My favorite horror board game is getting a gorgeous card game spin-off

Horror board game Betrayal at House on the Hill is getting a spin-off very soon that offers players a "cursed deck of cards."

Announced by developer Avalon Hill via Twitter/X earlier this week, 'Betrayal Deck of Lost Souls' is a standalone card game due to launch in March 2024. Although there isn't much information on how it'll work just yet, more details have been promised for February. In addition, we got our first look at the box art for this horror board game spin-off via the reveal as well.

Featuring a cold blue design surrounding gold sketches reminiscent of tarot cards or woodcut illustrations, Deck of Lost Souls puts a gnarled tree dotted with faces that seems to be sucking in souls front and center, accompanied (of course) by a raven. As seen in the Twitter post, those gold elements also have an eyecatching foil finish.

In terms of how Betrayal Deck of Lost Souls works, the announcement describes it as "a speedrun of terror & chaos in a portable pack." That obviously brings a short run-time to mind, which is in-keeping with many of the best card games. However, it's also worth pointing out that, unlike many of those games, this isn't a two-player experience – the bottom left of the box shows a '3-5' player count, so you'll still need company to run it.

Still, I'd argue that Betrayal at House on the Hill is one of the best board games for horror fans and anyone wanting something a little more complex, so I'd say this is worth a look at the least... particularly because Betrayal designer Bruce Glassco is working on Deck of Lost Souls too. And judging by the success of the franchise's other spin-off ventures (like its Legacy version), this could be promising.

For recommendations of what to play next, be sure to take a look at these must-have board games for adults or essential board games for 2 players.