Return to The Tale of the Midnight Madness with Horrified
Travel around a village infested with familiar monsters to rescue inhabitants and find ways to restore order in Horrified.
Years ago, I remember thinking I might be interested in Horrified… And I should be horrified at how long it sat unplayed on my shelf. Ha ha! This one is rather well-known where different monsters offer up challenges. The goal is to survive to the end and drive out the fiends, but working out the different paths or item combinations can be tricky. Or horrifying? Ha ha!
Game Overview
Game Name: Horrified
Publication Year: 2019
Designer: Prospero Hall & Peter Lee
Artist: Prospero Hall
Publisher: Ravensburger
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Protecting the village and working to defeat the monsters form the foundation of gameplay. There is a lot of pick-up-and-deliver at play with the items that are placed around the locations, along with the villagers. But for a spooky sort of way to revisit the classic monsters, this one can be fun!
First Play
July 4, 2025
Complexity
2
Latest Play
July 4, 2025
Expansions
0
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
2
Play Time
20 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
30" x 26"
Low Score
N/A
Monsters Everywhere!
I enjoyed the inclusion of the 6 monsters with all of their unique conditions and almost mini-games to defeat them.
Difficulty settings can be chosen during setup, which involves choosing a certain number of monsters. Using a duo seems to be a common choice… So I went with a trio!
That set me up for failure, although I was mostly interested in understanding if the game was right for me or not.
Although it’s an excellent and lightweight sort of choice, that sometimes means it can feel a little on the random side without the strategic turns I often enjoy. Still, onward!
The Professor’s Tale
My role turned out to be the professor, and you better believe I assumed I was Professor Plum. Ha ha! Wrong game, but that’s what I get with purple and a professor.
Anyway, I wasn’t sure about the items. I liked the thematic elements, but the idea of running around didn’t grab me.
Turns started to feel repetitive quickly, although that might have been improved by using multiple characters.
It was certainly challenging, though! Villagers seemed to get in their own way at times, and I lost a lot of useful items thanks to the Invisible Man stealing them all. Rude, sir.
Horror at the Theatre
Uh-oh! I kind of had an idea of what I was doing, but it quickly went poorly. The professor found himself at the theatre… At the same time as a couple of monsters.
Defeated! Almost reminded me of the one episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? titled The Tale of the Midnight Madness. Oh, nostalgia! This professor experienced it firsthand. Oops.
I wasn’t upset over the loss, but I wasn’t particularly excited about the gameplay. It felt much less thematic for me.
Plus, the random nature of the item and villager placement sometimes felt like a wasted turn that cleared the elements.
A Hypnotic Gaze
All of the cards were excellent, though, and I liked how these did something regardless of whether the monster was in the game or not. Just really disliked the dice rolling…
It made sense, but the luck felt quite punishing at times. And I felt like it was hard to plan ahead with the way things could change a lot after I took my actions.
This wasn’t a bad game in any sense, but I could tell it wasn’t one that was aligning with my preferences at all.
No worries! I still think it’s a nice option for the right players. This copy is off to a new home to be enjoyed!
Looking Back at the Introductions to Games
Perhaps one of the ways this game often shines is in introducing players to the more strategic and thematic modern board games without a lot of work. It uses a subject that many will be familiar with and a set of rules that doesn’t feel threatening… We’ll leave that to the monsters. Ha ha! Yet it’s a nice way to ease into the hobby without much work.
Sometimes, I enjoy playing these games that are on the simpler side. There are less things to think about, and I can just enjoy the thematic aspects. Of course, that doesn’t always work out because some of my favorites can be easy to get to the table, but offer a deeper strategic experience. I still try out as many games as I can… There are lots of great ones to discover!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1 & 2
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Standard Difficulty Level
Outcome: 2 Losses
Maybe I should have dropped down to only face off against a couple of monsters, but at least I managed to drive away the Creature from the Black Lagoon! This little game to move the boat was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed chasing down the monster. Alas, the professor was defeated by the others. Definitely a neat little game with some clever and simple mechanics, but I’ll be floating downstream to a new game.
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
9
Originality
Design & Theme
5
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
3
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Each monster is very different, and various combinations create a lot of fun game situations to work through.
- The rules are straightforward and easy to learn with helpful strategic sections to reference only when needed.
- Items provide a lot of options associated with advancing against the monsters, often with tough choices.
- Turns allow for a number of actions, yet these are very limited and making the best use of action points is vital.
- Villagers can be quite helpful when helped out, although focusing on them too much can distract from the goals.
- It’s easy to adjust the difficulty level during setup, which is typically tied to the number of monsters in play.
– Cons (Negatives)
- A character’s actions can feel repetitive after a few rounds, revolving around pick-up-and-deliver or movement.
- Random elements can lead to very bad luck, especially with the items, villagers, and dice rolls against monsters.
- Collecting items takes up a lot of the early game actions, and this doesn’t feel particularly exciting nor rewarding.
- Although the simplicity is appreciated, there isn’t much depth to the action choices against the monsters.
Victory Conditions
Defeat All of the Monsters
- Overall Goal Progress 0%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game as the professor.
Win at least 1 game at the standard difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
Do you have a favorite monster to play against in Horrified? Have you tried any of the other related games? It was pleasant enough to give this one a whirl after waiting so many years! Just not quite the right kind of experience for me at this time… Although I still had a great time living out the struggles of the professor in this village. Watch out for that theatre, though!
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