13 JUNE 2025 – Mantis Games is thrilled (and a little terrified) to announce the first major update to Deck of Haunts, launching Friday, June 13th, 2025, on Steam. The chilling new "Nightmare" chapter introduces the most challenging content yet, headlined by the all-new Nightmare Mode, a deadly dance with the Grim Reaper, a Trap Starter Deck, new cards, traits, and a raised level cap.
For the first time ever, Deck of Haunts will be discounted at 20% off during June 13-16, a killer deal to celebrate Death himself!
It’s been one month since players began their haunting spree, and now it’s time to prove their skills in the domain of death itself.
Nightmare Mode – 13 Layers of Terror
Nightmare Mode challenges you to survive 13 sequential Nightmares, each composed of 13 cursed nights. Every Nightmare throws new curveballs your way: curated groups of humans with unique traits, and escalating modifiers that carry over from one Nightmare to the next. It’s a brutal, escalating gauntlet of strategic horror.
And then… there’s the Grim Reaper.
In Nightmare Mode, every kill or madness you induce earns you souls. Collect 13 souls, and you can summon the Reaper to harvest a human of your choice instantly. Survive all 13 Nightmares and you’ll unlock the Crypt Room, letting the Reaper haunt with you in future/other game modes.
Nightmare unlockables include Corpse Explosion (card), the Crypt Room, Sleep Paralysis (card), and a new achievement.
New Trap Starter Deck
Once you reach XP-level 12, you’ll unlock a new starter deck built entirely around traps. These cards specialize in ambushes, synergy, and indirect terror, giving you new strategies to exploit adventurers who get a little too confident.
Combined with existing mechanics, traps offer new ways to sow fear and chaos, one carefully laid mechanism at a time.
More Deadly Details
This update also comes with several tweaks and polish including heart death animation, dead human portraits removed, and a counter of turns on humans with the "Helpline" trait.
And yes, “Jason” is now officially in the name pool for humans. Happy Friday the 13th!
Did You Know: You can add custom names in the settings menu, a little easter egg if you want to haunt your enemies, or friends!
Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3179 ... _of_Haunts
About the Game
In Deck of Haunts, you are the haunted house.
By day, meticulously construct your mansion room by room, placing traps, spirits, and eerie anomalies to build a twisting, cursed domain. As night falls, lure humans into your lair and let the haunting begin. With a deck of fear-inducing cards at your disposal, you'll bend reality, shift hallways, summon specters, and drive intruders to the brink of madness. Once their sanity shatters, you’ll extract their essence to fuel your growing power and expand your mansion.
But your rise in infamy won’t go unchallenged. The more essence you claim, the stronger your enemies become, from skeptical police to holy exorcists and the ominous Stone Masons who seek to end your reign of terror.
For whom the bell tolls, it may fall on their heads...
Key Features
Craft Your Deck of Haunts - Unlock and collect new cards as you progress. Expand your deck to include tools of terror like bone-chilling screams, phantoms, creaking floors, and shifting walls. Use your cards to scare, or kill, your victims to extract their essence.
Build Your Mansion - Strategically design your haunted house by placing rooms that serve to protect your Heart room, the literal beating heart of your ghostly manor. Construct a maze filled with traps, scares, and unique twists, all tailored to frighten and confuse your visitors. Utilize special rooms with unique powers to aid in your hauntings.
Sow Tension and Fear - As humans navigate your mansion, increase the tension by playing haunt cards directly on them or cast special effects on different rooms. Slowly drive them to insanity. Once their fear reaches critical levels, use the right haunts to push them to the brink of madness. Don't let a single soul escape!
Harvest Essence - Once you've driven the explorers mad with fear, extract their essence to grow your mansion. Use it to unlock new rooms, expand your haunting powers, and attract more dangerous (and rewarding) targets. Consume all who dare step foot inside.
Endless Mode - Unlockable after certain conditions are met, this mode lets you test your haunting prowess in an infinite nightmare.
