best horror board games
Image via Fantasy Flight Games

The 10 Best Horror Board Games to Play in 2024

Tension and terror on the table.

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 youā€™re playing one of the ten fantastic titles on this list. Whether youā€™re looking for solo gaming tension, a close competition for survival, or a cooperative adventure, weā€™ve got you covered. 

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10. Alien: Fate of the Nostromo

alien board game
Image via Ravensburger

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 movieā€™s key characters, and must cooperatively escape both the robot Ash and the xenomorph while completing the gameā€™s various mission cards. Itā€™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

elder sign board game
Image via Fantasy Flight Games

A malevolent beast intent on destroying the world lurks within the dark hallways of the Miskatonic Museum in Arkham, and itā€™s your job in Elder Sign to seal away the demon in another dimension before his influence grows too great. Itā€™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 thereā€™s only so much time before your investigator loses it. Difficulty can be a bit erratic, which holds this title back somewhat, but itā€™s a minor complaint.

8. Horrified

horrified game
Image via Ravensburger

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 youā€™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 the board game
Image via Level 99 Games

Dead by Daylightā€™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 arenā€™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

Michael Myers board game
Image via Trick or Treat Studios

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 ā€” either deal enough damage to the classic horror film villain or find both of the kids and the car keys to escape.Ā 

5. Mansions of Madness: 2nd Edition

mansions of madness board game
Image via Fantasy Flight Games

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

house on the hill board game
Image via Hasbro

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. Youā€™ll take turns opening new rooms, with the houseā€™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 gameā€™s scenarios can feel familiar, you never quite know whatā€™s going to happen, which makes it great pick for game night.

3. Final Girl

final girl feature films
Image via Van Ryder Games

For fans of the horror genre seeking a solo tabletop gaming experience, Final Girl hits all the right notes. The gameā€™s theme plays off classic B-movie tropes, where the playerā€™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 ā€˜feature filmā€™ youā€™re playing, and whether youā€™re at a summer camp or a haunted manor, the story elements of the game make it a winner. 

2. Nemesis

nemesis game
Image via Awaken Realms

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 card game
Image via Fantasy Flight Games

Arkham Horror: The Card Game is an expansive, highly customizable delve into a Lovecraftian version of the 1920s. Youā€™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 gameā€™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 Flightā€™s other ā€˜Living Card Gamesā€™, 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.     


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Author
Image of Colin Fritz
Colin Fritz
Contributing Writer- Colin has been a long-time gamer ever since receiving a Wii for Christmas in 2007. He's been writing professionally since 2021 and enjoys all things tabletop gaming, including everything from The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game to Terraforming Mars.