Halloween is here and while you may enjoy this holiday, you might not be as into scary horror games as others. You aren’t alone! Horror games can be incredibly intense, even for those who love a good scary movie. But maybe you still want to enjoy some games on Halloween, just without all the jump scares.
To help folks out, I’ve put together a list of games I think will get anyone into the Halloween spirit without making you scream in horror or close your eyes in fear.
Zombies! Love ‘em or hate ‘em, these undead bastards are a big part of our current pop culture landscape. But most of the time you are running from them, killing them, or being eaten alive by the undead. Stubbs The Zombie flips the script and has you star as a zombie, eating brains and farting on people. It’s a bit odd, but if you can find a way to play it this Halloween season, I highly recommended it. Or just listen to the soundtrack. It’s very good too.
As this list shows, there are a lot of games with creepy or eerie atmospheres. But not many games are actually set during Halloween. Sure, some games like Bully include Halloween sections or areas, but few games let you explore a Halloween night as a kid. This is one of the main reasons I had to include Costume Quest and its sequel on this list. In these turn-based RPGs released by Double Fine, you play as kids in Halloween costumes fighting monsters and trick-or-treating. What’s more Halloween than that?
At first, you might not expect Don’t Starve, a fantastic 2D survival game featuring crafting and resource management, to be a creepy-but-not-spooky video game experience. But that just means you haven’t played Don’t Starve, which can be a very creepy and tense survival game where monsters lurk just outside your flimsy walls. And be careful, they won’t stay away forever...
Weird, strange, and haunting monsters and other bizarre paranormal things fill the world of Control, the third-person action shooter from Remedy Entertainment. It makes for a creepy and unsettling atmosphere. But there aren’t any real jump scares or moments of extreme gore in Control. Instead, the fear comes more from the unknown and the strange things you encounter. And if anything gets too scary, just shoot it a hundred times with your fancy paranormal pistol.
That Ghostbusters game for the Xbox 360 and PS3 wasn’t perfect, but it was a perfect Ghostbusters game if you get what I’m saying. What I mean is, it had all the sound effects, characters, and ghosts you love, it just all came in a mediocre third-person shooter package. The recently released remastered versions of this game don’t improve them much, but they do look nicer and it is now easier than ever to play this game. And while the action might be...eh, the ghosts are still ghosts and perfect for Halloween.
Any of the Luigi’s Mansion games would be perfect to play around Halloween. But I’m putting the most recent game on here because I just adored it. It looks wonderful, has some genuinely great music, and the gameplay is incredibly satisfying. Smashing ghosts into walls never gets old. NEVER.
I love The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s a must-watch for me this time of year. And while I’m not saying anyone should remake or try to pump out a sequel, maybe you’re like me and can’t help but think about the world of the film and the characters who inhabit it and wonder, “What happened next?” Well, wonder no more! Back in 2005, Oogie’s Revenge was released on PS2 and Xbox. It’s a sequel to the original film and it’s like a Disney spin on Devil May Cry. Seriously. It’s not great, but it’s better than you might expect and a perfect game for the creepy Halloween season.
Released in 1988, Splatterhouse is a classic beat ‘em up from Namco that plays like other beat ‘em ups from that era. But unlike many of those other games, Splatterhouse was on the gruesome and scary side. Still, its frights are pretty quaint when compared to actual scary games. In Splatterhouse, you play as someone who is totally not Jason Voorhees and work your way through levels punching and killing monsters who are stupid enough to get in your way. It still feels great in 2020 and its retro scares are best experienced in a dark room during a cool October night.
Don’t let the game’s cute and gorgeous 2D art fool you, Cult of the Lamb is a creepy little roguelike action game about running a cult and fighting monsters. Think Hades meets Animal Crossing, but covered in (more) blood, sacrifices, and an angry old god who wants you to help them defeat other celestial beings. This game runs perfectly on Steam Deck, too, so you can grow your animal cult while you pass out candy to trick-or-treaters.
If you enjoy action platformers from back in the PS1/PS2 era and also love Halloween, I’d check out Pumpkin Jack. It features gameplay similar to the classic MediEvil games, but with a more colorful and cartoony visual style. You unlock different weapons and forms as you progress through a half dozen or so levels. All in all, it will take you about four or maybe five hours to complete, perfect for a weekend. Open your windows, let that fall air in and enjoy Pumpkin Jack, hopefully with some Halloween candy close at hand. Oh, and speaking of MediEvil...
Was the world clamoring for a remake of the original PS1 MediEvil? I don’t think so... but we still got one in 2019. And to my surprise, it’s pretty dang great! Yeah, the camera can be a bit annoying, but the rest of the game is a charming, spooky adventure. You could of course go back and play the original game, but if you don’t want to deal with old consoles or emulation, then this PS4 remake is a fantastic way to enjoy some MediEvil action in 2021.
One of the best games of 2021 is also a perfectly creepy and weird game to play during October. Lost in Random doesn’t include jump scares or gore. Instead, it features Tim Burton-esque worlds and characters, all of them a bit off-kilter. Lost in Random has a fantastically dark and spooky atmosphere that should get anyone, young or old, into the Halloween spirit. Another nice bonus: Its dice-based combat is more cerebral than twitchy, letting anyone enjoy this creepy adventure.
Do you like Stranger Things? Do you like turn-based RPGs? Well, I’ve got a game for you. (I mean, I don’t actually have a copy to give you…you’ll still need to buy it.) Echo Generation is a voxel-based RPG that is crammed full of creepy and spooky things, from ghosts to aliens to serial killers. You play as two siblings who have to work together to solve puzzles and survive dangerous fights in order to save the world from a shadowy corporation and its morally dubious science. Come for the great visuals and stay for the fantastic synth soundtrack.
Plants vs. Zombies isn’t new, but it’s still really good. A classic and colorful strategy game about building flowers and other plants to stop a zombie invasion. It’s not scary at all, but it’s a perfect game to play during a cool October night, especially if you have young kids who don’t want to or aren’t old enough to watch horror movies or play scary games. Plants vs. Zombies is still worth booting up and playing all these Halloweens later. A true classic.
That’s the end of the list! But if you’re still looking for games to play this October and you enjoy some scarier titles, you can check out this list of the best horror games on Xbox Game Pass.
Update: 10/17/2024: This list has been updated again with three new games (Don’t Starve, Plants vs Zombies, and Cult of the Lamb). We’ve also removed Friday The 13th: Killer Puzzle as it was removed from stores in Jan. 2023.
Update: 10/12/2022: This list has been updated again with two new games. (Echo Generation and Lost In Random.)
Update: 10/17/2021: This list was originally published on October 31, 2020, and has now been updated with two new games. (Pumpkin Jack and MediEvil.)
