Final Girl

As many people know about me, I am not the biggest fan of single player table top games. For the longest time my opinion was that it went against the very idea of what table top and board games in general. When I think of table top gaming I think of coming together with friends. Good games, good food, maybe having a few drinks and just being a family. The thought of doing any of that alone just confused me. Then came GenCon 2025.

I have come to enjoy working at GenCon. Getting to be front and center helping make my absolute favorite convention possible has become a great joy in my life. Seeing a huge part of my community come together and game for four to five days straight is a sight to behold. No one is out of place. We belong. We matter.

Having said all that, it does make going around and seeing all the new or upcoming games rather difficult. When my shift comes to an end I have only a few hours every day to run around and look at everything. It’s honestly impossible. I try my best but sometimes it just can’t happen. My girlfriend Shawna and my brother from the same mother Tim do what they can to scope out the good stuff and show me what they think I’ll end up liking. They are typically spot on.

So enter GenCon 2025. It’s Sunday. My final shift of the convention has come to a somber close. It’s always a sad time for me. Last shift means last day of the convention. Con depression is real and it sucks. Shawna comes to meet me, we catch up with my brother and we start to the con floor. I wonder for about thirty minutes and can’t find anything for myself. I pick up a princess crown from a wonderful Ren Faire booth for her and a game for him. As much as I enjoy buying for and spoiling others, I really wanted to pick up one more thing for me.

We wander out to the main concourse of the convention, right in front of the main hall. There were several companies occupying the rooms in front of it. Shawna led me to one and I know I had to have passed it every day of the con but I never stopped in, except for the Pin Bazaar, because I knew the game. Final Girl.

On paper this game is everything I could ever want save for one very important aspect. Single player only. Which makes sense as there can only be one Final Girl in any horror movie the newer Scream movies not withstanding. The folks working the room that we talked to about the pins were extremely nice so I gave in and went in at Shawnas insistence. Damn, I am glad I did.

At first glance it was very intimidating. There were boxes, collections, exclusive minis. I was overwhelmed at first, but I quickly received help and was walked through all of my options. The worker recommended that I start small since I was so overwhelmed. I walked out with the starter, exclusive minis for the convention, and one of the first expansions.

It took about a month for me to finally crack it open and play. I had a day off where Shawna worked and decided that it was the perfect time. I was in the mood for a board game and I wanted something horror related.

Let’s break down all the fun details and let me tell you why my mind is now more open to the idea of single player board games.

The Game

Final Girl is an extremely immersive solo board‑gaming experience, especially for horror fans. It drops you into a slasher‑film scenario that, honestly you make yourself, and you have to outthink a relentless killer. The game features a modular style system that lets you pick the killer, location and final girl. Mixing and matching leads to a lot of cinematic tension. You essentially get to make your own horror movie. Have your “Laurie Strode” style final girl and the legally distinct “Not Purge” Purge world. The possibilities are endless here.

The Box

One of my favorite features of Final Girl is that the box your store the killer and items in is the map. The fold over opens and acts as your killer board and location. Obviously you can mix and match but, for instance, Hans the Butcher comes with Camp Happy Trails. Very thematic.

The Core Box, which is needed to play with the additional Feature Film boxes, comes with a double-sided main board, 23 action cards, 25 heart health markers, 27 meeples, and 6 custom dice. A Feature Film box includes one Killer, one Location board, and two Final Girl characters and all of their respective cards (survivors and killer).

The Core Box and Feature Film boxes are $24.99 respectively and there are many other accessories and supplementary material you can get. Replayability should never be a concern here.

The Gameplay

Final Girl is a hand-management and risk-assessment puzzle wrapped in a beautiful horror movie aesthetic. You play cards from your hand to move, search, attack, or manipulate the killer’s behavior. At the end of the day dice decide whether your actions succeed, fail, or backfire. Gamers know the dice are always king.

A fun aspect is rescuing potential victims. Rescuing them isn’t just thematic it juices your final girl in fun new ways.

However the opposite is also true. If the killer manages to slice and dice some victims along the way, it will be game over very quickly.

My first play through didn’t go the way I wanted it to, but it brought me back for more.

Final Verdict

Final Girl made me a believer in single player table top gaming. It’s fun, visceral, and anything my little horror loving self could ever want. I know that come next GenCon I will be more than ready to buy into it even more. Thanks to Van Ryder Games for making something for us horror and gaming nerds out there.

I’d give it a resounding 5 out of 5 Slashers.