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.

Day 23: Favorite Horror Themed Board Game - Betrayal at House on the Hill

I own more horror themed games than I know what to do with, but Betrayal at House on the Hill is the most fun to play. I once heard someone describe it as "Cabin in the Woods - The Game" and I think that's pretty accurate.

Everything starts out simple enough. You enter a house, exploring room by room, using random tiles to build the main floor, basement and attic, ensuring that the layout of the house is never the same. Some rooms will tell you to draw an event card or omen card. Each time you pick up an omen card, you're required to make a haunt roll. The first time you need to roll a 1, the second time a 2, and so on, until eventually the number you roll is lower than the number required. Once that happens, the haunt begins.

Depending on your actions until that point, you'll start one of 50 different scenarios (100 if you have the expansion), with one player becoming a traitor. The traitor has their own rule book, detailing what conditions they need to meet in order to win the game, as do the rest of the players. Each scenario offers a unique experience and chances are, you won't play the same one twice. It's a fun game for people who like the possibility of betraying their friends. (If you're one of those people, I also recommend One Night Ultimate Werewolf.)