Spooky Board Games: Barnabas Collins Dark Shadows

 

"This is Barnabas Collins. He lives in a strange world, a world of: vampires, werewolves, and DARK SHADOWS. Now the world of Dark Shadows is yours in a strange new game by Milton Bradley. The Barnabas Collins Dark Shadows Game!"

Your goal? Be the first person to assemble a full skeleton. You draw a bone or stake from the coffin each turn, though you're going to want to avoid the stakes. Oh, and the skeleton glows in the dark. "If you win, the curse of the vampire is yours!"

That last bit kind of leaves me confused. The curse of the vampire was not a good thing in the show, and generally isn't. Imagine if they revived it today, in the world of sparkles and lackluster love interests? I bet you there'd be cherry flavored lip balm too, and everyone would get a set of fangs...just to be fair.

That kid in the corner looks eerily like David...

Apparently a lot of people have lost those fangs in their vintage boards over the years. That's the genius thing about board game companies, when they put as many small parts in a board game as possible (I'm looking at you, Mouse Trap.) But the nice thing about the fangs, is that you can actually replace them with any old plastic pair of chompers you find at the store. Score one for creativity, even if it may not really help the value of the game.

It's more of a game for older kids, I think, due to all the tiny parts. It's also kind of confusing. If you manage to get your hands on a complete copy, with no missing pieces, hold on to it. Also, maybe try playing it a few times, too. It's basically 'Pretty Pretty Princess' with a few darker elements in place of all the freaking jewelry.