If ever there were a Halloween in which to break out the horror board games and card games for kids, it is this one. No matter how different the holiday looks this year, Halloween is definitely not canceled. In fact we would argue that we all need a good, wholesome fake scare more than ever this year. And that’s where these spooky games come in.
Horror games have a huge advantage over scary movies when it comes to planning your at-home Halloween celebrations: They rely a lot more on the imagination than on super gory special effects and suspense, which means fewer nightmares for everyone. We would like fun scares, not the kind that will have our children waking up screaming in the middle of the night. So, while it seems rather gruesome to imagine the murder of Mr. Boddy in Clue, you’re also just talking about an illustration on paper or cardboard, not a vivid dismembering you saw on screen. And though your little ones may be scared of the monsters lurking in their closet, by turning them into goofy game pieces like in Go Away, Monster, you’re helping to remove them of their power. We may all have nightmares of the zombie apocalypse, but we can laugh it away when the Zombie Gotcha hands snap at us.
But scary card games and board games for kids and adults also have a lot in common with the horror books, movies, and TV shows that inspire them. Many of the latter ask the viewers to solve a mystery or guess who will win their fight for survival. Several of the games we list here, including Mysterium, Escape Room in a Box, and Cauldron Quest, invite players to work together to solve puzzles and clues. Other games, like the Disney Haunted House Game of Life, simply allow players to enjoy the creepy aesthetic of Halloween without having to think too hard about what it all means. And then, of course, we’ve got the Ouija Board — which is made by Hasbro, so you can’t go telling us it’s not a board game — even if you still believe you can somehow use it to channel the other side.
The games we list here are worth playing again and again, long past Halloween and long past this strange era in which the world outside too closely resembles some of those horror movies we used to think were farfetched fiction. When that happens, you’ll have more friends and family with whom to play these horror games. And that’s one of the true delights of this season: Knowing that the sun will rise and our spookiest of nights will be behind us once again.
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Go Away Monster
Got a little one prone to fearing monsters under the bed? This game may help them banish that fear. Reach into the bag to pull out shapes that match the objects on your game board, but if you pick up a monster instead, yell, “Go away, monster!” and toss it aside. (Ages 3 and up.)
Zombie Gotcha
Players pick key cards to find matches that will “unlock” doors. The twist is that the card you want might be in the zombie hands, which may or may not snatch you when you reach in to take one. (Ages 5 and up.)
Cauldron Quest
Unlike in so many scary stories, this time players are the witches working together to create a magic potion that will break an evil wizard’s spell. It’s about time we get on the witches’ side! (Ages 6 and up.)
Goosebumps the Board Game
Choose to be one of the monsters of an R.L. Stine book and move along the board by playing cards. The first monster to get to Stine’s magic typewriter wins. (Ages 8 and up.)
Hocus Pocus
Players work together to stop the Sanderson sisters from finishing their potion by playing potion ingredient cards and using tricks. (Ages 8 and up.)
Disney’s Haunted Mansion Game of Life
The classic game full of highs and lows meets the Disneyland ride. It’s both easy for kids to follow and complex enough to keep older siblings and parents entertained. (Ages 9 and up.)
Ouija Board
To be honest, no matter how much you tell me that it’s players’ own unconcious movements that direct the planchette to letters, my mind still goes back to those spooky times we used Ouija boards at sleepovers and Halloween parties. A good fake scare might be good for older kids. Be prepared for some squeals in your house. (Ages 8 and up.)
Clue
Who killed Mr. Boddy? Process of elimination and deductive reasoning help players solve the classic, gruesome mystery faster than any podcast could. (Ages 8 and up.)
Mysterium
This is like a more advanced version of Clue, but with ghosts. One player is the Ghost and the rest are Mediums, all working together to find what happened in the haunted mansion years ago by looking at the “visions” from their cards. (Ages 10 and up.)
Werewolf Escape Room in a Box
Teens and adults can play this game in which players all work together to solve a number of puzzles within an hour to unlock a box, otherwise they’ll be turned into werewolves. If you really love this, there are also The Walking Dead and “Flashback” editions. (Ages 13 and up.)
Your Worst Nightmare
The fears in this card game include common phobias and comical ones, inviting players to guess which things their friends are most afraid of. Rack up the points by ranking them correctly. (Ages 12 and up.)
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