My top 5 board games for halloween

Halloween is approaching and here in Edmonton it’s snowing outside. So you could bundle into something warm and stretch a costume over it to trudge around getting a bag of random “fun size” candy. Or you could get friends together in a warm house where their costumes fit they way they should, with some good food and play some board games. Here’s my list of board games to play this Halloween.

Gloom – Each player selects a dysfunctional family and proceeds to weave a tale of misery and death. Gloom is game where you actually want terrible things to happen to your characters and you despise your friends for making good things that happen to your “family.” This is a fantastic Gothic story telling game perfect for Halloween.

Zombies!!! - This game from twilight inc. is a hardcore competitive zombie slay-fest. Explore a town as each player adds map tiles on their turn. Gather items, kill zombies, and play cards to mess with your opponents. Be the first to slay 25 zombies or make it to the helipad and escape to win the game.

Zombie Dice – Simple, fast and fun. This is an easy to learn dice game. Be the zombie to collect 13 or more brains to win the game. Beware three shotgun blasts and you end your rolling streak without collecting your braiiinss! So do you go after the runners or stop to enjoy the brains you collected?

The Haunting House – A basic shifting maze game that’s great for people who want a Halloween themed game without scares. Make your way through the haunted mansion to the exit before the other players. Just don’t question to hard as to why the house is all corridors and no rooms.

Betrayal at House on the Hill – So far the best horror game I have played. This game is played in two stages. In the first the adventurous players explore a spooky old house on a hill, adding rooms from the room tile deck as they go. Players collect items, trigger events or find omens of horror. Eventually one of the omens triggers one of 50 haunts for the game. This haunt is the second phase where you discover which horror story you are in and which person in your group is the one who betrayed you to this horror. The randomness and story elements of Betrayal at House on the Hill make for a night of thrills, chills, and player kills.  If you are getting one game off of my list this is the game to buy.

So what do you think of my list? This list only covers games I have played so are there any reader recommendations for me to try out for next Halloween?

All of these are available from Mission Fun and Games.

The Haunting House Game Review

The inlaws picked up a game called The Haunting House quite some time ago because we were all looking for a horror game. It received mixed reviews at the table.

In The Haunting House players are competing to exit an ever shifting house of horror. Each turn players have two phases. First select 4 actions from their deck of cards to move through the maze of corridors. Players proceed through this phase in turn order. The second phase is similar but the 4 actions are selected randomly from their deck of cards; proceeding again in turn order.

The random move phase seems a little jarring. It does bring in the theme of how some characters in horror movies do inexplicably dumb things but it can be quite frustrating in how randomly it can botch strategy.

The game board and pieces are incredibly thematic. Upon setting up the board I was excited to play because this looked like an exciting and dynamic dungeon crawl style haunted house. However I was disappointed in the game play. For something that looks dynamic and thematic there is little theme or change in the play-style. The haunted house has no rooms, its only square of random corridors. While the box suggested exploring a haunted house it was actually laid out at the beginning of the game. There is no exploration, no haunted story element, nothing to really fit the theme. The Haunting House came off as a childish maze romp of frustration.

The frustration came from the constantly moving exit. The basic strategy of the game would be to work your piece to a corner and attempt to move the exit to your tile while preventing other players from getting to the exit.

The game play is rather uncomplicated with little interaction between players other than screwing over your other players by moving or rotating tiles in their path. This can be fun if that is what you are expecting of the game. Honestly I did have a little fun after I realized what the game was about, but everything about the game box led me to believe it was a more thematic game. It really disappointed me on that fact.

To sum up The Haunting House is an okay game. It does very little with the horror theme it is based upon. Game play is quirky yet uncomplicated. I would recommend this game mostly for kids or adults looking for a basic shifting maze game. Be warned the only thing that haunts The Haunting House is the spirit of more thematic games out there.

Betrayal at House on the Hill board game review

I played a fantastic board game for Halloween back at GameALot and that game is Betrayal at House on the Hill. When I saw it was on the schedule I knew I had to sign up because I had been itching to try it after the TableTop episodes.

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a horror themed board game. Players work together  to explore a spooky mansion discovering items, traps, new rooms and omens until the haunt phase is triggered. At this point a haunt story begins and the players have new objectives in order to survive the haunt.

I fell in love with the game for so many reasons. The biggest aspect of the game I love is how the cooperative to betrayer rules work out. The players are all working together at the start of the game working to gain items and explore, however when the haunt triggers there is often a betrayer character. BUT the betrayer is only discovered when the haunt is triggered. It’s completely random. Because of this random aspect players tend to be wary during the initial phase of the game; anyone who gathers a large number of items, or is in close proximity, could be an opponent after the haunt is triggered. This creates an atmosphere of tension and wariness that fits with the horror theme.

Another reason I enjoy Betrayal at House on the Hill is everything is random. There are multiple levels of the board, main floor, upper floor, and basement. Only the entrances to these floors exist at the beginning. The board is randomly laid out each game. As players move around the board they reveal rooms by moving through doors and drawing a random room card. Once the room card is laid the player checks for any event, item or omen card icons and draws these cards. Event cards usually require a roll according to a character skill level in order to avoid damage or gain benefits. Item cards are equipment that the player can use, drop or trade with other players. Omen cards usually provide items but as their name suggest they are omens for the haunt. After drawing an Omen card the player rolls six dice, if that roll is below the number of omen cards drawn during the game the haunt is triggered.

