Betrayal at the House on the Hill's board game box, rules and components.
Image: Avalon Hill

Get ready to have your spine tingly and spooked out of your wits with these delightful, yet frightful board games. We have covered some of the best horror board games in the hobby, helping you figure out just what sinister story you want to be a part of. Don’t worry – we have something for everyone.

From the ghost-haunted mansions to the out-of-this-world monstrosities of the Cthulhu mythos, there is a lot to see in the horror board games we have prepared for you. Some games will even let you direct your own horror movie. Now, how cool is that? Without further ado, let’s plunge into the world of scary story-telling!

Best Horror Board Games

1. Mysterium

Mysterium's board game box and components.
Image: Libellud
  • Players: 2-7
  • Play Time: 42 Min
  • Age: 10+
  • Complexity: 1.91/5

Things are about to get spooky as you venture into a mansion haunted by a ghost who was murdered in the old house. Set in 1920, this game for 2-7 players will have you trying to figure out who killed the poor ghost. Although one of the best horror games, the ghost will not actually be intent on doing you harm. Rather, the spirit wants to assist you and help you figure out who the murderer was, but also figure out the location and the murder weapon as well. All players need to guess correctly for them to win the game. Fail to guess correctly, and the ghost will forever haunt the grounds – and possibly you!

Buy Mysterium on Amazon US.

2. Betrayal at The House on The Hill

Avalon Hill's game box by Avalon Hill.
Image: Avalon Hill
  • Players: 3-6
  • Play Time: 60 Min
  •  Age: 12+
  • Complexity: 2.39/5

Betrayal at The House on The Hill is another top horror board game on our list. The game plays for 3-6 players and will have you explore a mansion. As you continue to scour the old building, you will encounter various items – both helpful and potentially harmful. At one point, the haunting house of the game is triggered, and one of you will become a traitor, trying to advance their own nefarious ends. The remaining players will band together and try to stop the player from succeeding. New omens are revealed to add to the uneasiness and the ghostly ambience in the game. What end awaits you if the traitor succeeds? What ill fate befalls the living who have entered The House on The Hill?

Buy Betrayal at the House on the Hill on Amazon US.

3. The Bloody Inn

The Bloody Inn's board game box
Image: Pearl Games
  • Players: 1-4
  • Play Time: 30-60 Min
  • Age: 14+
  • Complexity: 2.36/5

I scream bloody murder – and boy, is there a lot of murder going on at The Bloody Inn. Set in 19th-century France, players will compete as the proprietors of inns and try to attract wealthy travelers to stay with them, bludgeon them to death, dispose of the remains, and pocket the valuables. Sounds dark? Well, you just wait until you are trying to get more affluent guests to stay at your inn, figure out ways to end their lives, and make sure that the police don’t suspect you. This is one of the goriest horror board games, but don’t worry, because the art is actually fairly innocuous and more humorous than blood-curdling.

Buy The Bloody Inn on Amazon US.

4. Eldritch Horror

Fantasy Flight Games' Eldritch Horror game box.
Image: Fantasy Flight Games
  • Players: 1-8
  • Play Time: 120-240 Min
  • Age: 14+
  • Complexity: 3.32/5

The Eldritch Horror strikes fear in those who are faint of heart and emboldens those who know what is at stake. The Ancient Ones have awakened from their Lovecraftian slumber and are now trying to penetrate the veil and invade our world. It’s down to you and your fellow investigators to use your knowledge of the arcane and the horrors that lurk in the shadow to avert the end of days. You will be traveling around the world, tackling resurging threats and keeping the horrors at bay. By and large, Eldritch Horror is one of the best horror board games to try on this list that offers plenty of suspense, replayability, and the nagging feeling that the end of the world is just one card play away.

Buy Eldritch Horror on Amazon US.

5. Nemesis

Awaken Realms' Nemesis
Image: Awaken Realms
  • Players: 1-5 Players
  • Play Time: 90-180 Min
  • Age: 12+
  • Complexity: 3.43/5

You have probably seen the Alien movies, and then wondered – what if you woke up from cryosleep just to find out that one of your crew members has had their chest open as if something burst out of it? Well, you do not have to worry and although this is a sci-fi-themed tabletop experience, you can rest assured that this is also one of the best horror board games you will try any day! Nemesis is a game for 1-5 players who will try to survive the aliens and their larvae that try to infect them. However, not all your crew members are your friends. Some may try to kill you, blow up the ship and get out or throw you to the aliens as fodder! This is an intense game of cat-and-mouse where you have to choose carefully whom to trust and then again – work together to save your skin. Quietly, though, because if the aliens hear you, they will rush to your position!

