A Shifting Library
Rooms turn and reconnect, changing routes, choke points and the risks players must navigate from one game to the next.
The core board game
Horror in the Library Board Game
A Victorian steampunk game of tactics, betrayal, collecting and monsters.
Step into the Library of the Mad Professor: a shifting Victorian world of hidden pages, cursed discoveries, strange inventions and lurking monsters.
Search rooms, collect lost pages, use items, manage your Fortitude and decide whether to help your rivals — or betray them when the moment is right.
2–4 players2–6 with expansionAges 12+Classic & Advanced modesMade in the UK
Overview
A Library That Never Plays the Same Way Twice
Horror in the Library is a competitive adventure board game set inside a strange Victorian Library where rooms shift, secrets hide in every corner and danger grows with every search.
Players explore the mansion, collect missing pages, uncover useful items, trigger blessings and curses, and try to outwit both monsters and each other.
You can work with other players when it suits you — but trust is fragile in the Library, and betrayal is always waiting in the shadows.
Player appeal
Why Players Keep Coming Back
Every game creates a new story: strange room layouts, hidden secrets, unpredictable rivalries and monsters that can turn a careful plan into chaos.
Collect the Lost Pages
Search the Library to recover the missing pages before your rivals do and turn discoveries into advantage.
Cooperate or Betray
Cut deals, help another player out of trouble or betray them at exactly the wrong moment for them.
Manage Your Fortitude
Track your condition as danger rises. Fortitude affects what you can risk, endure and recover from.
Monsters in the Shadows
The Library is never safe. Monsters create pressure, block plans and bring memorable table drama.
Easy to Start, Rich to Master
The classic game is easy to teach, while the advanced game adds asymmetrical characters and deeper strategy.
Modes of play
Two Ways to Enter the Library
Horror in the Library includes both a classic version for new players and an advanced version for players who want deeper tactical choices and stronger character identity.
Classic Game
The classic game is the easiest way to begin. Players explore the Library, search rooms, collect pages, encounter monsters and race to outplay their rivals.
- Quicker to teach
- Great for first-time players
- Focuses on movement, searching and collecting
- Keeps the core tension of betrayal and survival
Advanced Game
The advanced game adds asymmetrical character features, giving each character unique blessings, curses and strategic possibilities.
- Character-specific abilities
- More tactical decision-making
- Stronger replayability
- Ideal for returning players and hobby gamers
How it plays
Move, Search, Collect and Survive
Horror in the Library is built around simple choices that create escalating tension. Each turn is easy to understand, but every decision can open a new route, reveal a useful discovery or pull danger closer.
1
Explore the Library
Move between room tiles, plan your route and watch how the Library changes the choices available to every player.
2
Search for Rewards
Look for lost pages, items, secrets, Blessings and Curses. Searching can help you win — but it can also make the Library more dangerous.
3
Manage Danger
Monsters, rivals and bad luck can quickly turn the game against you. Use timing, position and negotiation to stay alive.
4
Escape with the Advantage
Collect what you need, manage your Fortitude, outplay the table and survive the night with the strongest position.
Simple turn choices. Big table drama.
The rules are approachable, but the drama comes from what players do with them: rushing for pages, blocking routes, bargaining with rivals, triggering Curses and deciding exactly when trust should end.
MoveSearchCollectBetraySurvive
Unique features
What Makes Horror in the Library Different
Horror in the Library blends shifting exploration, social tension, collectible objectives and asymmetric character play into one gothic tabletop experience. Every system is designed to create memorable stories, high replayability and moments of betrayal, risk and surprise.
The Living Library
The Library is never static. Rooms shift, reconnect and change the routes players can take, so the board itself becomes part of the tension.
Secrets with Real Stakes
Players chase hidden goals, missing pages and valuable discoveries. Secrets change priorities from game to game and keep every match unpredictable.
Blessings and Curses
Rewards always come with risk. Blessings can help you survive, while Curses damage Fortitude, disrupt plans and create delicious chaos around the table.
Fortitude Drives Decisions
Fortitude is more than health. It shapes what you can risk, how boldly you can search and whether you can survive the Library’s dangers long enough to win.
