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Oogada-Boogada!
Sorry, didn’t mean to give you a fright… but I did really! Bwaa-ha-ha…
In case you hadn’t guessed, I’m getting into the spirit (lolz) of the Halloween season, which means for the first time ever the Board Horde will be themed! I’m a bit early? Well yeah, I could run this theme next week, but there’s only be a few days until the big night itself, and if we do it today there’s a chance you could put an order in for one or two of these and they might arrive in time. Might. Don’t blame me if they don’t. And I know, the crowdfunding ones definitely won’t arrive this year, let alone any time in October, but… but…
Let’s just get on with it, eh?
Creepshow
Did you ever see the original ‘80s movie, by any chance? Still lives with you, I bet. It took over my brain when I first saw it (aged 8, yeah, bad parenting, I know all about it), particularly the creature that gets out of the crate near the end. The fact that I’m talking about this makes it fairly obvious that there is now a game of the film, and here it is in time for All Hallows Eve!
This is being described as a competitive story-building game, which is suitable given the episodic nature of the movies and the series (didn't know there was a show? Yep, three seasons so far my friend, get yourself a Shudder sub).
Players will take the part of "Creeps" and build deliciously horrible stories to send bad people to their well-deserved demises. This notion is the very basis of the EC Horror Comics of the '50s, and I'm personally pleased that the designers are referencing all the way back to the source.
The game uses two decks - story cards, which are chained together to tell the villain's story in three acts, and suspense cards, which add a suitable level of tension. The author in me is very keen to try this out and see what kind of gruesome stories I'll get to tell.
This is a great choice if you’re a horror nut, or as a gift for the gorehound in your life (we all know one). You can buy Creepshow right now and you can buy it right here.
Wednesday: Creatures and Outcasts
There are some characters who feel like they’ve been with us forever. Take The Addams Family. I remember watching the black and white show on BBC2 in the 80s, when they’d already been repeated God knows how many times. One of the family in particular has really jumped to the fore, with the help of a great script, a great actress, and a great director. The show’s incredible success means spin offs were inevitable, and here’s the board game.
In Wednesday: Creatures and Outcasts – a card game for 2-6 players - you find yourself in the Nightshade Library, where one small book amongst reams of hefty tomes catches your eye. Its title: "Rulebook, Creatures and Outcasts". When you carefully slide the book towards you from the dusty bookcase, cards fall out. It appears to be an ancient card game about mythical creatures and outcasts. You quickly open the rulebook and begin to read... Players take turns to play cards from their hand on a stack. Each card played needs to be higher than the previous one, and all cards left in your hand when the round ends count as penalty points. Outsmart your opponents by getting rid of the cards you hold as quickly as possible. Should you wait for the right moment to play your highest cards, or take a risk and face major consequences? Stay alert because well-known characters from Wednesday will keep you on your toes. After all, what is a game without some unexpected twists? It looks like an ideal family game for the Halloween season, and it’s here now for a pretty sweet, petite price.
Army of the Dead: A Zombicide Game
And now for something significantly different.
This one ain’t for little kids or for Granny (unless your Granny is way different in her tastes to mine). We’ve got two major franchises crashing together, and what makes them so well suited
to each other is their obvious central theme: zombies! (Bloody things are everywhere these days.) This is not an expansion, it’s a standalone game, so it’s perfect for Army of the Dead fans, those who want to expand their Zombicide collection, and those looking to dive in for the first time – and even better if you’ve been saving up your pennies (you’ll need a real big penny jar).
In the tabletop adaptation of the film, players are going to run the same gauntlet as the frankly insane movie characters did, looking to infiltrate a zombified Las Vegas and search out the bank vault. Each of these mercs has their own unique skill set, so choose wisely according to your play style. As players make their way through the game’s many scenarios, they’ll be recreating scenes from the film, as well as venturing into many “off-screen” situations designed specifically for the game - in other words, you get to play an expanded version of the story here, ideal for diehard fans. But be careful, the zombies of Las Vegas aren’t going to just shamble slowly towards them. This will be a non-stop fight if the players expect to get away with the money… and their lives.
Those familiar with the Zombicide series know that there’ll be a serious challenge here, so this one’s not for the weak of heart or will. Pop over to this page and make your wallet wince.
Septima: Shapeshifting and Omens
This, on the other hand, is an expansion, so make sure you’ve got the base game before you go clicking links.
