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Scary Games to Play With Friends

Horror is often scarier, and funnier, with friends: someone screams on voice chat, someone wanders off, someone has to go back for the loot. These are the co-op and multiplayer horror games worth a night in, from ghost hunts to escaping a killer.

The games

  1. Lethal Company art: silhouettes of crew members in bulky suits against a red background, a long-armed creature among them Co-opLethal CompanyUp to four contractors haul scrap out of dark moon facilities full of monsters; scary and funny in equal measure.
  2. Phasmophobia: a dark 1950s-style diner with a glowing orange jukebox and a pie-of-the-day board Co-opPhasmophobiaFour ghost hunters gather evidence in a haunted building, and the ghost can hear your voice.
  3. Demonologist key art: a pale girl with dark eyes and grimy cheeks stares out of the dark beside two lit candles Co-opDemonologistUp to four ghost hunters gather evidence, identify the spirit and exorcise it, while it listens to what you say.
  4. Ghost Watchers key art: a flashlight beam crosses a dark living room with an armchair, while a pale clawed ghost floats in the doorway behind Co-opGhost WatchersFour-player ghost hunting with dozens of tools, ending in catching the ghost before it gets you.
  5. R.E.P.O. key art: three round googly-eyed robots in green, red and blue standing in the dark, the red one holding a lit flashlight Co-opR.E.P.O.Up to six robots carry fragile loot past roaming monsters to an extraction point.
  6. Dead by Daylight art: a smiling dark-haired woman drawn in an anime style raises blood-smeared hands against a red background Co-opDead by DaylightFour survivors against one killer played by a friend, with famous horror villains.
  7. Content Warning art: four crew members in dark suits with round emoji faces, one holding a clapperboard, posing in a grey ruin Co-opContent WarningFilm monsters in an underground ruin with up to four friends and try to go viral.
  8. GRAIN ROT screenshot: wooden puppet crewmates with weapons face a spiked, glowing-eyed figure in dark ruins Co-opGRAIN ROTA co-op loot run into shifting ruins in fragile wooden bodies, where friends knocking each other about is half the fun.
  9. Labyrinthine: a misty hedge maze at night lit by a street lamp, with a cartoon cowboy duck sign pointing This Way Co-opLabyrinthineOne to eight players solve puzzles in dark mazes while monsters with their own habits hunt the group.
  10. The Outlast Trials art: test subjects with night-vision goggles strapped to their faces, one reaching upward and screaming, in a sickly green tint SurvivalThe Outlast TrialsUp to four test subjects survive Murkoff's twisted trials while hiding from its killers.
  11. Pacify art: a pale girl with long black hair, half her face painted white with a dark eye, and a black shape over her mouth, against red Co-opPacifyBurn possessed dolls in haunted places while a girl hunts your team through the dark.
  12. DEVOUR art: a possessed woman with matted dark hair, black eyes and a wide grin, with other demonic faces in red behind her Co-opDEVOURUp to four cultists race to banish a demon from their possessed leader.
  13. PANICORE key art: a close-up of a terrified woman's eye with blood running down her face Co-opPANICOREUp to five friends escape an abandoned building from a monster that hears your footsteps and your voice; death is permanent.
  14. Halloween: The Game key art: Michael Myers' pale mask lit in blue against black, small figures of survivors at his chest Co-opHalloween: The GameOne player is Michael Myers on Halloween night; up to four others try to save Haddonfield.
  15. Lunch Lady wide art: a dark school hallway with blue lockers and a checkered floor at night SurvivalLunch LadyUp to four students sneak through school at night for test answers while a possessed lunch lady hunts them.
  16. The Forest art: the legs of a cannibal in a ragged blue skirt walking through dark undergrowth SurvivalThe ForestBuild a camp with friends after a plane crash and survive cannibal mutants at night.
  17. Buckshot Roulette key art: The Dealer, a face with a huge toothy grin, holds out a pump shotgun in pale hands Co-opBuckshot RouletteRussian roulette with a shotgun against up to three friends at one table.
  18. Inside the Backrooms key art: a dim yellow room with buzzing ceiling lights and pillars scrawled with warnings such as It sees you and Left no exit Co-opInside the BackroomsUp to four friends explore the Backrooms together, solving changing puzzles and avoiding the entities to find the exit.
  19. Resident Evil Revelations 2 key art: an extreme close-up of a bloodshot green eye in a scarred, bloody face SurvivalResident Evil Revelations 2A survival horror campaign built for two, playable side by side on one screen.