Deals, Help and Betrayal
Help rivals when it suits you, cut deals, block routes or betray them at the perfect moment. The social drama is one of the game’s defining strengths.
A World That Expands
The core game is just the beginning. Secret Rooms, Cabinet of Fears, Apparatus and Horror in the Garden add new systems, threats and adventures.
Simple systems. Rich table drama.
Easy to teach, rewarding to explore and full of emergent stories, Horror in the Library is built to be played again and again — with every session feeling different.
Replayability
Built for Replayability
The Library is designed to play differently every time. Character combinations, secrets, room layouts, items, monsters and player choices create a huge amount of variation from one box.
Every visit to the Library changes the story.
Players do not simply repeat a fixed route. They negotiate, search, risk their Fortitude, reveal secrets, alter the room layout and react to rivals and monsters. The result is a game that can be learned quickly but keeps producing new table situations.
CharactersRoomsSecretsItemsMonstersPlayer choices
57
Unique Player Combinations
Different characters, blessings, curses and player choices create changing rivalries every game.
56Million
Secret Combinations
The Library’s hidden secrets create different objectives, dangers and player tensions.
200Billion
Possible Game Configurations
Rooms, secrets, monsters, items and player actions combine to create enormous replayability.
Expansions
The Library Opens Further
The core game is only the beginning. Horror in the Library expands with new rooms, special cards, patrol threats, co-operative play and a new outdoor adventure that takes players beyond the mansion walls.
Build a bigger Library from the game you already own.
Each expansion adds a new kind of tension: more dangerous rooms, darker choices, co-operative survival and a first journey outside into the Garden Maze.
New roomsNew threatsNew cardsCo-op modeGarden Tiles
Expansion bundle
The Collector’s Expansion
A major boxed expansion for players who want more danger, more choices and more ways to explore the Library.
Explore the Expansion
Secret Rooms
Adds the Kitchen and Laboratory, where greater rewards come with greater risk. The Butler and Lab Assistant patrol these rooms, punishing careless players and raising the stakes.
View Secret Rooms
Cabinet of Fears
Challenge the Cabinet and confront your darkest fears to gain powerful special cards that can give you an advantage — if you are brave enough.
Open the Cabinet
Apparatus
Transforms the game into a co-operative survival challenge. Players must complete the Apparatus and destroy the monsters before the Library is overrun.
Discover Apparatus
Super expansion
Horror in the Garden
Step beyond the mansion walls for the first time. Horror in the Garden takes players into a dangerous Garden Maze of double-sided tiles, moving monsters, new Blessings and Curses, and fresh strategic choices.
Choose whether to use the lighter or darker sides of the garden tiles. Brave the Hot House for extra danger and extra reward. Use the Trellis to hunt the Mad Professor’s special flowers — if the display has not changed.
Best of all, the expansion is designed to make the most of the game you already own, reusing players, Blessing and Curse coins, the bag and more.
Enter the GardenPrototype and support
Follow the Garden as it grows
Horror in the Garden is currently in development, with a prototype run planned for SPIEL Essen in October. The project will be available to support through GameCrowd.co when the platform launches.
Join the free GameCrowd sign-up list to be notified when the project goes live.
Components and artwork
Artwork, Components and Table Presence
Open the gallery to see the box, room tiles, character standees, player boards, cards, dials and live show tables that make Horror in the Library feel rich, physical and full of Victorian steampunk personality.
A board game built to look good on the table.
Horror in the Library is designed around tactile components and strong visual identity: illustrated characters, shifting room tiles, player dashboards, Fortitude dials, Blessings, Curses, Secrets and dramatic public demo tables.
Box and components
Room tiles
Character standees
Cards and dials
Show photos
Public proof
Seen, Played and Demonstrated in Public
Horror in the Library is a real game that has already been taught, photographed and played with public audiences. The live table energy matters here: players lean in, bargain, panic, laugh and discover the world through real sessions.
Live at the table
Big public demo image. Real players. Real reactions.
These demo photos show the game doing exactly what it is supposed to do: bringing people together around a striking table presence, then creating tension through movement, secrets, danger and social decisions.
