Genre guide
Horror board games from film and TV cover Alien survival missions, Jaws shark hunts, Stranger Things campaigns, Halloween Town party games, and Scooby-Doo mysteries. Here’s a pick for each kind of table, plus groups based on the age rating printed on the box.
Lights down, snacks ready. I’ll be behind the sofa.
Age ratings matter more in horror than in most genres, so this guide groups games by the rating on the box, not by how scary they promise to be. Picks range from Alien board games and the Jaws board games to Stranger Things and Scooby-Doo, with family-friendly Halloween Town games at the gentle end. Each entry gives the player count, play time and why it fits.
Hidden-role games turn friends into suspects. Choose wisely.
Age ratings here come from the box, not a scare test.
The campaign-style pick. It’s cooperative, and you choose season 1 or season 2 at the start. Each has its own board, cards, and foes.
Source 1 (store.asmodee.com) Source 2 (cmon-files.s3.amazonaws.com)
A hidden-identity party game. Players start as Sane or Possessed, then can switch sides. That makes it a good fit for a big group.
One of the longest games here. Risk heads to Hawkins, with 49 territories, four armies, and a Vecna token.
A cooperative survival game aboard the Nostromo, rated for ages 10 and up, despite the 1979 film’s R rating.
The big miniatures pick for Aliens fans. It includes a cooperative campaign and standalone missions.
A one-versus-many game. One player is the shark; the others play Brody, Hooper, and Quint across the film’s two acts.
A gentle haunted-house game. The gang explores a mansion until the Haunt starts and one player becomes the monster.
The most puzzle-heavy mystery here is a cooperative escape-room game that also works for solo players.
A whodunit with a twist: someone has kidnapped Sandy Claws. The board spans Halloween Town and Christmas Town.
A gentle first game for young players. The patient on the table is Oogie Boogie.
Five franchise guides sit behind this page. Stranger Things board games and Nightmare Before Christmas board games mark the ends of the age range, from a Risk variant rated 15 and up to an Operation edition for ages 6 and up.
The darkest end of the genre: cooperative survival and miniatures campaigns from the 1979 and 1986 films.
10 games listed
Options include a one-versus-many strategy game, an Operation edition, a quick card game, and a vintage 1975 dexterity game.
4 games listed
There’s a co-op campaign, a hidden-identity game, and a Risk variant built around the Vecna storyline.
11 games listed
Family-friendly mysteries include a Betrayal at House on the Hill spin-off, a cooperative CMON game and a Clue anniversary edition.
9 games listed
For spooky fun without going too dark, try Halloween Town editions of Clue and Operation or a card game set in Jack's workshop.
11 games listed
| Game | Franchise | Year | Players | Play time | Ages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stranger Things: Upside Down | Stranger Things | 2023 | 2-4 | 60 minutes | 12+ |
| Stranger Things: Attack of the Mind Flayer | Stranger Things | 2022 | 4-10 | 20 minutes | 10+ |
| Risk: Stranger Things | Stranger Things | 2024 | 2-4 | 120 minutes | 15+ |
| Alien: Fate of the Nostromo | Alien | 2021 | 1-5 | Not listed | 10+ |
| Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps | Alien | 2020 | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Jaws | Jaws | 2019 | 2-4 | 60 minutes | 12+ |
| Scooby-Doo! Betrayal at Mystery Mansion | Scooby-Doo | 2020 | 3-5 | 25-50 minutes | 8+ |
| Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion | Scooby-Doo | 2020 | 1+ | 120+ minutes | 12+ |
| Clue: The Nightmare Before Christmas | The Nightmare Before Christmas | Not listed | 2-6 | 60 minutes | 8+ |
| Operation: The Nightmare Before Christmas | The Nightmare Before Christmas | Not listed | 1+ | 30 minutes | 6+ |
Age ratings are the best guide to a game's content and complexity, but they don't promise scares. Alien: Fate of the Nostromo shows why: it's rated 10 and up, even though the film it adapts is rated R.
Publishers don’t rate fright, so these groups follow the age listed on each box. Use them as a guide to content, not a scare score. Alien: Fate of the Nostromo is rated 10 and up, even though the film it adapts is rated R.
