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What are the best scary board games to play around Halloween?

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14 Options Considered	Price	# Players	Play Time
92 Ghost Stories	-	–	–
-- One Night Ultimate Werewolf	$24.99	3-10	10 minutes
-- Betrayal at House on the Hill	$49.99	3 to 6	60 Minutes
-- Mansions of Madness: 2nd Edition	$127.45	1-5	120-180min
-- Arkham Horror	-	1-8	–

Ghost Stories

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Top Con

Difficult to win

The game is pretty difficult to beat, especially if played with a group of casual players that are not extremely familiar with the game and its rules of which are difficult to understand and may take a few watches of Youtube videos to really understand all the mechanics of play. See More

Top Pro

Gives a sense of impending doom

From the start the game feels stacked against your team, which is on purpose as it gives a feeling of impending doom and destruction. The game is a balancing act of what to do each turn as the team tries to fend of the ghosts which leads to never quite feeling like you are winning. See More

Top Con

The rule book is really poorly written

Unlike most Anotine Bauza games, the rule book for Ghost Stories is pretty terrible. This means that, unless you're learning the game from somebody already familiar with it, the first few games will probably be a slog of constantly consulting the rules. A game like this, which uses symbology heavily, should also come with some quick reference sheets. See More

Top Pro

Designed well with beautiful artwork that exemplifies the horror theme

All of the pieces of the game are colorful and have much attention to detail. See More

Top Pro

Expansions available that extend gameplay

Ghost Stories offers two expansions (there was a third but it was limited and not available anymore) called White Moon and Black Secret that extend the gameplay for users that would like to add more complex elements to the gameplay or are just looking for a different experience within the same theme and world. See More

Top Pro

Quality construction to the game that feels very solid

All of the cardboard components have a nice weight to them and a glossy finish over the art. See More

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13 Other Games Considered

One Night Ultimate Werewolf

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Top Pro

Components and art are well done

There is nothing that makes the game feel cheep, the cards and tokens (game pieces) feel solid and the art design is professional and pleasing. Everything about the game says "quality". See More

Top Con

Difficult to play comfortably in larger groups

Due to the players on each team needing to see each others cards larger groups can make this difficult to do in a timely or easy manner. See More

Top Pro

Chaotic team based play of deception and deduction

Players must work together as well as deceive each other in order to find out or hide who the Werewolf is. This creates a sense of chaos as each team strives to reach their goal. See More

Top Con

Game can be less enjoyable for people that find it difficult to lie well

There are people out there that are just not that great at lying convincingly, for these people the game may not be as enjoyable as they will be found out easily. See More

Top Pro

Expansions available

One Night Ultimate Werewolf Daybreak adds more character cards, and One Night Ultimate Vampire can be it's own stand-alone game, or they can be combined to have werewolves VS villagers VS vampires (if you have enough players) See More

Top Pro

Quick rounds

Each round takes 10 minutes - 5 minutes for the night (where players wake up and perform tasks when prompted by the companion app), and 5 to discuss what did (and didn't) happen at night, and who the players think are werewolves, and who they think are villagers. See More

Top Pro

Free companion app eliminates the need for a moderator

There is a need for a game moderator to make sure the game works correctly, this role can be taken by a player or even someone not playing Luckily there is a free Android and iOS app available that eliminates the need for someone to do this, which frees up that task and allows everyone to enjoy the game on the same level. See More

Top Pro

No player elimination

Unlike the original version of the game, One Night Ultimate Werewolf does not have any player elimination, which is great for not excluding anyone who plays, which makes it more fun everyone involved. See More

Betrayal at House on the Hill

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Top Con

Poorly written rules for a light game

For a fairly light game where the decisions are nearly trivial, a nearby computer is necessary to decipher the poorly written rulebook, misprints, and errata. See More

Top Pro

Unique coop -> competitive experience

Players all work together towards the beginning of the game to explore and search the haunted house, but in the later sections the game turns you against one another, and often leads to hilarious situations. See More

Top Con

Not appropriate for children

Some of the more complicated scenarios can be quite confusing, and the game is relatively slow paced, so it may not be fun for kids. It being a horror game, some of the themes (monsters, cannibalism, demonic rituals) are not appropriate for young children. See More

Top Pro

Near endless replayability

The "Traitor's Tome" rulebook contains a base of 50 "haunt" scenarios to play through, but you can easily create your own or find more online if you'd like to play more unique or varied games. See More

Mansions of Madness: 2nd Edition

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Top Pro

Incredibly deep stories in each scenario

Each scenario begins with players on a single tile with a very limited amount of information about what is going on in that scenario. As players explore the app tells them which tiles to add next, revealing a steadily growing board that can be anything from a rambling mansion to a creepy seaside town. As the explore they also find clues and, occasionally, meet people who help reveal the mystery at the heart of each scenario. This progression from limited to knowledge to a fuller understanding of the game helps draw players into the story as they discover new twists and turns alongside their character. Then, as the scenarios draw to a close, the action picks up and players often find themselves in a desperate battle to win the scenario and beat the forces of evil as time runs out. See More

