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Nightmare House box art
1983 Ranked #17,795

Nightmare House

An asymmetric ghost-hunting game where Hunters search a haunted manor for tools and exorcise an Evil Entity across material and astral planes. The House counters with haunts, traps, possession, and attacks on their bodies.

Horror Area Movement Events Animals: Spiders

Players

1-5

Play time

Not listed

Age

10+

Complexity

3/5

Rating

6.07

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.4/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 4.0/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.7/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.0/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.5/5

Deep strategy

See all 5 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

Ares Magazine #15. Nightmare House is a two to five player game of ghost hunting and exorcism.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

Ares Magazine #15. Nightmare House is a two to five player game of ghost hunting and exorcism. (There are solitaire rules). One player (the House) takes the role of the Evil Entity that has spun its web of power over the Darkholm Manor. The other players (called the Hunters) each represent a ghost hunter who has entered the house one dark night to confront and banish its evil. The battle against the House takes place on two planes. On the Astral Plane, the Hunters try to reach and exorcise the Entity hidden in the heart of darkness of the House. The Hunters must advance along the 12 Axes of Power, weakening the House and destroying its web of evil by exorcising the Entity's power from individual rooms in the Manor. The House tries to trap the Hunter's Psyches and cast their Astral bodies adrift on this plane. On the Material Plane, the physical manifestation of the House, the Hunters search for discoveries to help them on the Astral Plane, as the House materializes Physical and Psychic Haunts against them through its Foci of Evil. The House tries to take possession of the Hunter's physical bodies, destroy them, and absorb their souls. The Hunters use various tools and strengths to defend themselves against the Haunts.

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Editions

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Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
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Player resources

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Game and edition data

All specifications (5)

Play and group

Players
1–5
Best with
2–5
Play time
90 min
Age
10+
Complexity
3.0/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

1
David Marshall

Artists

3
Kristine L. Bartyzel Jeff Easley Kitty Thompson

Publishers

1
SPI (Simulations Publications, Inc.)

Linked items

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