Witches are a bit of a thing around Halloween. Now, in the real world they’re a decent bunch, and tend to deal in crystals and herbs and natural remedies and pagan rituals for positive ends. Around October 31st, though, we want the made up ones that’ll drop a curse on anyone who looks at them sideways, or will turn your nose into a frog, or creep after you in the woods while making weird totems out of twigs and string to chuck at you.
In Septima the base game you spent four seasons gathering a coven of witches and enthralling the townfolk so that you could gain enough wisdom to become the High Witch, or Septima. You’ve played the base game enough, time to switch things up.
Rumors are abound in Noctenburg: the townsfolk whisper of sights of strangely human like animals in their homes, the hospital and even the court. Ominous omens indeed... Whether this is the storyline for a game, book or film, I’m in.
The expansion not only adds extra content to the game, but also forces players to rethink their usual strategies. The Omens module gives players a new objective with the low Suspicion level, while they need to adapt to new negative/positive effects every turn. The Shapeshifting expansion adds new abilities and allows players to gain the upper hand by timing their actions wisely.
Septima is one of those games that immediately adds itself to your wishlist upon first sight of it (I can see you nodding in agreement), so an expansion providing new mechanics is more than welcome. Fly, my pretties, fly, and snag a copy here.
Above and Below Haunted
Life in the marshland village is nice, and your neighbours are… you know, fine. Really, they’re fine. But the village is growing, and that means more people, and we’ve all got our limits, haven’t we? Maybe that’s just me. Whatever. It’s time to move on and start a village of your own! It’ll be great. New land to farm, new waters to fish. Everybody loves a fresh start. Thing is, there’s a reason why nobody has done this before. The ghosts might make you wish you’d never moved…
We’re back in the world of standalone sequels to well-known games for this one from Red Raven Games. Fans of the original game will find familiar gameplay elements alongside a bunch of new challenges and strategies, all set in the same world of Arzium. You'll still be competing to build the best village, which means building construction, villager recruitment, and exploration of the caves at the bottom of the lake. This Haunted variation of the game will include new cave types with varying difficulty, haunted buildings that can lower your overall reputation, and even pearls that count as valuable goods at the end of the game. There are also brand new building types, boat tokens you can use to alter die rolls, and 40 unique adventure cards, each offering specific rewards for cave exploration.
The Kickstarter still has a couple of weeks to go - it's already soared past its funding goal - and it is planned to release on the 10th anniversary of the original game. Why don't you head over to the campaign page and see what all the fuss is about?
Sublime Dark
How brave are you? I mean, if you were being honest with yourself. It’s quite a challenging question. I expect an answer, however. Me? Well, someone bust into my house I’d totally kick them in the nuts and enjoy it. Monsters and stuff? Not sure about that. Most of the research I’ve done (watching movies) indicates that running and continuing to run is how you get out of trouble. I think that my chances of surviving today’s final game, then, are rather low…
Sublime Dark unfolds in the desolate town of Blackfell, where players will struggle against their inner demons and the terrible creatures that haunt the streets. I'll be honest, sounds like the kind of place you need to move out of asap, but each to their own. This is a campaign game in which the progressive segments are called 'delves', and inside a delve you must explore and survive for as long as you can. The further you go, the more clues and relics you can uncover, but you'll have to evade the Eremites which basically want to murder you.
There's a hint of some roguelite elements in the kickstarter campaign description. It warns that you will die (cheery sentiment) which indicates that the game will be no pushover, but death may not be the end: shared discoveries may endure beyond the flesh. This sounds to me like you'll either keep what you've found in the next life, or you can find them again if you find the body. You'll also have to manage your character's emotions as you move from tile to tile. If I was a character in the game I'd have to draw a card entitled Screaming Fit as I fled into the fog bawling my eyes out.
The team at Hall Or Nothing Productions have plenty of form in the Kickstarter arena, having completed 12 campaigns, so it's safe to assume they know what they're doing. There's also a money off coupon for their back catalogue on this new Kickstarter, so it could be worth taking a look just for that...
That’s about it, by ghouls and ghosts. Whatever you do this Halloween, I hope it’s a scream!
But…
Can I make a few recommendations? Watch the original Fright Night, dip into the brilliant anthology Trick ‘r Treat, and finish with Halloween III: Season of the Witch?? And for games in-between, go for the original Horrified (Universal Monsters please and thank you) and a bit of Arkham Horror LCG to leave your brain unhinged at the end of the night… Do what you wish, but this is the way…