When a haunt is triggered players consult the rulebook and use the room and omen combination to determine which haunt to use. The rulebook will state who the traitor is, often the one who triggered the haunt but it could be another player based on a certain character ability. There will be two books, one for the betrayer and another for the remaining players. The betrayer leaves the room to review their goals and rules while the remaining players do the same for their version of goals and rules. There are 50 scenarios in the books that cover a wide range of horror archetypes: Frankenstein’s monster, zombies, Dracula, or even the house itself. Some scenarios allow for the traitor to recruit new traitors such as werewolves.

The game ends when either the player goals or the betrayer goals are met.

Betrayal at House on the Hill isn’t a typical game. The fun is more in the building of a story with the other players. The goal really isn’t to collect the most items or be the first to a finish line, it’s more about working together to achieve and objective. It’s also more about telling a story and discovering who survives the horror story of the night. I love the creativity of it.

There are some drawbacks to the game. First off in order to be fun players really need to enjoy the horror genre. Then there is the elimination aspect. Characters can be killed off after the haunt begins by having a player stat drop to the lowest position. This can be disappointing however the game does move forward quickly after the haunt begins limiting this. Also players can be killed by simply entering a room, as an example at GameALot our betrayer entered a room and because of a card effect he died. This made for an easy escape for the remaining players. He also just so happened to reveal the exact room the players needed in order to escape and win the game. This leads me to the problem of the variable difficulty level. Some games scenarios are too easy to beat while others become impossible. Some players may become upset if the difficult level didn’t match their expectations. Also some players may not like being randomly selected as the betrayer.

To sum up while Betrayal at House on the Hill does have shortcomings due to random difficulty level and sometimes arbitrary deaths of characters it is still an amazing horror game. The randomness of the game ensures a high replayability factor. The story telling element really sells the game for me as it feels like more of an experience rather than just a game. It’s a game I could go back to time and again just like a favourite horror movie or book. I would recommend Betrayal at House on the Hill to any horror fan looking for game that is more about weaving story than about reaching a finish line.

Ouija Board review

October should be about Halloween themed board games. What has Hollywood obsessed about as horror themed more than the Ouija board? The game pictured in horror movies and T.V. shows as the contact to the great beyond. It has been touted as the ultimate ancient board for arcane contact with the other side.

Could you be communicating with ghosts, demons, or something more sinister?! Actually no. Sorry to burst your paranormal bubble but the Ouija board was created in 1890 by a business man by the name of Elijah Bond. That makes it a little over a decade more ancient and arcane than Monopoly. However it is believed it was an evolution of the talking board created in Europe circa 1854. When the Ouija Board first entered the market it was only thought of as a harmless parlour game. That is until a few decades later when a Spiritualist by the name of Pearl Curran began using it for divination. Since then its popularity has waxed and waned over time.

If you do not know about the Ouija board it is a basic board with the alphabet, the numbers 1 through 9 and zero as well as a yes and no printed in the top corners. Usually there is also a hello and goodbye spot for when "visitors" come and go. Typically there is also artwork around the edges, sun, moon, stars or arcane symbols or sigils. Users place their hands on a Planchette (pointer) that moves around the board in response to questions. Older versions could be quite ornate and were made from wood. Newer cheaper versions are printed on cardboard and use a plastic Planchette.

There is evidence that the ideometer effect works the board. Basically you are doing the work without realizing it. Muscles in your body often work without conscious control. Think laughing out loud during a surprise when you didn’t intend to. Random or subconscious muscle contractions move the pointer all while you are sure you are not the one doing it.

Obviously I am a complete skeptic about its powers. My first personal use with one was during Junior high. I went to a friend’s for a birthday party. His dad was a performing clown (seriously) and a true believer of the Occult. After playing around with clown stuff, he tested us for psychic ability. Oddly enough I was the only kid who he was convinced had psychic ability. I was able to find the queen of spades 9/10 times in various piles of face down cards. (I have never repeated these results) He insisted we work the Ouija board together. What followed was the board answering questions about the other side and it claiming to be demon possessed. Since none of the predictions came true and it decidedly felt like his dad was moving the piece I remain unconvinced of any paranormal link.

However there are adherents to the idea that the Ouija board has supernatural power or connection. Some believe it is a tool for contacting other worldly powers, good or evil. This will be up to you to decide. Keep in mind that the power of suggestion is strong and there have been cases of people who believe in the board’s power enough that they have been strongly impacted, psychologically speaking.

In terms of Ouija board as a game I find the rules too simple. The fact that a limited number of participants actually work the board while the rest of the group just watches doesn’t make for the best of board games. However those watching could be allowed to suggest questions and the results can be entertaining. Personally I find the game (or whatever you chose to call it) doesn’t live up to the hype and I find the groups I’ve used it with lost interest fairly quickly as novelty only lasts for so long.

Many adherents to the paranormal aspect suggest several traditions be held. Such as using white candles and sage for smudging, use at night, use a wood board, say a prayer before using, ask the spirit to leave when done, use in a protective circle, use silver jewelry for protection etc. All of this adds to the theatrical atmosphere or perhaps paranormal power if that’s your perspective.

Honestly I don’t recommend the Ouija board as a game. Its novelty wears off quickly. If people don’t find it trivial then they could adhere to the perceived paranormal properties and react accordingly. Also adherents find it disrespectful if it is not used respectfully or seriously (as in as a game.) Even as a nonbeliever and someone who thinks you shouldn’t believe either I don’t condone disrespecting others beliefs. If you do want to use the Ouija board please keep its actual origins in mind. I actually recommend going to your board game store and asking about a more appropriate horror based game if you are looking for a scare this Halloween.