Spooktober has been occurring in full swing, and in 2025, there isn’t any scarcity of incredible horror video games to play for Halloween that is proper across the nook. Nonetheless, it does not at all times should imply screaming your lungs out in a darkish hallway or dodging ghastly monsters lunging at you. It is fairly alright if horror is not your cup of tea — not everybody enjoys willingly making themselves careworn and afraid, and never everybody has to.
Nonetheless, it is nonetheless the very best time to play some severe thriller video games with impeccable visual design that is darkish and, on the very least, grim. These video games may not have you ever gripping the life out of your controller or wanting to maintain the lights on to really feel much less afraid, however they actually will preserve you engaged with their environment, storytelling, and psychological unease.
The Wolf Amongst Us (2013)
Neon, noir, and fairy tales with fangs
The Wolf Amongst Us is the type of recreation that sinks its tooth into you (low hanging pun, I do know), with out having to boost its voice. One in all Telltale Video games’ best episodic titles, The Wolf Amongst Us places you within the sneakers (or is it paws?) of Bigby Wolf, who’s a chain-smoking sheriff of a gritty, rain-soaked Fabletown.
The sport is full of choices you make which have ripple results all through the plot, in a world the place Snow White runs the federal government, Magnificence and the Beast have been having hassle in paradise, and everybody hides one thing nasty beneath their surface-level storybook exterior.
The Wolf Amongst Us is nearly the proper Halloween recreation, as a result of even with out being a horror recreation, it delivers a creeping realization to its gamers that even fairy tales rot from the within out once you deliver them into the actual world. It is noir and nightmare married, besides that marriage goes by means of the wringer.
- Launched
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October 14, 2013
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Sturdy Language, Use of Tobacco
- Developer(s)
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Telltale Video games
- Writer(s)
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Telltale Video games
- Engine
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Telltale Instrument
- Franchise
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the wolf amongst us
What Stays of Edith Finch (2017)
A household album of ghosts and grief
You’ve got most likely heard about What Stays of Edith Finch 100 occasions over, nevertheless it’s solely as a result of this recreation deserves all of the reward it will get, after which some. Only a few video games could make the idea of dying really feel this hauntingly stunning, and this one succeeds in leaving an indelible mark on you that will not go away any time quickly. As you discover the devastating destiny of a cursed household and their many weird demises, every story on this recreation might be deeply human — typically playful, and infrequently tragic.
There’s one thing profoundly unsettling about What Stays of Edith Finch. There is a sense that the home you are exploring itself is alive, and it remembers what occurred inside it, much like Hill House. Each creaking hallway within the recreation is a whisper from the previous, and your complete expertise is a masterclass in environmental storytelling that genuinely suits Halloween completely. It is about ghosts, however not the spooky ones, however somewhat these we supply with us.
- Launched
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April 25, 2017
- ESRB
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T For Teen as a consequence of Violence, Blood, Drug Reference, Language
- Developer(s)
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Big Sparrow
- Writer(s)
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Annapurna Interactive
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 4
Dredge (2023)
Fishing was by no means purported to really feel this cursed
One other recreation that will not scare you however actually put you on edge, Dredge, I feel, can finest be described as ‘cozy horror’. It is a recreation that lulls you with calm seas and a incredible fishing system the place you catch fish, promote them, and use the cash to steadily improve your boat. Till… you face Lovecraftian horrors past your comprehension. Together with fish, unusual relics begin rising from the depths, the locals start talking in half-truths, and the ocean itself appears to be respiratory once you’re not trying, prefer it’s enjoying a twisted recreation of Pink Gentle, Inexperienced Gentle.
Dredge is remarkably stress-free once you’re partaking with simply its fishing mechanic, and simply as unnerving when it decides to ramp up the stress and the thriller of the foggy archipelago it is set in. There is not any room to be screaming in terror right here, however there might be numerous occasions once you go searching wildly each time you hear your boat creak.
- Launched
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March 31, 2023
- ESRB
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E10+ For Everybody 10+ Due To Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence, Gentle Language, Use of Tobacco
- Developer(s)
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Black Salt Video games
- Writer(s)
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Team17
Gone Residence (2013)
The most effective romantic tales in gaming
Gone Residence is a thriller recreation by means of and thru, and its horror aesthetic, the place its set in a creaky outdated manor on prime of a hill throughout a thunderstorm, would possibly simply idiot you into considering you are about to play a scary recreation. The reality, nevertheless, is infinitely extra attention-grabbing. Over the 2 hours you will spend enjoying Gone Residence, you will unravel the thriller of the place your loved ones is, what situation they’re in, and, above all, the story of your sibling Sam, all of which culminates in one of the crucial highly effective narratives gaming as a medium can supply.
As a youngster who performed it for the primary time over a decade ago, Gone Residence left me with an immensely moving life lesson that modified me for the higher, and even in the present day, it stays simply as impactful.
- Launched
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August 15, 2013
- ESRB
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m
- Developer(s)
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Fullbright
- Writer(s)
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Fullbright
- Engine
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Unity
The Sinking Metropolis Remastered (2025)
Thriller and insanity, all beneath the floor
Lovecraftian lore will be horror-leaning at any time when it must be, however the very best factor about it’s the way it neatly suits into so many different genres. Eldritch realms within the action-oriented Doom: The Dark Ages? No drawback. Mysterious happenings you’ll be able to’t fairly put your finger on in a fishing recreation like Dredge? Becoming. And a whole residing, respiratory metropolis resting on prime of a centuries-old Lovecraftian deity in The Sinking Metropolis? Bought.
