Horror Themed Board Games

This is going to be a long post. I'll keep it as short as I possibly can, but it's still going to be long, despite my best efforts. Here we go.

I don't like competitive games, usually. And by that, I mean games where everyone is competing against each other. (Well, of course that's what you mean by competitive. Competing against. :eyeroll:) I'll elaborate. I love co-op games where everyone is working together. And what I love even more than co-op games are betrayal games, where you have to work as a team, but you also have no idea who in your group is about to screw you over. I've gotten pretty good at One Night Ultimate Werewolf (I owe a lot to BouncinMouncin's Youtube channel), I've become a fantastic liar. In games, I either want to help you, or I secretly want to kill you. I'm not into openly competitive games. Take a look.

Many of these games can be played solo, and that's why I bought them. Aside from my boyfriend, the only people I know who like board games are my dad and his wife. Unfortunately, they're more like...Monopoly/Clue kind of people and I don't have the patience to explain more complicated games to them. If I want to play a board game, I'm pretty much on my own. (Except for Mysterium. That one is pretty easy to pick up and they were able to learn how to play it quickly.) I have all these games and so many expansions for Eldritch Horror and Arkham Horror LCG, but I honestly rarely ever get to play them because I don't usually have the time to set three hours aside (yes, three hours) for a board game and when I do have the time, this happens and I just want to give up on life.

I'll give brief descriptions of the games I actually own (when I have more time to play around with them, I'll write dedicated posts about each individual game), what kind of people might like them, and add any insight I may have into them. Let's start with all the Fantasy Flight Games Arkham Horror Files games. And just so you know, with FFG, you're probably going to lose at least...75% of the time, so if you're one of those people who can't handle that, especially when you're averaging three hours per game, I don't think these are the games for you. However, if you're in it for the experience, these are some great options.


Arkham Horror (3rd Edition) - This is a rather new release. I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I've read and watched a lot of reviews and people seem to have pretty mixed feelings about it. When I first started getting into board games as an actual hobby (you know, when I realized not everything was like Monopoly), the two games I considered buying were Arkham Horror 2nd Edition and Eldritch Horror. I ended up purchasing the latter because everyone said Eldritch Horror was more streamlined and that AH2 was kind of a nightmare to deal with. It seems like with the 3rd edition, they've addressed the complaints people had about the 2nd edition. Many people have said it feels like a combination of Mansions of Madness and Arkham Horror LCG.

Again, I haven't even had a chance to get this onto the table yet, so I'll summarize the product description. Arkham Horror 3rd Edition can be played with 1-6 people. You play as different investigators (these investigators are used in every Arkham Horror Files game) and your goal is to prevent the Ancient Ones from destroying the world. You'll need a bit of strategy and you definitely need to communicate with your friends to determine the best actions you can take during your turn. The draw to these games is the story, so sit back and enjoy it. And prepare to lose. A lot.

Arkham Horror game mat, which is too big for my table.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game - This is a "living card game," which means that you buy the core set (it claims to be for 1-4 players, but if you want to play with more than 2, you'll need a second core set to have enough cards to pull from) and then you can add onto it with deluxe expansions that are released in cycles. There will be a deluxe expansion and then 6 mythos packs released after that to continue the story, per cycle. FFG also releases scenario packs every now and then that are complete one-offs, in case you're looking for something quick to play in between campaigns. If you enjoy card games and deck building, this is the game for you.

This is another game that you're probably going to fail at. I did. I played through the core campaign as soon as I bought it and I successfully completed the first scenario, but after that, everything went to hell. And I was playing on standard difficulty. Even on easy, I think it would still be incredibly difficult to "win" the game. I had so much fun with it though, I didn't care.