Buy Nemesis on Amazon US.

6. Mansions of Madness

Fantasy Flight Games' Mansion of Madness
Image: Fantasy Flight Games
  • Players: 1-5
  • Play Time: 120-180 Min
  • Age: 14+
  • Complexity: 2.67/5

Set in the Lovecraftian horror universe, Mansions of Madness picks Arkham, a central piece city in the author’s novel, as the focus of your gameplay. The game is set for 1-5 players and will have you play together to investigate various strange cases that point that supernatural forces must be involved. Players will band together to try and crack the mysteries which will have you on pins and needles as you discover some fresh monstrosity trying to end life and usher in an age where formless evil beings rule over the cosmos. Don’t worry though, because things need not go that far with your skillful investigative work cracking the mysteries, stopping cultists in their tracks, and preventing a horror that has not been seen since the dawn of time from taking place!

Buy Mansions of Madness on Amazon US.

7. Dead Man’s Cabal

Dead Man's Cabal board game
Image: Pandasaurus Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Play Time: 60 Min
  • Age: 12+
  • Complexity: 2.71/5

Dead Man’s Cabal finds a way on our list of horror board games by its authentic theme, although, the game is a bit more humorous upon closer scrutiny. In the game, 2-4 players have been able to conquer death and bend it to their every whim. Having outlived death though can be a lonely business, and players will now have to try and bring the dead back to life so they can throw a party to celebrate. Yikes! Don’t worry, though, because you will still do all sorts of things that would give you goosebumps from collecting bodies to crystal skulls, reading runes, and making sure that you pull your favorite “people” from beyond the threshold and back into the world of the living.

Buy Dead Man’s Cabal on Amazon US.

8. Escape the Dark Castle

Escape the Dark Castle's game box.
Image: Themeborne Ltd
  • Players: 1-4
  • Play Time: 20-45 Min
  • Age: 14+
  • Complexity: 1.20/5

You are one of the prisoners of the Dark Castle until you say no more! The horrors of the dark corridors are nothing compared to the madness of the four walls that are sucking the life out of you. This is when 1-4 players decide to embark on a quest to escape their prison and go through a series of challenges as they desperately try to leave the accursed place. A quiet way out is not really an option as you have to tackle a series of challenges within the castle and even face a final battle with a boss. Sacrificing other prisoners to secure your way out as the horrors of the Dark Castle are unfathomable and you need every able-bodied soul who would gladly face what’s in the next room rather than return to their cell!

Buy Escape the Dark Castle on Amazon US.

9. Zombicide Black Plague

Zombicide's Black Plague's box
Image: Cool Mini Or Not
  • Players: 1-6
  • Play Time: 60-180
  • Age: 14+
  • Complexity: 2.48/5

Welcome to Zombicide – the board game where all players are a crunchy, wriggly snack for the undead. Any game with hordes of zombies would fit the category of a horror game, but when it comes to tabletop realism, Zombicide goes way out of its way. 1-6 players will spend 60-180 minutes trying to survive the event that is immortalized in the words “the dead hath risen!!!” and do so in the Middle Ages! Yes, you better sharpen your swords and channel your magic because you will be cleaving your way through waves upon waves of rotting flesh playing as paladins, dwarves, knights, and magicians, doing their damnest to survive. Try not to get bitten and smite the necromancers with righteous fury in this blood-pumping medieval horror thriller!

Buy Zombicide Black Plague on Amazon

10. Final Girl

Van Ryder Games' Final Girl
Image: Van Ryder Games
  • Players: 1
  • Play Time: 20-60 Min
  • Age: 14+
  • Complexity: 2.58/5

You are young, you are beautiful, and you are trapped in a horror movie where you play the young and beautiful schoolgirl. Do not worry. The slasher may be out to get you, but it’s him that’s trapped with you in the movie. This doesn’t mean he can’t still get you, but there is no need to give in to dejection either. This is a solo board game only and it will have you play as different Final Girls as you also face different killers and horror movie scenes. There is plenty of different scenarios to explore, scenes of movies to live through, and killers to try and outsmart lest they cut you up in pieces or make the horrible things you have seen on TV happen to YOU! Final Girl is a unique horror board game for people who love solo experiences, but it can feel quite fun even when being watched. It’s definitely worth a shot.

Buy Final Girl on Amazon US.

