All the good horror movies get sequels. The most popular ones turn into series. Long series. Lots and lots of entries. Look at Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween. Fair play, some of these entries are not the best. Alright, a lot of them. Some of these franchises have been milked until they shrivelled up and keeled over (there is no excuse for Friday the 13th part VIII). But there’s no truer sign of success than a sequel. So, let’s have a good look at Horrified, the cooperative horror board game that recently reached its sixth iteration and shows no signs of slowing down.
Horrified: Universal Monsters is the game that got me into the hobby, and I cannot resist every single new release. It’s like an illness. I know that, technically, they all play the same. They’ve got the same base ruleset and the same basic idea. But they all play differently. They do. And I’ll tell you why: it’s the monsters. It’s those hell-spawned monsters…
The Horrified series has now expanded well beyond its original Universal Monsters, bringing together creatures from Dungeons & Dragons, Lovecraftian horror, and the wider world of monsters. Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons - Ravenloft is currently riding high, so it’s long past time, then, for an important decision: which are the best Horrified monsters?
I've picked five of my favourites and ranked them according to a mixture of theme, gameplay, personality and, perhaps most importantly, how much fun they are to actually fight. This isn't a list of the hardest Horrified monsters. It also isn’t a list of the best Horrified games - that’s a discussion for another time. It's a list of the monsters that I think make for the most memorable games.
What makes a great Horrified monster?
We need to clarify the criteria, just so you good people don’t think I chucked all of the minifigs into a cloth bag and plucked out five at random. That would be a terrible way to run an article. Terrible. A good Horrified monster needs to do more than look impressive on the table.
The best monsters feel like their source material while also giving you a genuinely different problem to solve. They should change the way you approach the game, create memorable moments, and ideally make you question whether your carefully constructed plan was ever particularly clever in the first place.
For this ranking, I'm looking at four things:
- Theme: Does the monster actually feel like the creature it's supposed to represent?
- Gameplay: Does fighting it create interesting decisions and change the way you play?
- Personality: Does it have something distinctive that separates it from the other monsters?
- Fun: Does having it on the board make the game more memorable?
With that in mind, let's get to it!
5. Mothman
As far as Western mythology goes, this monster is crazy, bro. It’s a moth, right, but it’s the size of a man. A really big man. And it flies, obvs. And it eats your head, or something. Madness. (Important note: Mothman is one of the best characters in Unmatched as well, but that’s a convo for another time.)
What I enjoy about playing against Mothman is the ‘Trap’ mechanic, which is just one example of how thematic Horrified: American Monsters is: setting traps for a murderous Mothman is exactly what a half-witted troupe of supernatural investigators would do on those daft TV shows, the ones where people hunt for things they really shouldn’t hunt for in case they turn out to be real. It’s quite challenging too: not only must you set the four traps first, but you’ve then got to persuade one player to act as bait.
This is how Horrified sucks you in, and how each edition has its own flavour. The original Horrified: Universal Monsters is black-and-white horror, while Horrified: American Monsters has an X-Files vibe.
So why is Mothman only number five? The simple fact is that Horrified, as a series, handles its monsters, by and large, with imagination and attention to detail. There’s a lot of competition, and in another week my choices could easily change.
Still, if you're looking for a thematic Horrified monster, Mothman is an excellent choice.
4. Mimic
Let’s just come out with it - Mimics are weird. They are! I get that they’re an iconic monster in the D&D bestiary and a regular cover star (as well as a standout part of the Honour Amongst Thieves movie), but there’s no getting past the fact that it’s a treasure chest with teeth. Who comes up with this stuff? (Some smarty-pants is bound to tell me.)
And the Mimic works brilliantly in Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons. The mini does not start on the board, and as a result it can cause real havoc. The Mimic takes its moves on its Monster Mat. If it lands on a fang icon, an item is drawn from the bag. If all players have a token of matching colour, then the Mimic is found (at last!) and appears on the board, ready for the final battle. All well and good, but what if the player items don’t match? The Terror Track advances by one. This can rapidly get out of hand, especially if your tactical approach is out of whack.
This replicates the notion that you can wander around a dungeon with no clue where the monster might pop out until too late. I love how this gives the monster a unique feel. It creates tension as you need the Mimic to appear so that you can defeat it, but there’s a stronger item management element involved than usual. Ideally, all players need to keep hold of at least one of each item colour at all times. Not easy when there’s at least one other monster creeping about, and a nightmare if you’ve decided to tackle a full host of four enemies.
The Mimic earns its place at number four. It's recognisable, thematic and mechanically distinctive… but there are three Horrified monsters that I think are even better.
3. Jiangshi
If you’ve read anything I’ve ever written, then you should have half an idea what my next reference is going to be. A stand-out memory of the VHS era for me would have to be the first time I watched Mr. Vampire. This was at the point when the video market was absolutely huge, and distributors were getting hold of everything they could to put onto a tape and make some money, which is why loads of amazing Eastern cinema finally made its way over to our shores. They often had terrible dubbing (or was that part of the charm?), but that couldn’t hide the wild energy of these films.
