All hands on the board, Players. This might get creepy.
Hello Gaming Library Family!
As Halloween approaches, the so-called veil between this world and the next–supposedly–gets thinner and thinner. Regardless of age, many of us enjoy the more secular traditions of the holiday, mainly the prospect of donning costumes, and trick-or-treating, for which we are either handing out, or more likely gorging ourselves on gluttonous amounts of candy and sweets. These customs are tied to the earlier Celtic roots of Halloween, and were then practiced in order for the believers to shield themselves from the threat of the dead returning to the mortal world and mingling amongst the living, causing all sorts of chaos toward the people of that time.
Knowing this, it’s no wonder Halloween is so connected to themes of horror, occultism, and the supernatural. While society’s understanding of the horror-aligned aspects of the holiday today is less concerned with actual spirits and the undead and more with… perhaps recreational activities such as horror movie marathons and sharing ghost stories (This doesn’t apply if you’re the crazy type who actually does play with Ouija boards during Halloween), this bring us to an interesting conversation: What is it about horror and the supernatural that entertains us?
Read on further for our explanation below, but what we feel makes horror-themed games different from horror movies is immersion. You get to play the main character, control the situation, exorcise the spirit, escape the haunted house, become that final girl. So dim the lights, play some eerie music and light up some candles to give that chilly ambiance, because if horror films or video games aren’t your thing, Gaming Library offers these titles that’ll definitely get you your Halloween zhuzh. No Spirit of the Glass here; put the board and the planchette away, you don’t need to unwittingly summon spirits or demons to have great fun! These eerie, bone-chilling board games are available now in stores and on the Gaming Library website!
This solo-box game based on the iconic horror film trope puts players in the shoes of a female protagonist who must kill the slasher in order to survive. Final Girl plays similarly to Hostage Negotiator, only with new key game elements such as a game board meant to track character movement and locations. Choose from multiple characters to play as, and multiple killers when picking someone to play against. Final Girl shines in its modular nature: play by pairing an initial Core Box with one or more Feature Film boxes and players get to shuffle together more Terror cards specific to killers and locations for various combinations of scenarios and a unique gameplay experience!
Up to four players will lead a small colony of survivors in Frostpunk: The Board Game. Set in a post-apocalyptic world that was hit by a severe ice age, their duty as leaders is to effectively manage both its infrastructure and citizens. Society members make demands and react according to the prevailing mood, and citizens aren't just passive pieces on the board, so every choice has consequences. Players will ultimately shape the destiny of their people: Will they treat them solely as resources? Will they be visionary builders, daring explorers, or brilliant scientists? Will their rule be marked by justice and fairness or tyranny? Frostpunk's core gameplay is tough, challenging, and intricate, yet easy to grasp.
In the action-packed adventure of Bloodborne: The Board Game, players step into the shoes of Hunters in the decaying town of Yharnam. This place is falling apart fast, thanks to a plague that's morphing folks into terrifying beasts. Teamwork is crucial as players take on the ever-spreading chaos together, exploring the secrets concealed within Yharnam and beyond.
Armed with distinctive Trick Weapons, each with their own tricks and powers, Hunters must stay sharp and adapt swiftly to tackle the hordes of enemies— or meet their doom. No need to worry, though, as death isn't the end for a Hunter. Falling in battle just leads to a fresh start in the Hunter's Dream, ready for another round of action. Be mindful, though; old foes and challenges may return, and time isn't on your side with the Blood Moon's madness spreading. To succeed, you must master your foes' behavior, exploit their weaknesses, and strike them down. With unique card-driven combat, luck plays a minor role here—it's your choices and strategies that determine your fate in each encounter!
Zombies have appeared in everything from movies to some of the best horror survival games, and Zombicide allows players to firsthand experience the craziness and bloodshed of zombies. In the game, players assume the roles of various survivors and work to improve their skills and abilities in order to fight the zombies that surround them. It's the ideal game for zombie fans everywhere, as they can fight the zombie apocalypse themselves and see how difficult it is to survive the undead on all sides. After all, the game implies that there are far more zombies than bullets.
Dark Side offers a fresh and complete core box experience, containing everything you'd typically find in a Zombicide base game: Survivors, Machines, Xenos, Tiles, Missions, Equipment, Tokens, and more. While it serves as a standalone entry into the Zombicide sci-fi universe, it also seamlessly integrates with Zombicide: Invader, expanding the gameplay further.
In Dark Side, players assume the roles of Green Squad soldiers, embarking on an underground adventure in PK-L7's mining facilities. Their adversaries are the Drillers, a new Xeno breed, using pits dug up by the Driller Abomination for defense and surprise attacks. Navigating the dimly lit tunnels adds complexity to ranged combat. With new gear and strategies to master, can the Green Squad escape the shadows?
In Mansions of Madness, up to five players use an immersive app to traverse the veiled streets of Innsmouth and the haunted corridors of Arkham’s cursed mansions in search of answers and respite. Eight investigators are prepared to aid players in confronting four fearful and mysterious scenarios; collecting weapons, tools, and information while solving puzzles and fighting monsters and other threats as they go. It’ll take more than just survival to conquer the terrors in this town. Open the door and step into these bone-chilling Mansions of Madness.
Across the globe, an ancient evil stirs; you and your trusted circle of colleagues must travel around the world, working against all odds to suppress the approaching horror. Foul monsters, brutal encounters, and obscure mysteries will take you to your limit and beyond. Eldritch Horror is a co-operative game of terror and adventure in which one to eight players play globetrotting investigators working to solve mysteries, gather clues, and protect the world from an Ancient One – that is, an elder being intent on destroying our world. Each Ancient One comes with its own unique decks of Mystery and Research cards, which draw you deeper into the lore surrounding each loathsome creature. Discover the true name of Azathoth or battle Cthulhu on the high seas. With twelve unique investigators, two hundred-fifty tokens, and over three hundred cards, Eldritch Horror presents an epic, world-spanning adventure with each and every game. The end draws near! Do you have the courage to prevent global destruction?