11. Shadow Hunters

Shadow Hunters' board games
Image: Z-Man
  • Players: 4-8
  • Play Time: 60
  • Age: 10+
  • Complexity: 1.82/5

Shadow Hunters is a horror board game of deduction where players get into the shoes of different classes and try to eliminate their opponents while protecting their own identity. The catch is that some of those players are on your team, even though you do not know whom you can trust. The players will make alliances and betray fellow players as they try to navigate the blood-curdling action that will have you playing a game of cat and mouse in which you not only have to defeat the other team but also make sure not to wipe out the neutral players in the process! Although not a traditional horror game, Shadow Hunters is tons of fun and invites a lot of social deduction and tactical thinking into play.

Shadow Hunters is not available on Amazon US.

12. Kingdom Death: Monster

Kingdom Death: Monster's board game
Image: Kingdom Death
  • Players: 1-4
  • Play Time: 60-180 Min
  • Age: 17+
  • Complexity: 4.26/5

Kingdom Death: Monster is a brilliant entry into our list of horror board games. Designed by Adam Poots, players will have to play cooperatively in order to survive unthinkable horrors. A post-apocalyptic world where monsters thrive unfolds as rag-tag bands of survivors come together and try to survive in this new unhuman environment in which they are prey and food. The game offers a series of interconnected scenarios in which you are trying to figure out the grander story behind what has happened while also getting to safety and possibly away from all monsters. The game has brutal and grim gameplay that will make you feel like you have gone astray on the right path and suffered terrible consequences as every mistake could cost you dearly! Just like being stalked by monsters in the darkest hours of the night would! Evocative and very thematic, this is a horror game to definitely try.

Kingdom Death: Monster is not available on Amazon US.

13. Cthulhu: Death May Die

Cthulhu: Death May Die board game box.
Image: CMON
  • Players: 1-5
  • Play Time: 90-120
  • Age: 14+
  • Complexity: 2.43/5

Yet another game set in the writing pantheon of H.P. Lovecraft you say? Well, we are game! Cthulhu: Death May Die is once again set in a familiar setting. Investigators are going to do their best to get to the root of the evil outworld beings and put a stop to whatever terrific plans they may have. What better way to do so than summon the dastardly creatures and slay them, though? It’s an idea that sounds as a complete lunacy but it’s precisely what you will do, fighting Cthulhu itself. The game is a gripping dice-chucking experience which will have you racing against time trying to slay the evil creatures before they have overwhelmed you. The game offers a number of episodes you can play through, but there is really no obligation to play them in a sequential order.

Buy Cthulhu: Death May Die on Amazon US.

14. Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game

Legendary Encounters
Image: Upper Deck Entertainment
  • Players: 1-5
  • Play Time: 60 Min
  • Age: Age 17+
  • Complexity: 2.70/5

This is yet another Alien game, yes – as in inspired by Ridley Scott’s movies. The deckbuilding game will have players try to build decks and survive the onslaught of an alien species that is determined to turn humans into food – or incubators for the larvae that would come a-busting out of your chest. To prevent this, you need to face the horrors together and make sure that you hold your ground. As the Xenomorph enemies throw themselves at you, you will get to choose and play as any of the franchise’s popular characters, including Ripley, Dallas, Bishop, and Corporal Hicks. Legendary Encounters is an expendable horror board game with plenty of expansions to try and add fresh challenges to your gameplay.

15. Horrified

Horrified's board game box
Image: Ravensburger
  • Players: 1-5
  • Play Time: 60 Min
  • Age: 10+
  • Complexity: 2.06/5

To wrap the list of horror board games on a lighter note, we introduce to you – Horrified, a game that will have 1-5 players team up and try to stop the monsters from terrorizing a town. While the art looks quite friendly and the game can be played by anyone aged 10+, you will still have to deal with seven monsters and put an end to their nocturnal antics that have the townfolk horrified. Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and Creature from the Black Lagoon are all in town and they are preying on the poor people. You will get together with your fellow players and obliterate the monster punks!

Buy Horrified on Amazon US.

Disclaimer: The list was compiled with the help of and combines the mixed experience of Meeples Herald’s editorial team, BoardGameGeek ranking, and online search volumes.

Stoyan Todorov

Stoyan entered the hobby over seven years ago and his collection has been growing at a pace his spouse has described as “concerning.” Willing to push the boundaries of the connubial bliss to its extremes, Stoyan is here to bring you the latest updates and developments from the world of board games.

Stoyan entered the hobby over seven years ago and his collection has been growing at a pace his spouse has described as “concerning.” Willing to push the boundaries of the connubial bliss to its extremes, Stoyan is here to bring you the latest updates and developments from the world of board games.