The version of the Jiangshi in the movies isn’t quite the same as the folklore that inspired it, but this is an undead creature that is commonly represented as hopping or leaping. The folklore version is more formidable, capable of giving chase by running, and if sufficiently ancient or if it has absorbed sufficient yang energy, capable also of flight. Yeah, you are in trouble.
There’s a Tetris-y vibe to solving the Jiangshi’s puzzle (that good old Game Boy game is the first reference I always think of when it comes to polyominos). First you have to reveal the Jiangshi’s lair, which involves flitting around the board and figuring out which of the four possible sites is the right one (great if you get it right the first time, a bit of a setback if you don’t). You then have to construct the mythical coin sword at that location, which involves discarding items and taking pieces of the sword that match the item’s colour. You will have to dodge in and out of the lair to achieve this, hopping about much like the Jiangshi itself.
2. Frankenstein/The Bride
Here’s a little fact that most people don’t think about: Horrified: Universal Monsters has a love story at its core. You’ve been playing it as a horror game when you should have been feeling deeply romantic all along. You live and learn, eh? As far back as the first game, Horrified was playing around with the design possibilities of the monsters in the Universal catalogue, ensuring that every icon played in a different way and brought something different (literally) to the table.
Here’s the twist from the off: you are not trying to defeat Frankenstein’s Monster and The Bride. You are striving to teach them humanity, so that they can live happily together and get a mortgage on a three-bedroom house in suburbia with a nice garden and a garage for two cars, or something. Sounds straightforward, easy enough. Nuh-uh. The Automa deck is against you, and will drive the two towards each other as the game progresses: if they meet before you have taught them humanity, they will fly into a fit of rage, murder everyone and everything, and send the Terror Track up by one level. If they keep meeting, that Terror Track will top out very quickly, and then it’s all over.
Discard a yellow item for Frankenstein’s Monster or a blue one for The Bride, and you can turn their respective (and very thematic) dial closer to Maximum Humanity (it isn’t called that in the game, but that’s why they should have involved me in the design process). Vitally, this also allows you to steer the monster away the same number of spaces as on the dial. It’s a real juggling act to dish out teachings to each monster, while also dealing with whichever other creatures roam the village. It’s a clever and tough 2-for-1 that you get when selecting Frankenstein’s Monster and The Bride, and it’s a challenge that only the brave should select.
As a huge fan of the original novel and the early Universal horror movies, I’ve got a great appreciation for the implementation of this monster. It’s evident that the design team cared for the IP they were handling. Take on Dracula alongside this pair, and get ready for some frantic yo-yoing around the village as the need to destroy the Count’s disparate coffins competes with the urgency to steer Frankenstein’s Monster and The Bride away from each other. Tremendous fun.
So why don’t they take the top spot? Because there is one monster that, for me, embodies everything Horrified does best
1. Count Strahd
Vampires rule the Horrified series, and that’s a fact that cannot be argued against. I could easily swap Dracula into this spot and be happy with the result. Both are integrated into the game perfectly, so that it feels like you’re taking on a blood-sucking, sun-fearing horror. Both tell a bit of a story as you make your way around the board. One, however, is tough, and the other is even tougher…
This is the best implementation of a multi-stage monster since the idea was first introduced in Horrified: World Of Monsters with Cthulhu (why, oh why did we get World Of Monsters instead of a full Lovecraft-themed set? One of the great fumbled opportunities in tabletop gaming). The first time you set up Count Strahd’s two Monster Mats, you’re going to think, ‘Uh oh, we’ve got a bit of a job on here’. My friend, you’re not wrong.
Stage one of dealing with Strahd isn’t too difficult, but it’s a great bit of storytelling. You must make your way to Madam Eva’s tent and give her an item so that she may use her Tarokka cards to reveal the location of each of the three relics. In other words, cross her palm with silver. I love stuff like this; it makes the battle feel atmospheric instead of just a fetching chore. There’s some variety in the Tarokka cards as well, so you won’t be visiting the same locations every time you play: you’ll need some flexibility in your game plan. From there, you have to take the relics to the right locations. Is it done? Have you won? Nope. Next up, you have to defeat Castle Ravenloft’s Heart of Sorrow. Mission complete! Except… It’s not. Those three stages were the warm-up. Now it’s time to take on the Count himself…
Another subtle but critical difference between Count Strahd and the other monsters in the game is the number of symbols that represent him. You’ll know by now (of course you do, you’re a Horrified expert) that each card of the Automa deck has symbols that dictate which monster or monsters can move and attack in that turn. Any monster with the sword icon on their mat will move if that symbol appears on the card. Most monsters have three symbols. Strahd has four. Yep, that means he is more likely to act in a turn than the other foul creatures. Not only is he a more complicated enemy to defeat, but he is also much more likely to hunt you down. Good luck.
In a game of tough monsters, Count Strahd is a beast. He is going to get you. You will need to be smart and adaptive. You will have to switch strategy at a moment’s notice, and it makes for some memorable games of Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons - Ravenloft. It’s the stuff that keeps you coming back for one more try.
Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons - Ravenloft
Find me online and tell me why you disagree. I can’t wait to hear everyone else’s top fives.
About the author
Steve is currently a freelance board game blogger (with articles appearing in Senet, Casual Gaming Insider and on Meeple Mountain), 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.
