Entry 37: Trick of Treat

            

            Since today is Halloween I figure that I should write about a few games that would be great to play on this “spooky” day. There are a bunch of games that people typically recommend for a Halloween theme but I will highlight the ones that we have and have enjoyed playing. 

            First, I am going to refer everyone to Entry 18 which is all about the games from Façade Games. From the witches of Salem, to the town of Deadwood, and the plague in Bristol, these games all can fit a dreary theme (if you want to dress like a pirate then Tortuga can fit into the category too I guess).

 

BETRAYAL AT HOUSE ON THE HILL 

            Second, If you want to play a fun game that is fun for up to six players which also has 50 different “haunts” that you can trigger, look no further than Avalon Hill’s Betrayal at House on the Hill. 

            What I like the most about this game is that everyone starts off working together to explore the house finding various things like omens, items, and traps. Each person selects a character they want to play and each one has different stats such speed which lets you know how many spaces you can move. Whenever you get an omen card, you must make a haunt roll. Based on the results, it may trigger the haunt or not. If it is triggered then you look up which of the 50 haunts you are doing by looking at the chart and matching the omen card and the room that you are in. 

            Some haunts you have an “outside” enemy which keeps your team together to fight the enemy and some haunts one of the characters will take the roll of the enemy. I won’t say anymore about this leaving you ready to explore the House on the Hill for yourselves.

MYSTERIUM 

            The next game that we have and played (but it has been a while) is Libellud’s Mysterium. A game for two to seven players in which one person plays the role of a ghost and the rest are mediums who are cooperatively trying to “help” the ghost to “rest in peace. 

 “Unable to talk, the amnesiac ghost communicates with the mediums through visions, which are represented in the game by illustrated cards. The mediums must decipher the images to help the ghost remember how he was murdered: Who did the crime? Where did it take place? Which weapon caused the death? The more the mediums cooperate and guess well, the easier it is to catch the right culprit.” (from BGG)  

            This game has many different combinations that can be made from the cards so the replayability is high. The game has a Clue feeling because you are trying to deduct the details of the murder that occurred but without moving game pieces across a board and working alone. 

            Mysterium also has an expansion and a bunch of promo cards that can enhance the “spookiness” of the game. 

HORRIFIED 

            The last game that I am going to talk about is Ravensburger’s Horrified. This is the game that we will be playing tonight after our family dinner. This is what the publisher has to say about it… 

“The stakes have been raised. Imagine living in a place so wretched that it's not plagued by one, two, or even three monsters — but seven of the most horrifying fiends! 

In this game, you'll come face to face with them all as you work together to rid the town of the maniacal or misunderstood creatures…before it's too late. 

Horrified includes high-quality sculpted miniatures (Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon). Its innovative, easy-to-learn, cooperative gameplay has players working together against the monsters with varying levels of difficulty. Just as each monster is unique, they require different strategies and tactics to be defeated.” 

            In the game that my wife and I played ahead of time so we know the rules when teaching my family, we had found that the look and the theme of the game is, well, pretty horrifying. The cards, game pieces, the board itself all fits nicely with the theme. As the description stated, it is a game in which we work together to accomplish the goals of ridding the town of the monsters. 

            This is a game that I could see us playing year after year as a new Halloween tradition. What is also great is that Ravensburger just released the follow up game to it called Horrified: American Monsters but everywhere I checked has it out of stock. 

TOGETHERNESS 

            Like most major holidays, it is always nice to spend them with friends and family. What better way to do so than to enjoy a good meal, have good conversations, and enjoying playing fun games. 

            All the games (not counting the Façade Games) that I “spooked” about today are cooperative ones. Working together to accomplish a singular goal involving some form of ghastly or ghoulie objective. After all, they do say that two heads are better than one. 

        

             Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween.