The genre of horror games has been quite popular for some time already. For some reason, it’s satisfying to explore creepy scenery hiding from an evil ghost.
It’s also fun being in a high-stakes situation shooting a horde of zombies to survive. And then someone once decided to experiment if those scenarios would be more fun to do with friends. And apparently, that was an awesome idea.
30.Remnant: From The Ashes
The world has been thrown into chaos by an ancient evil from another dimension. Humanity now has the technology to open portals to other dimensions in hope of finding out where the evil came from.
Remnant: From The Ashes is an eldritch-themed souls-like game. The focus is on ranged weapon combat, but you will often find yourself having to use melee weapons, ranged weapons, and dodge rolls in quick and carefully timed succession in combat. The creature designs in this game are really great and ominous.
If the game is too hard to grind out and finish, you have the option of inviting a friend. Two heads are better than one, and after getting used to teamwork, you’re bound to see how much easier the game is with multiple people. But hey, if you don’t want to suffer until mastering the mechanics of the game, consider the co-op experience.
29.F.E.A.R. 3
In Fear 3 you play either as Point Man, a genetically enhanced soldier with superhuman reflexes, or as Paxton Fettel, the spirit of his younger brother with incredible psychic abilities. The lore of the fear franchise is quite big and confusing. All 3 games are tightly connected.
Fear 3 is a game with an amazing atmospheric design. It’s a first-person shooter with some satisfying gunplay and hellish-level design. Every second of the game is filled with dread because of the creepy atmosphere, amazing sound effects, and gory, loud jump scares.
While in the singleplayer mode you can play as either of the brothers, the game also supports local and online co-op modes. Both brothers have very different gameplay styles, which is in my opinion way better than just a reskin as many other games do. They also have different goals so you are motivated to compete against each other to receive the ending your character wants.
28.Dead Space 3
Dead Space is a survival horror fps set in the year 2514 on an icy planet Tau Volantis. The game cuts back on the horror elements compared to the previous 2 in the franchise, in favor of more fleshed-out and customizable action sequences.
While playing through the story you will have a huge amount of choices to make about your play style. There’s a crafting system that is very big and diverse, so you can choose what you want to craft and what kind of build you want to run. The game’s single-player campaign is fun, however, I recommend playing this game with a friend.
The game is believed to be a flop by some people and a wide variety of players say that it has a lot of pacing errors. The greatest fix for that is getting a friend to play the game with you! Co-op mode adds more dialogues, explores the story of Carver, and offers some co-op-only side quests. Since the gameplay is tough and methodical, getting another pair of hands to help you is sure to be an amazing experience.
27.Hunt: Showdown
You are a bounty hunter in the year 1895. You must eliminate the disgusting, savage monsters nesting in the Louisiana Bayou. But that’s not your only worry. If you survive the encounter with the boss monster and collect the bounty, every other alive hunter will be after you to take the bounty for himself.
Hunt: Showdown is a multiplayer first-person shooter survival horror game. Your goal is to compete with other players in a battle royale-like fashion, while also trying to stealthily move around the map to uncover the location of the boss monster. There are currently 4 different boss monsters in the game, and they are all vastly unique in their mechanics and design.
If you are the first to find the boss and the first one to kill him, you need to run to the extraction point to finish the match. However, at that point, everybody on the map will know where you are and will be after you to take the bounty you’ve claimed for themselves. The entire experience of the game is very stressful. One wrong move can mean death, and you always need to be paying attention to where you are walking because sounds will notify monsters and other players of your location.
The game is okay to play on your own, but the best way to experience it is by playing with a friend. The game is way easier since you have someone watching your back, they can revive you and make the experience less stressful. The game supports solo, duo, and trio game modes so consider inviting some friends to play with.
26.Killing Floor 2
In Killing Floor 2, players descend into Europe where the outbreak caused by Horzine Biotech’s failed experiment has quickly spread and is creating a huge amount of chaos. Humanity is in shambles, and the only ones banding together to fight back against the vicious zeds are a small group of civilians.
Killing Floor 2 is a simple game. There are a lot of enemies and a lot of chaos and it’s your goal to withstand the pressure. Fight a variety of enemies, earn money and upgrade your character. There are 10 unique classes you can upgrade while playing. There are 5 different bosses in the game, all with different movesets.
Killing Floor 2 is a game that requires a lot of grinding and time. It doesn’t have the most populated servers. But I still reckon it’s a very fun game to play with a few friends. It offers a lot of chaotic shooting and nerve-racking, tense situations. The metal soundtrack ups the atmosphere and adds to the chaos-inducing experience.
