Board Game
Explore the Library, collect the lost pages, betray your rivals and survive the horrors within.
Explore the Game
Sunday, 18 August 1895 · The Mad Professor invites you
Enter the Library
A Victorian steampunk board game of tactics, betrayal, collecting and monsters.
Buy the Fourth Edition direct, download the English and German rules, explore the expansions, play on Tabletopia, and help us grow the Horror in the Library universe.
The IP at a glance
The Board Game Comes First
The website now gives every part of the world a clear home: the board game, rules, expansions, VR game, Book of Souls, Tabletopia, events, videos and press materials.
Book of Souls
A top-down social strategy game of secrets, betrayal, shifting rooms and dangerous alliances.
Discover Book of Souls
VR Escape Game
Step inside the Library in VR, solve atmospheric puzzles, and hear legendary voice actor Wes Johnson as the Mad Professor.
Explore the VR Game
Horror in the Garden
For the first time, the Horror in the Library world goes outside — with beautiful, dangerous Garden Tiles, new secrets and fresh horrors beyond the mansion.
Explore the GardenWhat makes the game special
Collecting, Betrayal and Monsters
Horror in the Library is a social game of collecting, betrayal and monsters — built around shifting secrets, unpredictable player choices and a Library that never plays the same way twice.
Exploit the strangeness of the Library
The Mad Professor’s inter-dimensional Library is not a static board. It is a place of hidden pages, tempting items, dangerous curses and monsters that can turn friends into temporary enemies.
Get the upper hand, help another player out of a tight spot, or stab them in the back at exactly the wrong moment. The social tension is the point.
Unique Player Combinations
Different characters, blessings, curses and player choices create changing rivalries every game.
Secret Combinations
The Library’s hidden secrets create wildly different objectives, risks and player tensions.
Possible Game Configurations
Rooms, secrets, monsters, items and player actions combine to create enormous replayability.
Built for replayability
Years of board game testing have created ready-made exploration, item, clue and tension mechanics that can expand naturally into the digital social game.
Public proof
Played in the Real World
Horror in the Library is not just a concept. It is a physical board game, a public demo experience and a growing game world tested with real players at major events.
Seen, played and demonstrated in public
From UK Games Expo and SPIEL Essen to WonderCon, GDC and live public demonstrations, Horror in the Library has been shown, taught and played with real audiences while the world expands into digital games and new tabletop experiences.
Board game in the world
Public demos
Retail-ready product
Expanding IP
Publicly Playtested
Players have sat down, learned the rules, searched the Library, argued over secrets and tested the tension at the table.
Shown at Major Events
Presented across shows including UK Games Expo, SPIEL Essen, WonderCon and GDC, building recognition for the world and its characters.
Retail & Distributor Ready
The board game is a real product with expansions, rulebooks, direct sales potential and materials for retailers and press.
Growing the IP
The Library now branches into the VR Escape Game, Book of Souls, Tabletopia and the first outside expansion, Horror in the Garden.
At the table
Real components, real play, real table presence
Detailed production photos show the board game in action — from the player dashboard and Fortitude dial to the shifting room tiles, secrets and search markers.
Room tiles, standees, markers and live player tension on the table.
Advanced game board, Fortitude meter, search values and character-specific play.
Close-up photography of blessings, curses, secrets and tactile component quality.
UK
EU
Germany
France
Netherlands
USA
Show circuit
Seen at conventions, expos and live events
Use the event logos as quick public proof points. The ornate framed treatment keeps the section in-universe while still showing recognisable real-world appearances.
Join the Library
Register for board game news, expansions, demos, playtests, publisher updates and behind-the-scenes development.