Greeted by a wendigo seated in the dealer’s seat, 2-10 players are invited to sit down and enjoy a fast-paced card game loosely based on blackjack. The game, Ghoullotine, is one of several hauntingly beautiful games released by Vindicated Entertainment and perfect for Halloween. This 5-30 minute game was designed by Vincent Baker and features artwork from Abby Edwards. Familiar monsters abound within the colorful deck of cards including zombies, spiders, and mummies! At only 40-cards, the game comes in a small box that is easy to transport anywhere – perfect for taking to any Monster Mash or other ghoulish gathering!

Setting up depends slightly on player count. First things first, however, the scorecard must be placed within view of all players with the score tokens nearby. The remaining cards are shuffled and placed in the middle of the play area. In small games of three or fewer, players will receive a starting hand of five cards. In larger games, players will receive three starting cards. Once all hands are dealt, the player who looks the “most dressed for Halloween” is designated as the first player and the game is ready to begin.

On a player’s turn, they must play a card from their hand. The value of the played card is then added to the game’s total. If there are any effects written on the card, they are applied after the total goes up or down. It is important to note that the total can become negative during a round. When this happens, the red score token is used instead of the black one. Card effects can include skipping player turns, hand manipulation, or drawing cards. Unlike in blackjack, players are not trying to hit an individual score of 21 without going over. In Ghoullotine, players are trying to walk a fine line between pushing other players over the limit of 13 for the communal score while staying beneath it themselves. Rounds continue until someone pushes the point total over 13, eliminating them from the game. When only one player remains, they are declared the winner. Though the designer tries to describe this as a blackjack derivative, we found it to play much more like games such as 99, Sorry Revenge, 5 Alive, or Boom-O, if readers are familiar with those titles.

Ghoullotine was crowdfunded on Kickstarter in 2020. I love how portable the game is as well as how quick and easy it is to learn. However, most of the appeal for Ghoullotine can honestly be found in the artwork. When playing with only two players, we found the game to be more of a slugfest than a tactical engagement. Due to this, we feel the game really shines with three or more. We also had an issue where a player simply could not play cards but had not been eliminated from the game. This was not addressed in the rules, though we later found a post on Board Game Geek that answered what to do when in this situation. I feel Ghoullotine is an excellent game for Halloween fanatics, families, or those that enjoy classic card games. The speed of gameplay makes it great for nights when looking to play multiple games or, perhaps, to pass the time while waiting between groups of trick-or-treaters to come to your door. If this sounds like something you would also enjoy, pick up a copy today at the Vindicated Entertainment online store!

All photos of Vindicated Entertainment products were taken and edited by Krista.