A Halloween party game that is actually scary.

Halloween is about suspense, and Paranoia runs on it. One player reads a question nobody else can see, says one name out loud and locks it in. Then the room waits for the reveal: green keeps the question secret for good, red shows it to everyone. Dim the lights and that pause feels a lot longer.

Paranoia now has a free Halloween deck. Update to the latest version and it is there from 15 October to 2 November, alongside the free pack. Either way, the tension comes from the people in the room.

• Enter players by costume. Put everyone into the game as their character. Hearing “the Vampire” named for a question nobody can see is half the fun.
• Answer in character. When a red reveal puts someone on the spot, they have to explain themselves the way their costume would.
• Write spooky questions. You can write your own questions — three go into your games for free, and Paranoia Pro makes it unlimited. Add a few about haunted houses, horror films and who would scream first.
• Let forfeits do the scaring. Anyone who will not answer takes a forfeit instead, and turning that down makes their next question harder to keep secret.

Paranoia works for 2 to 20 players. For a small group, one iPhone or iPad passed round the room is enough. For a bigger party, host a private room in OWN PHONES: everyone scans a QR code and plays on their own phone, so nobody has to wait for the phone to come back to them.

• Late guests can jump in mid-game, watch the round in play and join from the next one.
• Someone stepping out to answer the door can come back without losing their seat.
• One player’s decks and Pro work for the whole room.

More than 20 people? Run two rooms and compare debriefs at midnight.

OWN PHONES rooms work miles apart too. Tell the game you are playing over a call, and the cards fit how you are playing. Every secret stays on the phone it belongs to. See how online party games with Paranoia work.

Keep the level sensible for the crowd: start on Nice, and only go Spicy once everyone is warmed up. If the party is drinking, Drinking Mode is optional and nobody ever has to drink.