As I mentioned earlier this week, I had no intention of doing anything on the blog but Ghost Punchers for Halloween this year, but my fickle muse had other ideas. Specifically, she dragged me down the path of making a random board game with a spooky theme called Haunted Hotel of Horror. (Try saying it in a creepy, echoing voice for maximum effect.)
Haunted Hotel of Horror is a board game for up to four players about teams of ghosts competing to see who can most scare the hotel guests over the course of a week.
Components
- Game Board: The board represents the haunted hotel itself, and is divided into spaces. Most spaces have a capacity, which is how many guests can be inside it. If there are more guests in a space than are allowed, you have to move guests out of that space (through the doorway marked on the board) until the number is within capacity. Hallways (marked in blue on the board) and the space marked “Outside” have unlimited capacity.
- Guests: Hotel guests are represented by six-sided dice. There are 20 dice, divided into four groups of five dice. Each group has its own color (red, blue, green, or yellow).
- Ghost Counters: Each player has a set of six counters, each of which represents a ghost on his or her team. Each teams consists of three Haunters, and one Chiller, Intimidator, and Frightener.
- Haunt Cards: At the start of each round, a haunt card is drawn that changes things up by rearranging guests and setting new rules for the round.
Setup
- Roll all the guest dice. Place each die in the space corresponding to the value it shows. (For example, all dice that show “5” are placed into the Lobby.)
- Shuffle the deck of haunt cards.
- Randomly choose a first player.
Playing the Game
Start of Round
At the start of the round, draw and reveal the top haunt card, then execute whatever actions it has listed. Leave the card sitting out where everyone can see its rules for the round.
Player Turns
Starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player plays one of his or her ghost counters onto the board. Ghosts can be played in any space except “Outside.” The effect of the counter depends on the ghost:
- Haunter: No immediate effect, but its Strength 2 will matter when the guests in its space are frightened (see below).
- Chiller: When you play this ghost into a space, you may move up to 2 guests out of that space into an adjacent space.
- Intimidator: When you play this ghost into a space, you may move up another ghost out of that space into an adjacent space.
- Frightener: When you play this ghost into a space, frighten all guests in that space (see below). No more ghosts can be played in that space for the rest of the round.
You must pass if you have no more ghosts to play, or don’t wish to play any more ghosts this round. Once you pass, you can’t play any more ghosts this round.
End of Round
Play continues until all players have passed.
At the end of the round, frighten the guests in each space (except “Outside”) that doesn’t have a Frightener ghost in it.
After frightening guests and scoring points, each player removes his or her ghosts from the board, the role of first player rotates clockwise, and a new round begins.
Frightening Guests and Scoring Points
When you frighten a roomful of guests, roll all the dice in the room. Each die is worth victory points depending on the value it shows:
- 1-2: 1 victory point
- 3-4: 2 victory points
- 5: 3 victory points
- 6: 0 victory points and the guest flees (put it in the “Outside” space)
When guests are frightened, the player with the most Strength in ghosts in that room scores the victory points. The player with the second-most Strength scores half the victory points, rounded down. (If there’s a tie for the most, all tied players get half the victory points rounded down, and no one else gets anything.) (And yes, you need to have at least 1 Strength in the space in order to score points.)
Game End and Winning
The game ends at the end of the fifth round. The player with the most victory points wins.
Analysis: Game Design Challenges
- Quantity of Dice: Is 20 the right number of guest dice? I have no idea. It’s probably somewhere around there (16 or 24 might work better), but without actually playing the thing, my best guess is as good as we’re going to get for now.
- Breaking the Ties: Right now it’s possible, if unlikely, for the game to end in a tie. It needs some sort of tie-breaker, but at the moment I got nothing. Flip a coin, I guess. Or learn to share the victory and come together to gloat over the losers.
- Five Nights at Darrell’s: The game lasts five rounds, but that might too short… or too long. Again, without actually prototyping and playing the game, it’s hard to say.
Analysis: High Points
- Rolling Dice is Fun: This seems dumb. And I guess it kind of is. But there’s no denying that there is joy to be found in rolling handfuls of dice.
- Simple Yet Complex: The actual game play is simple – on your turn, play a ghost. But because the board grows more complex each turn, that simple choice is constantly growing more complicated.
- Room for Growth: Assuming this core game doesn’t burst into flames the moment someone lays eyes on the prototype, I can see adding player powers and/or unique ghosts for each team. For example (compliments of horror guru Greg Stolze), you might have a “Reaper” ghost that says, “If a guest rolls a 6 when frightened in a space with a Reaper, it doesn’t flee, but is scared to death and turns into a Haunter ghost for your team.”
Well, there you have it. A spooky board game for Halloween. Is it any good? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll bring it to B-Con this weekend and find out. Are you going to be in Denver this weekend? Maybe we’ll find out together!
