If you’re a fan of the horror genre and a fan of board games, you’re in luck because there are now quite a few great horror-themed board games to play. Regardless of whether you’re looking for a great co-op horror game to play year-round or just around Halloween, you now have plenty of options.
While I wouldn’t say that there are a lot of scary board games, a lot of them do a great job of capturing the horror vibe. They’re usually able to pull that off thanks to some creepy artwork and good storytelling.
I’m only covering fully cooperative horror board games on this page, so you won’t find awesome semi-cooperative horror games like Nemesis: Lockdown and Betrayal at The House on The Hill here. Those games are definitely worth checking out, though, if you don’t mind traitors in your board games.
Also, I should give a special shoutout to Horrified since a lot of people have it on their Best Horror Games lists. It just didn’t work well for my group, but we all loved its classic monsters theme.
With all of that out of the way, let’s get to the list! Below you’ll find some of the best cooperative horror board games!
10. Escape the Dark Castle
Players: 1-4 | Ages: 14+
Escape the Dark Castle is a challenging cooperative horror game in which you need to find a way to escape a scary castle. Your goal is to make it through 15 rooms and then defeat the boss. Each game tells a slightly different story since you’ll have a different arrangement of rooms to go through.
I’ve been a fan of Escape the Dark Castle for a while and have probably played it over 40 times. It has simple but fun dice combat, its black-and-white artwork suits the horror theme, and it’s highly replayable since you only use a third of the chapter cards each game.
Escape the Dark Castle is one of the better co-op horror board games to get if you’re looking for a lighter game to play with friends and family.
Read our Escape the Dark Castle review
Get your copy of Escape the Dark Castle
9. Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Players: 1-4 | Ages: 14+
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a horror card game in which you try to maintain your sanity as you and your fellow investigators attempt to solve mysteries and move forward through the scenarios. It comes with enough cards so you can build unique decks and take on multiple scenarios, but there are also many expansions that allow you to play through more stories and customize your decks even further.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is one of many great Lovecraftian co-op horror board games out there. Many gamers think it’s one of the best since there’s a ton of content and the writing is excellent. I like it a lot, but it’s not my favorite Cthulhu Mythos-related game (you’ll find more below).
Arkham Horror: The Card Game works best as a two-player co-op game and is a great horror game to get if you like the idea of creating your own decks for your investigators and playing through multiple campaigns.
Read our Arkham Horror: The Card Game review
Get your copy of Arkham Horror: The Card Game
8. Resident Evil 2
Players: 1-4 | Ages: 14+
Based on the very popular video game of the same name, Resident Evil 2 is a horror game in which you need to fight through zombies and either make it to a specific location or fight a nasty boss. Along the way, you’ll pick up weapons that can help you, but you’re always trying to stay as quiet as possible to prevent being overwhelmed by zombies.
Resident Evil 2 is one of the best survival horror board games that I’ve played. The tension levels are through the roof in this one because you’re trying to move around stealthily, but there’s always a chance that the zombies are in the next room.
If you’re a fan of the Resident Evil 2 video game or you like the zombie theme, chances are you’ll really enjoy playing Resident Evil 2: The Board Game.
Read our Resident Evil 2 review
Get your copy of Resident Evil 2
7. Castle Ravenloft
Players: 1-5 | Ages: 12+
Castle Ravenloft is a Dungeons & Dragons board game that brings classic role-playing mechanics into the board gaming world. Each character has a bunch of unique stats and you’ll take them on adventures, explore, roll some dice, and level up.
Castle Ravenloft is an older game, but it’s still one of the best dungeon crawler board games I’ve played. It has super-smooth gameplay and really cool characters.
Castle Ravenloft is an excellent horror game to get if you want a D&D board game, like dungeon crawlers, or just want to go on a cool adventure without having to learn a lot of rules.
Read our Castle Ravenloft review
Get your copy of Castle Ravenloft
6. Mansions of Madness
Players: 1-5 | Ages: 14+
Mansions of Madness is a horror board game that has you explore, solve some puzzles, and fight some vicious enemies. It comes with a great app that creates a spooky atmosphere and does most of the bookkeeping for you as you play through the scenarios.
To me, the app and storytelling are the highlights of Mansions of Madness. It’s not quite my favorite Lovecraft board game (see below), but I can definitely see why it’s a lot of people’s top horror board game.
