The month of October is typically just the month of Halloween. Everything is spooky and scary (with a pinch of candy) for one month so things like haunted mansions and monsters are cool. Unfortunately, once November 1 comes around, no one cares for the scary things as much which gives a limited window to really embrace your inner scariness. Here are 5 games that are perfect for the month of spooks.
Betrayal at House on the Hill
This game is fantastic and with its first expansion coming out on October 14 the timing couldn’t be ore perfect to pick it up. In the game, you and your friends enter a creepy abandoned house because you like to be scared out of your minds. Partway through the game (the timing always changes) the haunt is triggered and more than likely a member of the team will become a traitor. The traitor then has a mission that typically involves killing the survivors in my experience while the survivors try to stop them or escape or something else. The best part of this game is how it works. The house is not a static board but rather modular tiles that change from game to game. This combined with the 50 haunts (each of which has different requirements to trigger) definitely give this game a great replay factor. Add on top of that the fact that no one knows who the traitor is going to be until it happens. This can drive tensions high in the early game as the explorers go about trying to strategize who carries what items.
Gloom
Are you a cynical person that believes happy people suck? This game is perfect for you. It was explained a little here, and deserves a spot on this list. Death and alliteration are the key to this game. Will you be able to kill off Grogar the animated teddy bear who was just pursued by poodles, or will he become delighted by ducklings first?
Mysterium
This game of deduction will take supernatural help. One player is a ghost trying to finally be released form this realm and to do that, the mystery of his death must be solved. All other players are psychics who have gathered at this haunted mansion to help this ghost finally rest in peace. The ghost is not allowed to speak for he has lost his strength and therefore can only give clues by means of “visions” or pictures. If the psychics can solve the mystery, the ghost can finally rest. However, if they guess wrong, all the psychics lose. Even if some of them get it right. This game can certainly be difficult, but trying to solve the puzzles of what the clues mean is thrilling (well if you’re like me). As a bonus, there’s an online soundtrack you can listen to as you play. I think more games need soundtracks and this one is perfect.
Clue
This classic whodunit is a classic for a reason. A man is murdered at a party and you have to figure out who did it, with which weapon, and where. Was it Mrs. White in the Study with the Rope? Or perhaps it was Col. Mustard in the Kitchen with the wrench. Use your detective skills to be the proud solver of this mystery and be heralded as a modern Sherlock Holmes among your friends. For added fun, watch the cult classic movie right after playing and try to keep track of the murders.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf
Have you ever played the popular party game Mafia or Werewolf? This is a really fun version of those games. The more people the better in a game like this. There are several types of characters with their own special abilities. For example, the Robber has you trade character identities with someone else. The catch is, no one knows who anyone else is and as cards are swapped out there’s a good chance you’re not who you started the round as. After everyone accuses everyone else of being the werewolf, the players all vote and majority rules. Oh, and there’s an app you can download to help with timing and provide some awesome background sounds.
Honorable Mentions: Secrets of the Lost Tomb, any Cthulu based game, any Zombie game
