With so many horror board games on the market, it’s hard to know where to start. So we decided to list some of our favorites, from the family friendly Obscurio to the more viscerally frightening Nyctophobia. There’s a horror board game for every member of the family.
Betrayal At House On The Hill
- Players: 3-6
- Time: 60 Minutes
- Designer: Bruce Glassco
- Publisher: Avalon Hill Games, Inc., Wizards of the Coast
- Setting: Thematic Horror, Role Playing
- Mechanics: Dice Rolling, Map Addition
| Preview | Product | Price | |
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 | Avalon Hill Betrayal at House on the Hill, Green | $34.96 | Buy on Amazon |
This iconic board game will take you though one of the 50 unique scenarios based off classic horror movies. It starts off like many classic films with a ragtag crew of miscreants searching through an abandoned building. However a few turns later, you’ll be tossed into a familiar horror storyline and fighting for survival.
What’s great about Betrayal At House On The Hill is that you don’t know what the scenario will be playing until it happens. It could be everyone fending for themselves against a fierce dragon, or maybe the house will lift off the ground while players fight for the remaining parachutes. It offers a unique game-play experience with ton of replay value every time you open the box.
Mansions Of Madness (Second Edition)
- Players: 1-5
- Time: 120-180 Minutes
- Designer: Nikki Valens
- Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
- Setting: Lovecraftian Horror
- Mechanics: Co-operative, Area-Movement
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 | Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition (BASE GAME) | Horror Game | Mystery Board Game for Teens and Adults... | $99.00 | Buy on Amazon |
This co-operative horror games is based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Investigators travel through iconic Lovecraftian locations like Innsmouth and the Arkham mansions, looking for clues and items that will help them survive.
The Second Edition of this great game comes with a free App to help guide things along and deliver a really immersive experience. The game also comes with different scenarios so you don’t have to play the same game twice. Work together with a rag-tag team of investigators to solve the mystery before it’s too late.
Ghost Stories
- Players: 1-4
- Time: 60 Minutes
- Designer: Antoine Bauza
- Publisher: Repos Production
- Setting: Taoist Monks, Ancient Ghosts
- Mechanics: Dice Rolling, Co-operative
| Preview | Product | Price | |
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 | Repos Production Ghost Stories | Buy on Amazon |
Ghost Stories is a cooperative tower defense style game . Players act as Taoist monks that must work together to defend the village from a horde of ghosts. Using the right combinations of abilities and bonuses is the key to fending off the evil spirits.
Each character has unique abilities that will help them overcome the ghosts. Likewise, each of the ghosts have their own special abilities. The only way to bring lasting peace to the village is to defeat the lord of hell himself; Wu-Feng.
Zombies!!!
- Players: 2-6
- Time: 60-90 Minutes
- Designer: Todd Breitenstein, Kerry Breitenstein
- Publisher: Twilight Creations
- Setting: Zombie Apocalypse
- Mechanics: Dice Rolling, Map Addition
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 | Twilight Creations Zombies Third Edition Board Game | $32.99 | Buy on Amazon |
If you just want to whip out a sawed-off shotgun and watch zombie heads roll, then Zombies!!! has what you’re looking for. This action-horror game is about surviving a zombie apocalypse and trying to escape before it’s too late.
Unlike a lot of other games on this list Zombies!!! is everyone for themselves. So while you’re fighting off the endless horde of undead, you also have to keep an eye on your fellow players. Because at the end of the day, only one player will get in the chopper and escape.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
- Players: 1-2
- Time: 60-120 Minutes
- Designer: Nate French, Matthew Newman
- Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
- Setting: Lovecraftian Horror
- Mechanics: Co-operative, Card Game
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 | Arkham Horror Card Game - Mystery Cooperative Card Game for Ages 14+, 1-2 Players, 1-2 Hour Playtime... | $21.50 | Buy on Amazon |
Arkham Horror: TCG is a Lovecraftian roll playing adventure where one or two players attempt to unravel the mysteries of the occult without going completely insane. This robust card game can also be expanded for more players with more core-sets.
Arkham Horror is a campaign game, so every decision you make can have consequences later on. Visiting cults and haunted settings can yield ancient treasures, but it can also leave lasting damage on your mental stability.
