Above and Below has always been that rare hybrid board game.

It lets you build an engine and wander through a storybook adventure.

Haunted takes that cozy village-builder and whispers, “What if the caves underneath your town… weren’t empty anymore?”

Publisher: Red Raven Games
Designer: Ryan Laukat
Players: 2–4
Playtime: ~90 minutes
Genre: Narrative Worker Placement / Village Building
Release: 2025

Opening Hook / First Impression

Instead of just expanding your village and exploring the underground like before, Above and Below: Haunted adds a supernatural layer to the system. Ghosts appear, strange events interrupt your plans, and suddenly the calm rhythm of resource gathering and exploration gets a little more unpredictable.

Not in a “run screaming from the table” way. More like a haunted library where the books sometimes move themselves.

Which, frankly, is a very Ryan Laukat thing to do.

Overview / Core Gameplay

If you’ve played Above and Below, the core loop remains familiar.

Players are building a village above ground while exploring the mysterious caverns below it.

Each turn, you assign villagers to actions such as:

• Gathering resources
• Constructing buildings
• Recruiting new villagers
• Exploring the caves

Exploration is where the magic happens. One player reads a story from the encounter book, presenting a choice or challenge. The explorer rolls dice and tests skills to determine the outcome.

Sometimes you gain treasure or villagers.

Sometimes you regret every decision that led you to that cave.

Haunted adds supernatural encounters and disturbances that alter the rhythm of exploration and village life.

Ghosts and strange events can:

• Interrupt plans
• Affect villagers
• Introduce new narrative outcomes
• Change how exploration resolves

The goal remains the same: build the most prosperous village and earn the most reputation points.

But now the underground feels… alive.

Or at least un-dead.

Mechanics & Flow

At its heart, Above and Below is still a worker placement engine builder with narrative exploration, and Haunted smartly builds on those systems rather than replacing them.

The version introduces:

Haunting Events
Unexpected occurrences that can affect exploration or village actions.

Supernatural Encounters
New storybook passages that inject eerie twists into the narrative sections.

Village Disturbances
Ghostly interference that changes how villagers interact with certain actions.

The biggest improvement is how these elements disrupt the game’s comfort zone.

The base game sometimes becomes a quiet optimization puzzle once players settle into their engine.

Haunted pokes that system with a stick.

Plans go sideways.
Explorations get weird.
Your perfect turn occasionally collapses because a ghost decided your village looked fun to haunt.

Which honestly makes the experience more memorable.

Player count still matters quite a bit:

2 players – strategic and relaxed
3 players – balanced storytelling and tension
4 players – chaotic exploration stories (usually the best)

Theme & Components

Ryan Laukat continues to prove he might secretly be a fantasy illustrator who accidentally made board games.

The expansion’s art fits perfectly with the whimsical tone of the base game:

• Soft watercolor style
• Slightly eerie ghost designs
• Characters that still look charming instead of grimdark

Component quality is what you’d expect from Red Raven:

• Thick tiles
• Clear iconography
• Beautiful cards
• Easy integration with the base game

The expansion also adds more storybook entries, which is honestly the biggest value here. Narrative variety is what keeps Above and Below fresh.

And Laukat writes those encounters with just enough humor and mystery to keep players engaged.

Ease of Learning / Accessibility

Good news: this expansion does not make the game harder to teach.

If you already know Above and Below, adding Haunted is extremely simple.

You mostly add:

• New story entries
• New event triggers
• A few additional components

Complexity barely increases.

That means the audience remains the same:

Perfect for

• Story-focused gamers

• Families who enjoy narrative moments

• Euro players who want something lighter

Less ideal for

• Players who dislike randomness

• Pure strategy players who want full control

Because storybook games will always occasionally laugh at your plans.

The Table Experience

This is where this version shines.

The original game already created memorable moments. Someone explores a cave and suddenly finds a strange creature or a hidden settlement.

Haunted leans into that unpredictability.

During one game, a player tried to optimize their turn by sending a villager to explore a cave.

Instead, the encounter triggered a supernatural disturbance that altered the entire exploration outcome, and the table spent five minutes arguing whether the ghost was helpful or actively trolling them.

The answer was probably both.
Those moments are what make the system work.
You don’t remember the perfect resource combo.
You remember the time a ghost ruined your mining expedition.

Final Thoughts / Verdict

Above and Below: Haunted is exactly what a good expansion should be.

It doesn’t rewrite the game, but it adds new narrative flavor and unpredictability that keeps the exploration system exciting.

If you love the base game, this expansion adds:

• More story variety
• More unexpected moments
• A fresh thematic twist

If you don’t enjoy story-driven games, this won’t convert you.

But if your favorite part of Above and Below is sitting around the table while someone reads an encounter and everyone waits to see what ridiculous thing happens next…

This expansion gives you more of that magic.

And occasionally a ghost.

Review copy provided by Red Raven Games.

Purchase your copy here.