BABA'S HOUSE is not nightmare fuel - it is a nightmare. Writing in the Kickstarter page for the upcoming horror board game, solo artist and developer Zac Zoric recounts how he was "plagued throughout [his] childhood by very intense nightmares that became a focal point of [his] life" - and how that terror became the creative fuel for his game.
Team Wargamer has a noted soft spot for horror board games, all the more so if they've got a stripped back color palette and scratchy Babadook pencil art style. BABA'S HOUSE shoves an ice-pick right into the squishy centre of that venn diagram, with imagery that reminds me equally of House of Leaves, Skinamarink, and Look Outside, captured in pale line art scratched onto black paper.
According to Zoric's description on the Kickstarter page, BABA'S HOUSE is a nightmare version of his grandmother's house, somewhere that he loved in the real world but which haunted his dreams. And with this board game, he wants to trap you in there as well.
It's a co-operative exploration game that locks one to four players in a dream labyrinth sprawling out from the living room. There's a slight dungeon-crawler board game vibe to this - albeit a 'dungeon' from the backrooms rather than the underdark - as characters search rooms for useful items and the keys that might let them escape from the nightmare.
Each character also has a secret personal agenda, which is explored via a ninety page story book with options - putting us in similar territory to Sleeping Gods or Arabian Nights. Should your character die, you're not out of the game, but instead return as a 'horrible reincarnation', trying to murder the rest of the party. So that's nice.
I'm in love with the aesthetic, but - from experience with the black metal strategy board game Cave Evil - I really hope Zoric has done some print tests to see how well the art shows up under a variety of lighting conditions. Yellow ochre and 80's computer terminal blue on black could prove very hard to read. The base game costs $65 USD (£49) plus shipping if you're interested - you have until the end of October to back the Kickstarter.
Do you have any favorite horror board games - whether they're genuinely spooky, or simply horror themed? Come and swap notes in the official Wargamer Discord community.
The obvious comparison for BABA'S HOUSE is The Night Cage. That's a whip smart cooperative game that positively drips theme, good enough that we're seriously considering giving it a place on our guide to the best board games. You'll find my thoughts on it here, and site scream queen (and horror movie expert) Mollie Russell's thoughts on it here.