Designed by: Wolfgang Kramer
Midnight Party (also published as Hugo) is a great family game for all ages. The theme of the game is – appropriately enough – a party, which takes place in a haunted mansion (the board) where the players have two guests each, walking sedately around the halls enjoying events – until midnight strikes, and Hugo the Ghost arrives!
The board is set in the middle of the table with Hugo the ghost placed in the cellar, and each player chooses starting spaces for their guests. On your turn you roll a die, which allows you to move one of your guests around the track (i.e. the hallway). However the die is missing a 3 and and a 6 side – instead you have an image of Hugo the ghost. If a Hugo is rolled, he makes his way up from the cellar – and only when he reaches the hallway are the guests allowed to duck into the rooms and hide from him. Only one guest per room!
If he catches you, Hugo sends your guest to the cellar, where you’re hit with minus points (some versions of the game give you points instead, but play a points are bad system). Once everyone is either caught or safe, points are tallied, Hugo returns to the cellar and the next round begins. An ingenius game that – played with a crowd – can be relied upon to induce tension!
Yeah this is an absolute favourite of mine for mindless fun - and brilliant with higher player counts. There's something genuinely horrifying about the big grinning ghost bearing down on the players. Very simple rules and gameplay somehow combine to create a compelling push-your-luck classic.
Mainly the Take That comes from Hugo, who only moves through the luck of the die. But you can occasionally grab someone's hiding place from under their nose too.
None
Almost zero
Yes please; though Hugo is best appreciated with a crowd rather than 2 or 3 players.
2-8
Players
6+
Years
15-30
Mins
Sam says
I LOVE this game. It's kind of pointless for two, and even three can feel a bit sparse. The more the merrier. You can play a variant where Hugo speeds up every round which can end up being brutal for everybody! I believe it needs special permission to get played in Joe's house because of the inevitable noise it generates!