Halloween Board Games: Everything You Need for an Awesome Halloween Party

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Halloween is fast approaching.

Are you scared?

No need to be.

After all, Halloween means its time for some spooky board game nights! 

There are tons of Halloween board games or board games that fit the Halloween vibe. In fact, there are so many, that you could center your Halloween party around board games. Choose the board games first as they’ll set the tone for your party. Then, keep reading for ideas on spooky, thrifty, and clever decorations. 

Halloween Board Games

You can find the right spooky board games for any kind of Halloween board game night. Strategy games are a great way to brew up some competition and come out as the last surviving player. Cooperative games play much like haunted houses where you all need to work together to survive or escape. And if your board game night includes kids, there are great Halloween board games for them, too.

Strategy

Betrayal at House on the Hill

At first, this game seems like a cooperative game. Players will choose characters that come with different stats, much like an RPG, and explore a haunted house to uncover its mysteries. But soon enough, one player will start the “haunt” and betray everyone else! That’s when the goal of the game becomes clear.

This one versus all game has endless possibilities as the objective depends on what room is haunted and what object triggers the haunt. This will lead to one person having a separate goal from the group. Will the group win, or will victory go to the betrayer? Buy it now to find out.

The Bloody Inn

On the surface, this game seems more economic in nature than scary. Each player will play as a member of a greedy family. The family owns an inn so that they may steal from visitors and become rich. 

To avoid detection, though, things get dark as players need to kill off guests and others to keep the scheme going. Players will need to bribe guests, kill them, bury them, and launder money to win this game. Whoever has the most money at the end wins. Start killing today. 

Gloom

This game may sound miserable, but it’s not directed at you. In Gloom, 2-4 players will control one family, which consists of five cards. Your goal is to make your family as miserable as possible and then kill them off! 

You do so by playing bad fortune cards on your family, good fortune cards on the families of others so they’re less miserable. Then, you will eventually kill off your family members with untimely deaths. The player with the lowest score from the most miserable family wins. Get it for your miserable family here.

Zombie Dice

Each person plays as a zombie in this game, and you want brains! In this press-your-luck game, you will roll dice on your turn to see how many brains you can eat. Watch out for the shotguns, though! If you roll three of them on your turn, then you lose all the brains you ate for that turn. Stay patient, though, and save up your brains, and you’ll win the game when you eat enough of them. Zombie Dice is a nice, compact game to bring to Halloween board game parties, too. 

Letters from Whitechapel

For players looking for a more in-depth Halloween board game night, Letters from Whitechapel is the game for you. Much like Betrayal, this game is also a one versus all game. One player will play as Jack the Ripper in London, 1888 while the other players play as detectives trying to catch Jack the Ripper. 

The person playing as Jack the Ripper wins by killing five victims before being caught. The detective wins by catching the infamous Jack the Ripper. Visit Whitechapel in this thrilling game now.

Nyctophobia

Many horror board games turn out to be one versus all. It makes sense; what could be creepier than having one of your own players turn on you? Not being able to see them as they do it.

In Nyctophobia, which means “fear of the dark,” players wear black sunglasses to feel their way across the board in this tactile game. They play as the Hunted. Their goal is to find the car space and hide out there until the police can rescue them. The single-player must hunt down these players and kill one of them before they reach safety. Will you hunt or be hunted? Get Nyctophobia here. 

One Night Ultimate Werewolf

This mafia-style game will be a big hit any night of the year. Each player will receive a secret role in this game that will either put them on the side of the townspeople or the werewolves. But things will happen in the night that will help you either find out who someone is or make you a suspect. Your role could even change without you knowing! 

You’ll win this game of secret roles by catching the wolf as a townsperson or successfully hiding from the townspeople as a wolf. This game is great for larger, groups, too. Get it now.

Cooperative

As popular as competitive strategy board games are for Halloween, cooperative ones are just as popular. In many of these games, the monsters live within the game and you must kill them, escape from them, or solve the mystery surrounding them. 

Eldritch Horror

Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s famous telling of Cthulu and the madness it brings, both Eldritch Horror and Arkham Horror are in-depth cooperative games where players must work together to protect the world from the Ancient One. Players must find clues, solve mysteries, and remain in good health to save the world. Otherwise, they will fall to Cthulu’s madness. There’s a 1-2 player card game, too, for parties of one. 

Horrified

This brand-new cooperative game is out just in time for Halloween! Players work together to defeat different monsters within the game, which will change every time. How they defeat the monster depends on what it is. The Wolf Man, for example, will perish in a very different way than Dracula. Different monsters have different difficulty levels, too. Can you beat them all? Find out today. 

Mysterium

For a lighter, more mystery-focused cooperative Halloween board game, Mysterium is the choice for you. One of the players has been murdered and is now a ghost. The rest of the players will play as psychics who can communicate with the ghost in the beyond. The ghost, though, can only give the psychics clues about their killer through abstract images which the psychics must decipher. If they manage to do so before reaching the seventh hour, then they will avenge the ghost’s death. Buy it here. 

