Halloween season is just around the corner, meaning everybody is going to start spooking things up. Besides the pumpkins and the scary decorations, the spookiness also creeps into the activities we do - in this case, card games. Whether it’s about terrifying ancient gods, not being able to trust anyone, or just a plain old murder mystery, there’s a card game for every type of horror.
Don’t Get Stabbed!
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza: Halloween Edition
There are different kinds of fear, and we’ve ensured that our curation dabbles a bit in every kind of spookiness. From the mildly creepy, the insanity inducing Lovecraftian horror, there’s a card game for every kind of mood; just as long as the mood is fearful.
Updated on July 15, 2025, by Vaspaan Dastoor:Halloween is here! And, while most people are dressing up or going trick-or-treating, there will be those who enjoy the spooky season indoors. We’ve updated this list with a few more card games that you may play over the next few days, as we know that Halloween never really ends in one day.
Arkham Horror
The horror never ends
Besides the stunning art, Lovecraftian references, and engaging narrative, Arkham Horror: The Card Game brilliantly applies RPG mechanics and gameplay onto a card-based medium. Skill checks, upgrades, and other features which you’d usually find in an RPG, are translated in a way to make this card game into am intriguing RPG.
H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos has been the inspiration behind countless psychological horror stories over the years. When Cthulhu is involved, there’s no saying what terrors you might before. Arkham Horror: The Card game brilliantly translates a horror RPG formula into a card based medium, so that all may fear the ancient god.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf
Who can you trust?
Horror doesn’t always have to include monsters. Imagine finding out your closest friends or family aren’t who you think they are. One Night Ultimate Werewolf takes the classic hidden role formula and adds its own twist to it to make things a bit more interesting. There are few things scarier than finding out that someone you trust is secretly a werewolf.
One Night Ultimate Werewolf takes the hidden role gameplay formula and adds its own spice into the mix. Certain players have special abilities which they can use to their advantage in order to find out who the werewolf is. There’s nothing like breaking your friends' trust to bring in Halloween.
There’s Been A Murder
Compels me though…
There’s Been a Murder is a whodunit murder mystery. However, while most tabletop games like this pit players against each other, everyone has to work together in this one. PLayers must cooperate if they are to find out who committed the crime. However, if they don’t worls well together, there’s a chance the killer can escape.
It’s nice working together to solve a murder, instead of turning on your friends. However, the suspicion is abated only at the risk of the killer getting away. Sure, you may nor suspect your friends of being the killer, but you might still argue with them for letting the killer get away.
Salem 1692
Curses upon them
Salem 1692 is set on the premise of the notorious Salem witch trials. The game itself is a hidden role game, but features a number of caveats, like players getting turned into witches, blocking accusations, and straight up killing townsfolk. Unlike most hidden role games, this one has a number of mechanics that can change your fortune.
Set against the backdrop Salem witch trials, Salem 1692 takes the hidden role formula to a whole new level with its original mechanics. Considering that some players are witches, there’s a lot more they can do besides just killing people. In fact, they can take revenge on the entire town and kill all the townspeople.
Psycho Killer
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away
Psycho Killer isn’t exactly a scary game, even though it’s about psychotically murdering people for points. If you peel away the homicidal cosmetic, its salient form is a numbers based card game where the goal is the rack up the most number of points. And, of course, it features modifiers.
Yes, bloody violence can be fun, and Psycho Killer is proof of that - at least in terms of card games. While the cosmetic layer is about brutal homicide, deep down it’s just a simple game where you add up all the points at the end, and the person with the most points wins. After all, what’s Halloween horror without a few laughs while hacking away at people with an axe?
Exploding Kittens
Fear the unknown
I know what you’re thinking. How can Exploding Kittens be a card game for Halloween? Especially with all that adorable art. If you think that, you’ve clearly never felt the fear of the unknown. The fear of not knowing what comes next. The fear of your next card being an exploding kitten when you have no countermeasures in your hand. That is true fear.
Imagine this. You’re playing a game of Exploding Kittens, but you don’t have any of the defusal cards in your hands. What are you going to do? Any moment you could pick up an exploding kitten. Your palms are sweaty, knees are weak - and to make things worse mom didn’t even cook any spaghetti. The fear of not knowing what comes next; that is true horror.
Campy Creatures
Monster Mash
Campy Creatures is the kind of card game that’s perfect for those who enjoy campy horror movies. The aim of the game is to capture as many mortals as you’re able to for your fiendish experiments, and you accomplish this via monsters that are similar to pop-culture monsters, but different enough to to avoid copyright infingement.
Campy Creatures allows you to play with some of your favourite monsters from movies and TV - albeit, knock off versions of them. These monster cards will help you capture mortals for you to use in whatever dastardly experiment you have planned. The player with the most points after three rounds wins the game.
Cthulhu Fluxx
Trust Cthulhu to make a confusing game maddening.
It only makes sense that Fluxx gets a Cthulhu version, because the gameplay is absolute madness. It is played the same way as the base game - each card has its own set of rules which keeps changing depending on what’s on the table. Keeping track of all these rules bay be a bit of a hassle.
Cthulhu is knows to be so powerful that merely looking upon him drives you mad. That’s also the case when you try to keep up with the ever-changing rules of Cthulhu Fluxx. The card game features some great artwork and lore that will appeal to fans of Lovecraft’s work.
Stupid Deaths The Party Game
Dumb ways to die
Stupid Deaths is a funny party game where players must guess if a stupid historical death is true or false. However, getting the wrong answer means that the Grim Reaper is that much closer to you. You must stay ahead of the Reaper by guessing correctly - the first player to reach the red space wins.
While Stupid Deaths may make you laugh at how some historical figures failed natural selection, you must beware the Grim Reaper who will slowly chase you down if you give the wrong answer. It’s a great game for parties as the rules are simple, and you’ll get a bunch of laughs for some of the stupid deaths included among the cards. Being a history buff will work out for you in this one.
That’s great life advice
Don’t Get Stabbed! uses slasher flick tropes to create a gameplay loop where the victims must try and escape the killer. Each player has an action that each card allows them to perform, be it victim or the killer. The victims win if they manage to pull all three ‘Car’ cards, while the killer wins if everyone is dead.
Don’t Get Stabbed! will really appeal to those who like slasher movies, as it adopts many of the tropes into its gameplay. Players will recall movies based on the situation that each card presents, making the game fun while also being strategic.
You may get hungry while playing.
Staying true to the original gameplay loop, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza: Halloween Edition features the same rules but adds a few more cards into ther mix. These cutely named cards in disguises task the players to perform a specific action, depending on which one is pulled.
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza: Halloween Edition follows the same fast-paced gameplay as the original, but also includes some fun new elements. You’re going to have to remember the rules of these new cards, but they’re not so tough.
FAQ
What Card Games Can You Play Online?
Games like Rummy and Poker have a number of online titles. Magic: The Gathering: Arena and Hearthstone are massive online card games, and Marvel Snap is a very popular mobile card game.
What Is A Trading Card Game?
A Trading Card Game features cards with their own inherent value. They are focussed more towards building a strategic deck of cards. Players can even trade cards for others or actual money.
