It is September now which means my wife has decided it is fall and time to celebrate 2 months of Halloween. Anyone have and spooky game recommendations?
Funny answer: Nightmare Kart. It’s Bloodborne Mario Kart with Sega Saturn graphics. Delightfully postmodern, spooky, and free.
If you need a break from genuinely scary and just want thematically spooky fun, it’s Crypt of the Necrodancer and Darkest Dungeon.
If you have a reasonably strong machine, try emulating Call of Cthulhu, Dark Corners of the Earth. It’s genuinely scary a lot of the time.
Supermassive games like Until Dawn, The Quarry, and the Dark Pictures are great for this, especially since later iterations have built-in “pass the controller” modes that are great for sharing a game with your spouse.
Played Until Dawn, that was a fun one will need to look into the other 2
None of the others are as good as Until Dawn, imo, unfortunately :(
I keep hoping, but no joy every time
They’re all the same format, but The Dark Pictures is an anthology of games that are about half the size of Until Dawn. There are 5 or 6 of them at this point.
I prefer psychological horror over jumpscares by a long shot, so my recommendations are a bit slower than what people may recommend, but if it strikes your and your wife’s fancy, here are them:
Dreaming Sarah, Wishing Sarah, Tanglewood, Parasite Eve, Wake Up (by Philosophic Games), UNLOVED, The Corruption Within.Still Wakes the Deep. Shit goes wrong on a Scottish oil rig in the 70s, it’s sorta like dead space mixed with alien isolation and a walking simulator. Stealth gameplay with some puzzles and a decent emotional narrative. I had a good time playing it and it’s on gamepass. Short and sweet.
Amnesia: the Bunker. A masterpiece in horror and very tense. It is my personal GOTY for 2023
Dusk. Quake meets Evil Dead. One of the best games I’ve played in years. It’s definitely more of a straight up shooter than a horror game, but the themes/setting/art style nail the spooktober vibe. I replay it every autumn and always have a great time
Costume Quest.
Soma, Stasis (and the other games in the series), Observer, Observation
My wife is playing bendy and the dark revival. I’m going to have her play amnesia next.
No one has mentioned Phasmophonia yet so I’ll throw that in the ring
I still really enjoy Phasmophobia and all the games which came out after that have similar mechanics/gameplay. The Dark Pictures games are all really great experiences. There’s also indie games like Little Nightmares and Dredge! Alan Wake, Outlast, Still Wakes the Deep… Honestly there’s been so many amazing ones which have come out. For days/nights where you want a lighter experience, the Observation Duty type games can be fun!
Little Nightmares 1 & 2 get my vote. Also, Alan Wake 2 is a lot of fun and not exactly a horror game since it doesn’t take itself seriously.
Horror comedies are definitely a thing, but tbh I’d still consider Alan Wake 2 an outright horror even with the lighter stuff! Very spooky elements, with great writing and story crafting. Bonus points if you play Remedy’s other games for the Easter eggs
If the game being old isn’t a dealbreaker, I’ve always enjoyed Phantasmagoria.
I really love Visage. Costume Quest is a cozy rpg.
Costume Quest
Just what I came here for! Not spooky, but entirely Halloween themed. I beat the first, but never got around to playing much of the second. A pretty simple turn based RPG, but the costumes you put on your party become the actual thing they are in battle. Very cute and fun games
Alien Isolation. Resident Evil 7. If you can do either/both in VR, DO IT.
