A Guide to the Best Crossplatform Horror Games

Dead by Daylight

Asymmetrical multiplayer mixed with a slasher film? Dead by Daylight does just that and is excellent at it, too.

Four Survivors need to team up in order to stay alive and evade the terrifying Killer. If you ever wanted to either run from Jason or become Jason himself, you can now make that dream come true.

Image credit: Behaviour Interactive

What’s interesting about Dead by Daylight is the fact that each session features a procedurally generated Killing Ground, which surely keeps things fresh and you on your toes, as you never know what to expect. As a Survivor, you need to work with others in order to survive your ordeal, but you can be selfish, too. As the Killer, your task is to slaughter your prey, plain and simple.

Dead by Daylight is certainly one of the most memorable asymmetrical multiplayer games on the market and one of the prime examples of excellent online horrors. Be sure to give this one a shot.

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Phasmophobia

Another excellent multiplayer horror on this list, Phasmophobia lets up to four players cooperate as paranormal investigators uncovering the mysteries of the supernatural world.

This won’t be easy, as the visitors from beyond don’t like being disturbed.

Image credit: Kinetic Games

Your goal is to go to various haunted places and gather enough evidence of paranormal activity for the ghost removal team. Naturally, them spooks don’t really enjoy that, so you’ll need to be extremely cautious. With twenty different ghost types and lots of gear that you can use to investigate them, there’s no way for you to get bored here, especially now that Phasmophobia is super immersive thanks to its minimalist interface, VR support, heck, even voice recognition!

Phasmophobia’s premise is unique, that’s for sure, and its execution pretty much flawless. If you’re looking for something super creepy to play this Halloween, this one might be an excellent choice.

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Resident Evil 2 Remake

Capcom did it again! The remake of the second Resident Evil game, considered to be one of the greatest of all time, surpassed the original, that’s for sure. It’s perfect for both newcomers and old-timers.

Image credit: Capcom Development Division 1

Get ready to experience the story of Leon and Claire as if it was 1998 all over again. RE2 Remake doesn’t just update the visuals; it actually boasts remade gameplay as well, with greater emphasis on stealth and tactical elements. Still, it should be very familiar to those who played the original almost twenty-five years ago (feel old yet?).

What else is there to add? You can’t really go wrong with Resident Evil if you’re looking for awesome horrors. Grab Resident Evil 2 Remake now!

Resident Evil 2 Remake

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Alien: Isolation

Alright, let’s spice things up a bit and include something from the science fiction realm on this list.

A video game sequel to one of the best sci-fi horrors of all time, Alien: Isolation goes to great lengths in order to replicate the feel of the original movie and offer an absolutely terrifying experience in space. And as you know, no one will hear you scream there.

Image credit: The Creative Assembly

You play as Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, who ends up stranded on Sevastopol, a space station owned by Seegson Corporation. There, she’ll have to face hostile humans and androids, but the biggest threat is the titular Alien. Undefeatable and always on the prowl for you, it’s going to make you pee your pants pretty often.

The game received a bunch of DLCs which offer plenty more fun stuff to do. All in all, this science fiction combination of horror and stealth is amazing and you should totally give it a shot if you’re in for some deadly hide-and-seek.

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The Forest

Your plane crashed somewhere in the woods and you’re on your own. Worse yet, cannibals are out there to get you. What do you do?

Image credit: Endnight Games Ltd

The Forest is certainly an interesting take on the survival horror genre, as it boasts non-linear gameplay, an open-world environment and typical elements of modern survival games, such as crafting and gathering resources. The horror theme makes it unique among such titles and so do your enemies. Alright, cannibalistic mutants don’t sound like anything super unusual and innovative, but their behavior is unique and the fact that they’re usually aggressive towards you doesn’t mean they’ll always be hostile. Sometimes they might just observe you from a distance or just be cautious, but otherwise not inimical to you.

All this stuff makes The Forest one of the most unique survival games on the market. If such games are your thing, you should grab it straight away.

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Layers of Fear

Time for a change of pace. Layers of Fear doesn’t feature any action, instead, it’s a classic psychological horror adventure affair where you explore a Victorian mansion as a mentally disturbed artist seeking to complete his magnum opus.

Image credit: Bloober Team

Working on the masterpiece causes the artist to slowly descend into madness, which is the source of the game’s terror (and obligatory jump scares). Gameplay-wise, it’s all based on exploring the mansion, completing various puzzles and uncovering secrets from the protagonist’s past.

It’s definitely something for those who seek tense atmosphere without any combat or other action sequences. It’s just you and your brains against the mansion and the puzzles it throws at you.

Layers of Fear

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Darkwood

Here’s another survival horror set in the woods and focused on crafting among other things.

Darkwood seems to be quite original in its premise, as it’s set in the 80s in a Soviet Bloc country engulfed by a mysterious forest which traps people. Worse yet, there’s a plague decimating the population of survivors and transforming them into monstrosities.

Image credit: Acid Wizard Studio

The semi-open world gameplay and the focus on exploration, crafting, and trading. There are branching storylines in here, too, depending on your interactions with the NPCs, so if you’re looking for something with greater replayability, then you’re in for a real treat here.

Additionally, the game does not rely on jump scares, so if you’re looking for something super creepy without any cheap tricks, Darkwood is a very reasonable choice.

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Detention

Here’s another gem of a horror: an adventure game set in the 1960s in Taiwan, blending historical themes with Taiwanese mythology and folklore.

If Asian spookiness is your thing, then Detention is something you might want to check out.

Image credit: Red Candle Games

What’s the story all about here, anyway? Two students, Ray and Wei, end up trapped in Greenwood High School somewhere in the mountains. The place is haunted by creatures known as the lingered and you obviously need to avoid them, uncovering dark secrets of the past along the way.

Detention boasts a unique visual style and a soundtrack by Weifang Chang, who makes use of traditional Taiwanese instruments. It’s a very decent horror, especially if you’re looking for something completely different from the Western stuff.

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Omori

This one is most definitely the most unique game on this list.

A surrealist psychological horror in the form of an indie old-school JRPG? Well, that surely is attention-grabbing, isn’t it?

Image credit: OMOCAT

And no, it’s not a traditional horror per se, but a psychological one, as anxiety, depression, suicide, and trauma are very prevalent themes here. You play as a socially-isolated teenager named Sunny who happens to have an alter ego, the titular Omori, living in a surreal dream world known as Headspace.

So, the game is set in both worlds and you explore the surroundings, engage in turn-based combat with statuses based on emotions, solve puzzles, complete side quests, manage your party, collect items and more powerful weapons, etc. It’s certainly a dark, emotional game, despite its cutesy visuals.

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GTFO

We’ll end our list with another excellent cooperative multiplayer horror game where you and your friends, as a group of prisoners, must explore a wretched facility known as The Complex and face the monstrosities that dwell there.

Image credit: 10 Chambers Collective

Make no mistake: it’s a demanding game where all four members of the team must cooperate with each other closely or else they all risk getting wrecked by the monsters populating the levels. You need to collect resources, utilize stealth, and coordinate your actions, especially once all hell breaks loose because you awoke one of the mutants.

It’s gory, it’s intense, it’s challenging. Even the title is pretty unwelcoming. If you feel like this is something you’d love, be sure to grab GTFO for your Halloween session with your buddies. You’ll need each other during the game.

GTFO

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