Haunted mansions, scary monsters, and deadly threats are all hallmarks of the horror genre that contribute to a tense, rewarding tabletop gaming experience, especially when you’re playing one of the ten fantastic titles on this list. Whether you’re looking for solo gaming tension, a close competition for survival, or a cooperative adventure, we’ve got you covered.
10. Alien: Fate of the Nostromo
Fate of the Nostromo is a love letter to fans of the original Alien film. Each player takes on the role of one of the movie’s key characters, and must cooperatively escape both the robot Ash and the xenomorph while completing the game’s various mission cards. It’s a great game from a thematic perspective, and the alien itself feels suitably terrifying, but the mechanic of a crew morale rather than individual characters having their own health pools hold it back from taking a higher spot in this ranking.
9. Elder Sign
A malevolent beast intent on destroying the world lurks within the dark hallways of the Miskatonic Museum in Arkham, and it’s your job in Elder Sign to seal away the demon in another dimension before his influence grows too great. It’s a classic dice rolling game, where you explore one of the six scenario cards in play for clues, spells, and other mystical items. However, you may not like what you find, and there’s only so much time before your investigator loses it. Difficulty can be a bit erratic, which holds this title back somewhat, but it’s a minor complaint.
8. Horrified
In Horrified, players face off against some of the best-known monsters and villains from the genre, including Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Mummy. Changing the baddie you’re up against alters the objectives of the game, and adding more monsters increases the difficulty, which means you get both a beginner-friendly and wickedly challenging experience in the same box.
7. Dead by Daylight: The Board Game
Dead by Daylight’s tabletop adaption condenses the original experience into a tight 30 to 60-minute competition with plenty of tension and mayhem to engage players who aren’t familiar with the source material. One player takes on the role of the killer, and the others are survivors. If the killer takes everyone down, they win. The only notable concern with the board game is its scalability. It works great with five people, but if the count drops to four, one of the players will have to play as two survivors at once, making for mismatched turn length.
6. Halloween
Halloween has a similar one against many setup like the Dead by Daylight board game, but this time one player takes on the role of Michael Myers and the rest seek to evade him and stay alive. The game benefits greatly from having two ways to win — either deal enough damage to the classic horror film villain or find both of the kids and the car keys to escape.
5. Mansions of Madness: 2nd Edition
Cryptic puzzles, horrifying monsters, and ancient evils await your team of investigators in Mansions of Madness. In terms of atmosphere, the game is second to none, with mechanics like darkness and fire transforming the room tiles and interacting with both the player investigators and the monsters. Mansions of Madness also comes with a companion app that manages puzzles and gameplay phases, all while playing suitably creepy music.
4. Betrayal at the House on the Hill: 3rd Edition
In Betrayal at the House on the Hill, the players work together to explore the secrets of an old haunted house in which danger lurks behind every door. You’ll take turns opening new rooms, with the house’s dusty, maze-like interiors changing in layout every time you play. Mid-way through the game, the haunting truly begins, and one of the players will be unmasked as a traitor. While some of the game’s scenarios can feel familiar, you never quite know what’s going to happen, which makes it great pick for game night.
3. Final Girl
For fans of the horror genre seeking a solo tabletop gaming experience, Final Girl hits all the right notes. The game’s theme plays off classic B-movie tropes, where the player’s character is the last woman standing and must defeat a monstrous, stalking killer to survive. The setting and the killer vary depending on the ‘feature film’ you’re playing, and whether you’re at a summer camp or a haunted manor, the story elements of the game make it a winner.
2. Nemesis
Nemesis is sci-fi survival horror at its absolute best. In a similar fashion to Alien, you are trapped on a rusty old freighter in deep space with an unknown predator organism and a set of unique objectives unknown to the other people aboard. Though it starts as a cooperative experience, the other players might be all too willing to put you in the path of the alien to save their own skin and achieve their own ends. Let’s hope you make it back to Earth alive.
1. Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is an expansive, highly customizable delve into a Lovecraftian version of the 1920s. You’ll choose an investigator, build a deck using the cards in your collection, and work cooperatively with the other players to uncover clues and defeat monsters. The game’s revised core set has everything you need to get started, while further player cards and campaigns are available as expansions. Unlike some of Fantasy Flight’s other ‘Living Card Games’, Arkham Horror scenarios do not have absolute success and failure conditions for its scenario, which gives every story the game offers incredible replay value and depth.
