguably one of the greatest horror-sci fi movies of all time. The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 puts players in the world of the film to see how they’d fare against the Thing. This is a hidden identity bluffing game in which some players who are infected with the terrifying lifeform try to sabotage the outpost while others try to get out alive. No one knows who to trust, which makes every round truly nerve-wracking.

Gloom

Gloom is quite the creepy game that has a similar feel to The Addams Family or the work of filmmaker Tim Burton. Each player controls a family, and the option is to make your own family as miserable as possible and kill them off when they’re at their lowest point. Players can also play modifiers that make their opponents’ families happier so that they score less points. It’s filled with dark, twisted humor and horrific scenarios. 

Arkham Horror

Arkham Horror is an in-depth game with a simple concept. Players work as a team to save the town of Arkham from Lovecraftian horrors and Eldritch beings. The Cthulhu mythos is vast and horrifying, and this game puts players smack dab in the middle of its threats. Fight monsters, close the otherworldly gate, and rescue the town. It’s a fantastic way to feel immersed in this horrific world.

Horrified

For fans of classic horror, look no further than Horrified. This easy-to-learn cooperative game has players team up to take down the Universal Monsters like Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein’s Creation, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and more. Each player is given a different character, each with their own unique abilities to help rescue villagers and put an end to the mayhem caused by the monsters. Each monster has a specific way it needs to be defeated which shakes up the gameplay a lot. Horrified is the perfect tabletop celebration of the horror classics.

Betrayal at the House on the Hill

Betrayal at the House on the Hill is the quintessential haunted house board game experience. Players control characters who all have different-enough stats to feel unique as they explore a haunted mansion. As they traverse through each room, the house is expanded with tiles instead of using a standard game board, so you never know where you’ll end up or what terrors you’ll run into. Each time the game is played, there is a different “Haunt,” in which one of the players turns against the rest of the party due to being possessed or hypnotized or through other means. This game has frights that take many forms and every time it’s played there’s a different outcome. Because of this, it’s become the go-to sooky tabletop game for many gamers.

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