It’s time for the Halloween Lucky Dip!
Actually, before we go any further, that’s given me a good idea for the evil day itself. Trick or Treat has all got a bit boring, hasn’t it? Kids rock up at your door, give it the old rat-a-tat-tat, half of them aren’t even dressed up properly (if I’ve gone to the effort of dressing up as Wild Man Half Drunk On Cheap Wine Who Doesn’t Want To Be Disturbed Thank You Very Much, then you can at least chuck on a witch’s hat or something), and they expect a bunch of sweets waiting for them. Then they bog off to the next house and repeat ad nauseum. Let’s liven it up a bit. I’ll have a big bowl covered in a sheet you aren’t allowed to peek under. It could be sweets. It could be broccoli. It could be chewed parsnip. It could be a small book of DIY tips. It could be a key with a mysterious number on it. It could be a lump of old jam. It could be a tiny jar of jelly of an unknown flavour (it’s toilet flavour). It could be a slice of pickled eel. It could be a live earwig. There’s loads of great prizes to win! (Word to the wise: there’s no sweets in the Lucky Dip bowl.) Yes! This idea is too good to pass up…
What? You came here for games? Alright, we can do that as well.
Shiver RPG: Slasher Starter Box Set
If you’re like me, then you’ve seen a stack of horror movies. You know every trope, you know how every scene will turn out, and you know all the classics from start to finish and back again. And you’ve convinced yourself that you’d survive where all those loser victims trip up and scream and fail. It’s finally time to put that ill-gained confidence to the test! Axe murderers, chainsaw wielding lunatics and nightmarish shuffling villains all await you within…
The Slasher Starter Box contains everything you need to get started with playing SHIVER RPG. The set includes: a Shiver Starter Rulebook (thank God they remembered to put this in, eh?) with all the essential rules you’ll need to start playing Shiver as both a player and Director (GMs) with amazing cover art; set of dice to get rolling on your Shiver adventure; a Slasher story for you to get started playing with; a set of pre-filled character sheets for your specific story; and a gorgeous themed box to store everything in.
The Shiver Starter Rulebook contains all the game rules you need to start playing as well as character creation rules for characters up to level 5. It is perfect introduction for new players starting out with Shiver. There’s plenty more for you to get your teeth/axe/chainsaw into after this Starter Box Set, with loads of expansions already available. Think you’ve got what it takes to survive? Only one way to find out.
Final Girl Board Game: Bad Times At Buddyland Expansion
We’ve been speaking about slasher movies and their inherent tropes, and here’s the ultimate trope (and the one I personally like the best): the Final Girl. I’ve seen the notion of the final girl trashed as misogynistic, but I couldn’t disagree more. This is the character who survived, this is the one who defeated the evil, despite everything thrown her way. This is the one who didn’t say, ‘Duh, who’s out there?’ before wandering out into a dark misty night with a target painting on their neck. This is the character who carries us, the poor, defenceless viewers, away from the horror and back into the light. They should be celebrated. So let’s chuck another one of these girls at something evil! Hooray!
For years Billy Bear and his animatronic Buddies entertained kids and adults alike. Now Billy is out to kill you and anyone else in his path-and joining him might be one, two, three, or all seven Buddies… the variable setup will make it a surprise each time. Be sure to turn off Billy’s power supplies or he’ll just keep recharging. Good luck surviving the night! Buddyland might look a little run down but there’s still fun for everyone at the arcade. Use tokens to activate the pinball, claw or skee-ball machines. There’s even a party room that can accommodate any size group, large or small. Be sure to call and book your party today!
I’m a huge fan of Final Girl. Thematically it is spot on, from the artwork to the excellent VHS-style design to the game mechanics. Even the fact that it’s a solo game is a perfect choice – you really are on your own versus the ultimate evils that the night can throw at you.
Remember, you NEED the Final Girl Core Box to play this and any other of the Feature Film boxes. Got that? Awesome. Stop wasting time, and expand this damn fine game today.
Twisted Cryptids
Those darn cryptids… bunch of teasers, aren’t they? They act on like they want to stay hidden in the shadows, lurking in the trees, licking their lips and salivating upon sight of our juicy flesh (some of us are juicier than others), and yet Nessie can’t resist popping her head out of the water just often enough to keep the tourists coming, Mothman seems obsessed with swooping around busy bridges, and Bigfoot can’t help sticking his booty out from behind the pines and giving it a quick shake for the photographers. Make your mind up guys, you want us to see you or not?
