Every Horrified Board Game Ranked — Plus the New Ravenloft Game Coming in 2026
From Dracula to Cthulhu to Strahd von Zarovich — the complete history, ranking, and buying guide to Ravensburger's award-winning cooperative monster-hunting series.
📑 In This Guide
What Is Horrified?
Horrified is a series of fully cooperative board games published by Ravensburger, originally designed by Prospero Hall, in which 1 to 5 players work together to defeat a roster of monsters threatening a town, city, or kingdom before a shared Terror Track maxes out. Players take on hero roles with unique abilities, move around a shared board collecting item tokens, guide endangered citizens to safety, and solve each monster's own distinctive defeat puzzle.
What makes the series stand out is its commitment to giving every single monster a genuinely unique mechanism. Dracula must have his coffins destroyed. The Mummy's relics must be returned to their resting place. Cthulhu requires a multi-stage ritual spanning two separate boards. No two monsters in the entire Horrified catalog play the same way — which is why the franchise has expanded into six different licensed and original settings since its 2019 debut.
The Complete Horrified Timeline
The original Horrified debuts with Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Wins multiple Golden Geek and Mensa Select awards.
The first standalone sequel swaps classic movie monsters for American folklore cryptids — Bigfoot, Mothman, the Chupacabra, the Jersey Devil, and more.
The series ventures into Greek mythology with Medusa, Cerberus, the Minotaur, Chimera, Siren, and Basilisk, introducing the new Lair discovery mechanic.
The fourth entry introduces global folklore monsters — the Yeti, the Sphinx, the Jiangshi — plus the series' first true two-stage boss fight: Cthulhu himself, with his own secondary R'lyeh board.
Set in Waterdeep and Undermountain, players face the Beholder, Mimic, Displacer Beast, and a climactic Red Dragon, with a new d20 special-action mechanic — the series' first dice-based hero ability system.
A follow-up to the 2025 D&D game, set in the gothic horror domain of Barovia, facing Strahd von Zarovich, Carrionette, Baba Lysaga, and the Gulthias Tree. Currently a Target pre-order exclusive.
Every Horrified Game, Ranked
Based on our full reviews, critical consensus across the hobby press, and BoardGameGeek community ratings, here's how every released Horrified game stacks up:
#1 — Horrified: Universal Monsters
The original and still the most polished entry — Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, and three more classic monsters with the series' best component quality and the most iconic theme.
📖 Read Full Review →
#2 — Horrified: American Monsters
Bigfoot, Mothman, and American cryptids bring a genuinely fresh folklore atmosphere and creative new defeat mechanics distinct from the original.
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#3 — Horrified: World of Monsters
Cthulhu's two-stage boss fight is the series' most ambitious puzzle to date, though the Yeti, Sphinx, and Jiangshi feel comparatively simpler.
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#4 — Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons
A beautiful Waterdeep/Undermountain board and an ambitious Red Dragon Lair fight, but only 4 monsters and a d20 mechanic that doesn't always add meaningful depth.
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#5 — Horrified: Greek Monsters
Medusa, Cerberus, and the Minotaur bring Greek mythology to life with the new Lair mechanic — solid, but plays it safer than other entries mechanically.
📖 Read Full Review →New: Horrified Dungeons & Dragons – Ravenloft
🧛 Coming 2026 — Currently Pre-Order Only
Ravensburger has officially confirmed Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons – Ravenloft, a standalone follow-up to last year's Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons. This time the setting shifts from Waterdeep to Barovia — the gothic horror domain at the heart of D&D's beloved Ravenloft setting, famous from the Curse of Strahd campaign.
The game introduces five new hero classes and four entirely new mechanically-unique monsters:
The d20 special-action mechanic introduced in the original D&D entry returns, alongside a custom-branded d20 die included in the box. Like Horrified: World of Monsters, Ravenloft is built to combine with other Horrified D&D-licensed content for crossover sessions.
Release window: reported as either July 19, 2026 or August 2026 depending on the source — currently available as a pre-order exclusive through Target at $29.99, with wider retail release (including Amazon) expected to follow. MSRP is $34.99. We'll update this guide and add a full review the moment it's available for purchase on Amazon.
Which Horrified Games Are Compatible?
One frequently asked question is whether monsters from different Horrified boxes can be combined into a single session. The answer depends on which titles you own — Ravensburger has only enabled cross-compatibility between specific releases, not the entire catalog.
| Game | Compatible With |
|---|---|
| Universal Monsters | Standalone only |
| American Monsters | Standalone only |
| Greek Monsters | World of Monsters |
| World of Monsters | Greek Monsters |
| Dungeons & Dragons | Ravenloft (announced) |
| Dungeons & Dragons – Ravenloft | Dungeons & Dragons |
It's worth being precise here: this compatibility is purely a mechanical gameplay feature — Ravensburger designed certain releases so their monster figures and rules can be mixed into the same session for more combinations. It is not a thematic or narrative connection. Cthulhu and the Minotaur don't share any lore; they simply both happen to use compatible rule sets.
Which Horrified Should You Buy First?
🏆 New to the series entirely?
Start with Horrified: Universal Monsters. It has the most polished components, the most universally recognizable monster roster, and remains the highest-rated entry by a meaningful margin.
🐉 A D&D fan first, board gamer second?
Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons is an easy, low-complexity entry point that wears its theme proudly — and Ravenloft will likely be an even better pick once it releases, given the setting's beloved horror pedigree.
🐙 Want the single most ambitious monster fight?
Horrified: World of Monsters — Cthulhu's two-stage R'lyeh encounter is unmatched anywhere else in the series.
🏛️ A mythology buff?
Horrified: Greek Monsters offers the most thematically faithful and varied monster roster, even if it doesn't push the mechanics much further.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Horrified games are there?
As of June 2026, there are five released Horrified titles — Universal Monsters, American Monsters, Greek Monsters, World of Monsters, and Dungeons & Dragons — plus one newly announced and not-yet-released title, Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons – Ravenloft.
Is Horrified good for kids?
The series carries a recommended age of 10 and up. The cooperative, non-elimination structure and lack of direct player conflict make it well-suited for family game nights once kids reach that age range.
Can you play Horrified solo?
Yes — every Horrified release includes a fully supported solo mode, where one player controls multiple heroes simultaneously.
What is the best Horrified game?
The original Horrified: Universal Monsters remains the highest and most consistently rated entry in the series, both in our own reviews and across the wider hobby press.
When does Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons – Ravenloft come out?
Reported release timing varies by source between mid-July and August 2026. It's currently available exclusively as a pre-order through Target ahead of a wider retail rollout.
🧟 Explore Every Horrified Game
Browse all five full reviews, scores, and buying guides for the complete Horrified series on Blue Dragon Board Games.