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Games with goosebumps potential
»Magic Mountain«
The children are whizzing through the apartment, it's still light outside, the scary evening hasn't quite started yet.
But of course the very little ones also want to play.
So first of all an entertaining round of »Magic Mountain«, there are at least witches and sorcerers' apprentices to see in action.
The game board is set up and resembles a slide game.
Above are the sorcerers' apprentices who are on their way through the forest to the magician.
A little further down there are nasty witches.
In order to be able to move downhill, a colored marble is pulled out of an opaque bag with every move.
If it rolls against an obstacle in the form of a sorcerer's pupil or a witch on the way down, she is placed on the next matching space, depending on the color of the ball.
If three witches arrive first, the little magic experts have lost, if four apprentices reach their master first, they have won the race.
Conclusion:
A very successful, short Kullerspiel!
Nothing gets stuck here, nothing is stuck here and the random factor is large enough that a little tension arises with every marble use.
Since the witches are played together, there are no lonely losers.
Amigo; 1 - 4 players: inside; from 5 years; Authors: Jens-Peter Schliessmann and Bernhard Weber
"Pumpkin Punch"
The very little ones let off steam on the “Magic Mountain”, was it too boring for the slightly older kids?
No problem, with »Pumpkin Punch« everyone gets going very quickly.
The principle of this card game is simple: All players receive the same number of cards, which are placed face down in a pile in front of everyone.
Three symbols are always printed on the cards, for example Halloween pumpkin, pumpkin seeds and pumpkin pie.
Now, in turn, cards are turned up and three stacks are formed with these clearly visible in the middle of the table.
The visible symbols change with each new card.
If three symbols match, you have to hit the middle of the table quickly.
If you are last, you have to pick up the cards from the three stacks and place them under your own.
Whoever has discarded all cards first wins.
Of course, special cards and rules should not be missing, which can make the game a bit more hectic.
Conclusion:
Draufhau games always work!
There's a lot of tension and movement in there.
In addition, the sturdy cards and the funny packaging, a perfect introduction to a game night.
Game factory; 2–6 players: inside; from age 6
"Zombie Teenz Evolution"
It is slowly starting to get dark outside, the very little ones are getting tired, time to occupy the fast-teens.
Maybe with a zombie invasion?
It always works on Halloween.
Such a zombie apocalypse is a tedious affair.
After we got the school zombie-free in the previous »Zombie Kidz Evolution«, we now have to save the rest of the city as well.
As in the first game, there is again a lot of game material that is only unlocked in the course of the game.
There are a total of 14 sealed envelopes in the game that arouse curiosity.
This time, too, the zombie horde will be fought together.
However, it is no longer enough to just lock the school gates.
Now enough rescue material has to be brought into the school building before the zombies have taken over the most important buildings in the city.
If you have played enough rounds, you can open one of the mysterious envelopes and get new characters, special abilities and mechanisms.
Conclusion:
a successful sequel.
As with the predecessor, the motivation of the players remains high due to the tempting envelopes to continue playing round after round.
The game doesn't really get any more difficult, just a little more complex each time.
Le Scorpion Masqué; 2 - 4 players: inside; from 8 years; Author: Annick Lobet
"Fiesta de los Muertos"
When it gets dark outside, this is the right moment to remember the dead.
And that doesn't always have to be sad.
In keeping with the colorful folk festival, the evening at "Fiesta de los Muertos" will be fun.
At the beginning of a round everyone receives a face down card with the name of a well-known deceased person on it.
You write this on the foldable area of a small board.
In the visible area you write down a word that you associate with this person and pass the board in a circle to the next person.
If you get such a card, you read the word, wipe it away and write down your own association with this word.
The whole thing happens four times, then everyone can give a tip as to which last association belongs to which personality, and finally it is finally solved.
The results vary between surprisingly correct and completely wrong.
Conclusion:
Such a loving treatment of deceased celebrities puts you in a good mood.
Since the tricky associations of the teammates are in the foreground, tribulation has no chance.
If you then ignore the fact that there is actually a victory condition in which everyone wins the game together, one round quickly becomes many.
Game factory; 4 - 8 players: inside; from 12 years; Author: Antonin Boccara
"Greenville 1989"
Laughed enough!
The evening is progressing slowly, now it is high time that it gets creepier at the gaming table too.
And that goes very well with »Greenville 1989«.
Because something went really wrong here.
On the way to bowling evening, a couple of teenagers in a small American town suddenly end up in a strange parallel world.
Each of them is spatially cut off from their friends, they can only perceive the thoughts of the others.
They arrange to meet at a meeting point in order to escape the strange world.
But that turns out to be extremely verbose.
The game runs over several rounds, each has four phases and in turn everyone is the game leader.
But first of all, each player is given a picture card at random.