An open-world detective recreation drenched in unease and thriller, The Sinking Metropolis places you in a metropolis that’s actually and mentally drowning bit-by-bit. It is a moody, brooding expertise from begin to end, filled with conspiracies, cults, and creeping paranoia.
You may be fixing robberies and murders within the recreation, utilizing detective talents to deduct what occurred, all whereas uncovering an interconnected tissue all through town of Oakmont that you just’re not fairly positive you need to unveil totally.
- Launched
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Could 15, 2025
- ESRB
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M For Mature: Blood and Gore, Use of Medication, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Frogwares
- Writer(s)
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Frogwares
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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Playable
Home of Ashes (2021)
A temple must be a refuge, until there’s one thing trapped there with you
Supermassive Video games’ Darkish Footage Anthology is without doubt one of the most formidable interconnected tasks ever undertaken within the medium, and it’ll at all times deserve its flowers for attempting totally different sorts of survival horror games whereas tying all of them collectively (loosely). The sequence is midway full, with 4 out of its eight deliberate video games out, and the subsequent one due in 2026. Out of these 4, it is 2021’s Home of Ashes that’s simply the least scary, however its thriller quotient stays excessive sufficient to warrant a suggestion on this listing.
Set through the Iraq Battle, Home of Ashes revolves round a staff of troopers who come upon an historical buried temple, and one thing buried together with it. The ethical pressure and mythological terror that comply with by no means totally crosses the road into outright horror, nevertheless it does ship tense gameplay, and, above all, creates a festering want for solutions within the gamers.
Home of Ashes retains you guessing concerning the monsters you combat, in addition to the historical past you are dealing with. The temple’s claustrophobic tunnels and flickering torchlight make each resolution really feel heavy. It is suspenseful, atmospheric, and simply grounded sufficient to make you query lots of belongings you see, hear, and determine. That is horror-adjacent gaming in one of the best ways, and if there’s one non-horror game you should play this Halloween, make sure that it is Home of Ashes.
- Launched
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October 22, 2021
- ESRB
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m // Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Gentle Sexual Themes, Sturdy Language
- Developer(s)
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Supermassive Video games
- Writer(s)
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Bandai Namco Leisure
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 4
- Multiplayer
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On-line Co-Op, Native Co-Op
- Prequel(s)
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The Darkish Footage Anthology: Little Hope
Return of the Obra Dinn (2018)
The ocean by no means forgets…
Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn is proof that thriller will be extra terrifying than any leap scare. You play as an insurance coverage investigator, of all issues, exploring a derelict Nineteenth-century ship the place everyone seems to be lifeless… or lacking. Then, there’s the completely incredible and unique art style, which is able to by no means depart your thoughts. Armed with a magical pocket watch that rewinds dying itself, you piece collectively who died, how, and at whose hand.
The black-and-white aesthetic offers the entire recreation an uncanny, otherworldly aura, like a haunting etching come to life. Each dying you decode on this recreation genuinely appears like you’re uncovering and lifting a curse. Return of the Obra Dinn might not be a horror recreation within the conventional sense, however it should nonetheless discover a technique to crawl below your pores and skin with its pressure, loneliness, and that eerie, nautical stillness.
- Launched
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October 18, 2018
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
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Lucas Pope
- Writer(s)
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3909
- Engine
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Unity
- Variety of Gamers
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1
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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Verified
Hell is Us (2025)
The horrors inside will make you flip away
Inarguably one of the crucial refreshing video games I’ve performed in 2025, Hell is Us deserves 100 occasions extra reward than it has gotten. Set within the fictional war-torn nation of Hadea, Hell is Us makes you play as Remi, a customer to Hadea however with a deep hyperlink to its historical past and roots. Now, the hook of the sport is that it merely does not hold your hand in throws you proper into the deep finish with no maps, goal lists, or checkpoint markers to information you, however what you will bear in mind it way more strongly for is its immensely mysterious and riveting plot.
What makes Hell is Us excellent for Halloween is that, firstly, it deserves extra consideration and gamers this 12 months, and secondly, the sport blurs the road between inner and exterior monsters. There may be horror within the recreation, however mentioned horror is that of warfare, political fragmentation, and human struggling. The extra you discover Hadea, the deeper the centuries-long thriller of its mythology goes, however extra importantly, the extra you understand that the creatures you combat would possibly simply be reflections of your individual internal turmoil. Hell is Us is bleak, stunning, and existentially unsettling.
- Launched
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September 4, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Sturdy Language, Use of Medication
- Developer(s)
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Rogue Issue
- Writer(s)
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Nacon
Horror-adjacent thriller video games are the very best of each worlds
If you wish to skip a budget jumpscares this Halloween, let the mysteries pull you below as a substitute.
Horror video games could very nicely be ruling (each) October, however thriller video games should not be counted out, both. For many who aren’t feeling up for screaming their lungs out, thriller video games preserve the spirit of Spooktober alive by means of curiosity as a substitute of terror, and I might daresay that it is extra partaking.
So if you wish to skip a budget jumpscares this Halloween, simply go forward and lightweight a candle, plug in your headphones, and let the mysteries pull you below as a substitute.
