October is finally upon us, and that means Halloween is less than a month away. Halloween happens to be my favorite holiday, and I’m the type of person that goes all-out with house decorations and throws a big party. In fact, this year we’ll be hosting a Halloween gaming event right here at the office. October is a great month to play horror games, and we’ve got plenty of plans for doing just that this month.
I’m sure most of you feel the same way I do about Halloween, and what better way to celebrate the holiday then to dress up in costumes, pig out on candy, and play horror games with your friends? As mentioned above, we’ll be doing our own Halloween-themed gaming event this year, and in the hopes of helping our readers who want to do the same thing, we’ve put together a small guide to detail some games you could put to the table to scare the excitement right out of your gaming group. Once you’ve got your costume picked out, candy and snacks on the table, and you’ve turned the fog machine on, put one of these following games on your table to start your night off in a terror-rific way.
Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game
One of Fantasy Flight’s longest-running Living Card Games, Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game puts players right in the middle of Lovecraftian horror. Players build decks and go head-to-head in two-player battles for story cards that are set in the middle of the table. Using factions such as Cthulhu, Hastur, Syndicate, and Agency, players will use their wits to overcome battles between characters committed to each story card, and when a player obtains a three story cards they are the winner!
Arkham Horror
Keeping with the Eldritch horror, Arkham Horror is the perfect board game to suck players into Lovecraft’s mythos. This cooperative board game sees players in the role of investigators as they try to shut down portals opening up all around Arkham. Characters can be upgraded through the game in many ways, gaining new skills, weapons, allies, and more. If too many portals remain open, an Ancient One awakens and the players only have one last hope at saving the world – facing and defeating the Ancient One in combat! With high intensity and horrific monstrosities, this game may take you a long time to complete, but it will surely get your spine tingling.
LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE]
A game that I personally feel has slipped under some gamers’ radar, LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] is a heart-pumping, terrifying adventure. Players take the role of test subjects as they wake up in a secret underground facility called Subterra Bravo. This secret military installation is filled with all sorts of unspeakable terrors of science that have gone wrong. The masters of this facility conduct experiments on innocent subjects abducted from the surface – and you’re on that list. The goal of LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] is simply to escape Subterra Bravo. In order to do this, however, you will need to avoid the human guards and inhuman experiments that walk the halls and make it to an exit point before the facility goes on lockdown. From beginning to end this game is aggressive and terrifying.
Last Night on Earth
A Halloween game night just isn’t complete without zombies, is it? Last Night on Earth is a perfect zombie game for when you want some scenario-driven gameplay. In typical zombie flick style, “heroes” need to survive through the night during a zombie outbreak. In this game a group of players control the heroes and a second group of players control the zombies, depending on how many players you have. Each hero has their own special abilities, and the game is played on a modular board. Players will play through scenarios, each having their own interesting objectives and story. What’s even better, is that the game comes with its own CD soundtrack to add ambiance to the game, and that’s awesome.
City of Horror
Finally, if you’re looking for more of a backstabbing sort of survival horror game, look no further than City of Horror. A shambling horde of zombies is invading the city, and your goal is to survive the assault until the morning. This means, however, that you may need to sacrifice some of your fellow players to the wolves, or in this case, zombies. Each player will control several characters that have different abilities. Throughout the game players can move their characters to various locations, at which they can fortify and search for valuable items. When these locations get too packed, or when a zombie goes to eat a character, a vote is resolved, and players can bargain however they choose to decide who will be the zombies’ next meal. This is a game of high intensity and strong decision-making, all set in a zombie outbreak. This is surely something to get your group in an uproar while eating those peanut butter ball eyeballs you painstakingly made.
Each of these games is great, and there’s plenty more out there. In fact, this month Iello Games is set to release a Halloween version of their hit game, King of Tokyo, which will include Pumpkin Jack and the Boogeyman! If you’re looking to setup a spooky game night this Halloween, these games would be perfect on your table. If you have any other suggestions, leave them below! We can make this a terrifying guide for all gamers this season!