Top Con

Quite expensive

With an MSRP of near $100, this game is going to likely be too expensive for many game groups. See More

Top Pro

Fully cooperative play

In the original Mansions of Madness the enemies and story elements were controlled by one of the players, called the Keeper. In the 2nd edition the Keeper was replaced by an app that handles all of the setup and guides players through the game while controlling and tracking all of the monsters in the game. Removing the Keeper role from the game not only drastically reduced setup time and errors, it also shifted the entire dynamic of the game as players are now fully invested since they are all one team. See More

Top Con

App-driven storyline

To play this game at all will require you to download the (free) app from Fantasy Flight Games. See More

Arkham Horror

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Top Con

Very unaproachable

Arkham Horror has a lot of moving parts, its rules are difficult to follow and the gameplay itself is pretty difficult. This all adds up to a game that is very unapproachable and will take the most dedicated of players to really understand the whole concept put forth. See More

Top Pro

Works well with large groups

The game supports up to 8 players, which is something of a feat for a game of its size and components. Makes for a great party game due to the size of players it allows. See More

Top Pro

Great challenge for those that enjoy difficult games

The win conditions of the game are quite slim and require one to know the rules ins and outs, so while not a game for casual players it is a game for the hardcore who enjoy a challenge. See More

Dead of Winter

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Top Pro

Spreading mistrust amongst your friends

Dead of Winter is, on the surface, a cooperative game where players work together to survive an apocalypse. However, every game has roughly a 50/50 chance of a hidden traitor mixed in with the players, whose goal includes making all of the other players lose the game. In every game, regardless of the presence of a traitor, the players will also have their own secret objectives, many of which might look suspicious. So, even if you don't have a traitor in the game, if one of your friends seems like they are hoarding food, you're going to start questioning them. This environment of paranoia is extremely enjoyable. See More

Top Con

Unwinnable for some players

Occasionally through luck of the draw or poor decision making, a player's Secret Objective will become clearly un-achievable, or the achievement of which will lose the game for everyone. When this happens to a non-betrayer mid game it become very frustrating to have to stick it out knowing you cannot share in the win. See More

Top Pro

Great horror story

One of the core mechanisms of Dead of Winter is the Crossroads card system. These are cards that are read, in secret, by another player while you take your turn. If, during your turn, you take a specific action (maybe searching at the police station, or moving a character), play is interrupted, and a short blurb of story text is read. Then, the players are faced with a choice that has consequences in-game. Do you help out the band of survivors that showed up at your colony, adding more helpless mouths to feed but gaining more workers in the process? Or, do you send them on their way, knowing the chances of survival are grim? It's wonderfully thematic, immersive storytelling that, unlike many other random event systems in games, is directly triggered by the players' actions. See More

Letters from Whitechapel

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Top Pro

Satisfying asynchronous play

Many games try to do asynchronous gameplay but often do not get it right. Luckily Letters for Whitechapel nailed the gameplay with a well balanced role of Jack the Ripper, who often only narrowly escapes the police, which gives a feeling of tension to the one player who could have an advantage if not balanced correctly. See More

Top Con

Slow beginning

The beginning of the game is the poorest part as it is slow to setup and can be confusing, especially to new players. See More

Top Pro

Avoids advantage to any player

A lot of co-op games have a problem with one player getting an advantage, this is called an alpha player. Letters from Whitechapel avoids this issue by rotating the Head of Investigation (a player who leads the rest of his co-op partners) each round, this way avoiding one player who has too much control of the game for too long. See More

Zombicide

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Top Pro

Quality components

The game comes with a bunch of miniatures, all molded out of plastic and have nice detailing as well as individual looks. The cardboard game cards, etc also have a solid think feel to them as well as colorful and illustrative art printed on them with the cards even being double sided. The amount of pieces and the quality of there craftsmanship definitely give a feeling of robustness that earns the game its high price ($89 retail). See More

Top Con

Error filled rulebook

The packaged rulebook is not only filled with errors and typos but is also missing a lot of pertinent information to the gameplay. Luckily there is an updated version as a PDF download on the publishers site that has the extra content the printed version is missing. See More

Top Pro

Tons of replayability

There are a bunch of "best case scenarios" in the rules one can choose at the games set up, on top of this users can customize as well as create their own scenarios not only making for a different experience every time but allows one to customize a game for the type of play session they are looking for. See More

Elder Sign

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Top Pro

Allows for casual play

Elder Sign is a good game to play with newcomers unfamiliar with the rules due to the game not being super difficult (like Ghost Stories). While it does offer a challenge it is not completely stacked against the players like some other titles in the genre. See More

Top Con

More than 4 or 5 players can lead to a lot of downtime

Elder Sign says it can be played with up to 8 players but playing with that many people can lead to a lot of sitting around, which can be boring. See More

