Devil dice: the best board games to play this Halloween

As Halloween casts its ominous, slightly tacky shadow over us, we think it’s the perfect time to go all out. That means costumes, scary video games and cheesy horror movies. Oh yeah, and we can’t forget creepy board games.

Want to throw the most Halloween-riffic games evening this weekend? Here are a few of our favourite tabletop terrors.

Dead of Winter

Seen the latest episode of The Walking Dead yet? Great. Now imagine living through it yourself. That’s Dead of Winter in a shambling nutshell.

This game of survival, betrayal and difficult choices is the perfect way to ramp up the tension this Halloween.

For maximum roleplay, dress up as a ragged survivor and eat tinned beans as snacks.

Dead of Winter

Ancient Terrible Things

Imagine yourself as an explorer making your way through a thick jungle. You’re struggling to move under the oppressive heat when suddenly you’re face to face with some eldritch abomination looking to consume you.

Ancient Terrible Things is a great local game with Cthulhu-themed flavour that has you slowly (or unnervingly quickly) going insane. Can you keep your sanity?

One Night Ultimate Werewolf

Someone among you is a werewolf. Worse still, it’s you. And your fellow villagers are looking very suspiciously at you.

One Night Ultimate Werewolf is either a game of logic – if you’re a human – or deceit – if you’re one of the werewolves.

Like many social games with traitor mechanics, the scariest part of it isn’t necessarily the supernatural flavour, it’s the fear of getting caught in web of your own lies.

Ancient Terrible Things

Letters from Whitechapel

Sometimes, the scariest things aren’t ghosts and zombies but the things that are liable to actually exist.

Letters from Whitechapel sees you play as either Jack the Ripper or the detectives trying to catch him.

As with One Night Ultimate Werewolf, it’s more nerve-racking to play the bad guy, especially in the later stages as the coppers close in on your location.

Ghost Stories

Ever wanted to be the Ghostbusters? Well, forget about it because ghosts are nasty mofos and will probably utterly destroy you.

Ghost Stories drops you in a haunted village and spams spirits at you like Zergs on a raid.

This isn’t a game for those who want a chilled Halloween: this is an intense game of overwhelming odds.

Mysterium

Betrayal at House on the Hill

The best way of playing Betrayal at House on the Hill is to do it after watching a few campy horror movies from the ‘50s.

You know the type, a group of straitlaced heroes spend a night at a haunted mansion for some poorly defined reason, and bad things happen.

Betrayal follows the same playbook, throwing in every horror cliché you can image.

If you’re the kind of person to decorate your house with plastic skeletons and fake spider-webs, you’ll love the game.

Mysterium

What would happen if the murder victim in Cluedo came back as a ghost and spoke to you through mysterious dreams?

Mysterium answers this question by placing players in the role of a group of psychic investigators looking to solve a murder.

Your only clues will be some very surreal cards representing the dreams. This game isn’t particularly scary, but it is loads of fun – and isn’t that what Halloween is ultimately about?