Supernatural themed outdoor games and activities

February 24, 2011 3:37 AM

Looking for summer camp-like activities that could be played by adults... with a creepy or supernatural twist.

I'm putting together a camping trip in late spring for a handful of ghost enthusiasts, and the weekend will have a summer camp theme.

I'm looking for summer camp style outdoor games or activities that have a supernatural angle to them.

The games Werewolf (similar to Mafia) and, possibly, Ghosts In the Graveyard, aka Midnight, are both on my list.

Any help brainstorming on this is appreciated.

posted by Unsomnambulist to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (9 answers total)

If it is a summer camp theme, then you have to play a game of kick ball at some point.

And you need to have a camp song that . You should take one of the classic camp songs, and change the words to make it more creepy. Like The Ants Go Marching - you could change it to the Ghosts Go Marching - and change some of the end lyrics too. The ghosts go marching two by two... and the littlest one stops to frighten you. The Ghosts go marching four by four... and the littlest one stops to scare some more
posted by Flood at 6:31 AM on February 24, 2011

Might be easier to research Halloween games and retrofit them to be summer camp-y.
posted by jessicapierce at 6:34 AM on February 24, 2011

Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board

(The Wikipedia article is kinda dumb, the real reason is you can lift almost as much with your first two fingers as with your whole hand, and a person remaining still and flat spreads out their weight very efficiently.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:38 AM on February 24, 2011

Capture the flag, but play it in the woods at night instead of on a field during the day. You can add creepy decorations or music, or you can just let the woods be a bit creepy all on their own. It seems like a lot of games could be scarier played at night instead of the day.
posted by Margalo Epps at 8:15 AM on February 24, 2011

You could rename Octopus tag "Graveyard" or something, and also play Blob tag.
posted by salvia at 8:19 AM on February 24, 2011

Not sure if you or the rest of the group are interested in playing a tabletop RPG, but Dread could be a lot more fun than Werewolf if you have the right crowd. It's designed around horror scenarios, so in your case you could play it as being characters in a haunted summer camp. Unlike traditional tabletop RPGs there are no stats to keep track of and it's designed for one time sessions. Also the core game mechanic basically involves playing Jenga, when your character tries to do something (like escape from a ghost) they have to pull Jenga block and place it on top of the tower like playing Jenga normally. If the tower falls, their character dies or is otherwise removed from the game. There are more details about it in this review and on their blog.
posted by burnmp3s at 10:52 AM on February 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Craft time can be making the stick figures from the Blair Witch Project* - or, you could just surprise your friends with them in the morning.

*noisy link
posted by peagood at 10:59 AM on February 24, 2011

I was only coming in here to say Werewolves, but it seems you've already got that. To that I will say only "excellent choice". That game is awesome for sitting around a campfire with a moderator who makes the effort to make it spooky. So fun.
posted by urbanlenny at 12:41 PM on February 24, 2011

I remember playing this corny game as a kid and having a good grossed-out time. It's not necessarily an outdoor game, but you could probably adapt it to suit your needs.
posted by Paris Elk at 12:20 AM on February 26, 2011