25. GTFO
GTFO is a first-person shooter horror game in which cooperation with your teammates is a necessary trait if you wish to finish this game. GTFO boasts itself with its difficulty and it makes not only you but your friends as well, master the strategic gear choice and positioning as well as stealth movement across the creepy research facility.
GTFO can be played with less than four people, the game will introduce bots to fill in for the missing spots, but it’s not recommended because of the loss of communication that comes with that.
Witness the “Rundown”, a series of expeditions taking you deep through the decayed research facility called the complex. Scavenge tools and resources to help you survive the dangerous monsters lurking around.
24.Dead Island
Dead Island is a game that puts you on the charming little island called Banoi. The only problem is that the island is infested with mindless zombies that want to eat your brains. You (and maybe a few friends) will have to fight for survival.
Dead Island is a lighthearted take on the well-known zombie thematic. It offers a lot of chaotically satisfying melee fighting with the walking dead. It’s not scary per se, but it doesn’t try to do that. It’s there for the satisfying melee slashing and bludgeoning. Dead Island is an RPG in which you will feel compelled to level up your character and look for some nice weapons.
It’s an addictingly fun game, but it’s all the better with friends. You can compete for who’s gonna level up faster, each pick a different playstyle, and all in all it’s just more fun to not be alone during the apocalypse. If you can always rely on someone to help you during a swarm of zombies, you don’t need to worry about anything except enjoying the chaotic gameplay.
23. The Forest
After a plane crashes down into the woods you’ve never heard of before. You are left as a lone survivor looking for your son who has been kidnapped just after the plane crash. You have to explore the lonely forest to find food and water to survive, but soon enough you realize you are not alone. You are intruding on the land of cannibalistic mutated freaks.
The forest is a stunning survival game. During most of the gameplay, you are collecting resources to survive and build your shelter. But often you will be forced to skirmish with the monstrosities of the forest. There are multiple tribes of these freaks and it’s just fascinating how creepy their A.I. is. They will behave differently based on how many of them there are, what time of day it is, and where you encounter them. They will even follow you to find out where your base is.
You can play with up to 7 of your friends. The co-op mode kind of dampens the fear of the game, but it allows for some more coordinated strategies, as well as some more interesting base building. You and your friends can use the extra hands you’ve got to build a big fort and defend from the cannibals. It makes the game less scary but it’s a great experience.
22.7 Days To Die
7 Days To Die is a carefully crafted survival horror game with a simple premise. Every 7 days a horde of zombies will rush you and your base. You have 6 days to roam the map, scavenge, upgrade your gear and build up your base in hopes of surviving the 7th day. It’s a simple loop, but the game has so much content that it doesn’t get old.
Every location has a story for itself. The map is not procedurally generated, but rather hand-crafted, and that really shows. Since a lot of the game’s run time you will be focused on exploring, the devs made sure that every location is unique and interesting. There are many weapons to be found and crafted, both melee and ranged.
It’s fun to play this game by yourself, however, this game has a strong emphasis on the base building to survive the hellish 7th day. And isn’t base building always more fun when you’re building with somebody? You and your friends can strategize and make the biggest, baddest base in existence. And I reckon that feels pretty rewarding.
21.No More Room In Hell
No More Room In Hell is an fps survival horror game built for co-op and based on George Romero’s “Of The Dead” series (first ever zombie movies). And thus going into this game’s universe you can be sure to expect a lot of slow-paced and realistic gameplay.
No More Room In Hell is the complete opposite of a game like Killing Floor 2. Here everything is risky and methodical. You have to play through the game very slowly and carefully if you want to avoid dying. This may sound like a huge flaw because having an extremely slow-paced zombie game sounds like 2 things that don’t belong together, but I don't think that’s the case.
The game might not be everybody’s cup of tea but it’s still a FREE game with tons of different maps and content. You can invite up to 7 people to play with you. The game is very realistic, implementing mechanics other zombie games don’t really have like: You can get infected while fighting you can start bleeding - and bleed out to death if you don’t patch yourself up… All of this combined makes for a very careful and immersive experience for you and your friends.
20.Don’t Starve Together
Don’t starve together is a standalone multiplayer expansion to the well-known survival game - Don’t Starve. You are thrown into a procedurally generated world filled with many mysteries with your main goal being not starving to death.
