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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: four crew members in bulky suits and helmets, silhouetted against a red haze, one crouching with a flashlight 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 bloodied ghost with glowing eyes and clawed hands raised stands in the doorway of a dark living room, lit by a flashlight beam past an armchair 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 laughing dark-haired woman drawn in an anime style holds blood-smeared hands at her throat 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 diving suits with round emoji faces, one holding a clapperboard and one waving, 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 key art: the game's logo above three wooden puppet characters with goggles and glowing chest cores in a dark ruin 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 key art: a narrow hedge maze path at night under a single lamp Co-opLabyrinthineOne to eight players solve puzzles in dark mazes while monsters with their own habits hunt the group.
  10. The Outlast Trials art: three test subjects with night-vision goggles strapped to their faces, one screaming with an arm raised, in a murky olive tint SurvivalThe Outlast TrialsUp to four test subjects survive Murkoff's twisted trials while hiding from its killers.
  11. Pacify key art: a girl with long black hair, half her face painted white with a pale staring eye and a black mark 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. Damned 2 key art: a pale girl holding a doll and a clawed skeletal monster stand in a red-lit, foggy hotel corridor under an EXIT sign Co-opDamned 2Four survivors search cursed buildings for keys and puzzles while a fifth player hunts them as a monster that hears their voice chat.
  16. Lunch Lady key art: the grinning, blotchy-skinned Lunch Lady in a grey apron beside the dripping red title on a dark bloodstained background SurvivalLunch LadyUp to four students sneak through school at night for test answers while a possessed lunch lady hunts them.
  17. The Forest key art: the legs of a woman in a bloodied teal skirt and teal high heels walking across dark ground between plants SurvivalThe ForestBuild a camp with friends after a plane crash and survive cannibal mutants at night.
  18. Buckshot Roulette key art: The Dealer, a face with a huge toothy grin and a cigarette in his teeth, holds out a pump shotgun in pale hands in front of stacked speakers Co-opBuckshot RouletteRussian roulette with a shotgun against up to three friends at one table.
  19. Inside the Backrooms key art: a dim yellow room under ceiling lights, with pillars scrawled with arrows and the words Here, Escape, Left and It sees you Co-opInside the BackroomsUp to four friends explore the Backrooms together, solving changing puzzles and avoiding the entities to find the exit.
  20. 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.
  21. Little Nightmares III key art: Alone in goggles and Low in a bird mask with a bow hold hands on a heap of junk beneath a giant hand in an orange haze PsychologicalLittle Nightmares IIITwo friends, Low and Alone, sneak past giants together online, combining a bow and a wrench to solve puzzles.
  22. GTFO key art: four prisoners' gas masks and helmets against a red, smoky background Co-opGTFOA hard co-op shooter for four, sneaking past sleeping creatures in a dark complex until someone wakes them.
  23. Barotrauma key art: a diver in a heavy armoured suit with a skull inside the helmet, against a grungy 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.
  24. 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.
  25. 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.
  26. 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 SurvivalBackrooms: Escape TogetherUp to six players in the Backrooms, keeping together on proximity voice chat as entities hunt them.
  27. 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.
  28. Dark Hours key art: two masked robbers beside a glowing crown freeze as a tall dark creature appears in a bright doorway of a gloomy mansion room Co-opDark HoursA one-to-four-player heist gone wrong, with a monster loose in the building you came to rob.
  29. The Past Within key art: the game's title beside a hexagon badge with a dark figure with white eyes, over a blurred dim room PsychologicalThe Past WithinA two-player Rusty Lake puzzle game: one in the past, one in the future, solving it by talking.
  30. The Blackout Club key art: three teenagers with flashlights in silhouette in a suburban yard at night, bikes, a water tower and a starry sky 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.
  31. Sker Ritual key art: a masked man in a bowler hat leads monsters, among them a brass-helmeted diver, 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.
  32. Space Beast Terror Fright key art: a dark, foggy spaceship corridor with a sealed red blast door and blood on the wall, under the glowing blue title Co-opSpace Beast Terror FrightOne to four marines, split-screen or online, search dark spacecraft while beasts close in on the motion tracker.
  33. F.E.A.R. 3 key art: the title beside the pale ghostly girl Alma, a scarred man lit in red and a soldier with a rifle, on black Co-opF.E.A.R. 3A two-player co-op campaign: Point Man and his dead brother Fettel fight through Alma's paranormal nightmare.
  34. Anomaly Company key art: two crew members in orange hazmat suits, one in a gas mask, in a blue-lit arched field tent with supply cases PsychologicalAnomaly CompanyUp to four friends memorise a floor and decide together whether anything has changed.
  35. Cursed Apartment key art: a sack-headed figure with a cleaver in a dark tiled corridor with a big 8 on the wall, above the title Co-opCursed ApartmentFree on itch.io: ride down a cursed apartment block together, spotting anomalies over proximity chat while monsters roam.
  36. Directive 8020 key art: a dirt-streaked woman in a spacesuit in a dim purple corridor with fleshy growths, beside the title Co-opDirective 8020A couch Movie Night mode for up to five, each playing crew members hunted by a shape-copying alien.
  37. MIMESIS key art: two hooded crew members in beaked masks with glowing eyes crouch in a tunnel mouth while a third runs out into the rain on an empty street Co-opMIMESISFour friends scavenge while monsters copy their voices and faces, so the teammate calling for help may not be who they sound like.
  38. KLETKA key art: a gas-masked figure holding a wrench and a gas-masked creature in a cone-like hood, either side of a giant open red mouth with teeth Co-opKLETKAUp to six convicts ride a hungry living elevator down an endless building and keep it fed.
  39. We Escaped a Twisted Game key art: a painted Victorian manor at night with glowing orange windows under a dark green sky and bare trees Co-opWe Escaped a Twisted GameTwo players split apart in a haunted manor, guiding each other by voice through dark rooms and puzzles.
  40. This is a Ghost key art: a red-faced fanged demon, a glowing blue handprint and a skull beside a dark study with a desk and candles Co-opThis is a GhostGhost hunting for up to four where the entities fight back, possessing players and screaming them still.

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. Damned 2 makes it smaller and darker: four survivors search cursed buildings for keys and puzzles while a fifth player hunts them as a monster that can hear their voice chat. 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. Handy Harry's Haunted House Services sends a repair crew of up to eight into pitch-dark attics to fix what is broken, flip the master switch and get out before the ghost catches 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. Cursed Apartment is a free take on the same idea from itch.io: a group rides an elevator down a cursed apartment block, calling out anomalies over proximity voice chat while monsters roam the dark floors, in half an hour to an hour.

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.

For two, We Escaped a Twisted Game splits a pair of friends apart in a haunted manor so they must guide each other by voice through its puzzles and jump scares, and This is a Ghost is ghost hunting for up to four in which the entities fight back, possessing one player or freezing another with a scream.

If your group only tries one, play Lethal Company or R.E.P.O. for a night of laughing and screaming, or Phasmophobia if you want to be properly frightened together.

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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