“The images of the bed and breakfast didn’t look this creepy when we booked it!”
Scare BnB is a micro game for 2 to 4 players from Wicked Weird Games. Since we’re big fans of monsters and creepy games, this card game is right up our alley. Each player at the table is given a deck of 9 cards that each have a unique bed and breakfast theme. Each location is filled with creepy, and sometimes cute, monsters.
Setting Up the Haunt
Players will take these 9 cards and setup a haunted house for the neighbor to their left. Cards are laid facedown and can follow any pattern or orientation they want. Turn cards upside down, sideways, create a pattern, or just line the cards up in a row. This is totally up to the player to decide.
After each player has a haunted house set up in front of them, the goal is to find two specific cards. Each house has a single key and a single exit represented in the set of 9 cards. Players take turns flipping over a single card on their turn. Ultimately, you want to find the key card BEFORE revealing the exit card.
When a player finds the right cards in this order, they let one of their 3 guests out of the house. Guests are represented by tokens in front of each player that will get flipped over when the guest escapes.
Shifting Rooms
In Scare BnB, finding the exit card before finding the key means that your building is going to shift. The cards will all get flipped face down again and the player who setup the haunted house gets to rearrange it in any way they choose. With 9 cards to choose from, you’re working to narrow your search for those two important cards with each turn.
If the player is able to help a guest escape, the haunted house is shuffled up and rebuilt for the next of the 3 guests. The winner is the first player to get all 3 of their guests out of the haunted houses that have been built for them during the game.
One of my favorite things about Scare BnB has to be the great monster art included in each of the 4 decks of cards. Every card has a little scene revolving around monsters and creatures using rooms in the house. These fun and creepy illustrations are family-friendly and play off of classic movie monsters.
A Micro Game for Families
Scare BnB is the best when players are intentional with building the haunted house for their neighbor. I had a lot of fun arranging cards with the hope that the player would pick them in a specific order. This game brought laughs to the table when a player created a clever layout, tricking the player into a false sense of security.
I really like that each of the 4 decks has a theme and rooms are built around that. Two of my favorite illustrations in the game has to be the pig complaining about the bacon to the octopus chef and the creature from the black lagoon taking a bath.
This is a fun, light, small box game that families can enjoy together. Because the game moves so fast, Scare BnB is a game that can easily hit the table before or after dinner when out to eat with the family.
Scare BnB is available through the Kickstarter campaign that launches on May 21, 2024 from Wicked Weird Games.
A prototype of the game was provided for this coverage. Components and rules covered in this preview are not finalized. Read more about our preview policies at One Board Family.