Fantasy Flight releases a ton of expansions for all their titles and it can become overwhelming. I didn't buy The Forgotten Age expansion cycle because 1. I still haven't gotten around to the first two expansion cycles that I did buy and 2. I was running out of storage space. I wasn't going to buy any more expansions unless I finished The Dunwich Legacy and The Path to Carcosa...Until The Circle Undone was announced. I saw someone mention Salem and that was all it took. I bought the deluxe expansion and pre-ordered all six mythos packs (three of which have been released as of the time I'm writing this).

Arkham Horror LCG game mat

Arkham Horror LCG "Four Player" game mat

Elder Sign - This is another one I own and haven't played yet, but here are the basics. It's a dice game for 1-8 players, in which you again control an investigator trying to close portals and prevent the Ancient Ones from descending upon us. Honestly, every Arkham Horror Files game pretty much has the same story and goal, but the mechanics differ greatly and that's why even if you don't like one, I would encourage you to try the others because FFG really has created something for everyone. As this is a dice game, it does come down to luck. If you don't like not having control over that, this probably won't be your favorite. The positives to Elder Sign are that it's a bit shorter than the other games and it's more affordable.

Elder Sign game mat

Eldritch Horror - This is a more traditional strategy/adventure board game, for 1-8 people, and if you own Arkham Horror already, you may not need this game. The main difference is that Eldritch Horror takes you out of Arkham and all over the world. Same story as the other games, so I won't repeat it. In this game, you're racing against the doom track and once it reaches the end, you lose. I was so close to winning the first time I played, I just needed one more round. But time ran out and everyone died. It wasn't a frustrating experience for me though, I genuinely enjoyed playing this game. I've purchased all the expansions for it (though I haven't played with any of them yet, except for Forsaken Lore). There are two kinds of expansions for Eldritch Horror, the smaller ones and then the big box expansions that include side boards. That's part of the reason I haven't played with them yet, I just don't have the space for those boards. I do look forward to playing with them one day though because each expansion adds a new element to the game, so you'll never really get bored of playing it.

Mansions of Madness (2nd Edition) - For 1-5 players. I've seen this described as a dungeon crawler and people say it's the only genuinely creepy Arkham Horror Files game. Again, I own it and haven't played it. I actually bought Mansions of Madness, Elder Sign, Arkham Horror 3rd Edition and Betrayal Legacy all at the same time, so they've just been sitting here, waiting. I put off buying MoM for the longest time because it's the most expensive game in the Arkham Horror Files series and people have given really mixed reviews about it because to play it, you need to use an app. I was sort of put off by this at first, because many people said you're not actually doing anything, the app does everything for you. And so I thought, "What's the point?" But here's the thing. Yes, the app spawns creatures, generates events and randomizes the board (taken from FFG's website), but you still are playing the game. And what's really nice is that the app cuts down on the amount of time you need to spend setting up. I can tell you from playing Arkham Horror LCG and Eldritch Horror, these games take forever to set up. The other cool thing about the app is that you can purchase additional scenarios as DLC, so if you're ever bored and you want to try something different, you have immediate access to a new story.

I think it's time to move on from Fantasy Flight Games. Here are a few others, some that are just as difficult to win.

Betrayal at House on the Hill - Someone described this as "Cabin in the Woods - the board game" and I completely agree. You starts off as a random group of characters exploring a house, which you build yourself, tile by tile. As you're making your way through each room, you'll collect items, omens and event cards, which will aid (or hinder) your progress. You'll need at least three players for this game, it can't be soloed, and the reason for that is one the players is going to betray the rest of the group about halfway through the game. At that point, you'll pull out the Secrets of Survival and Traitor's Tome booklets to see what your objective is in order to win the game. Betrayal at House on the Hill is amazing because you most likely will never play the same game twice, it comes with 50 different haunts (and if you buy the Widow's Walk expansion, you'll get another 50, bringing your total to 100 different haunts to play through). I love this game, it's so much fun. I already said this, but I really enjoy games where you end up trying to screw over your friends and family. This is not a social deduction game, they will 100% know you're out to get them, but it's still really enjoyable and I highly recommend it.

