(Dreaming in Digital)
Halloween is just around the corner and that means it’s time to break out the scary movies and games! (Is it ever a bad time for that?) No matter how you celebrate this day, something on this list is sure to appeal to you.
Even if not, there are countless other horror and monster themed games out there from the famous titles like Alone in the Dark and Ghosts & Goblins to the letter known indie thrillers such as Doki Doki Literature Club and Pony Island, there’s always something to play alone and in the dark.
Here are some games I would recommend checking out to get in the mood for thrills and chills. It has everything from lighthearted spooks to in your face jump scares!
Luigi’s Mansion
Luigi from Super Mario Bros searched for his missing brother, Mario, while clearing ghosts out of a haunted mansion with a vacuum cleaner-like ghost trapping device. The Luigi’s Mansion series by Nintendo began on Gamecube with both a remake and a sequel available for the Nintendo 3DS/2DS systems. Give it a shot to prepare yourself for the anticipated third game in the series coming soon to Nintendo Switch!
BioShock
In the undersea dystopia of Rapture, you’ll find mutants and madmen as you fight to survive and escape back to the surface.
Set in the 60’s Rapture is a beautiful Art Deco showcase of gorgeous environmental design. But don’t let it distract you from the corrupted people around you or the reclusive and paranoid tycoon who created it all.
This first person shooter is available for all platforms.
Resident Evil 2
Trapped inside a museum-turned-police station in the middle of a city overrun with zombies, you must fight your way through mazes of hidden passageways in order to flee the city. Maybe you’ll even learn what’s happening along the way.
This remake of the PSX classic was released this year and it’s just as chilling as the original. Available on for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Steam, it’s work checking out for fans of survival horror. Especially for fans of the many other games in this long running series.
Silent Hill
Is it just a foggy mountain town, or the product of your own psyche? In the original Silent Hill you survive a car accident only to find your daughter has vanished. The only place you can turn to for assistance is the town of Silent Hill, but things there are not as they seem.
Another long-running series that includes some of the highest regarded games of all time, Silent hill is perfect for an evening of worrying what might be around every corner.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
As a rookie member of the Ghostbusters, join Egon, Ray, Winston, and Peter as they are once again called on to save New York from a supernatural takeover!
Ghostbusters the Game is essentially the third original Ghostbusters film movie that we never got to see. Starring the original actors of all four of the original Ghostbuster actors and many of the supporting cast from the films, this as authentic an experience as we’ll get since the passing of Harold Ramis.
Who ya gonna call?
Alien: Isolation
15 years after the original Alien film, Ellen Ripley’s daughter Amanda joins a mission to locate her mother’s lost ship. This begins a story of terror as she ends up encountering one of the same creatures that would go on to become one of cinema’s most iconic creatures.
Building on the art design and tone of the first Alien film, and focusing on stealth and survival rather than shooting everything makes this a much more intense experience than most first person shooters. Keep your eye on that motion tracker!
This game is available for all major platforms.
Castlevania
Classic gaming at it’s finest! Castlevania began as a tribute to classic monster movies and the games in the series are loaded with familiar faces such as mummies, werewolves, vampires and Death itself!
Eventually growing to have a rich history of storytelling, the saga of the Belmont family and their battles with Dracula through the ages were told over 25 years of games before the franchise was rebooted by it’s publisher in 2010.
Most of them are playable in the currently available Castlevania Anniversary Collection on PC and all current consoles. Two of the most popular titles are currently exclusive to the PlayStation 4 collection, Castlevania Requiem.
Five Nights at Freddy’s
This game has you working as a night security guard in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a children’s theme restaurant, where the animatronic characters come to life at night and are out for blood! Using security cameras and power management you have to survive each night on the job.
Spawning a half dozen sequels and spin offs, Five Nights at Freddy’s swiftly became a gaming phenomenon with books, merchandise, and even a planned film in the works to appease the fans of this modern cult classic.