Horror’s biggest reboot is launching this summer. And we’re not talking about a movie remake or a new TV series adaptation. No, we have our eyes on something that tells way more stories than that. For years, Camp Grizzly has been a holy grail game for tabletop players out there, especially in the horror community. Camp Grizzly, for those not yet in the know, is a (mostly) cooperative survival horror board game in which players take the roles of Camp Counselors who find themselves stalked through a maze of cabins and camp trails by ‘Otis’, a homicidal killer with an unhealthy bear fetish.
Camp Grizzly borrows from the traditions of ALL our favorite ’70s and ’80s horror movies and brings them to life on the game board in delightful and story-heavy ways. But alas, Camp Grizzly had a VERY limited original release, leaving many who wish to play it contending with high second-market costs or simply unable to find the game.
But now, that’s all about to change. Camp Grizzly‘s original designer, Jason Topolski, and artist, Austin Madison, have partnered with Trick or Treat Studios to bring a Camp Grizzly Second Edition to life via Kickstarter. This Kickstarter will be launching on July 8 and heading to retail in 2026. The Second Edition will include a cleaned-up, updated, and expanded vision of the game. And we at Nerdist have your first exclusive look at the mock-up of the game box, card previews highlighting the revamped graphic design/layout for cabin cards, survival cards, and counselor cards. We’ve also chatted with those closest to Campy Grizzly‘s Second Edition to get you all the scoop on what’s changing, what’s staying the same, and what Easter eggs you should keep your eyes out for in the new world of the game.
Check out our exclusive images of Camp Grizzly Second Edition below, and then let’s dive into the next evolution of this modern classic horror board game experience. Please note that everything is still in progress and not final.
Here’s what Camp Grizzly Second Edition will include: The original base Camp Grizzly game, all of the expansions (6!), including original stretch goal extras, finished art where there had only been placeholder art, a new double-sided game board with the original map on one side and a new map on the other, some rule updates with options to preserve the original ruleset (ie, options to play with or without player elimination), revised graphic design/layout, some fun new stretch goals that will be a part of the Kickstarter campaign.
As mentioned, Camp Grizzly is a unique game, and it’s extremely accessible for casual or non-gamers who are intrigued by the “horror movie in a game” experience. Camp Grizzly‘s rules are simple, but the game oozes theme and tells a unique story every time you play. It even allows you to get deeply into your characters, which, of course, we love.
Original game designer Jason Topolski shares of why people love the game so much, “Through all the early play tests we had done at conventions and with friends, the survival horror theme drew people in. But it really “clicked” when players, even groups of strangers, treated the experience as if they were creating their very own campy 70’s slasher film together.” And that honestly sounds so appealing to us. Topolski adds, “Sometimes, it would be an uncooperative free-for-all, while other times, a tightly organized group would cheer each other along and make sacrifices to ensure the best chance of survival. In either case, players would be laughing together about the ridiculous situations. We even got a lot of repeat players at the conventions who became attached to their favorite Counselors.”
In fact, it makes us think of a genre of game we know well, Dungeons & Dragons. Of course, Camp Grizzly isn’t nearly as complex as a game of D&D, but for players in the horror community looking to engage in a little bit of story and world building, it could be just the thing.
Trick or Treat’s Will Frank agrees and shares, noting it’s an apt comparison. “I think that’s honestly, that’s the perfect audience and the perfect attitude to come into the game with, to want to get into your character a little bit. I mean, it’s not something as complex as having a character sheet, it’s even simpler than that, but there’s so much opportunity for that light role-playing and for just creating funny moments or leaving someone behind.”
Topolski treats us to an example of the kind of story that can develop while playing Camp Grizzly, offering, “One of my most memorable games involved “Electric Steve” about 7 years ago at Comic Con. To this day, we still talk about it. My friend Evan was playing as Steve. Over and over again, he kept “fooling around” which gave him a survival card each time he did it. Then Steve would slip away from the fight each time, only to make things worse for everyone else. Eventually, Steve was caught and killed, but, of course, Evan was holding on to “Unfinished Business” so Steve returned as Ghost Steve. In the end, the players drew the Boat finale, “The Proposal,” where Otis (randomly) declared his love for Ghost Steve. Steve accepted Otis’ offer. So, together, Otis and Ghost Steve killed the other Counselors and lived happily ever after. The end.”
Well, we certainly ship Otis and Ghost Steve, and even though we can’t recreate this specific experience for ourselves, the beauty of Camp Grizzly is that our story will find us.
In the second edition, the story’s playground will be bigger and more accessible than ever. Topolski shares that the new board is incredible, noting, “Trick or Treat Studios has created an amazing new map for Camp Grizzly that is gorgeous. I only wish the original looked anywhere as good.” And bonus, the game board is a two-in-one. A second map will be attached to the backside of the original board. Just “Flip the board for a new experience!”
But what is that second Camp Grizzly game board experience like? It’s still coming together, but graphic designer Jody Henning teases, “It still has all of the same types of buildings except for it’s going to be centered around one core building that’s multiple rooms in one building, not just like, here’s a cabin, here’s a cabin. So kind of like if you’re in a camp, it’s the main gallery building and then it’s going to branch out from there.”
