Halloween: games for a dark night
Halloween suits games built on mistrust, secrets and night. You don’t need spooky words for that – the atmosphere comes when everyone closes their eyes and nobody knows whom to trust.
- for 5–12 people
The lights can stay low: everyone plays on their phone, and the board glows on the TV. Guests who arrive in costume without the app scan the QR code and play in the browser.
Games that fit
Village at Night
5–12 players15–30 minVillage at Night is the game of the evening: wolves, Seer, Healer and, from seven players, a Hunter. When the TV announces nightfall and everyone closes their eyes, you need no further decoration.
Little Max
2–8 players10–20 minworks without a TVLittle Max is bluffing in its purest form and suits a night when everyone is wearing a mask anyway. Your roll stays hidden on your phone – the only question is whether anyone believes you.
Fib Finder
3–10 players12–20 minFib Finder thrives on baffling questions where the truth often sounds stranger than any invention. That fits a night when nothing is what it seems.
Sketch Round
3–10 players10–20 minSketch Round is the light break between two games of Village at Night. The words are everyday, not spooky – laughing at the drawings releases the tension.
How it can go
Arriving in costume
Little Max at the table while guests trickle in. It needs no TV and works with any group of up to eight.
Lights out
Village at Night with everyone. Dim the lights, and closing your eyes in the night phase feels twice as tense.
Catch your breath
Fib Finder or a Sketch Round before a second game of Village at Night.
Tips
- Turn down the phones’ screen brightness so nobody gives themselves away in the night phase with the glow of tapping.
- In Village at Night, the wolves should join the daytime debate – silence looks suspicious, even behind a mask.
- Costumes can make tapping a phone fiddly; take gloves off before you play.
More occasions
- Game night with friends
- Birthday games for grown-ups
- Kids’ birthday party: games with little reading
- Games for Christmas
- New Year’s Eve with games
- Family gatherings: games for young and old
- Office parties and team events with games
- Game night for two
- Bachelor and bachelorette party games
- Flatshare night with games
- Rainy day: what to play when you’re stuck inside
- Holiday rental evenings: games without a TV
- School trips and youth camps: evening games
- Seniors’ club: familiar games on a new table
- Pre-party: quick games before you head out
- Getting-to-know-you night: games for new groups
- Easter: games for the long weekend
- Family game night: playing with your kids
- Grandparents and grandkids: games for two to four
- Match night: games before kick-off and at half-time
- Cabin weekend: games for several evenings
- An evening on your own: games against the computer