Spooky Season starts here… Well, in the shops it started a while ago, amiright? Well… let’s just say Spooky Blog Season starts here…
With Halloween on our doorstep (as well as the odd pumpkin) we are pulling out the stops and this year are doing a series of Events across our sites to celebrate this most horrific of seasons!
What events are we planning? Well a big knees up (flesh and muscles on knees are optional) on the sinister night itself at all our venues including cocktails and mocktails, big games of the classic Atmosfear, plenty of gaming and a fancy dress contest for all entrants. Check our Events page for details!
The night before that (30th October) Bristol (Christmas Steps), Birmingham, Cardiff & Bristol (Gloucester Road) are visiting Ravenswood Bluff, yes, it’s Blood on the Clocktower night! This has been popular for some time and we can’t wait to get devious and devilish so close to the Witching Season!
…and on The Eve of the Eve of Halloween (29th October) we start what we hope will be a new monthly tradition… Heavy Hitters with a Terrifying Twist!
We’re planning on running a pair of heavier games toward the end of every month at our sites, the idea being, you’ll snap up tickets and on that evening we’ll have a pair of pre-picked heavier games all set up for you ready to go. One of our Gurus will be available if you have any questions on the game during the evening and we will make sure you’re up to speed on the game itself by recommending a tutorial online to watch before the evening…
Sooo… what horrific games have we got set up for you on the Frighteningly First Halloween Heavy Hitters?
Loneliness will sit over our roofs with brooding wings
In Cardiff and our OG locale, Bristol (Xmas Steps) what better game to play than this classic Halloween icon in board game form, Fury of Dracula!
Fury of Dracula first came out in 1987 and was a spin on the classic Scotland Yard, by which we mean that it is a hidden movement game where one player (Dracula) is keeping track of where they are on the shared map and the other players (The Hunters) are trying to thwart their dastardly plans by staking them through the heart!
A second edition came out in 2005 and, as gaming tastes changed, a third edition hit the shelves in 2015 with a refined (and painted miniatures) fourth edition arriving in 2018. Enough about the history of the game! How awesome is it?
Very. Whether you play as the devious and sneaky Dracula, listening in on the Hunters discuss where you might be and their plans, whilst trying to keep a straight face. Or whether you are the team of Hardy Hunters valiantly scouring Europe for this maniacal monster, it’s tense and keeps you involved. So, book a ticket and live out those Gothic Victorian dreams of yours!
Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.
Birmingham and Leeds have chosen to go Lovecraftian for both their picks, the first being Eldritch Horror.
In Eldritch Horror (2013) evil is stirring across the world, to stop the coming apocalypse a group of investigators must work together and overcome the impending doom!
If you love a bit of narrative, then this game has it. You’ll each be playing as an investigator and by using your wits, spells, influence and sometimes brute strength, you’ll be overcoming challenges (chucking dice!) and trying to stop one of four Eldritch Horrors from their otherworldly machinations.
With twelve different characters to choose from and different challenges to deal with depending if you’re taking on Azathoth, Shub-Niggurath, Yog-Sothoth or even the great Cthulhu themselves, it’s a different challenge every time. Monsters will get in your way, cultists will lurk in the shadows and the sun may set on the human race for the last time if you fail. Only you can save us! Better get yourself a seat at the table then.
Anything is possible until your heart stops beating.
Bristol (Gloucester Road) has picked a game that George R Romero and Robert Kirkman may well approve of… the zombie-centric Dead of Winter.
The zombie apocalypse has happened, you are part of a group of survivors trying to get through the winter, huddled in a safe place. Trying to keep morale up and everyone fed is your main concern (as well as not becoming a tasty snack for a zombie) but each of you has their own private agenda too and if you don’t complete it then, even if the team survives, you won’t be a winner. Maybe one of you has a deep rooted problem with the group and is actually a traitor looking to take the group down… or maybe not… trust no one.
Dead of Winter (2014) was the first in a line of ‘Crossroads Games’ and one of the most popular too, all the games involve a group of survivors trying to overcome internal and external threats and are considered heavily thematic. So bring your warmest parka jacket, something long and pointy and don’t forget a can opener, it’s gonna be a long harsh winter.
That same night saw the beginning of the second Arkham horror—the horror that to me eclipsed the plague itself
Bristol (Gloucester Road) has chosen a Lovecraft based classic game for their second choice… Arkham Horror
This is another classic that has undergone a series of iterations, from the original in 1987 to a second edition in 2008 and then the third version in 2018. The most recent took the best of the spin off Eldritch Horror and gave Arkham a more narrative feel by adding acts to the game that, depending if you did well or badly in one mission, would lead to a forked path… much more thematic and story driven.
In 1920s Arkham, something is lurking in the emptiness between space and time and pushes against the boundary of our world. A bunch of up to 6 investigators search for clues, fight off the monsters and hopefully disrupt the plans of this Horror enough to stop whatever dastardly plot is taking place.
With four scenarios in the base game alone and twelve different investigators to play as, there is always something new to deal with. So, join us at our own speak-easy and grab a ticket!
Klaatu, Barada, Nikto
Cardiff’s second game dips into the Zombicide franchise and heads for Medieval times with Zombicide: Black Plague.
The original Zombicide came out in 2012 and there have been countless version since that change the rules or settings up. After a couple of games set in modern times, Zombicide: Black Plague was the first to head to a different timezone and introduced a fantastical version of Medieval times to fight back the horde in!
So, be it Paladin or Wizard, Dwarf or Knight… arm yourself and smash your way through these dumb foes, bearing in mind that the more you kill, the stronger you become and the more enemies will appear that you’ll have to deal with!
The horde is predictable though, with simple rules that they follow depending on your actions. The issue is there are far too many of them to just stand there and deal with them head on. You’re gonna have to use your brains, before they munch on them! Pick up your trusty long-sword, load your crossbow and get a ticket for a game!
Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time.
Finally, Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol (Xmas Steps) have all gone for a modern classic of Lovecraftian terror, Unfathomable.
Unfathomable(2021) took the bare bones of a previous classic game Battlestar Galactica(2008) and moved it out of Science Fiction and in to the lore ridden realm of Lovecraft, namely Father Dagon and Mother Hydra and the Deep Ones and Hybrids dealt with in the Innsmouth based stories.
You are a passenger on the SS Atlantica on your way to Boston. Dark dreams haunt your nights and odd shapes follow the ship in its wake… a body is discovered with what seems to be some kind of ritual set up around it… cue all hell breaking out. Up to 6 of you will try and hold back the tide whilst the ship makes towards port over the course of the game. One or more of you are actually working with the fish-folk that are trying to take the ship down, you may know this at the start of the game or you may find out half way through.
Deception, lack of trust… prepare for aspersions to fly. Should you lock up that character in the brig? Is someone else egging you on, is it actually them you shouldn’t trust? Prepare not to make friends at this table, but it’s so worth a play! So grab your ticket and climb the gangway, All Aboard! Does something smell fishy?
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Whichever site you opt for and whichever game you get to play, you’re guaranteed a great night at our first Heavy Hitters events. With a choice of Zombies, Eldritch beasties or Vampires celebrate Halloween with us early, we’ll see you there!
If we’ve convinced you… follow one of the links embedded in the site names above and grab a ticket.