Prologue
As Halloween approaches and the witching hour draws closer we’re gathering a collection of our favorite Spooky titles that we feel represent a great games night fit for the season…
All the games featured have been played and reviewed by the team at KSG (and our Player network) and we’ve whittled them down to a list of 13 titles that we’ll be playing on all Hallows Eve as part of a showcase event with our guests.
Now before the lineup begins we’re mixing things up this year to introduce new faces and we know some of these are advanced previews or Kickstarters pending release, but these are defiantly titles to keep an eye out for and there’s something here for every mood so we know you’ll have a howl!
Quirk! Monsters
Type: Party Card Game
Players: 2-6
Age: 5+
Time-to-Play: 12 mins
Atmosphere: Silly, Spooky Party & Family Friendly
Quirk! Monsters is the stand out family game in our line-up – it gets everyone acting silly, making noises, stomping around and generally making even the grumpiest ghoul liven up the atmosphere.
If you haven’t experienced the original Quirk! then you are in for a trick-or-treat as this is the perfect Halloween variant. Each player must act out the quirks to collect characters and in that challenge you’ll be howling, cackling and booing to see just how scary you can be!
Paranormal Detectives
Type: Deduction/Murder Mystery
Players: 2-6
Age: 12+
Time-to-Play: 45 mins
Atmosphere: Spooky & Fun
What game is more fitting for a social gathering at Halloween than a murder that must be solved by your guests while you… the Deceased… provide clues to your own murder!
Each Detective can ask any open ended question to the Ghost, but the method in which they receive their information is open to a whole lot of creativity and interpretation that adds a lot of fun to the room.
In recent years Mysterium has been the front runner in this genre and would be our go to for a light and spooky party game. But given the new methods of deduction that Paranormal Detectives introduces there’s so much fun, silliness and thoughtfulness that it brings to the party.
Because of the atmosphere it generates it’s a game that fits into the background noise and you wont find yourself demanding silence from the room; in-fact for those not actively playing it’s a great experience to watch.
Paranormal Detectives is the perfect game for Halloween as it evokes good spirits as players work together (albeit in competition) to solve the murder while being guided by the Ghost.
Damnation: The Gothic Game
Type: Survival/Traditional
Players: 3-6
Age: 14+
Time-to-Play: 45-90 mins
Atmosphere: Dark Humour & Terror
Damnation: The Gothic Game is the first title on our list (but not the last) to feature the Lord of Darkness himself – The Man with plenty of bite… Count Dracula!
This time around however he’s not the monster of this story.. YOU ARE…
As one of 6 strangers gathered outside a Gothic Castle you must survive the night and we don’t mean as a group! Each players goal is to eliminate the competition and survive the deadly traps and occupants that occupy this castle of torment.
From Blackletter Games this is an atmospheric experience with rich artwork and objective for any band of friends looking to vent a few grudges and generally enjoy dark humour by taking each other out in the most sadistic and cunning of methods.
In the right environment Damnation is a terrifying game and raises as much laughs as it does chills; extra points should be claimed for the Best Kill of the night!
Techlandia
Type: Dungeon Crawler/Story
Players: 1-4
Age: 14+
Time-to-Play: 60 mins
Atmosphere: Lovecraft Cyber Terror
Techlandia is a must for fans of Lovecraft, set in the age of Silicon Valley a group of heroic Tech Bloggers must infiltrate the Techlandia Corporation before they release their latest gadget on the world and open a portal to another plane of existence!
The game is a modern take on classic dungeon crawlers but embraces a modern yet familiar story that incorporates death cults and elder gods in a race to prevent a pending doom.
A great inclusion for a game night as it skews the genre but still provides haunting pressure of evasion and exploration in a well-rounded hourly challenge.
Dracula's Feast: New Blood
Type: Deduction
Players: 4-8
Age: 10+
Time-to-Play: 10 mins
Atmosphere: Humor, Accusation & Family Friendly
The second outing for Dracula this evening and yet again he’s not really a bad guy… in fact he’s throwing a monster of a party and invited the villagers over for dinner (and maybe he’ll have a few for his desert.)
This is one of several deduction games on our list but it’s the one that includes all the classic monsters we’ve come to love and would expect to show up at a Halloween bash.
The objective is to identify each of the monsters who have crashed the party by dancing with them in the hopes of revealing their identity and making an accusation – once you identity all correct you win.
Simple in theory but each guest has an ability for misdirection or downright deceit – it’s a great light-hearted game which allows up to 8 players so is perfect for larger groups.
New Blood is actually a reworking of the original Dracula’s Feast designed by Peter C Hayward and while not available for purchase yet, both the Print & Play and Original version are currently available to play.
Give it a try – there’s plenty at… stake!
Pumpkin Patch: Bad Seeds
Type: Hand Management/Memory
Players: 1-3
Age: 8+
Time-to-Play: 15 mins
Atmosphere: Lighthearted Halloween
Looking for sometime to kill? Pumpkin Patch: Bad Seeds is a shorter game of pumpkin planting, crow scaring, and tile laying for 1-3 players.
The aim of the game is to collect as many seeds as possible before the final pumpkin is planted. Players will use cards such as Baby Boos, Blazes, and Warty Goblins to collect seeds and thwart their opponents efforts to do the same!
Overall its a great little game for the family that can be played between larger sessions or by anyone who’s waiting to join in or has eliminated from a session.
GROWL
Type: Social Deduction (Mafia)
Players: 4-10
Age: 8+
Time-to-Play: 15 mins
Atmosphere: Spooky Party & Family Friendly
GROWL is at it’s heart a party game as up to 10 players will work together to distribute bites and wounds in an attempt to turn the village into werewolves.
