The Best Horror Board Games for Halloween
Updated: Sep. 08, 2023
Stock up on the best horror board games for a fun and frightening game night!
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Thanks to the pandemic, many of us entered our board game era in 2020, ushering in an unofficial resurrection of the classic tabletop activity. There are few indoor activities as fun and social as board games, which is why they’re a party staple when it’s too cold to enjoy the outdoors. Now that the weather is cooling down, horror board games are skyrocketing in popularity. What better way is there to get your spook on and enjoy a little friendly competition at the same time?
Whether you plan on hosting a Halloween board games-themed party or simply want some spooky board games to pull out for family game nights in October, we found the best scary board games to satisfy any ghost or ghoul. Below are our favorite finds, including thinking-intensive strategy board games, board games for kids and everything in between. Move over, Ouija board—there’s a new lineup of spooky games in town!
The best horror board games of 2023
Halloween board games for adults
Betrayal at The House on The Hill
Frequently featured in board game deals on Amazon, Betrayal at The House on The Hill is one of the best cooperative horror board games. Band together with other players to explore the house on the hill and reveal its rooms, monsters and secrets. Each game features a different mansion floor plan and monsters, so even after dozens of plays it still doesn’t feel stale. Because it starts slow and moves faster as the players explore the mansion, playing it feels like starring in a haunted house flick!
Eldritch Horror Board Game
When it comes to board games for two people, Eldritch Horror is the perfect pick. Play this strategy game solo or with a team of up to eight. Another cooperative board game, the winning goal is simple: hold back the evil forces that threaten humanity. Spend up to four hours gathering clues, globetrotting and working against the greatest threat the world has ever seen. Earth’s survival is in your hands!
For a similar premise, check out the Arkham Horror board game.
Don’t Get Stabbed!
Ideal for fans of slasher flicks, Don’t Get Stabbed! is more of a card game than it is a board game, making it easy to bring camping or to a party. One player—their identity known to all—plays as the killer, while the remainder are victims. This card-drawing game ends when either all the victims have three Stab Cards or the victims get three cards to spell out “CAR.” As is the slasher movie cannon, if the victims get all three car cards, they escape and win the game.
Mysterium
Get those scary Halloween costumes ready—Mysterium is best played in groups of up to seven players, making it a good choice for Halloween parties. Instead of escaping monsters or slaying ghouls, the object of the game is to discover a murderer. One player plays as a ghost trying to communicate important clues through “visions.” Everyone else is a medium trying to decipher the clues to put the murderer behind bars.
It’s a lot like Clue, but with an eerie psychic twist that makes it a perfect horror board game for Halloween.
Hunt A Killer: Death at The Dive Bar
When Wordle is too tame for fans of true crime, break out Hunt A Killer: Death at The Dive Bar instead. The game puts players in the shoes of a detective as they work to unlock the clues of a cold case. Read through ciphers, clues and statements to get to the bottom of Nick Webster’s untimely demise. Handcrafted evidence makes players feel like an authentic gumshoe. Just don’t let the killer get away!
Halloween board games for families
House of Danger
My husband and I are House of Danger veterans. We’ve been playing for two years, and I still couldn’t tell you all the possible endings of this choose-your-own-adventure game. This cooperative card game plays like the classic choose-your-own-adventure books from the 70s and 80s. Because it’s as simple as drawing a card and reading the text, it’s super easy to set up for family game night.
Each decision you make changes the story along the way. Replay again and again to experience all the different ways you can win (or lose) as each decision unfolds.
The Haunted Mansion: Call of The Spirits
Welcome, foolish mortals. Disney’s Haunted Mansion attraction inspired this spooky Halloween board game that’s fit for up to six players. In The Haunted Mansion: Call of The Spirits, move through the halls of the titular mansion without becoming one of its permanent residents. Between the creepy game board and glow-in-the-dark ghost pieces, the game doubles as Halloween decorations during a spooky party!
Ticket to Ride: Ghost Train
Ticket to Ride gets a ghastly makeover in Ticket to Ride: Ghost Train. The goal of Ticket to Ride is simple: Build train routes from one city to another. Whether it’s easy to accomplish is another matter entirely. Ticket to Ride is a staple in my family, and almost every person my husband and I play it with ends up purchasing it for their own collection.
This version is a little easier than the classic board game, making it a solid choice for kids’ Halloween parties. Just be sure to supply your own Halloween treats for the best experience!
Hocus Pocus: The Game
There’s no mistaking it—Hocus Pocus is one of the best Halloween movies of all time. What better way to celebrate the creepy holiday than by bringing Winifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson to your kitchen table? Hocus Pocus: The Game is an easy-to-play cooperative board game for players ages eight and up. Play potion ingredients to the cauldron to stop the Sanderson Sisters from taking control over the children of Salem.
The game is perfect for fans of the movie. It includes most of the film’s favorite characters—even Binx shows up to lend a hand!
Horrified: Universal Monsters
Take a page from the scariest books that inspired the Universal monsters of yore. Horrified: Universal Monsters has players assume the role of heroes attempting to stop a monster invasion. Rescue a village from not one, not two, but seven horrific villains inspired by the maniacal monsters of the silver screen. This popular game was so well-received that it inspired a spinoff game featuring American monsters!
Originally Published: September 08, 2023