Zombicide: Black Plague
- Players: 1-6
- Time: 60-180 Minutes
- Designer: Raphaël Guiton, Jean-Baptiste Lullien, Nicolas Raoult
- Publisher: Cool Mini Or Not
- Setting: Medieval Zombie Apocalypse
- Mechanics: Co-operative, Dice Rolling
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 | Zombicide Black Plague Board Game (Base) | Strategy Board Game | Cooperative Board Game for Teens... | $109.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Zombicide: Black Plague is a Medieval reinventing of the classic Zombicide board game. After a massively successful kickstarter campaign, Black Plague hit shelves with a ton of extra kickstarter bonuses and add-ons. Making this one of the most complete zombie fighting adventure games out there.
This game blends Midieval fantasy and zombie slaying. Players use their characters unique combination of weaponry and sorcery to decimate zombie hordes. Chase down the deadly necromancers before they can animate too many of the dead and overwhelm the heroes.
Obscurio
- Players: 2-8
- Time: 40 Minutes
- Designer: L’Atelier
- Publisher: Libellud
- Setting: Haunted Library
- Mechanics: Co-operative, Secret Traitor
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 | Obscurio Board Game - Navigate The Sorcerer's Library in This Intriguing Game! Cooperative Game for... | $54.97 | Buy on Amazon |
In Obscurio, players work together to solve puzzles in an attempt to escape a haunted library. But beware, one of the players is a saboteur. They will do everything in their power to ensure the other players don’t succeed without revealing his true intentions.
Obscurio is one of the lighter games on this list, great for shorter play sessions or getting everyone in the family involved.
Dead Of Winter
- Players: 2-5
- Time: 60-120 Minutes
- Designer: Jonathan Gilmour, Isaac Vega
- Publisher: Plaid Hat Games
- Setting: Zombie Apocalypse
- Mechanics: Co-operative, Dice Rolling, Bluffing
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 | Dead of Winter - Post-Apocalyptic Survival Strategy Board Game for 2-5 Players Ages 13+, by Plaid... | $50.35 | Buy on Amazon |
For more zombie slashing madness check out Dead of Winter. In this game players work together to strengthen their colony and fend off the hordes of zombies at the gates. Each player commands their own faction of survivors working towards a better future.
While each player is working together to help sustain and improve the colony, they’re also working towards their own secret personal win conditions. These are usually personal objectives that could get in way of the main goal, or even sabotage it completely. So be careful who you trust.
Eldritch Horror
- Players: 1-8
- Time: 120-240 Minutes
- Designer: Corey Konieczka, Nikki Valens
- Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
- Setting: Lovecraftian Horror
- Mechanics: Co-operative, Point-To-Point Movement
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 | Eldritch Horror Board Game (Base Game) | Mystery, Strategy, Cooperative Board Game for Adults and... | $55.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Yet another Lovecraftian adventure makes our list of the best horror board games. This time the threat is global. In Eldritch Horror up to eight players travel across the world gathering clues and trying to prevent the world from being destroyed by ancient evils.
Players take turns resolving encounters and learning more about the great threat that’s among them. From crime syndicates, to angry cultists, to nightmarish monsters, Eldritch Horror offers a lot of unique encounters to keep players on their toes. Will the investigators be able to stop the Ancient One before it’s too late?
Nyctophobia
- Players: 3-5
- Time: 30-45 Minutes
- Designer: Catherine Stippell
- Publisher: Pandasaurus Games
- Setting: Dark Forrest
- Mechanics: Blindfolding, Memory, Player Powers
| Preview | Product | Price | |
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 | Pandasaurus Games Nyctophobia The Hunted | $49.95 | Buy on Amazon |
Nyctophobia (meaning fear of the dark) offers a more frightening experience than most of the games on this list. So much so that the game actually calls for all but one player to wear blindfolds during play. Players must rely only on their sense of touch to guide them through the dark forest to safety.
In Nyctophobia one player can see the board and is attempting to hunt the other players before help can arrive. All the other players must try to use the tactile map pieces to guide their way to the car space until help arrives.
More Great Horror Board Games
Didn’t see your favorite game on the list? Feel free to let us know in the comments below which horror board games you think deserved a spot on this list.
