Spooky Games for the Spooky Season
By Gaming Editor Bonny Murphy
The spooky season is upon us with plenty of cosy nights in while the weather ruins the world outside the window. There are so many games that categorize themselves as horror or thrillers, but I wanted to compose a broad list of games that are everything from full screaming, jump-scare horror to spooky, oddly relaxing games. This list also has both multiplayer and single player options should you wish to freak out alone or together. I know many people don’t like, or are intimidated by very scary, loud horror games and so the whole idea of a spooky game could put them off. However, there are many great games that range from very scary to not scary at all but use a Tim Burton like aesthetic to evoke a spooky feel. The five games I have picked are all available on Steam with the price range of €20 and under. Many are also on sale on Steam around the Halloween period, so watch for cheaper prices and deals. Now if this list isn’t for you, I understand, horror games aren’t really for me either. Most I find repetitive or unnecessarily gory. My choices for this article stand as the few gems I have found that work for more tame horror enjoyer.
Outlast
The first game I have selected is Outlast mainly for memorable nostalgic reasons. Outlast was one of the first horror games I ever played, and definitely was the first to make a significant impact on me. The game follows a reporter investigating an asylum where various horrific shenanigans are afoot. You see most of the game through the lens of the reporter’s camera which provides a night vision mode. Due to this the player must scavenge for batteries to keep the camera running. The game is very much classic horror, with many jump-scares and hiding mechanics with little to no options of fighting back. What stood out to me most about this game was the interesting story and the pace the game tells it. The narrative is interesting and more complex than you would think. The game is a solo-player experience with a constant creepy environment and a looming threatening feeling throughout. I would highly recommend this game to a lover of true horror experiences as it fulfils so many aspects including music, atmosphere, narrative and scare factor.
Phasmophobia
My second choice is a game called Phasmophobia. This game provides a multiplayer co-op experience where a team of you and four friends play as amateur ghost hunters. Each player can purchase kit such as flashlights, smudge sticks and a thermometer before beginning one of the many maps on offer. Maps range from small country homes to large asylums. Once on a map, the players must use their tools to identify what ghost is haunting the area and most importantly, make it out alive. One reason I enjoy this game as much as I do, is because of the variety and lore behind the various ghosts. Players are equipped with a journal containing all the ghost types, behaviours, and dangers of each. The games overall atmosphere is haunting and creepy but lightened-up by the joy of experiencing the terror with friends. I have had many funny moments with friends while playing, and I would add that this game is a great choice for a gaming party night with others any time of the year. My first encounter with the game was watching playthroughs on YouTube and I would recommend this as a way of sussing out horror games in general. It lets you experience some aspects of the game without putting yourself fully into a game you may not like.
SPC: Secret Laboratory
The next game I have selected is a bit of a complicated one for me. So, I must confess that I do not like SPC: Secret Laboratory (SCP). (SCP meaning: Secure, Contain, Protect, but refers to a database of cryptids created as part of a wide-scale collaborative writing project). The game never clicked with me personally. However, I have seen the enjoyment many of my friends have had playing this tense horror game and wanted to give it a mention. For that reason, the deep inner workings of SCP are still a mystery to me, but I will do my best to explain the game and its positive aspects. The game takes place, where you would guess, a secret laboratory, where various monstrous creatures are contained. SCP is a large multiplayer game with many different types of roles to fill. At the game’s start, players are filled into D-class, prisoners of the facility; the facility guards; or the scientists who are experimenting on the SCPs or Secure, Contain, Protect. Now comes the SCPs, these are the monsters who are kept in containment below the facility. Depending on the lobby size, one or two players will get to play as one of the many SCPs, whose objective is to kill everyone in the facility. The other objectives are as follows: the D-class and the scientists want to escape, while the facility guards want to escort the scientist out while also shooting all D-class on sight. This is as far as my understanding stretches of the structure of the game. Similar to Phasmophobia, most of the enjoyment from the game comes from the social aspect and the madness added by friends. Any game that has one of your friends as the monster creates many bargaining scenarios where you must beg for your life from a friend. Even though I may not love this game, the joy I have seen it bring others makes it well worth being on this list.
Left 4 Dead 2
My next option is another nostalgic pick for me, Left 4 Dead 2. Now calling this game horror may be a slight stretch to those who may already be familiar with it. This game is a four-person zombie shooter with the objective of completing maps by reaching a safe room while combating zombie hordes. The game is zombie chaos with friends. There are different gun and melee weapon loadouts you can play with and a loose story to follow also, though this is nowhere near the focus of the game. The madness of having to hold back huge waves of enemies with three friends creates such a fun atmosphere, especially as there are no off-putting jump-scares. The game throws at you the standard sort of slow zombie, but also many other unique mutated or variant zombies of higher difficulty. This adds a lot of flavour to the game and presents new challenges while keeping the game fresh. I have had many hours of fun playing Left 4 Dead 2 while screaming at friends save me or visa versa. Another sneaky aspect of the game is that friendly fire, or being able to hurt your team, can be toggled on. This adds much to the game creating further chaos among friends.
Don’t Starve Together
My last choice is a game that could give much needed respite to the non-heavy horror fan. Don’t Starve Together is a wonderfully spooky survival game set in a Tim Burton like setting. The design is beautiful and weird with a very fun soundtrack. Like most survival games, the aim is to survive and defend your base while roaming out into the wide world to discover new resources. I have always found the art style fascinating with a paper like quality to everything. There are monsters, events and bosses in the game adding ramping difficulty. The game feels super spooky without having any of the normal horror tropes as drawbacks. It is also a great game for anytime of the year but I find myself coming back to Don’t Starve Together each Autumn. I would highly recommend this game to anyone who wants to step their toe in horror or spooky gaming content but not delve too deep.
To close I would add, horror games are not for everyone, most certainly not for me most of the time. However, there is great joy to be found in the spooky and this list, while being on the lighter side of horror, does provide some great games with much needed scare or spook for this time of year. I hope you can find something you like in this list to try out or find some validation that your favourite spooky game was chosen by yours truly.
