A lot of us have particular games we bring out at certain times of year. Halloween is a time to bring out those board games which deal with the dark, the macabre, and the spooky, of which there are many. These are my 5 personal favourite games for Halloween…
Ghost Stories
Designer: Antoine Bauza
Publisher: Repos Production
This game was recently given a fantasy re-theme and re-released as ‘Last Bastion’, but the original kung fu ghost stories theme is much more distinctive, and perfect for Halloween. The vivid artwork on the cards is especially effective, depicting some really ghastly spirits – the Dark Wraith is particularly disturbing!
It is a tower defence game of sorts, as you control Taoist monks trying to hold off a constant stream of ghosts and ghouls of various description. You spend your turns re-positioning your monks to take advantage of the various powers on the central village tiles and rolling dice to match combinations depicted on the ghost cards.
The difficulty is notoriously brutal – I have never come close to beating it – but for me the relentless onslaught only adds to its appeal. It’s a game where you are constantly torn between taking actions to mitigate the threats you see 2 or 3 turns in the future, and trying to take out the ghosts clawing their way at your door right now.
Ghost Stories is mechanically novel – I can’t think of another game quite like it, and I don’t ever imagine parting with it.
Onirim
Designer: Shadi Torbey
Publisher: In Patience
Onirim is considered classic solo game for good reason. The first game in Shadi Torbey’s Oniverse series, it requires you try to lay out cards in specific sequences while being thwarted by ‘nightmare’ cards. The base game is superbly designed while being mechanically simple (although you can make the game significantly more complex by mixing in its many included expansions).
The nightmarish theme, despite being very much ‘pasted on’, is beautifully conveyed through Élise Plessis’ artwork. There is something genuinely otherworldly about it. I particularly recommend this if you are a fan of traditional patience games or pattern matching. It is a great choice for a fast playing, addictive and spooky puzzle that is easy to pick up and play but difficult to beat.
Ghost Fighting Treasure Hunters
Designer: Brian Yu
Publisher: Mattel Inc
It would be very easy to overlook this co-operative game (as many do). It appears to be targeted firmly at children, right down to the often frowned upon roll and move mechanics. But this is actually a great twist on the Pandemic mechanic and I prefer it to other ‘pandemic lite’ games such as ‘Forbidden Island’.
You guide your characters around the board trying to balance retrieving treasure tokens against playing whack-a-mole with the ghosts that continually spawn around you. Let the ghosts run out of control and they multiply and transform into more fearsome spirits in a way reminiscent of how outbreaks work in Pandemic.
The theme is wonderful in this one, with humorous artwork on the cards depicting ghosts getting into mischief in the haunted house, and the Cluedo-esque board is beautifully rendered. Best of all the ghosts are represented not by tokens or cubes but by cute and tactile figures.
Yes it is very simple, but that makes it a great game to also play with children, so it’s an ideal candidate for a game you can play with others or alone. And if you do find it a tad simplistic, when playing solo you can always throw in the ‘Creepy Cellar’ expansion for a bit more crunch.
Horrified
Designers: Prospero Hall, Peter Lee
Publisher: Ravensburger AG
Another family weight co-operative game, albeit a step up in complexity from ‘Ghost Fighting Treasure Hunters’, ‘Horrified’ knocks it out of the park with its theming. I have always loved the old Universal horror movies, and this game is a great way to spend time with the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man.
The game has you travelling from location to location, gathering items that you need to defeat the monsters that pursue you, while guiding bystanders to safety. Each monster has different movement rules and requires different combinations of tokens to defeat. Additionally they all have their own unique (and very thematic) mechanics that can trigger randomly. For example Wolf Man pursues a specific, ‘cursed’ player character, and Dracula draws players towards him with his transfixing gaze.
My only quibble with the game is that the monsters’ special abilities don’t trigger that often, so they don’t feel quite as distinctive or threatening as they could. That said the game can be plenty difficult if you add multiple monsters, and in any case it isn’t a game I pull off the shelf for a challenge. Instead, Horrified is a game for when you want to draw the curtains, light a candle, and indulge in the golden age of horror movies.
Elder Sign
Designers: Richard Launius, Kevin Wilson
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Fantasy Flight Games have released a number of games set in their Arkham Horror world, which is essentially the world of HP Lovecraft but with a somewhat lighter, adventure-focussed tone. Whilst the most deep and mechanically interesting of those games is the Arkham Horror LCG, I have to say that I have a particular soft spot for Elder Sign.
Elder Sign swallows you up in its theme. Even the lengthy set up (there are a lot of decks of cards to shuffle) feels less like a chore and more like a ritualistic preparation for an encounter with the Old Ones. The game looks great on the table, with a large clock face looming over the rest of the components, and the whole game presents itself as diabolical machine of dice, counters and dials.
It isn’t a game for people that don’t like randomness, but I Iove it – for more details you can read my full review of Elder Sign. It is the perfect game for Halloween.
