Few board games do dread quite like Fury of Dracula, and the great hidden-movement hunt is coming back. Avalon Hill has announced a 5th edition of the Gothic horror classic, with copies playable at Gen Con 2026 ahead of a retail release on 1 September 2026.
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See how it worksFor the uninitiated, Fury of Dracula is an asymmetric game of cat and mouse for 2-5 players. One person plays Count Dracula, sneaking across a map of Europe by laying his trail face down so nobody can see where he has been. Everyone else plays the hunters from Bram Stoker's novel, fanning out across the continent, picking up clues and trying to corner the Count before he wins. Dracula's goal is to advance his influence track to space 13; the hunters have to stop him first, and the tension of closing in on a location only to find he slipped away the night before is the whole appeal.
This is a design with real pedigree. Games Workshop first published Fury of Dracula, originally designed by Stephen Hand, back in 1987, and it has been brought back several times since, most recently a well-regarded third edition from Fantasy Flight Games in 2015 and a WizKids fourth edition in 2019. Avalon Hill has said little so far about what is changing this time, but the early word is that the new edition, aimed at ages 14 and up, sticks close to that recent version rather than reinventing it. That will suit the many fans who have watched copies vanish from shelves and climb in price on the second-hand market.
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Start organising for freeThe timing is no accident, with the new edition landing just ahead of the spooky season. If you have a group that loves a deduction game with a bit of theatre, this is one to pencil in.
Heading to Gen Con to give it a go, or planning a Halloween games night around it? Find your people and get a hunt organised.
Sources: The Toy Book | Tabletop Sentinel | W. Eric Martin
