Our 2017 Halloween Game List

As a huge fan of Halloween (the holiday and the movie), this is my favorite time of year for hosting themed game nights. Just like last year, we’ve compiled a list of creepy, spooky or Halloween themed games that would be just right for your family and friends. Instead of creating two lists this year for kids and adults, we’ve listed all our suggestions below with guidance on how family-friendly each game is. So, let’s get this thing started!

Storyline: Scary Tales

Anyone that’s familiar with games like Apples to Apples will quickly understand how Storyline works. One player acts as the narrator while all the other players submit cards to fill in the holes of the story. A narration card may ask for a character so all the players submit a character to the narrator. Sometimes the story will ask for a location, object, character, ect. The narrator picks their favorite submission and the winning player takes a point token from the middle of the table.

Storyline: Scary Tales gets really silly and can be a lot of fun when you play as a family. This is definitely a casual game that we’ve loved playing around this time of year. When the kids have friends over, they’ll ask Erin or myself to be the narrator so they can create a crazy story with their company.

With only two narrator decks, the game can get a little stale if you play it a lot. We’ve made a house rule that this game only comes out around Halloween so it stays fresh and fun for the family.

Purchase Storyline: Scary Tales on Amazon

Very kid friendly! Playing with a mix of kids and adults makes this game more fun.

Campy Creatures

Campy Creatures is a new game from Keymaster Games, the creators of Control. Players use a handful of classic monsters to capture mortals that are available in the middle of the table. Each monster has unique abilities and some can cancel out the abilities of their opponents. You’ll have to deduce what cards the other players will play in order to get the most valuable mortals.

The game is a lot of fun and a perfect filler game for 3 to 5 players. Some mortals fight back and give you negative points, while capturing groups of other mortals will give you positive points. The “take that” mechanics work extremely well and the artwork in the game is fantastic. The classic monster theme is prefect for your Halloween game night.

Purchase Campy Creatures on Amazon

Older kids (8-10+) and adults are a perfect fit for this game.

Ghosts Love Candy

Everyone knows that kids love candy, but it’s ghosts that are really passionate about those sugary treats! Ghosts Love Candy is a Halloween themed game from Steve Jackson Games for up to 6 players. Each player controls a ghost and all players get identical hands of cards. Each round, players will haunt kids that are carrying candy. You want to get candy which gives you victory points. Be sure not to scare a kid which will gives you -2 points at the end of the game.

Ghosts Love Candy is a lot of fun and it’s become a “go-to” filler game for our family lately. There’s enough strategy to keep you engaged and scaring specific kids allow you to steal or swap candy with other players at the table. The art is cute and colorful and the game supports up to 6 players really well. If you’re playing with kids around 4 to 6 years old, you can omit the writing on the kid cards to simplify the rules.

Purchase Ghosts Love Candy on Amazon

Great family game for kids with enough strategy for adults.

The Big Book of Madness

We are big fans of iello Games, and The Big Book of Madness looked too good to pass up when I found it on sale recently. Players take on the role of a student at a wizard school. You’re all trapped in the basement when one of you opens the “Big Book of Madness”. Up to 5 players work together to cast spells, learn more advanced spells and defeat the monsters in this book. This is a cooperative game that feels like it came from the world of a certain boy wizard that we will call “Parry Hotter”.

I initially bought this for the family, ignoring the 14+ age range on the side of the box. The Big Book of Madness is a tiny bit creepy, but there’s nothing here that I wouldn’t let a 7 or 8 year old check out. We only play this game with adults because of one big reason. The game is so freaking difficult!

We’ve successfully lost this game every time we’ve played and I really look forward to playing it again. It’s a really solid deck-builder and the game requires everyone to work well together using their characters strengths. The art is beautiful and the game is a blast with people who are ready for a challenge.

Purchase The Big Book of Madness on Amazon

We keep this game experience for adults and people who regularly play games.

The Bloody Inn

We can’t recommend this game enough and that’s why it’s on our Halloween list for a second year in a row. Players are hiring and killing visitors that stay at their Inn on the French countryside. The problem is that sometimes police show up. Do you hire the police? Do you hide the body? Or does the officer need to meet an untimely death?

This month, Pearl Games expansion is releasing the first expansion for The Bloody Inn which introduces traveling carnival workers. This is one game that Erin and I love playing with friends or just the two of us. Adding an expansion to this fantastic game means that it will be on our table even more in the future. The Bloody Inn has a morbid theme but it’s so good if you can get past the premise of the game.

Purchase The Bloody Inn on Amazon

Not recommended for kids (even though our 12 year old is really good at the game).

BOO

Perplext Games has created a very cool line of card games that are the size of a pack of gum. The games are small, quick and very portable! One of the recent releases in this line of games is a ghost themed game called BOO. This two player game has players competing to scare the other players ghost to convert them to their team.

One team controls the black ghosts and the other controls the white ghosts. On your turn, you play the card at the top of your deck. The cards are double sided and scaring the other teams ghost allows you to flip that card over to join your team. The game is small but takes up a pretty good amount of space on the table. BOO has you looking for opportunities to score points each turn without accidentally blocking future moves. If you need a quick Halloween themed fix, BOO is perfect to bring on the go.

Purchase BOO at your local Barnes and Noble

Great game for kids and adults but limited to 2 players.

Broom Service

Over the course of 7 rounds, players use druids, gatherers and witches to deliver potions around the map. Broom Service uses card management, bluffing and some luck in this family-friendly game. The game has some great mechanics as players take brave or cowardly actions as they play cards each round. There are lots of ways to score points and changing your strategy throughout the game isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Players deliver potions around the board, scoring points and earning magic wands that will help them clear out clouds that are blocking player paths. Broom Service has earned multiple nominations and awards since its release in 2015. This is a fantastic game to hit the table as the air gets crisp and you breakout mugs of apple cider for your family and friends.

Purchase Broom Service on Amazon

Great pick for kids and adults. Kids under 9 or 10 years old might need assistance.

Do you have a favorite game to play during this season? Share it in the comments below so we have even more games to play this Fall.