For those aware of werewolf deduction games – and there are many of them out there in the same derivative form – GROWL is actually a fresh take on that genre and while there is player elimination, with the available expansions this aspect can be removed for the feint-hearted…
Overall it’s a staple for any spooky party and with the cutest packaging in our line-up it will see players howling and growling so much that even the family dog can join in nooooooooooow!
Village of Legends
Type: Fantasy Deck Building
Players: 2-4
Age: 10+
Time-to-Play: 20-60 mins
Atmosphere: Monster & Magic
Monsters and Magic come smashing together with legendary heroes in one of our favorite deck-building games of recent times.
With the pending extension of The Reaper’s Hand we admit there’s a tenuous link to Halloween but it’s such a robust, easy to pickup and fun game of monster fighting we had to include it in the line-up.
From the off this is a pure crowd pleaser with the presentation of the game and it’s artwork being so rich and heavily stylized – it’s like entering a psychedelic rock album – this game is the very reason you need a Fog Machine at your party!
The artist is none other than the games designer, Lorenzo Lupi and as an original Kickstarter this game did so well in funding it’s spawned several expansions that extend to 6 players and includes the upcoming Reaper’s Hand which is a must.
Available direct from Lorenzo’s website we strongly recommend you give this a try!
Ghostel
Type: Worker Placement
Players: 2-4
Age: 12+
Time-to-Play: 60 mins
Atmosphere: Spooky & Family Friendly
Creepstone Manor has been closed for nearly a hundred years, standing dark and silent and that’s just the way resident ghost Spookie likes it! But now, the manor has reopened as a hotel for the living…
In Ghostel you play the part of a ghostly minion, charged with ridding the house of the living by using skills of terror to send them fleeing into the night. Each round new visitors arrive as you prepare literal scare tactics and unleash them during the night as you roam the hotel.
In our opinion Ghostel’s a true Halloween title for smaller tables and with expansions including “Trick or Treaters” and “Legendary Guests” (Drac, Frank and the favourites) it’s an obvious inclusion for a night of mischief.
Rise of the Necromancers / Dawn & Demons
Type: Horror & Area Influence
Players: 2-5
Age: 13+
Time-to-Play: 120 mins
Atmosphere: Fantasy Horror
Good Guys finish last… Rise of the Necromancers is testament to this as an evil strategy game for 2-5 players where each player controls a Necromancer struggling for absolute dominance.
Beginning as an aspiring Necromancer who can study spells, craft artifacts and graduate from one of four academies, the objective of the game is to develop your Necromancer and take dominance over the land.
It’s one of the longer games of the night with a bit of setup involved, but one which adds atmosphere to the night by being evil to win and we love that.
While the equally evil expansion “Dawn & Demons” is looming on the horizon, this beautifully crafted mini filled game will keep you entertained this Halloween.
Campy Creatures
Type: Bluffing & Hand Management
Players: 2-5
Age: 10+
Time-to-Play: 20 mins
Atmosphere: Retro Horror & Family Fun
For lovers of B-Movies, Campy Creatures is the perfect ghoulish game of bluffing, deduction and set collection based around the art style of vintage movie posters.
In this retro game, you are a mad scientist in need of precious mortals for experiments and rather than getting your hands dirty, an army of campy creatures awaits to do your bidding to collect the most valuable mortals. But they won’t go down without a fight!
The revamped version of the game is impeccable in its presentation and really fits in with the spooky theme of the evening; it’s fun, outlandish and easy to play in larger groups.
The Veil: Season 1
Type: Deck Building
Players: 1-5
Age: 17+
Time-to-Play: 30-60 mins
Atmosphere: Fantasy Horror/Graphic Scenes
The Veil is another outstanding deck-builder we had to include in our showcase; the story behind the game is rich and full of fantasy horror as Heroes and Villains band together in an uneasy alliance to battle the dark creatures of hell.
Unlike most deck builders, each player has their own Hero, starting deck, and an exclusive market. This creates a much more immersive experience that fits your play style, with your Hero or Villain gaining power and skills within the theme of their own class.
It’s an easy game to pickup but comes with depth of strategy and play times or around 30 mins making it perfect for some tournament action or as a time filler as you can go play Solo, PvP or even team battles in a game that has some very rich and themed artwork not for younger audiences.
Ghostbusters
Type: Horror & Area Influence
Players: 2-5
Age: 13+
Time-to-Play: 120 mins
Atmosphere: Fantasy Horror
Do we even need to explain why this is a great Halloween game: ghosts, ghouls, spectres and demons are all at large and who ya gunna call?
Playing solo or up to 4 players on a 60 minute game means this is a more involved game for smaller quieter Halloween get-togethers – but what a perfect co-op experience.
Both GB1 & GB2 are full to the brim with perfect recreations of cast and characters in miniature form and the game style is episodic and comes with difficulty settings which will determine the pace of the night.
Being Kickstarter Deluxe editions they’re the most expensive titles in our line-up but retail versions are commonly available at a more palatable cost with reduced features.
While our experience is drawn from a review copy of the game, it has to be pointed out that even as a prototype the quality of production is fantastic.
The artwork and atmosphere created by the game is phenomenal and all credit to the artists (Anca Albu and Hueala Teodor) the experience and improvements over the original is as clear as night and day.
Combined with a rich backstory in collaboration with Ross Daniel Bullen, Damnation: The Gothic Game is a perfect game that evokes tension, dark humour and aspects of strategy; it’s a great addition to any game night and a perfect fit for a Halloween gathering…
Just like it’s protagonist Dracula, Damnation is a truly gothic game that’s back with plenty of bite in a fang-tastic dark reboot and we love it!
Available on Kickstarter during October we highly recommend sinking your teeth into this game.