Halloween Board Games Perfect for a Low-Key Night at Home

Whether you’re hosting a party, staying in for the night waiting for trick-or-treaters, or have just returned home from your own candy grab, you’ll probably have some downtime on Halloween night—the perfect opportunity to sit down in a small group and play a game. A spooky game.

While you could bust out an old favorite like Scrabble or Battleship, there are lots of really great euro-style board games and card games that feature some very on-brand theming for Halloween: Think werewolves, zombies and some good old-fashioned murder mysteries. You might know (and own) some of these, but my hope is that many of them are new to you. In fact, your next favorite Halloween tradition might be one Amazon Prime order away.

If you’ve ever played the game Mafia while you had a substitute history teacher, you already sort of know this one. One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a super quick, fast-paced party game that gives everyone a secret role: Werewolves are terrorizing the town and trying to keep their identity hidden, while everyone else is a villager with potentially special powers that allow them to discover more about their fellow townspeople. Everyone closes their eyes as nighttime takes place, while one at a time, everyone with a special role wakes up and does their thing. If you go for this game, be sure to download the free companion app—it helps the game stay on track and provides some Halloween-appropriate spooky music while you play.

Players: 3-10
Recommended ages: 8+
Get it: Amazon

I love the way Board Game Geek sells this long-play adventure game, where everyone plays as a group to defeat the “Ancient Ones” and clean out the streets of Arkham.:

The year is 1926, and it is the height of the Roaring Twenties. Flappers dance till dawn in smoke-filled speakeasies drinking alcohol supplied by rum runners and the mob. It’s a celebration to end all celebrations in the aftermath of the war to end all wars.

Yet a dark shadow grows in the city of Arkham. Alien entities known as Ancient Ones lurk in the emptiness beyond space and time, writhing at the gates between worlds. These gates have begun to open and must be closed before the Ancient Ones make our world their ruined domination.

Players: 1-8
Recommended ages: 12+
Get it: Amazon

In this suspenseful and strategic game, players lay tiles to build the floor plan of a one-of-a-kind haunted mansion, room by room. As you build and move about, you’ll discover all kinds of spooky danger—secret monsters, hidden spirits and frightening omens. And while most of the players are busy investigating the creepy house on the hill, one of the players is secretly sabotaging the game.

Players: 3-6
Recommended ages: 12+
Get it: Amazon

A classic murder mystery game (some people might know it as Cluedo) that asks players to investigate the death of one Mr. Boddy by traipsing through the rooms of his mansion looking for clues from the other players.

Players: 3-6
Recommended ages: 8+
Get it: Amazon

Transport yourself to 18th century France for this game: You and your fellow players are executioners vying for public opinion by executing the least popular nobles. You take turns changing the order of the execution line (a row of cards) in your favor and then executing whoever is at the front.

Players: 2-5
Recommended ages: 12+
Get it: Amazon

This quick-to-learn and quick-to-play game, every player is a zombie and the dice are your victims. Keep rolling to eat more brains and collect more victims, but a shotgun blast roll will end your turn!

Players: 2+
Recommended ages: 10+
Get it: Amazon

The object of this game is macabre, but perfectly fun for Halloween. Players each “assume control of the fate of an eccentric family of misfits and misanthropes,” with the goal being to inflict tragedy after tragedy onto the members of the family—debt, disease, flesh-eating mice—before each of them finally pass on to the other side. All the while you can play defensive moves against your opponents—giving them cheerful events like a happy marriage to up their self-worth score (Gloom is like golf, you want a low score).

Players: 2-5
Recommended ages: 13+
Get it: Amazon

The setting for this game is the Whitechapel District in 1888 London—yep, the scene of Jack the Ripper’s murders. One player is the murderous Jack, and the rest are police detectives who pool together and move about the town streets to help catch Jack the Ripper before the end of the game.

Players: 2-6
Recommended ages: 13+
Get it: Amazon

Have you played any of these? Do you have any go-to games for Halloween night?

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