Operation: The Nightmare Before Christmas and the Making Christmas card game are for ages 6 and up. Both Clue: The Nightmare Before Christmas and Scooby-Doo! Betrayal at Mystery Mansion are rated 8 and up. The 1975 Game of Jaws is also for ages 6 and up, but it’s out of print.
Alien: Fate of the Nostromo, Take Over the Holidays, Attack of the Mind Flayer, and Scooby-Doo: The Board Game are rated 10 and up. Operation: Jaws, Jaws from Ravensburger, Stranger Things: Upside Down, and Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion are rated 12 and up.
Risk: Stranger Things is rated 15 and up. We couldn’t confirm an official age for the Aliens games, so they’re not grouped here.
A few horror films really did begin on a game board. The Ouija films are confirmed adaptations of a published board game. Our movies based on board games guide covers studios, dates and box office for both films, plus the other game adaptations.
Check the base game before you buy an expansion.
There aren’t many in the reverse direction. The Ouija films are the confirmed horror adaptations of a published board game.
Universal’s horror film was produced with Platinum Dunes, Blumhouse, and Hasbro Studios. It earned about 103.6 million USD worldwide.
Mike Flanagan’s 1967 prequel scored 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Our film guide lists every other title and its status.
The horror shelf has more than licensed games. These three well-known games come from outside film and TV, and show how licensed designs borrow ideas. Scooby-Doo: Betrayal at Mystery Mansion is a spin-off of Betrayal at House on the Hill.
Many well-known horror games aren’t based on a film or show. Here are three for comparison.
3 to 6 players, from Avalon Hill. Explore a haunted house until an Omen triggers the Haunt, and usually one player becomes the traitor. The 3rd edition arrived in 2022.
From Fantasy Flight Games. The 2016 second edition uses a companion app instead of a human keeper and supports 1 to 5 players.
From Fantasy Flight Games. A cooperative game for 1 to 8 players, set amid Cthulhu Mythos horrors.
Four quick checks can narrow the shelf, using numbers from the game cards.
Use the groups above. Ratings on this page range from 6 and up to 15 and up, so check the box before buying for kids.
Upside Down is cooperative. Attack of the Mind Flayer hides who is Possessed, which can turn players against each other.
Attack of the Mind Flayer plays 4 to 10 people, Jaws from Ravensburger 2 to 4, and Alien: Fate of the Nostromo 1 to 5.
Mind Flayer takes about 20 minutes. Risk: Stranger Things takes about 120.
The last block is a joke: each classic game gets an invented horror poster, and none of the films are real. For a test of your genre knowledge, see our horror movie trivia board games guide to Trivial Pursuit: Horror Ultimate Edition.
A playful extra: our invented posters for classic games. These aren’t real films, and every title is a joke.
Everyone starts with 1,500 dollars. Nobody ends up with their friends.
Someone in this mansion did it, and everyone at the table is lying about where they were.
It started as a friendly game. By hour three, the peace treaty meant nothing.
One wrong move, and the whole house hears the buzzer.
It depends on your group. Stranger Things: Upside Down suits a co-op campaign, Alien: Fate of the Nostromo a small survival group, Jaws a one-versus-many duel, Scooby-Doo: Betrayal at Mystery Mansion a family, and Attack of the Mind Flayer a large party.
Yes. Alien: Fate of the Nostromo is based on the 1979 film, Stranger Things: Upside Down follows the first two seasons of the show, and Clue: The Nightmare Before Christmas turns a whodunit into a kidnapping.
The Ouija films (2014 and 2016) are the confirmed horror adaptations of a published board game. Our guide to movies based on board games covers the others and their status.
At the bottom of this page, there’s a playful poster set with invented horror movie titles and taglines for classic games such as Monopoly, Clue and Risk. They’re jokes, not real films.
Operation: The Nightmare Before Christmas and Making Christmas are rated 6 and up. Clue: The Nightmare Before Christmas and Scooby-Doo! Betrayal at Mystery Mansion are rated 8 and up.
Risk: Stranger Things is rated 15 and up. We couldn’t confirm official ages for the Aliens games, so check the box before buying.
Check the base game before you buy an expansion.
The poster set at the end is a joke. Make up your own.
