The Making of Dead by Daylight™: The Board Game (Part 8: Other Games you Should Play)
As a designer, it’s important to play lots of games and to ‘collect’ all the different mechanics out there in the world. If you’ve enjoyed this blog and the making of Dead by Daylight: The Board Game, here are some other games you might find worth checking out. Some of these were key inspirations for the game, while others are just related thematically or artistically.
Scotland Yard / Letters from Whitechapel – These two are effectively the same, and they are the classic “hidden position” games that are definitive of the genre. While they may be a little dry for this modern era, the mechanics are still sound and worth checking out.
Fury of Dracula – If you want to take the concept of Dead by Daylight and see it from the other side—a team of hunters chasing down one evil monster—then Fury of Dracula is a great game. It’s a little on the long side, and a little complex at points, but it could still be considered a modern classic.
Mall of Horror – Mall of Horror was a big inspiration for the final board shape and movement of Dead by Daylight: The Board Game. In this game, you control a group of Survivors trying to escape from automated zombies by working with and against other Survivors. It’s a great game and definitely one worth playing. There’s also a sequel, City of Horror, but the original is still my personal preference.
Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space – Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space is a secret-movement game taken to its extreme conclusion. Playing this was actually a big factor in deciding not to use secret positioning mechanics in the game. The game is good—don’t get me wrong—but it really shows how much overhead and focus is required to make this mechanic meaningful. We didn’t feel that level of complexity was a good fit for Dead by Daylight, which is a much more confrontational experience.