Betrayal Legacy - I haven't played this yet, I really need a group of people who would be interested in getting together weekly to go through this experience with me. This is Betrayal at House on the Hill and Legacy combined. You play through 13 scenarios, building a story, and once the campaign is completed, you have a copy of Betrayal at House on the Hill you can play with. Now, I don't know for sure (because I've been trying to avoid spoilers), but I think I read somewhere that this game includes 50 entirely new haunts and that it is not compatible with the regular version of Betrayal at House on the Hill. I really hope I (or my boyfriend) can get a group of people together at some point who are willing to play this game because I am so excited for it.

Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game - Here's a zombie survival game for 2-5 people. It's mostly cooperative (though everyone has their own objectives to fulfill by the end of the game), but there is a chance that someone is working against you. Like I keep saying, I love games that involve betrayal. You really need to find a balance between doings what's best for the group and also making sure you complete your own personal objective, because completing the game's objective doesn't necessarily mean you've won.

Ghost Stories - This game is for 1-4 players and you'd better make sure you aren't in a group with any sore losers because Ghost Stories is a difficult game and you're most likely not going to win. I say this from my own experience, I have never won this game. It's cooperative and your objective is to exorcise waves of ghosts before they completely overwhelm you. It's a great game and I love the artwork, but if you're easily frustrated, stay away from it because you're not going to succeed. It's fun to try though!

Mysterium - I love Mysterium, I definitely recommend it for any group of people, regardless of age or experience with board games. It's fun, it's easy to get into, and everyone will have a good time playing it. This game is for 2-7 players and it's also cooperative. One player is a ghost who cannot, under any circumstances, speak, nod their head, smile, or do anything that can be perceived as a hint. If you aren't capable of that, do not play as the ghost. I personally love playing as the ghost (even though if things end badly, the ghost is going to get blamed for not doing their job well enough). As the ghost, your job is to communicate, through cards with abstract artwork on them, how you were killed. The "psychics" have to look at the cards you've given them, as well as the cards on the table, and find the correlation between them. If they successfully solve the mystery behind your death before time runs out, everyone wins. If they don't, everyone yells at the poor ghost for not giving better clues. (Hey, if you don't have the cards, you don't have the cards. The ghost is having a rough time, too.)

One Night Ultimate Werewolf - This is the best party game you will ever play. It's faster than Werewolf because everything is done over the course of one night (obviously) and you're not playing with as many people. You can finish within 15/20 minutes. It's a great warm up game and it's something that's pretty easy to pick up because the app explains what each role should do as they wake up throughout the night. ONUW is a great social deduction game and it's probably my favorite game to play in general. You're either playing as a werewolf or a villager. Each villager role has a different action they can take, such as swapping players' cards, looking at cards, etc. and their goal is [usually] to find out who the werewolves are. The werewolves, of course, don't want to be found because if they are, they lose. This one is just really fun and if I could only play one game for the rest of my life, this would be it.

Salem 1692 - 33% of the reason why I bought this game is because it's a social deduction game. Another 33% is because it's based on the Salem witch trials. The remaining 34% is because the box looks like a book and I needed it for that reason alone. Salem 1692 is a card game where your objective is to find out who the witches are. Unfortunately, I haven't played it yet so I can't really elaborate on the mechanics of it, but I mean...It looks like a book. That's good enough for me.

The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31 - John Carpenter's The Thing is one of my favorite horror films of all time and this game is based on that movie. You play as one of the crew members and your objective is to figure out who the Thing is. You'll have to complete objectives while being sabotaged and before you escape from the facility, you'd better make sure to expose the traitor among you. This game is for 4-8 players, so of course, I have not played it yet.

Zombie Dice - This is a nice warm up game before you get into something that will take up the next five hours of your life. All you're doing here is rolling dice. You want to eat 13 brains before anyone else does, but you have to be careful because if you're shot three times, you're immediately out of the game. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's fun and it's a great way to kill time while another game is being set up.