Top Pro

Good for short bursts of co-op gameplay

Elder Sign is styled as a co-op experience that uses tightly integrated dice mechanics to allow for short and succinct play times of around 90 minutes. See More

City of Horror

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Top Pro

Survival is based on backstabbing

In order to live, you'll have to vote others to death. Great moments like the priest voting to kill the little girl. See More

Top Con

Elimination gameplay

It can happen that someone is eliminated from the game, though in my experience it's not often that you have all of your characters voted off. See More

Top Pro

Works well with bigger groups

The more people, the more voters to convince to let you live and the more likely someone will have to die. See More

Broom Service

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Top Pro

Combines risk/reward with strategy

There are two roles for the cards a player will play, Cowardly and Brave. Each turn there can be only one player that gets to be Brave so everyone must try to strategically guess what everyone else will do in order to decide if it is worth the risk of playing the Brave card for more rewards over safely playing a Cowardly card and getting less in that outcome. See More

Top Con

Game board is busy

The board design while colorful is a bit busy in that it may be confusing what some parts of the board are for as specific colors and shapes are important to the gameplay and getting lost in the design can be a detriment to play. See More

Top Pro

Solid components that are designed well

The design of the cards and board are colorful and pleasant and the quality of the cardboard used and wooden pieces feel solid like they will last for years. Overall a nice game to look at and use. See More

Top Pro

Rules that allow for 2 player

Unlike original Witches Brew game Broom service has an optional 2 player ruleset for those times when there are not enough people for the normal ruleset to be used. See More

Last Night on Earth

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Top Pro

Separate roles allow experienced players and inexperienced players to still have a good time together

Most players take on the role of the survivors, but one or two take on the role of the zombies. If playing with people who are new to the game, the experienced players can take the more difficult role of controlling the zombies, leaving the other players to sort themselves out, without becoming puppets for the experienced players to command. See More

Mansions of Madness

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Top Pro

Deep RPG immersion

The win condition for the game is basically to get out of the house alive. Any other scenario where one does not get out they either die or go insane, which is what plays into the immersion of this game, it is more about story and experiencing what it has to offer than "winning". See More

Top Con

Player elimination leaves people out of the fun

This may upset some people. See More

Top Pro

Lots of replayability

The base game comes with 5 scenarios that include 3 different endings each. Add to the fact that the scenario is built based on a series of multiple choice questions before setup, means no 2 games will be the same. Also there are many expansions available which with many more scenarios. See More

Top Con

Long set up and play time

Be prepared to spend long hours on this bad boy. Each scenario must be laid out exactly how the book states or you could potentially break the game. See More

Top Pro

Amazing board tiles

The house (or cave or wilderness) tiles are made of thick card stock with some beautiful artwork. See More

Top Con

Does not always result in a great experience

Depending on how many players there are, the scenario chosen and the full understanding of the game held by the players the game can often result in a non functioning experience. There are many moving parts here and they do not always congeal into a working game. See More

Top Pro

RPG experience with the ease of a single session board game

Like all of the Arkham Horror games this pulls in all of the familiar characters and antagonists from Lovecraft's mythos. Unlike the others however it's less about running around closing portals as fast as you can and more about investigating a single scenario in a series of pre-configured locations. It does require a sort of "DM" that the other players play against but it helps that person with the convoluted stuff and lets them enjoy the game as much as the other players. See More

Top Pro

Excellent story mechanic

One of the few games that can get one involved as a character dealing with a continually challenging and unveiling storyline. A competent keeper (DM) is a must, though. See More

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

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Top Pro

Multiple expansions and add-ons will continue to help the game grow and evolve over time

Fantasy Flight has already announced and released several add-on packs that include new storylines, characters, monsters, and equipment, further broadening the depth and replayability of this game. See More

Top Con

The core set is limited to 1-2 players

Unfortunately a base set of the game will only allow a maximum of two players at a time. However, if you are willing to buy a second core set then the game can play 4 players cooperatively. See More

Top Pro

The limited time to complete each mission gives players a sense of urgency

During each Scenario players will need to complete a number of individual missions, each taking up 1 game, in order to finish the scenario. During setup for each mission they are instructed in creating an Act deck of goals to complete as well as an Agenda deck that is used as a countdown timer for the forces of evil. In order to complete the mission players will need to race to finish the tasks given by the Act deck before Agenda deck finishes counting down. This mechanic really helps make the game feel like a struggle to thwart the forces of evil before humanity is overrun. See More

Top Pro

High replayability due to multiple decision points and possible endings to both individual missions and the overall scenario

At different points along each mission players will be forced to make decisions that will affect not only that mission, but the storyline overall. This means that even playing the same scenario will have different results based on the decisions made by each player. See More

Top Pro

The storylines provided by the game are interesting and draw players into the game

Each scenario features an overarching storyline that encourages players to keep playing as they slowly uncover more and more details about the mystery that is unfolding. Each mission in a scenario is designed to reveal more and more information about the dangers players are facing while giving clues as to the nature of the mystery they are trying to solve. See More

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