It’s October, which means it’s officially Halloween, and there’s no better time to load up some of the best co-op horror games and play them with your pals. Some horror games are made to be played alone, but others are so much more enjoyable with company.
You can play Horror games all year round, but there’s something particularly immersive about loading them up during October when everything feels at its spookiest. Here are a few recommendations for co-op horror games to ring in October with all your teammates.
The 10 best co-op horror games to play with your friends
Dead by Daylight
Don’t let the Killer Mains (speaking as a Killer Main) fool you into thinking Dead by Daylight isn’t outrageously fun. It can be daunting at times, especially in those particular matches where the opponents are sore losers, but DBD has so much to offer as far as character customization, gameplay, and aesthetics. There’s nothing more satisfying than rushing generators with the other Survivors and letting the Killer know who’s boss. You also don’t need to take DBD too seriously, which is one of its main selling points.
There’s just as much amusement to be found in goofing around as there is grinding for levels and beating Rift challenges.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
After it was announced that Friday the 13th: The Game would be out of commission by the end of 2024, Gun Media decided to tackle another major horror franchise: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In this reimagining of Tobe Hooper’s 1974 slasher, you can either take control of one of the Victims (all original characters) or one of the Family, consisting of the Sawyer bloodline and a few new additions in Johnny, Sissy, Nancy, and Hands. It’s pretty straightforward: The Victims try to escape, and the Family tries to stop them. Not only does The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remain faithful to Hooper’s cult classic visually, but it also captures the style of ’70s filmmaking with modern-day cinematic graphics.
If you overlook a few shortcomings, the game boasts hours upon hours of content and a concept that never gets old.
Friday the 13th
Sadly, Gun Media decided to abandon Friday the 13th: The Game last year, announcing it would no longer be available to buy from 2023 onward due to the license expiring. However, the game still allows matchmaking and will continue to function as normal until Dec. 31, 2024, so even though new players can’t purchase it, let this serve as a reminder to anyone who already owns the game that you need to make the most of it before it’s gone for good.
It’s probably time to dust off your copy and jump back into Camp Crystal Lake before the servers shut down, and those nostalgic summer nights running from Jason Voorhees are all but distant memories.
Until Dawn
Until Dawn turns 10 years old next year, but Supermassive Games’ hit survival horror is receiving a remake in October 2024, which is perfect timing for Halloween. Although Until Dawn doesn’t feature online multiplayer like Dead by Daylight or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, you can emulate Man of Medan’s Movie Night mode by simply assigning different characters to each of your friends and then passing the controller when the time comes to take over. There are eight playable characters in total, so you could play with up to eight friends and take it in turns.
Alternatively, if you wanted to a two-player experience for couples or close compadres, you could split it right down the middle and take four each, then just put your heads together for the in-between decisions.
The Outlast Trials
Although marketed as a co-op experience, you can also play The Outlast Trials can solo—it’s just infinitely more fun with friends. The game sees up to four players undertake different tasks assigned to them by Murkoff during their collaboration with the CIA. You play through “programs,” which are themselves split into three “trials” and two “MK challenges.” Unlike Outlast and Outlast 2, the gameplay is non-linear and involves leveling up equipment and using items such as lock picks, bottles, and bricks to gain an advantage over enemies.
The Outlast Trials features distinctive Rigs—unique abilities per character. It’s worth playing in a group so that you always have one of each Rig.
Phasmophobia
In Phasmophobia, you can play solo or join up with friends, but the objective is to complete a contract by identifying what kind of ghost inhabits a particular area. You can do this by communicating via voice chat, but the game operates with speech recognition software for the ghosts, allowing them to detect the names of equipment, Cursed Possessions, and even specific parts of your dialogue and respond accordingly. You are encouraged to complete missions thoroughly to level up your Investigator and earn revenue from contracts to unlock maps, levels, and item upgrades.
Like The Outlast Trials, each character in Phasmophobia has a distinctive appearance that differentiates them from one another, but they don’t possess specific traits and can all utilize the game’s resources equally.
Resident Evil 5
Speaking as an entirely objective, third-party observer with absolutely no personal interest in the matter, Resident Evil 5 is one of the best Resident Evil games ever made. But it isn’t just an important entry for the franchise; it’s also an immensely addictive co-op game that really keeps you hooked from start to finish. You take control of Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar, an ex-S.T.A.R.S. agent and a BSAA member who investigate the spread of the Uroboros virus in the fictional city of Kijuju, West Africa. They come face-to-face with Albert Wesker, Umbrella’s leading researcher, and Redfield even confronts a few ghosts from his past.
Resident Evil 5 is action-packed, engaging, and even a little silly at times—perfect for you and your zombie-slaying partner.
Sons of the Forest
The sequel to 2014’s The Forest centers on a protagonist who finds themselves on an island inhabited by cannibal tribes. You can build bases and weapons to aid in your survival as you cook and craft to conquer the wilderness and combat the monstrous forces that will attack you on sight. Sons of the Forest has a variety of weapons, such as firearms, a katana, an axe, a chainsaw, and even a guitar. Be warned: The longer you survive, the more frequently enemies will spawn, and they’ll be stronger.
While it’s commendable to want to tackle Sons of the Forest alone, you’ll definitely have an easier time if you gather a few friends and delegate specific tasks to everyone for a better chance at outlasting the waves of enemies roaming the island.
No More Room in Hell
Just in time for No Room in Hell 2, there’s no harm in revisiting the original, released over a decade ago as a Half-Life mod before becoming a full-fledged co-op game. You assume control of one of eight survivors during a zombie apocalypse and choose from two separate game modes: Objective and Survival. Objective mode involves completing tasks assigned by the game; Survival mode is reminiscent of Call of Duty Zombies—you just need to survive as many waves of enemies as possible while protecting specific sectors of the map.
There isn’t really a narrative to No More Room in Hell, and it’s more about having senseless fun than following any coherent storyline.
Left 4 Dead 2
The Left 4 Dead franchise as a whole is thoroughly beloved by gamers, but Left 4 Dead 2 will always hold a special place in the hearts of many. The game has 25 levels of butt-kicking action across five unique campaigns, a great story, creative item choices, and a wide array of weapons to make mince meat out of zombies. It’s one of those games you can play to while away the hours, having good, clean, effortless fun. You don’t need to concentrate too hard to lay into the zombie hordes, which makes it a good option for a laid-back co-op experience that just so happens to have likable characters, really inventive and starkly different zombie designs, and an addictive soundtrack that immerses you in a post-apocalyptic world.
There’s nothing like reliving those Xbox 360 days that really defined gaming all those years ago.
