Nightmare II: The Video Board Game (Baron Samedi: Zombie)

Overview

Baron Samedi welcomes players to a macabre call-and-response board game. He introduces himself as a good-looking corpse who loves rock ’n’ roll—but has no soul.

Whenever he calls, “Thrill me,” players are expected to stand and reply, “Yo, Baron, I can dig it.” Anyone who misses a cue risks a penalty, such as losing a turn or being sent to “the hole.”

Game Challenges

The game combines dice rolls and board spaces with a series of timed challenges. Players must add numbers before time runs out, roll their exact age, guess dice totals, and compete to roll a particular number. Special spaces and cards can award extra turns or impose penalties.

Baron also teaches players to respond to audio cues with calls such as “Showtime,” “Big Time,” and “Party Time,” and gleefully catches anyone who gets them wrong.

Heckling and Word Games

Baron’s relentless heckling is a central part of the game. He renames one unlucky player “dirtbag,” teases another as the “ugliest” at the table, and calls an older participant a “fossil.”

A word-association round features morbid prompts such as “dead,” “buried,” “heart,” and “zombie.” Players who give matching answers risk being sent to the hole. In other rounds, players must choose who they think is the ugliest or nominate someone for a penalty. Baron jokes that they are learning how to “win friends and influence people.”

The Finale

As the game nears its end, players gamble with coin tosses, try to win or steal keys, and face a final contest to claim them. Baron closes by joking that the losers will have to clean up, then wishes everyone a pleasant night’s sleep and promotes other interactive games.

Personalities

• Baron Samedi: The game’s flamboyant, taunting host.
• The players: Mostly unnamed and identified by their numbers or by Baron’s teasing nicknames.