You’ll want to look into getting Mansions of Madness if you like the idea of playing a big horror game with dungeon crawling and a lot of puzzle solving.
Read our Mansions of Madness: Second Edition review
Get your copy of Mansions of Madness: Second Edition
Check out our Top 10 Three-Player Games!
5. The Night Cage
Players: 1-5 | Ages: 14+
The Night Cage is a horror-themed tile placement game that has you attempt to escape a dark, scary labyrinth. You have to find keys so you can get out, but the paths around you disappear if you move your candle too far away. Plus, there are some nasty monsters that don’t like the light.
I haven’t played The Night Cage enough to give it a full review yet, but I can say that it worked perfectly as a Halloween game for us last year. The almost fully blacked-out board is awesome, the candle mechanic is very cool, and I like that it’s tough to beat (we lost twice).
To me, The Night Cage is one of the only truly creepy board games around, so I think it’s one of the best horror games to get if you’re looking specifically for games to play on or around Halloween.
Get your copy of The Night Cage
4. Ghost Stories
Players: 1-4 | Ages: 14+
In Ghost Stories, you play as Taoist priests tasked with protecting a small village from waves of brutally tough ghosts. Throughout the game, you move around the village, getting help from villagers and using your skills to try to defeat the ghosts.
Ghost Stories has been high up on the Best Cooperative Board Games list for years. It has amazing artwork, the Chinese horror theme comes through beautifully, and it’s very replayable.
Unfortunately, Ghost Stories is pretty hard to find now since it’s been out of print for a while. If you can find a copy, chances are you’ll have a great time playing it. You’ll especially like it if you enjoy playing very challenging co-ops.
There is a newer game from the same designer called Last Bastion that plays very similarly to Ghost Stories, but that one has a fantasy theme.
Read our Ghost Stories review
Get your copy of Ghost Stories
3. Vagrantsong
Players: 2-4 | Ages: 14+
Vagrantsong is a horror-themed board game in which you are trapped on a ghost train attempting to fight different ghosts. It’s a boss-battling campaign game that has you try to get your Vagrants strong enough to stop the ghosts from haunting the train by giving them their humanity back.
I’m a huge fan of Vagrantsong because of its well-written story and its fantastic art style. It’s one of those rare storytelling games that has solid gameplay to go along with its strong story.
I’m pretty confident that you’ll be a big fan of Vagrantsong if you like board games with campaigns and the ghost train theme interests you.
Read our Vagrantsong review
2. Cthulhu: Death May Die
Players: 1-5 | Ages: 14+
In Cthulhu: Death May Die, your goal is to stop cultists from performing their rituals, then summon an Elder One, and then fight it. Along the way, you have to manipulate your investigators’ sanity to get the most out of their abilities.
What makes Cthulhu: Death May Die special to me is that it’s a big-time experience (with even bigger miniatures), but it’s very easy to learn how to play and you play replayable scenarios rather than a huge campaign. Plus, that sanity system is just awesome.
Cthulhu: Death May Die is the Lovecraft-inspired horror game that I recommend the most because it works for just about everyone. It’s light enough for casual gamers to play, but there’s enough meat on the bone for everyone else.
Read our Cthulhu: Death May Die review
Get your copy of Cthulhu: Death May Die
1. Mysterium
Players: 2-7 | Ages: 10+
Mysterium is a horror board game that has one player playing as a ghost and the others playing as physic investigators who work with the ghost to solve a murder. The ghost sends the investigators visions and they have to work out how those clues can help them.
To me, Mysterium is as good as cooperative horror games get. The haunted house/murder mystery theme comes through super-strong and the Vision cards have some of the best artwork you will find in the board game world.
Regardless of whether you’re looking for a great horror board game to play on Halloween or you just want to expand your collection with top co-ops, you should definitely give Mysterium a try. It’s also one of the best board games for higher player counts.
You also now have the option to get Mysterium Park, a streamlined version of Mysterium set at a carnival. Both games are excellent, but the original Mysterium has more of a classic horror vibe.
Read our Mysterium review
What are your favorite cooperative horror board games? Any that didn’t make this list?
Be sure to also take a look at our Best Cooperative Board Games list and our other board game rankings.
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