Zombicide

It’s finally happened. The zombies took over and the world has come to an end. In this apocalyptic game, players will kill off hoards of undead. Since zombies are not too bright, it’s not hard. But the better you get, the more they appear, and you’ll run low on supplies as they keep coming. If you’ve ever wondered if you’d survive the zombie apocalypse, now’s your chance to find out. 

Dead of Winter

In Dead of Winter, the group of players has a goal they are all working toward together. But each player as a secret personal goal, too, and these two goals could be at odds with each other. Players will play as a group of survivors in a world that has perished due to disease, and the choices they need to make will be anything but simple. Winter is coming. Survive it. 

Kids and Classics

A lot of the games mentioned already can be quite intense for a family of gamers, either through theme or gameplay. Fortunately, there are great options for family Halloween board games that will give everyone a chance to play.

Shadows in the Forest

This isn’t your average board game. In Shadows in the Forest, you play in the dark! One player will use the LED light to search for Shadowlings in the forest. The other players will work together to keep their Shadowlings out of the light. (They dislike the light, after all.) Can you find the Shadowlings? Can you stay out of the light? Find out now. 

Ghost Blitz

This quick, light-hearted game will make a great addition to any Halloween game night. The cards have different images on them. Some images will show one of the five objects that are in the room, such as a red book. Other images will have the colors and objects all mixed up, leaving one object out. The first player to figure out the object and grab it will earn the card. The player with the most cards at the end wins. Grab it now. 

Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters

This game makes a great introduction to cooperative board games for kids. Players will work together to get jewels out of a house before it becomes too haunted. They do so by getting to the right rooms, fighting off ghosts, and getting out. Be careful, though! If you let a room become too infested with ghosts, then it will become haunted, making it even more difficult to complete your goal. Fight some ghosts today. 

13 Dead End Drive

For a classic Halloween board game experience, 13 Dead End Drive is a must. Old Aunt Agatha has died, and she will leave her massive fortune to one of you. You don’t want to take any chances, though. To make sure you get all that money, you need to kill everyone off or get out of the house when things are in your favor! Kill off players with 3D pieces such as a ladder, a bookshelf, and a chandelier in this classic board game. 

Clue

Clue has been a favorite of families all over the world for years on Halloween and any other night. Players will play as one of six guests to a mysterious mansion where a murder has occurred. If they manage to solve the mystery of who committed the murder, in what room, and with what object, they’ll win the game. And with different themed editions, there’s a version of Clue for everyone.

Ouija Board

It’s not quite a board game, but there is a board and it’s great fun, so it’s made its way onto the list. Communicate with the beyond through the power of the Ouija Board. Ask a question to the supernatural realm, and receive an answer as the spirits guide your hands to the answer. Buy a beautiful Ouija Board here. 

Halloween Board Game Night

As both seasoned and new board game enthusiasts know, the games are only half the fun at a Halloween board game party. The food, decorations, costumes, and music count for just as much.

Food

To make your Halloween board game party stand out from any other Halloween party, give guests snacks that play off the games available. 

For example, serve some “Bloody Inn Marys” as you kill off people in The Bloody Inn. Grab some ghost peeps as you grab the ghost in Ghost Blitz. Or, play with homemade ghost cookies. Lay your Gloom family to rest with some graveyard brownies. 

Eat some brain cupcakes as you play Zombie Dice. Even better, make some Cthulu cupcakes as you kill off the Ancient One in Eldritch Horror, and line the cupcakes with these Cthulu liners. 

Finally, munch on some vampire donuts as you defeat Dracula in Horrified. Do so by popping fake vampire teeth into the holes. 

Decorations

Halloween board game party decorations can be pretty much anything you want. With that said, there are some wonderfully thematic ways you can decorate your party to make it stand out from any old Halloween party. 

First, use the games as part of the decoration! Board games look amazing these days. Plus, setting up the board games beforehand to enhance the look will also encourage people to play. You won’t need to worry about setup or cleanup time. 

Then, upgrade the pieces to make old classics seem new. Add these skull dice to any of your games that call for standard six-sided dice. These organizers and game pieces will help take your copy of Betrayal to the next level, too. 

Finally, hold a costume contest to encourage guests to get into the mood of the night. Give extra points for thematic costumes that are based on board games. You can even add costumes to some of the games. Buy a ghost costume for the ghost in Mysterium to wear, for example. 

Whether you’re the one throwing the Halloween board game party or a friend of yours is, make sure to share these ideas so that everyone can have a great time for Halloween. Enjoy your night – or any night – with some awesome spooky board games. You’ll be glad you did.

What are your favorite board games to play at Halloween?