  20. Little Nightmares III key art: Low in a bird mask with a bow and Alone in goggles stand on a heap of junk among giant hands in a dusty haze PsychologicalLittle Nightmares IIITwo friends, Low and Alone, sneak past giants together online, combining a bow and a wrench to solve puzzles.
  21. GTFO key art: four prisoners' face masks and helmets against a red background Co-opGTFOA hard co-op shooter for four, sneaking past sleeping creatures in a dark complex until someone wakes them.
  22. Barotrauma key art: a diver in a heavy suit with a skull behind the helmet glass, against a red and green submarine schematic Co-opBarotraumaUp to sixteen players keep one submarine alive under Europa's ice against sea monsters, leaks, fires and the odd traitor.
  23. Shift At Midnight key art: a grinning, wide-eyed monster with clawed hands leans over a gas station till, holding up an ID card that reads Real Human Co-opShift At MidnightUp to three friends run a gas station at night and decide which customers are doppelgangers.
  24. Species: Unknown key art: a mercenary in a sci-fi suit and helmet in a blue-lit ship corridor, with a dark creature's red eyes glowing beside them Co-opSpecies: UnknownUp to four mercenaries on an abandoned spaceship, working out which monster is hunting them.
  25. Two players in yellow hazmat suits face a tall, thin black entity in the yellow halls of Level 0, with a grinning face glowing in a dark doorway Co-opBackrooms: Escape TogetherUp to six players in the Backrooms, keeping together on proximity voice chat as entities hunt them.
  26. REANIMAL key art: two children row a small lit boat across dark floodwater past wrecked ships and telephone poles, under a giant sheep-headed creature looming out of the stormy sky PsychologicalREANIMALA brother and sister cross a flooded island of giant creatures, played by two in local or online co-op.
  27. Dark Hours key art: two masked robbers beside a royal crown freeze as a tall dark figure appears in a bright doorway Co-opDark HoursA one-to-four-player heist gone wrong, with a monster loose in the building you came to rob.
  28. The Past Within: a white metal puzzle box with grilles, dials and switches on a wooden floor, a drawing of a fly on papers beside it PsychologicalThe Past WithinA two-player Rusty Lake puzzle game: one in the past, one in the future, solving it by talking.
  29. The Blackout Club key art: three teenagers with flashlights stand by their bikes under a starry night sky, a water tower behind them Co-opThe Blackout ClubUp to four teenagers sneak past a sleepwalking town at night, hiding from a thing you can only see with your eyes closed.
  30. Sker Ritual key art: a masked man in a bowler hat leads a crowd of monsters out of red smoke under a fiery bird emblem Co-opSker RitualUp to four players fight back against waves of supernatural creatures on Sker Island.
  31. A marine's helmet display in orange over a dark spaceship corridor, the motion tracker warning of movement 9.8 metres away Co-opSpace Beast Terror FrightOne to four marines, split-screen or online, search dark spacecraft while beasts close in on the motion tracker.
  32. F.E.A.R. 3 screenshot: Alma, a blood-soaked girl with long black hair and glowing red eyes, stands in a dark hall of shuttered shops Co-opF.E.A.R. 3A two-player co-op campaign: Point Man and his dead brother Fettel fight through Alma's paranormal nightmare.
  33. Anomaly Company art: two crew members in orange hazmat suits, one in a gas mask, inside a blue-lit field hut PsychologicalAnomaly CompanyUp to four friends memorise a floor and decide together whether anything has changed.
  34. Directive 8020 key art: an astronaut with a bloodied face inside a cracked helmet, beside a red-lit wrecked corridor Co-opDirective 8020A couch Movie Night mode for up to five, each playing crew members hunted by a shape-copying alien.
  35. MIMESIS key art: hooded crew members in beaked masks with glowing eyes crouch in a tunnel mouth as rain falls on an empty street outside Co-opMIMESISFour friends scavenge while monsters copy their voices and faces, so the teammate calling for help may not be who they sound like.
  36. KLETKA key art: a gas-masked figure with a wrench and a gas-masked creature on a red background of giant teeth Co-opKLETKAUp to six convicts ride a hungry living elevator down an endless building and keep it fed.
  37. Back 4 Blood key art: four Cleaners stand in a red number 4 surrounded by a dark sea of Ridden, with a huge mutated Ridden at the edge Co-opBack 4 BloodLeft 4 Dead's makers again: four players against parasite hordes and towering mutants, with a director that adapts to the team.