Publicly playedReal players have learned the rules and played complete sessions.
Convention readyStrong visual identity and a table presence that stands out at events.
Retail proofA tangible boxed product with components, rules and expansions already in the world.
Focused Table Play
Players quickly settle into the social puzzle, weighing risk, reward and what the other players might do next.
Great Around a Full Table
The game works well as a shared event experience, with the full table layout helping people understand the world at a glance.
Hands-On Decisions
The shifting Library, standees, cards and Fortitude boards give each turn a tactile and visual sense of drama.
Accessible to New Players
Demos show that new players can get started quickly, while still discovering deeper choices as the game develops.
Memorable Social Moments
The game shines when the table reacts together — suspicion, triumph, negotiation and surprise are all part of the experience.
Built for Repeat Play
Different players, different routes, different discoveries: every live session helps prove the replayability of the system.
Real audiences
Demo proven
Convention presence
Retail-ready product
Board game world
Buy direct
Buy Horror in the Library Direct
Choose the product you want and go straight to its secure Stripe checkout page. For customers in the UK, EU and USA, the prices shown include VAT/taxes and shipping when you buy directly from this website.
Recommended bundle
Start with the Fourth Edition
The best entry point is the boxed board game. Add the Collector’s Expansion for Secret Rooms, Cabinet of Fears and Apparatus, or register interest in Horror in the Garden as the Super Expansion develops.
VAT/taxes included
Shipping included
UK, EU & USA direct
Secure Stripe checkout
UK seller
Expandable game world
Core game
Horror in the Library Fourth Edition
The complete Victorian steampunk board game of tactics, betrayal, collecting and monsters. Includes the classic game and advanced play options.
Expansion
The Collector’s Expansion
Expand the Library with Secret Rooms, Cabinet of Fears and Apparatus content, adding higher stakes, special cards and co-operative survival.
Best value
Board Game + Collector’s Expansion
The strongest direct-buy option for players who want the core game plus the major expansion content in one order.
Coming next
Horror in the Garden
The Super Expansion is in development, with a prototype run planned for SPIEL Essen in October. Join GameCrowd to be notified when support opens.
Secure Stripe checkout
Each item now opens its own Stripe checkout page. Quantity can be adjusted securely on Stripe where supported.
Ask a Question First
Rules, videos and support
Learn the Game Before You Play
Everything a new player, returning player, retailer or reviewer needs to understand Horror in the Library: downloadable rules, videos, support links, translation requests and a final route back to buy direct.
Player support
Quick to start, richer as you explore.
Horror in the Library is designed so players can begin with the Classic Game, then move into advanced characters, asymmetrical play and expansions when they are ready. Use the rules, videos and cheat sheets to get your group into the Library faster.
Classic rules
Advanced play
Cheat sheets
How-to videos
Support
Download the Rules
Start with the rulebook, then check expansions and translations as they become available.
Watch How to Play
Use video support for setup, turn flow, searching, Fortitude, monsters and advanced play.
Watch VideosCheat Sheets
Keep quick-reference sheets on the table so new players can learn actions, symbols and flow at a glance.
Get Cheat SheetsRequest a Translation
Need a language we do not yet provide? Request a translation and help us prioritise future rule support.
Request TranslationRetailer Support
Retailers, reviewers and event organisers can request images, product details and support material through the press and contact pages.
Open Press KitNeed Help?
Questions about rules, components, shipping, events or direct purchases? Contact Blue Donut Games and we will help.
Contact UsReady to play?
Buy direct, then bring the Library to your table.
Direct website prices include VAT/taxes and shipping for customers in the UK, EU and USA. Add the game to your basket above, or return to the buy section when you are ready.
The world begins here
Step Into the World of Horror in the Library
The board game is where the world begins. From the shifting mansion to its strange secrets, monsters and inventions, Horror in the Library is the foundation of a growing universe of expansions, digital games and new adventures.
Whether you are discovering the game for the first time, returning for the advanced mode or expanding into the Collector’s Expansion and Garden Maze, the Library has many more secrets waiting to be found.
