Favourite Hallowe’en Board Games
Hallowe’en is a great time to sit down with friends and family and play a few board games (perhaps dressing up in the process!) Here I will run you through my personal top three games to play at Hallowe’en, none of which I actually own, but have played thanks to WoBoGgers bringing them along on Wednesday evenings!
- Mysterium
In this game, one person takes on the role of the ‘Ghost’ while all the other players are mediums trying to establish who murdered him
The Ghost cannot talk, and can only communicate using vision cards, which have very abstract pictures on them (if you have played Dixit, think along those lines…) The mediums can discuss amongst themselves and work co-operatively in order to identify their allocated suspect/location/weapon combination, which only the Ghost can see, behind their screen
Mediums have seven hours (turns) to each correctly identify their personal suspect, location and weapon otherwise the game is lost, and the mystery remains unsolved. If all mediums DO correctly identify their personal suspect, location and weapon, then the Ghost has one final challenge… To lead the mediums to their murderer. The Ghost selects one vision card to represent the murderer, another to represent the room they were killed in and a third to represent the murder weapon used; the mediums have to interpret these final clues and work out who the murderer was, so the Ghost can rest in peace knowing justice will be done!
This game is a favourite for several reasons:
Firstly I LOVE co-operative games, and this game allows for all players to participate equally in the discussions. Other players may spot details on the vision cards which you may have missed, or interpret the clues in a different way, and all players must correctly identify their allocated suspect/location/weapon in order for the game to be won. And the more players the better! 7 can play the base game
Secondly, I enjoy the challenge of being the Ghost. Don’t get me wrong, it’s blooming stressful not being able to talk for a whole hour (or however long it takes for the players to win or lose!); the pictures on the vision cards are really abstract and it can be difficult to send appropriate clues to your mediums without confusing them (a timer for the Ghost can be useful to speed the game along) Hearing the mediums go off on completely the wrong tangent is both frustrating and amusing at the same time, but the satisfaction when they are on your wavelength is totally worth it…
Thirdly, and this is a personal one… I am named in the rule book! Well, not specifically me, but ‘Stephanie’ is one of the players in the example game in the rule book, so that’s an extra reason for me to like the game!
- Gloom
This aim of this game involves players competing to make their four characters as UNhappy as possible before killing them off; the most miserable family at the end of the game wins
In an unusual twist on traditional card games, the transparent cards in Gloom allow you to see through to the cards played previously, so modifications can either be obscured or allowed to show through. Players must attempt to make their characters miserable, whilst making their opponent’s families happy… Only characters which have been killed count towards your final score!
This game is a favourite for several reasons:
Transparent cards! Who doesn’t love an unusual component in a game? And they have a purpose, they are not just for aesthetics; if the cards weren’t transparent, then the mechanics of the game would be lost
The chance to tell a story… Each card has a small amount of text on it, which you can use to weave a story about your family of misfits. Perhaps Mister Giggles fell down the hill whilst chasing his bride before being married magnificently! Although the box says from age 13+, younger children can have fun making up stories to go with their characters. As can the adults, let’s be honest!
3. Betrayal at House on the Hill
This game starts out as a co-operative game, where all players draw tiles to create a haunted mansion. Partway through the game, the tables turn once the Haunt is triggered, and one player betrays the rest of their party. Both the betrayer and the rest of the players have their own sets of conditions needed to win the game, which vary depending on which room and Omen triggered the Haunt
This game is a favourite for several reasons:
No-one knows who is going to be the betrayer at the start of the game. It may be the person who triggered the Omen, or it may be another player. Due to the random shuffling of the cards, you simply don’t know when the betrayer will be revealed, or who will actually be the betrayer… Until it’s too late!
The variety of scenarios once the Haunt has been revealed, and the end game conditions. These vary from half the heroes escaping to banishing demons, from killing all of the heroes to summoning a ghost. How you set up the mansion during the Exploration phase can have a massive impact on how well the Haunt phase goes; what you think might be helpful initially can turn out to be your downfall… I love the unpredictability of it!
But my absolute favourite memory of BaHotH involves shouting out random Shakespeare quotes across a crowded pub… To be or not to be, that IS the question!
Happy Hallowe’en…!
