Atmosfear VHS board game is getting a 30th anniversary edition
Get ready for the gatekeeper.
A new edition of the classic VHS horror board game Atmosfear - also known as Nightmare in North America and Australia - is coming out for the tabletop title’s 30th anniversary.
The 30th anniversary edition of Atmosfear will be a remake of the original board game, which involved players watching a VHS - or video tape - of a character called The Gatekeeper whilst playing, which will include new player pieces and additional cards.
In place of the usual VHS tape, players are able to stream the video required for Atmosfear: 30th Anniversary Edition online, which is hosted by The Gatekeeper, as well as various other videos featuring hosts from throughout the series’ history including Baron Samedi the zombie; Gevaudan the werewolf; Countess Elizabeth Bathory the Vampire; Anne de Chantraine the witch; Khufu the mummy and Hellin the poltergeist.
Originally released in 1991, Atmosfear is a board game that has players attempting to win against The Gatekeeper, the host of the tabletop title’s accompanying video and the villain who plans on capturing the player’s souls forever. At the beginning, players secretly write their greatest fear on one of the whiteboards provided, before placing it into the middle of the board facedown. Throughout the game, players must travel around the board by rolling dice, gradually collecting the six keys they need in order to defeat The Gatekeeper. Players will also come across fate, time and chance cards that will initiate random events that players can benefit from or lose out to.
As they collect keys, The Gatekeeper will appear on the screen of the video and force the players to do certain things, such as address him in a particular way or call their fellow players certain names. Should players fail to follow The Gatekeeper’s orders, then they could end up wasting turns stuck in “The Black Hole”. If a player manages to collect all six keys and makes it to the middle of the board, before the given hour is up, then they can pick up one of the fears placed therein - if it’s not there’s, then they win the game.
Atmosfear: 30th Anniversary Edition was co-created by Brett Clements and Phillip Tanner, with Tanner being the designer behind the original release alongside its sequels Atmosfear II; Atmosfear III and Atmosfear IV. In 2019, a remake of Atmosfear was released as an app-assisted board game featuring a CGI version of The Gatekeeper and a companion app that will see the evil host randomly appearing to interfere with the players’ game.
The Kickstarter campaign for Atmosfear: 30th Anniversary Edition is live until December 13, with backers able to pledge AU$ 90 (£50/$66) for a standard copy of the game that’s set to arrive in December 2022.