If your group has never played horror together, start with Lethal Company or R.E.P.O. Both send a crew into dark, monster-filled places to haul out valuables for a quota, and both are as much about laughing at each other as about the creatures. Lethal Company is for up to four players and leans harder on dread; R.E.P.O. takes up to six and makes carrying fragile loot past monsters its own kind of panic. Content Warning swaps loot for footage: you film monsters in an underground ruin and try to go viral. GRAIN ROT is the newest of these loot runs, with crews in fragile wooden bodies riding a cursed elevator down into shifting ruins.

For a slower, more frightening night, Phasmophobia is the classic. Up to four ghost hunters set up equipment in a haunted building, work out which ghost they are dealing with, and run when it turns hostile, and the ghost can hear what you say. Demonologist and Ghost Watchers are the closest to it, with evidence to gather and a spirit to exorcise or catch. Pacify and DEVOUR take the same team of four into haunted houses and cult rituals, where one possessed enemy hunts the group while you complete a task.

If your friends want to play against each other, Dead by Daylight is the long-running choice: four survivors repair generators and try to escape while a fifth player, the killer, hunts them. Halloween: The Game does the same with Michael Myers on Halloween night 1978, and Buckshot Roulette shrinks it to a table, a shotgun and up to four players taking turns.

For a group that wants to escape together, Labyrinthine sends one to eight players through dark mazes of puzzles and monsters, PANICORE traps up to five in an abandoned building with a monster that hears your footsteps and your voice, and Lunch Lady has up to four students sneak through their school at night for test answers while a possessed lunch lady hunts them. Dark Hours turns it into a heist gone wrong, with a monster loose in the building you came to rob. The Blackout Club is the stealthy version: up to four teenagers sneak out at night past a town of sleepwalking adults to record evidence, and if you are noticed, The Shape comes for you, a thing you can only see with your eyes closed.

For a long survival game, The Forest lets a group build a camp after a plane crash and hold out against cannibal mutants, and The Outlast Trials puts up to four friends through Murkoff's brutal experiments. GTFO is the hard one: four prisoners creep through a dark underground complex, and if one sleeping creature wakes, they all do. Barotrauma is the biggest crew: up to sixteen players steer, repair and defend one submarine in the black ocean under Europa's ice, while alien sea monsters, leaks, fires and sometimes a traitor in the crew try to sink it. For something smaller, Species: Unknown puts up to four on an abandoned spaceship with a monster to identify, and Shift At Midnight has up to three friends at a gas station counter at night, checking which customers are doppelgangers. Anomaly Company has up to four friends memorise an office or hotel floor and argue over whether anything has changed.

If your group would rather fight back, Sker Ritual has up to four players hold off waves of supernatural creatures on Sker Island with guns and strange powers, and Space Beast Terror Fright sends one to four marines, on one screen or online, through dark spacecraft with a motion tracker and doors to seal against the beasts. F.E.A.R. 3 is a shooter for two: Point Man and the ghost of his brother Fettel fight through a world warped by Alma, with apparitions between the firefights.

For a group on one sofa, Directive 8020's Movie Night mode lets up to five players each take crew members of a crashed colony ship hunted by an alien that imitates its prey, and decide together who makes it home.

For two players who want a story rather than a party, The Past Within from Rusty Lake splits you between the past and the future, so you can only solve its puzzles by describing what you see to each other. Resident Evil Revelations 2 can be played side by side on one screen, one of you fighting while the other spots items and enemies, and Little Nightmares III lets two friends sneak past its giants together online. REANIMAL, from Tarsier Studios, the team behind the first two Little Nightmares games, has a brother and sister cross a flooded island of giant creatures, in local or online co-op. Inside the Backrooms takes up to four into the endless yellow rooms of internet legend to solve puzzles and find the exit, and Backrooms: Escape Together takes up to six.

Three more are built on the crew. MIMESIS has four friends scavenge buildings where monsters copy their voices and faces, so the teammate calling for help may not be who they sound like. KLETKA puts up to six convicts on a living elevator that eats fuel or flesh as it descends an endless building. Back 4 Blood, from the makers of Left 4 Dead, sends four Cleaners against hordes of parasite-ridden Ridden and mutants up to 20 feet tall; its Steam reviews are mixed, but it is the most straightforward zombie co-op here.

Questions

What is the scariest game to play with friends?

Phasmophobia is the usual pick: up to four players hunt a ghost that can hear their voices and turns on them.

What co-op horror game is good for beginners?

Lethal Company or R.E.P.O.: the rules are simple, the rounds are short, and the fear comes with a lot of laughter.

Are there horror games where friends play against each other?

Yes. Dead by Daylight and Halloween: The Game put one player in the role of the killer against four others, and Buckshot Roulette has up to four players face each other at the table.

Can I play these on console?

Many of them, yes: Phasmophobia, Dead by Daylight, Content Warning, Pacify and The Outlast Trials are on PlayStation and Xbox. Lethal Company and R.E.P.O. are PC only.

What scary games can we play on one screen?

Space Beast Terror Fright has split-screen for up to four, Resident Evil Revelations 2 can be played side by side, and Directive 8020's Movie Night mode passes the controller between up to five players.

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