The Night Cage: Shrieking Hollow takes the spooky cooperative horror experience of the base game and intensifies the stakes with new mechanics, a new monster, and a whole new board area. The expansion adds a layer of dread with the introduction of The Other, a massive creature lurking in the Hollow. As players explore the labyrinth, they now face an ever-present threat as the Other rises from the Hollow, smothering parts of the board in darkness and devouring whatever it touches. Players must manage their resources and carefully decide when to venture into the Hollow to slow the progress of the other, or risk having their light smothered out and be trapped in The Night Cage forever.
The Hollow is a new sideboard that connects to the main game via pits, creating a small new space where players can temporarily stall The Other’s advance by moving into the Hollow with their candlelight. The pit mechanic also adds an extra layer of strategy, as players must use their candles to hold back the dark—knowing they can’t stop it forever. The new area and new crumbling tiles foster more cooperative discussion and decision-making, as players must carefully balance their options to survive. The Shrieking Hollow expansion also introduces more advanced monsters, including the Shrieks, which can summon The Others sooner than expected.
The new threat of The Other and the Shrieks gives players more dynamic interactions to manage. While the base game is already full of meaningful decisions, the added depth from the expansion’s monsters forces players to think differently about positioning, timing, and how to manage their dwindling resources.
While The Night Cage remains a cooperative puzzle at its core, Shrieking Hollow adds visceral thrills, forcing players to confront not just the maze but also the terrifying Other as it lurks closer with each passing turn. The randomness of the game continues, but the expanded mechanics and new challenges offer more opportunities for strategy. The game still shines brightest with two players, allowing each participant to control two characters and add more depth to the decisions being made.
With the introduction of the Hollow, the expansion builds on the atmosphere and horror that The Night Cage is known for while injecting even more tension and cooperative interaction. The new expansion simply makes the experience better, and it’s hard to imagine going back to jut the base game once players add this menacing monster to the mix.
