
- BGG rank
- BGG #9,516
- BGG rating
- 6.4
Foodfighters
- 2 players
- 20–30 min
- Complexity 1.3/5
- 2015

Rules assistance for Haunt the House: Darker Corners
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Haunt the House: Darker Corners is an expansion for Haunt the House released in 2018 for 2–5 players, 30–40 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Josh Cappel and Helaina Cappel and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Set Collection, and Push Your Luck.
👻 THE DARK CORNERS EXPANSION Expansion for Haunt the House OVERVIEW You thought your haunted mansion was eerie before… but now it’s time to explore The Dark Corners! This chilling expansion adds new Rooms, Phantoms, Scare Cards, and Ghost Hunters, each designed to twist the familiar rules in devilishly clever ways. Step into tougher chambers, encounter professionals who don’t spook easily, and wield Courage cards that can turn fear itself into a weapon! NEW ROOMS – THE DARKER CORNERS The four new Rooms—Armoury, Master Bedroom, Stables, and Greenhouse—each bring their own unique powers and sinister twists. When adding these Rooms to your Room deck, note their two new special features: 1. Extra Scare Requirement Each Darker Corner Room shows a “+ Scare” symbol on its stone wall. → The Ghost Hunter in this Room needs one additional Scare—of the type indicated— to be frightened out. These Rooms are more challenging—and more rewarding! 2. Bad Boo Bonus Each Darker Corner Room also displays a Skull symbol with a “Bad Boo +” icon. → When this Room first enters play, place 1 Skull token on it. → Every time a Bad Boo happens in that Room, add another Skull token. When the Ghost Hunter is finally frightened out, the player who scared them away collects all Skull tokens from that Room! Room Powers: Armoury – Take one of your played Phantoms back into your hand. Master Bedroom – Choose a player; that player may not yell BOO! on their next turn. Stables – Remove one of your own Ghost Hunters from the game, then draw one randomly from the deck to replace it. Greenhouse – Reveal Scares from your deck until you reveal the second copy of any Scare type. Take all revealed cards into your hand. NEW SCARE CARDS – COURAGE CARDS Sixteen special Scare cards—four per player (one of each Scare type)—introduce a bold new twist to the game. Each player shuffles their four Courage Cards into their personal deck. Courage cards may only be played invisibly (facedown). During a BOO!: 1. Resolve rewards from revealed invisible Scares as normal. 2. Then, for each revealed Courage card, remove one matching Scare of the same type from that Room. 3. That Courage card is then removed from the game. Because Courage cards remove Scares of the matching type, they can even cause what would have been a successful BOO to fail—turning it into a Bad BOO! So evil! Use your courage wisely—it may backfire! These cards add a whole new layer of uncertainty, sabotage, and suspense to every BOO. NEW PHANTOMS – THE DARKER SPIRITS Eight powerful new Phantoms (two copies of each) add chaos and cunning to your ghostly arsenal. Possessing – Choose a player; take one of their played Phantoms into your hand, then place this card in front of them as if they had played it. Wild – Play when resolving a BOO! This Phantom counts as any one Scare of your choice. Terrifying – Remove one Room’s Ghost Hunter from the game. Discard all Scares from that Room, then draw a fresh Ghost Hunter to replace it. Wandering – Trigger the power of any currently active Room as though you had just played a visible Scare there. Each of these Phantoms brings a fiendish new way to haunt your rivals! NEW GHOST HUNTERS – THE PROFESSIONALS Meet The Pros—elite Ghost Hunters who laugh in the face of danger (and your ectoplasmic shrieks). Calm, Cool, and Unflappable: These experts require more Scares than standard Ghost Hunters to be frightened out. Big Rewards: Each is worth 5 Skulls. Phantom Magnets: When a Professional enters a Room, draw a random Phantom and place it facedown in that Room. Bad Boo Magnetism: Whenever a Bad Boo happens in a Room with a Professional, add another random Phantom facedown to that Room. Spiritual Payoff: Whoever finally frightens out the Professional collects the Ghost Hunter card and all Phantoms from that Room. Imagine running into a Professional in a Darker Corners Room… a truly hair-raising combination! The Dark Corners Expansion transforms Haunt the House into a more dynamic, unpredictable, and strategic haunt-fest. Between Courage cards, riskier Rooms, and Professionals who refuse to blink, you’ll need all your spectral wits about you to claim the title of Champion Spookster. So grab your lanterns, shuffle your decks, and step into the shadows. The mansion just got darker. The ghosts just got smarter. And you… just got a whole lot braver.
Haunt the House: Darker Corners supports 2–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Haunt the House: Darker Corners is 30–40 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Haunt the House: Darker Corners for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Haunt the House: Darker Corners has a complexity rating of 3.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Haunt the House: Darker Corners belongs to these categories: Horror and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Set Collection, and Push Your Luck. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Haunt the House: Darker Corners are: Josh Cappel and Helaina Cappel. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Haunt the House: Darker Corners as an expansion for Haunt the House. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Haunt the House to use it. Check that your edition of Haunt the House is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.