With that as a basis, they all tell one after the other the beginning of their dark story in the parallel world.
Then the game master draws new cards, lays them out and assigns each card to a player's marker face down.
The more appropriate the assignment to the story told so far of the respective character, the better.
In the next phase, the players discuss which cards the game master may have assigned to whom in order to further spin the stories.
In a final step, the two assessments are compared.
If the players are correct, they walk on the board in the direction of the escape exit.
If, on the other hand, they are wrong, they slide a little further into nowhere.
The players win together when they have all four story cards in front of them.
Conclusion:
"Stranger Things" sends its regards.
The setting is very reminiscent of the hit series, but that doesn't harm the game at all.
If you've been looking for a dark association game for a long time, you've come to the right place.
COSMOS; 3 - 6 players: inside; from 16 years; Author: Florian Fay
"Terror Below"
Enough cuddled and played cooperatively.
The kids now disappear into the feathers with a reasonable amount of sugar in their stomachs, the remaining players have to deal with desert worms.
It has become uncomfortable in the Nevada desert.
For a while now, monsters have been appearing there, they are called WURM: Weapons for Ultimate Complete Mass Destruction.
To make matters worse, the beasts also leave eggs behind.
So it is not surprising that the government pays good money for these eggs, because they can certainly be used to conduct interesting experiments.
Shady adventurers have therefore set out to be the first to get the eggs.
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Desert worms, eggs and a very high trash factor
Each player has a team of three madmen - sorry - people who try to collect worm eggs in order to fulfill orders and survive as long as possible.
Whoever succeeds in earning 20 victory points first wins.
You can deliver the eggs to five locations on the game board; you are on the move with movement cards.
However, you play them on three worms on display.
If their card limit is reached, the monsters set off through the desert.
You don't really want to be a human obstacle, so you have to plan your moves well.
Fortunately, there are enough weapons to help destroy the beasts, and that also earns you victory points.
Conclusion:
Thematically, »Dune« meets the conspiracy theories about Area 51. Technically, it has turned into a successful anger game with sufficient tactics and evil humor.
Gravity; 1 - 5 players: inside; from 10 years on; Author: Mike Elliott Lucas
"Betrayal at House on the Hill"
After successfully feeding the other players to the worms in the last game, we need the next level: traitors!
After all, evil lurks around every corner on Halloween.
The classic horror film scenario: an abandoned haunted villa surrounded by dark rumors, a group of daredevils who, despite all warnings, want to try their luck there.
And in the end one of them turns out to be a murderous traitor.
Perfect for Halloween evening!
At the beginning, the group moves harmoniously through the horror house, collecting weapons and potions.
Every now and then a dice test has to be passed in the case of an omen.
What is still child's play at some point will no longer be feasible and evil will find its way.
Now it is decided which of the 50 scenarios will be played.
From now on there are two factions in the game: the traitor and everyone else.
Both sides get different information.
While the renegade reads the "Traitor's Folio", the other players get their information from the "Survival Guide".
From here on: all against one, one against all.
The haunted house itself is created by the slowly growing game plan.
The rooms are marked by a square plate, there are several floors, including the obligatory, dark basement.
Conclusion:
An atmospherically perfect adventure game for the evening.
Each round of the game is new due to the different course of the game, the 50 scenarios contribute to the high replay value.
Depending on the course of the game, however, you can sometimes despair of an opponent or completely overrun him.
Just like in a horror movie.
Hasbro; 3 - 6 players: inside; from 12 years; Author: Bruce Glassco
»Deranged«
Well, we still have one game before the toughest ones fall into bed.
It won't get any darker tonight, I promise.
Anyone who still trusts their fellow players afterwards is an incorrigible cheerful person.
In the small town of Wutburg, the players arrive as travelers and soon realize that they shouldn't stay too long here. Let's put it this way: the city's attractions leave a lot to be desired. In order to escape the terrible place, players have to spend several nights there and assert themselves against monsters. Anyone who turns themselves into a madman through a curse has only one way to undo this curse: to insidiously kill a fellow traveler. Happy Halloween!
It starts as a team during the day phase.
All players have the common goal of getting rid of the curses, destroying the monsters in the city and escaping from the not at all idyllic place.
Unfortunately, they all have night cards that may soon give them a completely different destination.
So it is quickly over with the cooperative unity.
In this case, individual players can also win if they achieve the new goal.
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Who can escape the creepy little town?
»Deranged« offers six different scenarios that gradually become more difficult.
Each scenario comes with its own set of scenario and monster cards.
Conclusion:
The semi-cooperative horror game is not for complete beginners.
But for sneaky strategists it works wonderfully.
In any case, you should read the instructions for the entry scenario before the game night, then it will also work with the betrayal.
Hobby World; 3 - 6 players: inside; from 12 years; Author: German Tikhomirov
