Horror movies are great to watch during Halloween, but the only thing scarier than watching horror is immersing yourself in it. Last year, I recommended multiple games that would be perfect to play solo or with a group of friends to celebrate spooky season. Here are even more games to play during Halloweekend.
A classic game of Dungeons and Dragons
A traditional game of Dungeons and Dragons is played year-round over multiple sessions. However, there’s nothing wrong with playing a short one-shot in one right. With the right group of friends, you can create your own horror story. Settings can range from the traditional high-fantasy setting similar to that of “Lord of the Rings,” “Game of Thrones,” and “The Witcher,” to science fiction settings inspired by “Star Wars” and “Star Trek.” A creative DM can keep the session as scary (or not) as people want, allowing for a fully customizable spooky experience.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
This isn’t considered a horror game, but it uses enough elements to induce stress and fear in both the player and the main protagonist, Senua. This game invokes the feeling of being watched, controlled, and helpless; immersing the player in Senua’s headspace as she fights demons on her way to rescue her lover from the Norse underworld, Helheim. What’s really cool and terrifying about this game is it often uses your senses and perspective to trick or mislead you or lead you to a solution. Overall, while not a true horror game, Hellblade is scary enough to be perfect to play during Halloween and is a fantastic game to play in general.
Phasmophobia
In this game, you and your team of paranormal investigators need to identify a ghost that is haunting a building, then banish it. Your team uses a variety of ghost-hunting tools to collect evidence of a ghost, including photos, change in temperature, or ghost writing. This evidence is used to identify the ghost before you can deal with it. However, the ghosts are listening to you and your teammates and will react positively or negatively to what you’re saying. Interactions with ghosts will also cause players to lose their sanity. Losing too much sanity can cause players to get killed by ghosts. This game can be played solo or with a group of friends. If it sounds too scary for you, many YouTubers have made some extremely entertaining videos of Phasmophobia.
Monster Prom
Monster Prom is not a scary game at all but it would make for a great light-hearted party game with friends. In this game, players must successfully ask one of six of their Monster High School classmates to the upcoming prom. To do this, players must build their character’s personality, impress their prom date of choice, and potentially earn one of several secret endings. If you play with your friends, you can cooperate with them or sabotage their relationship with their prom date. Monster Prom is funny, wacky, and heartfelt, and would be an awesome non-scary game to play solo or with friends this Halloween.
No matter how you choose to celebrate, have a Happy Halloween!