In this immersive strategy game for 2-4 players, you’ll navigate your love-hate relationship with humans and outwit your fellow Cryptids to earn your status as a true legend. As hunters, hikers, and researchers scatter across the wilderness hoping to catch a glimpse of you (and people actually do this sort thing, they go snooping around for potentially blood-thirsty beasts, and then wonder why they find themselves without a face, duh), you’ll stage elaborate hoaxes, plant perfect decoys, and lurk discreetly in the shadows to build up your myth. You might even expose your true self once in a while, but be warned: vulnerability can come at a price.
Players choose a Cryptid with unique powers and hiding spots and use Action cards to determine the effects if they are spotted. Players also get Hidden Trait cards with objectives that you’ll try to achieve by the end of the game in order to score bonus Myth. Once you have completed 5 rounds, flip over the remaining Sightings in your Stacks and your Hidden Trait before determining the winner of the game. The player with the greatest total Myth wins the game and is deemed the True Legend, while the others scurry home before the Humans catch them.
If you feel like getting in touch with your inner Mothman (oo-er) then creep your way over to this gruesome page.
Monster Match
Axe murderers? Chainsaw wielding lunatics? What about the kids? Look, Halloween’s not for kids, is it? Witches, zombies, vampires, werewolves, come on! This is big people stuff, the children-types should be away in bed listening to stories about hedgehogs and mermaids or whatever (hey, I’ve literally just an idea about a mer-hog (or a hedge-maid (that might be something entirely different)). What do you mean, they won’t go quietly? Alright, alright, here’s something to help you keep the creepy little scamps happy…
Perfect for 2-6 players ages 4+, Monster Match is the fast and fun family game that puts your matching skills to the test. Throw dice in the Monster Tower to reveal what kind of monster to find. If you find a monster that matches, hurry and put your finger on the card. The person who ends up with the most cards wins! Kids love giggling over the adorable monsters, playing with the Monster Tower, and racing to spot a match. Grown-ups love how their little ones are secretly learning counting skills and pattern recognition.
Everyone’s having a monstrously good time with Monster Match.
Set up will be ridiculously simple. In the box there’s the Monster Tower itself, a couple of dice, 50 cards, and an instruction manual that the company itself already knows that you’ll just skim before diving right in. Cheap and very cheerful, this could be perfect for a Halloween bash with younger monsters, so go on over for a closer look.
Horrified: Dungeons and Dragons
Before you start, I hear what you say before you say it, D&D is very specifically a fantasy construct and therefore not a suitable subject for a Halloween game. Except it is. Dungeons and Dragons has always been horror-adjacent. Why, take a look at the Ravenscroft setting as the ultimate example, the fact that Stranger Things depends upon D&D for its frights and scares and its Big Bad. Oh, and the monsters. If you bumped into a Beholder down a dark alley on a misty night, you’d drop dead of fright, guaranteed. I mean, I would, so there.
Players work together to face monsters and puzzle-like obstacles to gather item tokens, protect citizens, and avoid attacks. Unique and thematic challenges for each monster further immerse players into the detailed setting and story. Additionally, each player chooses to play as one of five heroes inspired by character classes from D&D: wizard, rogue, fighter, cleric, or bard — each with a unique set of abilities that can aid their party as they move around the board to defeat the monsters dwelling in the dungeon below Waterdeep.
The monster choices are great, the artwork is awesome, and there’s even a D20 integrated into the gameplay. There’s not as many route choices on the map, but I kinda like that: it adds a little extra to the risk/reward decisions that Horrified forces you to make. If you’re like me and you love either/both of these big name titans, you need to go here – but don’t forget to bring your health potions.
I hope you enjoyed that Variety Pack of Halloween themed board games and expansions. It’s all available to order right now, so get stuck in. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got to be off, I need to catch some earwigs for the Lucky Dip bowl and start making my special jelly…
About the author:
Steve is currently a freelance board game blogger, but often dreams of life as a pirate, or as a ghost herder in the Lake District, or as an evil estate agent who sells haunted houses for his own dark pleasure. Instead of figuring out how to do these jobs in real life like a normal lunatic, he tries to write about them instead, and releases the resultant books upon the unsuspecting world via famous digital bookstores. More books are bound to follow. Find this peculiar entity here: www.instagram.com/positively.board