In CS Files - Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, four to twelve players take on the roles of investigators looking to solve a murder case. Plot twist, though: the killer is one of the investigators! Each player’s role and team is randomly assigned and includes Forensic Scientist, Witness, Investigator, Murderer, and Accomplice. In this battle of wits, Investigators attempt to solve the crime and track down the killer, while the Murderer’s team covers their own tracks and misleads the Investigators. The Forensic Scientist has the solution, but is limited by their scene tiles in giving out clues to help solve the case. Will you and your team crack the case?
Embark on an epic journey with your friends in the vibrant fantasy realm of Terrinoth in the cooperative dungeon-crawling board game, Descent: Legends of the Dark. With an integrated companion app, this game immerses you in the shoes of a unique hero, each with their distinct abilities and playstyle. The app introduces dynamic enemy strategies, intricate status effects, and manages in-game triggers, plus it adapts your heroes based on scenario choices. Between adventures, enjoy activities like crafting, shopping, and equipment upgrades. Together with your unlikely companions, delve into the captivating "Blood and Flame" campaign, facing undead, barbarians, and more. With 3D terrain and miniatures, your grand adventure awaits! Your objectives evolve throughout the overarching campaign story.
Dixit, the popular abstract storytelling game, gets a spooky makeover in Mysterium. Mysterium, a fantastic reworking of a system first introduced in the game Tajemnicze Domostwo, proposes a world where ghosts are real (wooo-ooo) and want to assist you in solving crimes. More specifically, their assassination. In Mysterium, one player assumes the role of the ghost, whose only means of communication are a deck of beautifully illustrated cards. The ghost must use these cards to guide the other players, or paranormal investigators, to the correct murder suspect before the night is over. Mysterium expands on Dixit's initial concept by adding a more defined ruleset and a stronger theme, resulting in an arguably better—or, at the very least, more challenging—game.
Yet another (kid-friendly!) rework is Mysterium Kids: Captain Echo’s Treasure. Word on the street is, there's a legendary treasure hidden in that old mansion on the city's edge! In spending the night there, You’re hoping for a stroke of luck in finding said treasure. Just when you're about to throw in the towel, Captain Echo's ghost pops up. He's not much for conversation, but he sure can play that tambourine, and he's using it to guide you to the treasure's hiding spots!
Your mission? Team up to uncover Captain's treasure before the night's end, marked by the moon's journey across the sky. Every round, one player takes on the role of the Ghost of Captain Echo. Armed with a tambourine, they drop hints to help the others figure out the right Noise card. If they succeed, it's time to reveal a piece of that elusive treasure.
Ticket to Ride: Ghost Train takes the gameplay of the Ticket to Ride series and scales it down to make it fun and accessible to kids!
In general, players collect parade float cards, claim routes on the map, and try to connect locations such as the Mad Scientist's Lab, the Gingerbread House, and the Lonely Barn that are shown on their tickets. In more detail, the game board shows a map of a city with certain locations being connected by colored paths. Each player starts with four colored parade float cards in hand and two tickets; each ticket shows two locations, and you're trying to connect those two locations with a contiguous path of your trains in order to complete the ticket.
On a turn, you either draw two parade float cards from the deck or discard parade float cards to claim a route between two locations by placing your ghost trains on it; for this latter option, you must discard cards matching the color and number of spaces on that route (e.g., two yellow cards for a yellow route that's two spaces long). If you connect the two locations shown on a ticket with a path of your trains, reveal the ticket, place it face up in front of you, then draw a new ticket. (If you can't connect locations on either ticket because the paths are blocked, you can take your entire turn to discard those tickets and draw two new ones.)
If you create a route all the way from the Dark Forest region to the Seashore region, you collect the "trick or treat" bonus.
In an article for the Harvard Business Review called ‘The Psychology Behind Why We Love (Or Hate) Horror,’ writers Haiyang Yang and Kuangjie Zhang state that “One reason we consume horror is to experience stimulation. Exposure to terrifying acts, or even the anticipation of those acts, can stimulate us–both mentally and physically–in opposing ways: negatively (in the form of fear or anxiety) or positively (in the form of excitement or joy).” They then go on to cite the numerous hormonal and physiological effects that experiencing horror media and entertainment give us, such as the aforementioned ‘stimulation,’ loosely likening it to a sort of high. Horror also gives us glimpses at alternate realities, so there is associated with that, an element of escapism. Regardless of genre though, we’d agree with Yang and Zhang in the proposal that horror ultimately offers a (safe) exploration and satisfaction of the darker aspects of the human psyche. As an inherently curious species, we’re fascinated–if not horrified–by what our kind is capable of. In fact, if you’ve ever found yourself with a morbid, insistent urge to commit acts that you know you shouldn’t do, like jumping over a ledge or using knives on your own extremities, there’s a term for that: L’appel du Vide, or in English, the Call of the Void.
Regardless, everyday can be Halloween with the right board game. So head over to your nearest All aBOARD XP to try any of these titles out now!
About Gaming Library
Gaming Library aims to be the go-to resource for board games, providing not only titles that can be enjoyed by families, but also to be enjoyed by friends both newcomers and veterans alike. By pulling from different resources from all over the world, we at Gaming Library curate an impressive collection of games for consumers to choose from, suitable for anybody from casual players to hardcore hobbyists. In doing so, we hope to provide the best means to foster activities that strengthen family ties and friendships, while teaching relevant skills and practical critical thinking that can be applied to your everyday life.
