Video games and board games share a lot of design DNA, so it’s an easy jump for players to make. Horror has definitely become one of the more popular genres in the board gaming space, so if you’re a fan of horror games (and have checked out the five games we recommended earlier), here are some tabletop experiences to try out.
Like: Castlevania
Try: Boss Monster
If you love old-school video games, there are plenty of board game designers out there creating games right up your alley. One of more interesting competitive card games on the market takes inspiration from the Castlevania series, among others. Boss Monster drops you in a dungeon, but instead of casting you as the adventuring hero, you play as the end-level boss creating the obstacles for the heroes. A certain number of hero cards are dealt out each turn, and which ones you lure into your dungeon will depend on the treasure within. Your job is to make sure that the traps and monsters in your lair are strong enough to kill them.
Each player has a hand of cards, and they will add one room card to their dungeon each round. After each player adds to their dungeon, you check the hero cards and see which ones go to each player. You then compare the damage done by your dungeon to the health of the hero to see if you kill it, giving you victory points, or if the hero makes it through your dungeon, dealing damage to your character. While the heroes are going through the dungeon, other players may play spell cards that can screw over their opponents. The game requires a careful balance of minding your own dungeon while paying attention to what others are up to. It can be a bit over-dependent on the luck of the cards, but the light tone always makes for a fun game session.
Like: Resident Evil 2
Try: Raxxon
Last time I recommended Betrayal at House on the Hill to compliment the first Resident Evil game because the first game makes me think of exploring a creepy mansion. When I think of Resident Evil 2, I think of getting a larger look at the outbreak as it ravages the city, which makes me think of Raxxon. Set in the same universe as Dead of Winter, Raxxon is a co-op game that casts you as a team of people, each with different abilities, trying to evacuate civilians from a city on lockdown with a zombie plague.
The board features a grid of cards, each starting face down. Each of the different characters has a set of actions that range from flipping over cards, switching them, or removing entire rows from the board. To succeed, you need to coordinate with others to create rows of zombies to kill them or rows of civilians to evacuate them. The catch is that each time you perform and action, you put a marker on your character sheet on that action. While resolving each turn, you must also take certain penalties associated with the markers on your sheet. This continues to happen until you take a turn to clear your card, creating an interesting risk-reward of trying to figure out how long to push yourself.
When Raxxon was initially released, it was only available to people who had an invite from someone who had already purchased the game, creating an interesting “viral marketing” scenario. The publisher, Plaid Hat Games, also has a website that features specific scenarios for you to set up to challenge yourself, and a tracker where you can upload your progress through these missions. It’s a really clever way to expand an already fun co-op experience.
Like: Murdered: Soul Suspect
Try: Mysterium
Murdered: Soul Suspect isn’t exactly remembered as one of the best games, but it did have an engaging premise: ghost tried to solve his own murder. For fans of that premise, I would recommend Mysterium, a cooperative game with two very distinct roles. The game takes place in a spooky house in 1920s Scotland. All but one of the players are mediums conducting a séance, trying to communicate with the ghost, the final player. The ghost will attempt to lead the mediums to a Clue-style set of conclusions: who was the killer, what was the weapon and where did it happen.
The real genius of the game is how the ghost communicates this information to the player. The game comes with a deck of cards that have evocative, impressionistic art on them. Each round, the ghost will draw a hand of cards, and distribute one to each of the other players to try lead them to picking their specific killer/weapon/location. Where the fun, or sometimes frustration, comes in is the amount of detail on each card. Was the ghost trying to lead me to pick the baker because there is a muffin in the corner of this card, or did they want me to focus on the target in the background to get me to pick the hunter? Confusion like this create moments that you will be talking about months later when that card comes up again the next time you play. Mysterium isn’t the most accessible game, but if players like a game that requires a bit more abstract thinking to take a break from heavy strategy, this perfectly fits the bill.
Like: War of the Monsters
Try: King of Tokyo
With the release of the recent Godzilla movie, I’ve been revisiting the PS2 game War of the Monsters. This 2003 fighting game did a great job adapting the genre into something that captures the scale of a classic kaiju battle. King of Tokyo is a dice-heavy board game that aims to capture the same feeling in board game form. Each player picks a monster to represent them in battle. On your turn, you roll a set of six (or more) dice up to three times, Yahtzee style, keeping the results you want and re-rolling the ones you don’t.
Dice can either heal you, gain you victory points, earn you upgrade currency or damage other opponents. The game ends when someone reaches twenty victory points or there is only one monster left standing. Victory points are also awarded each round to the monster who holds Tokyo, but that player will be the target of everyone! Upgrades available to the players can help with progress towards either victory condition, so the strategy you adopt each game can often depend on what cards you are able to acquire. King of Tokyo is light and easy to teach, while still having an interesting strategy, making it one of my favorite games to introduce people to the hobby.