Don’t Starve Together is a survival game from an isometric perspective. It’s a neat-looking game with an endearing art style and A LOT of things you will need to learn if you want to finish it. The game is not mechanically hard, however, it forces you to always think about multiple things you need to stay safe from, as a true survival game should.
It’s a very hard game, confusing even since you will use the internet quite a bit to finish it. But it’s a great load of fun to start playing the game without any knowledge and learning and improving upon your previous runs.
Don’t Starve Together takes the weight off your shoulders a bit by letting you play with your friends. It’s a great deal of fun to explore and build together. Don’t Starve Together with friends feels like the first time you play Minecraft or Terraria and need to learn about the game. It’s extremely fun to do that with friends!
19. Lunch Lady
Final Exams are coming up. The only way your friends and you will do good on them is if you sneak into the school at night, find and steal the answers scattered around the school.
Lunch Lady is a first-person exploration co-op horror game set in a school during the nighttime. There are 10 pages containing the answers all around the school, and you must find them before the lunch lady finds you.
The game doesn’t have a very serious plot, and it’s not meant to be taken too seriously, but rather to be enjoyed by a few friends together I believe. There’s a proximity chat in the game so you can talk with your friends, but beware, the lunch lady can also hear you if she’s nearby. You can also play it alone if you prefer the single-player experience more.
18. Sign Of Silence
After your car breaks down in the woods near a small town. You are left stranded and in need of help. You and your friends must work together to traverse the dark woods to reach the small town of Danville, but on the way there you will realize you are not alone, and you are certainly not safe.
This is a short game in which you and your friends are going through a dark forest and avoiding monsters along the way. The game has multiple endings, and it’s pretty interesting playing an exploration horror game while you’re not alone but with other people. There’s a variety of monsters and they are all unique and intriguing which makes exploring the forest quite a skill-based and nerve-racking experience.
17. Hide And Shriek
Hide and Shriek is a free multiplayer game in which two players face off in 10-minute matches where their goal is to scare one another. The catch is they are both invisible. You must use a variety of spells and traps to reveal your opponent and give him a scare!
Unfortunately, the game has only one map which gets old pretty quick, but it makes up for it with a variety of spells and traps, and just pure mindless fun it offers. The game is simple to get in and makes for some fun, maybe even slightly competitive, gameplay if you can get a friend to play it with you.
16. Pacify
You just signed a job at Paranormal Activity Helpers Incorporated. And you got your first job. Explore a possibly paranormal house and avoid the spirit of a little girl that switches between good and evil. You will have to pacify the evil and escape the house. This game has 3 modes, singleplayer, co-op, and sort of a PVP mode where you can compete with your friends.
This game regularly receives updates, so it’s not forgotten by its developer even though it has been 3 years since its release. The level design in this game is bleak and not very colorful which adds a lot to the sinister atmosphere. This game offers 3 relatively short missions you can play by yourself or with friends.
15. Bigfoot
Bigfoot is a single-player horror game, co-op supported, in which you are a hunter that is chasing the reason for recent disappearances in the forest. Of course, that reason is a big cryptid monkey-like creature called Bigfoot. You must carefully watch your surroundings, uncover his location, and with careful use of traps and weapons finally hunt him down.
The game has been in early access since January of 2017, but the devs have been constantly improving the game. The game looks a lot better since it came out, there are new maps and tools, and a whole yeti update. The game is fun to play by yourself if you like investigating the forest. But the real charm is fooling around with some friends until you are forced to focus on finding Bigfoot, or even worse, interrupted by his surprise attack.
14. Devour
In Devour you play as a cultist that needs to finish a ritual to break Azazel’s possession of your fellow cultists. You can bring your friends or find people online to play together since the game is difficult and requires cooperation with your teammates.
There are multiple maps with different monsters to avoid and items you need to collect. The gameplay is pretty simple, collect 10 objects that are required to complete the ritual (some of them could be alive and moving away from you), while avoiding the monsters. The monsters’ designs are really commendable and sinister which is certainly my favorite thing about this game.
13. Cry Of Fear
Cry Of Fear is a first-person shooter horror game. You play as a young man in an ominous city, slowly descending into madness. The story is greatly inspired by the symbolism of the original resident evil games.
There are many different types of enemies and guns you will see during the playtime of this game. The setting this game takes place in (a deserted town) is not very unique per se, but it's certainly not bad since it’s nicely executed and it drives the feeling of isolation home.