Color us incredibly intrigued. But it’s not all about new experiences, it’s also about enhancing the Camp Grizzly that players already know and love. “What we are trying to do is keep the game as true to the original as possible, but give things a revamp where they’ll benefit. Some of the cards, just the readability in playing them and making sure the font is a big enough size, that things are formatted correctly on the card, and so on, so you have a better user experience. That’s a big push on what we’re doing with this version.”
Frank adds. “And then on the board, more detail has been added to it in cases. If you look at the original dining hall, you have very simple tables and some plates there. And then if you look at the new dining hall, there’s much more detail there, and that’s the same with all the different cabins. Just breaking up the one block that was on the original board into different squares makes it feel a little more distinct, as okay, these are the spaces. And it’s actually more functional, too, as you play.”
In all, any changes made to the original vision of Camp Grizzly are in service of keeping things, “more vibrant and more interesting to look at, but also more functional.” Some of the changes will even give users more naunce and detail, as mentioned above, and more and more finished artwork to enjoy.
Ultimately, this Camp Grizzly Second Edition considers both new and old players. Frank notes, “There were a couple of things that we did want to update, but then also preserve the original game for people who want that and know exactly what they want. So maybe the best example is “player elimination,” which was in the original game. It’s a crude way to push toward an ending where your character dies and then you’re just sitting there for the rest of the game, which is no fun. But of course, some people are like, well, that was in the original, and that’s how I want to play.”
Happily, Trick or Treat Studios found a compromise. “So what we did,” Frank explains, “is we have new rules that are optional to get rid of player elimination, where if you’re character die, you drop all your stuff. Same as normal, same as always, but then you return as a new character. And there are no shortage of new characters because we have all these expansions. There are so many counselors. So you’ll never run out of new characters to bring in, and you get to keep playing rather than having to wait for the game to finish. But for people who want to keep with player elimination, that’s still an option. So I think that’s a good demonstration of our thinking about the Camp Grizzly‘s Second Edition.”
And then, of course, there’s the true beauty of Camp Grizzly, which we’ve already touched on, but will return to as we conclude our deep dive. And that’s the magic of getting to live out your own horror movie. Topolski shares, “I love it when people recount their games for me as if it’s a movie they watched.” But what kind of Easter eggs can we expect to be inspired by when we play. Friday the 13th, of course, jumps out.
Frank further notes, “I was going back and looking at old trailers for Friday the 13th and one of the old trailers counts off the days as victims are victims are disappearing in the trailer and the movie announcer is like one and then a big red one, flashes and two, all the way up to 13. And if you look at that image of the board, as body count piles up, it actually goes to 13 in those big red letters. So it’s such a direct homage, especially to the original Friday the 13th movie, and almost everything feels referential, which is really fun.”
The classic slashers of the ’70s and ’80s lend a lot to Camp Grizzly, but modernity sneaks in during the Second Edition. Topolski begrudgingly gives us one little sneak peek at Camp Grizzly‘s Easter egg trove. “I absolutely love the movie Ready or Not. Fans can expect a reference for sure, but that is all I will say about it!”
There are also other kind of fun Easter eggs to look out for in Camp Grizzly. Topolski notes that one of his favorite experiences “so far, has been digging through all the old files and finding unused or REALLY early content. For fun, here’s an unused “Mad Magazine” style concept we were playing around with. It was for the Barn Dance Finale. You can see a reference to our favorite Becky game, where she chased Otis around the board with a chainsaw, defeating him every time until she had one bad roll and ran out of gas at the worst possible time. “
Additionally, Frank shares, “At one point, in the last Kickstarter, in the original campaign, you could pay to get yourself made as a camp counselor. And for some people, those for sure, are favorite counselors. I’m unsure if we’re going to be doing that for this one.”
Ultimately, Topolski concludes, “There are people who look at it as a grail game, either they’ve already gotten it as their grail game or they’ll be excited to finally be able to get it because they’ve been wanting it. So it’s like you have the hardcore board game fans, a segment of them who are super excited. But then this also ultimately is an amazing game for people who are not hardcore gamers. [Camp Grizzly] is easy to pick up and play and get invested in the narrative and the storytelling aspect of it. It’s really not that super complex game rules wise. It’s more about the sort of emergent narratives and the funny moments can’t be moments that come out as you play. And especially if you have one person who can lead the group and be a little bit more experienced. Anyone can can play.”
Trick or Treat Studios will launch the Kickstarter campaign for the Camp Grizzly Second Edition on Tuesday, July 8. Anyone interested in signing up to be notified when the campaign is live can enter their email on this page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/trickortreatstudios/camp-grizzly-second-edition.
Camp Grizzly is a (mostly) cooperative survival horror board game for 1-6 players in which players take the roles of Camp Counselors who are being stalked through a maze of cabins and camp trails by ‘Otis’, a homicidal killer with an unhealthy bear fetish. Working together, the Counselors explore the campgrounds while searching for a combination of objectives that can trigger one of four different game endings. Those who survive the finale win the game!