9 Classic Board Games as… HORROR MOVIES
Welp. It’s all fun and games until that hair-raising shrill background music starts playing. Justin Bryant created these horror film reimaginings for us to laugh and cringe at. Maybe don’t show these to your young kids, though. Chutes and Ladders may never be the same again.
(Affiliate links have been added to all the games for your convenience and so HowToBeADad can make a buck or two. Gotta make that coin, yo.)
1) Hungry Hippos
Everything is quiet, a hush of anticipation seems to weigh thick in the air. Then, suddenly, all hell breaks loose as the violent feeding frenzy begins. And that’s just the game, not the movie. The clattering roar sounds like someone threw a bag of ball bearing into a dryer’s spin cycle. Good times!
2) Operation
The idea of surgery is scary by itself, but imagine a movie where unqualified and unlicensed contestants compete to try to perform several operations on a conscious person, using an electrified pair of tweezers. Seems pretty durned horror-movie worthy.
3) Chutes and Ladders
This game does a subtle job of preparing kids for the brutal ups and downs in life. However, this film poster ironically says “Choose wisely” as if there were any choice about plummeting down the chutes we often encounter in life.
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4) Don’t Wake Daddy
This game is great for people who like the fun and excitement of Russian Roulette without the risk of death. You move on the board and take turns pressing the button to see if dear ol’ sleeping dad jump-scarily sits bolt upright. The cinematic terror of a sleep-deprived abusive father is easy to imagine.
Shop Don’t Wake Daddy on Amazon
5) Candyland
The game Candyland always seemed so bright and cheery. Even when you’re losing you’re surrounded by lollipops and ice cream. But this reimagining looks like Tim Burton was hired to remake Willy Wonka but read The Lord of the Rings on acid during the entire production.
6) Don’t Break the Ice
The horrifying anticipation of plunging into the freezing death of the deep dark sea will have you on the edge of your seat, but it really needs a giant monster to really round things out in Hollywood.
Shop Don’t Break the Ice on Amazon
7) Uno
It’s not hard to imagine a connection between a game of Uno and demonic murder. When someone drops a +4 on you when you’re holding your last card, blood can boil a bit and the screeching howls can be deafening.
8) Mouse Trap
Like a film in the Saw series, as players, you’re basically assembling the game as if you were constructing a complex, Rube-Goldbergian prison grave for your friends or yourself. Thrilling!
9) Guess Who
The process of elimination gets very dark when the elimination is literal and it involves a swan dive into a meat grinder as the penalty for an incorrect guess.