The way to make this city feel less isolated and lonely is to invite some of your friends to download and play it with you. The game has a co-op mode, which may not be its main appeal but it’s still nice to be able to explore this maddening world with friends while you’re shooting some monsters together.
12. The Blackout Club
The Blackout Club is a gang of kids that explores the small town at night, trying to figure out the reason behind the weird “blackout” phenomena. Every night everyone gets up from their bed and sleepwalks. And now one of their friends has gone missing during one of these blackouts, which now doesn't make it only weird, it makes it dangerous.
The Blackout Club is a great co-op horror game. You and up to 3 friends are tasked with exploring a small suburban area and doing procedurally-generated tasks, to uncover the disappearance of your friend or get proof that this phenomenon is dangerous. This isn’t a very serious game, but it offers a lot of low-commitment fun by letting you customize your character and goof around with friends.
11. Propnight
Prop Night is an interesting take on the asymmetrical horror game subgenre. Instead of the survivors being powerless, trying to constantly avoid the killer by being hidden. Survivors in Prop Night have a neat ability that helps them to remain hidden - they can turn into every object they see around them, just like in Garry's Mod.
There are multiple choices for the player that plays the killer. They are all interesting and have more options than the average asymmetrical game’s killer. Everybody in this game has a lot more options for moving around the map, which makes the game very dynamic and interesting.
The graphics are nice and cartoonish and not too serious, but they still send the message across that this is a horror-themed game. I like the game’s idea of fusing Prop Hunt with the asymmetrical horror genre and I think the game could only get better as development progresses.
10.Dying Light
Dying Light is a well-known franchise easily described as “that parkour zombie game”. The original came out in 2015 and it withstood the test of time with great visuals and polished gameplay. This game won’t scare you with the atmosphere or jump scares, but rather make you have to struggle to fight for your life every time you encounter multiple zombies.
This is a single-player action horror game, but it also has a fun co-op mode. You can just invite a friend (or 3) to your game and you can play the story mode together. Since the gameplay is this game’s main focus, you will have a lot of fun climbing everything, since the parkour system is one of the best I’ve seen, and also surviving a horde of zombies is way more enjoyable when you don’t have to do it by yourself.
9. Video Horror Society
Video Horror Society or VHS is a recently released asymmetrical horror game where teens face off with the monsters straight from the 1980s VHS tapes. The game is very colorful and unique in design, completely immersing you in the 80s neon and radical vibe.
The gameplay features 4v1 matches with a team of teens facing off against one of the horrific monsters. The gameplay is pretty much what you would expect from an asymmetrical horror game, with a few minor tweaks. The complete aesthetic of the game is its biggest strength. It’s a very interesting game to play, especially if you gather a few friends to play it with you.
It’s nice to see asymmetrical horror games that are a bit more lighthearted. Who doesn’t want to use a flamethrower or a ray gun to fight against a werewolf in a high school?
8. Forewarned
In Forewarned you play as an archeologist tasked with finding the relic in
the ancient Egyptian ruins with your team of fellow archeologists. Explore the ruins, find the treasure, and survive the horrors lurking in the shadows.
Forewarned is a 1-4 player co-op game in which you have to collect the relic hidden at the end of the maze, and escape the monster that starts chasing you. While you explore the ruins the "mejai" which are the monsters in this game will be leaving you hints so you can guess who they are before picking up the relic. The game is still in early access, so I'm expecting a lot of growth from it in the future, but it's still a lot of fun to play with friends.
It’s interesting and nice to see the phasmophobia gameplay in a unique and interesting setting. The “mejai” are interesting and if you for some reason don’t like the aesthetic of phasmophobia, this is a nice change of pace.
7. Aliens: Firearm Elite
Aliens: Firearm Elite is a third-person co-op shooter action horror game. It focuses mostly on chaotic and fun gun combat. I mean, it has to be fun to shoot large waves of xenomorphs that are rushing at you and explore the world of the iconic Alien mythos.
The game can be played by up to 3 players. It also has an RPG system, where you build and upgrade your character. There are even multiple classes that you can choose from, to make strategies with your friends.
It’s a good and engaging shooter that can be enjoyed by multiple friends. It’s a nice change of pace from the more common first-person co-op zombie shooters.
6. Dread Hunger
Dread Hunger is a fun social deduction game that takes place on a desolate frozen island. It’s filled with survival, exploration, and combat mechanics in each round you play. You never feel at ease and you’re always trying to outsmart your “subordinates”.
There are 8 players. Their goal is to survive on this cold island. However, among the group, there are 2 traitors. The traitors’ goal is to undermine your survival plans and slowly kill off the rest of the group.
It’s a really good game in the social deduction subgenre. It really makes you focus as much as possible and try to read and outsmart the people you’re playing with. It’s a great game to play with your friends just because of how tense the games get. Every round is filled with distrust and tension.
5. Phasmophobia
Phasmophobia is one of the classic games in the co-op horror genre. It came out recently (September of 2020) and it’s still in early access but it has a big player base and for a good reason. You play as a paranormal investigator, and with 3 other people, you have to figure out who the ghost is.
There’s a great deal of cool mechanics like a diary which keeps the progress of ghosts you’ve encountered and how they affect you, as well as a voice chat in which if you say the ghost’s name (which you won’t know unless you are a veteran in the game and can figure out who the ghost is quick) something happens, as well as an ouija board with which you can talk to the ghosts.
This game is very good for co-op play since it has an active player base and it’s probably even more fun playing with your friends. I especially think it would be fun to gather a few friends and learn this game’s mechanics and ghost types together since there’s a lot of room for improvement while playing, and the gameplay is very different if you are good at the game.
4. Friday the 13th: The Game
Friday the 13th is a brutal slasher horror franchise whose antagonist Jason Vorhees we all know and love. The Movie series’ main appeal is seeing Jason the unkillable monster come back time after time and slowly find and take out the main cast of characters one by one.
The game is an asymmetrical multiplayer horror game where one player takes on the role of Jason, and the other team consists of up to 7 counselors. Like in most asymmetrical games, Jason’s goal is to hunt down the counselors, while they can use teamwork and stealth to avoid him and escape. This game offers some diversity and fan service to the movie fans by having multiple Jasons from different movies all with different abilities.
Both of the game’s roles are quite well done. Just like in the movies the counselors are almost helpless and have to rely greatly on running and hiding from Jason. Jason, however, is not weak at all, but he still has to use his wits to find all of the counselors, and it can be tough if they manage to have good teamwork.
3. Deceit
You wake up in an unknown place with 5 other people next to you. You hear the gamemaster’s words telling you that a third of your group is infected. The uninfected “innocents” need to escape from the infected who can shapeshift into monsters once the lights go out.
Deceit is a social deduction first-person horror game. If you have ever enjoyed playing among us with a party of your friends; this is similar but even more exciting. Besides the graphics being very nice and the game having multiple creepy maps, the game gameplay is this game’s best asset, it mainly focuses on deceiving the other players into thinking you're not the monster or trying to prove that someone else is a monster.
This game is a multiplayer game that requires a party of six to play. Playing with randoms is enjoyable, but like any other social deduction game, it’s a lot more personal if you play it with your friends and it’s way more fun learning your friend’s deception patterns and trying to change your strategies to always stay 3 steps ahead.
2.Left 4 Dead 2
The reason Left 4 Dead 2 is in second place and not the new Back 4 Blood remake is very simple. Nostalgia. This game came out in 2009 and it set a standard for 4 player co-op shooters. The graphics are obviously slightly outdated but I believe that adds to the charm of this game.
Besides the basic small-fry zombies, there are a few types of special zombies that you have to worry about and counter. This really spices up the gameplay since if you are talking with your friends you will not seldom hear somebody screaming the name of a zombie as a warning.
This game doesn’t try to spook or scare you, it’s a rather enjoyable shooter game. The key to its success I believe is the tempo. It starts off slowly, easing you into action until at one point you and your friends are stuck in a horde of flesh-eating zombies screaming and trying to regroup.
1. Dead By Daylight
Dead by Daylight came out in 2016 and it still stands tall as one of the best asymmetrical multiplayer games. The game’s theme is slasher horror movies, which is probably one most fit for this genre. In the game, you either play as the survivors whose goal is to stealthily escape from the killer and fix generators until the exit opens and they can escape for good. Or you can play as a killer whose goal is to hunt down and eliminate all of the survivors.
This game requires 5 people to play a match - 4 players and a single killer. Both have a very different game styles and both require time and effort to master. Not only that, there are 26 different killers from some of the most popular horror movies and 29 survivors all having unique abilities to aid them during the match.
Dead by Daylight is a fun game for a quick casual match, but the fact that there’s so much diversity between characters who all have different skills and skill trees can get you to stay with the game a while longer and master a few new playstyles.
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