It’s that time of year when the leaves on trees start to turn, days are shorter, and the television is playing all your favorite Halloween specials. Horror movies are being overplayed on tv and filling theaters. People are putting out tombstones, black cats, witches, and other decorations in their yard and on their house to help set the mood for the season. The decorations and specials are great and help, but what I think really sets the mood for the holiday is playing some spooky video games. Here is my list for the Top 5 Games to Play around Halloween:
5. Friday the 13th (2017)
Most might not know this version of the game as it quickly died out. It started on Kickstarter and was successful at getting its funding. After the campaign, Gun Media developed and eventually this game.
The game features many of the characters and locations from the old slasher films that were released in the 80s. The game is comprised of a single round with 8 Playable Characters, one being the slasher, Jason Vorhees, himself. The goal as a camp counselor is to work together to servive the night, kill Jason (no easy task), call then wait and finally escape into police custody, or leave the map via Boat or car.
As Jason, simply hunt down and kill the camp counselors by any means necessary.
The game is pretty much dead at this point (as stated previously) since the movie franchise is stuck in the court system. Because of these legal issues, Gun Media has only patched the game as best as possible to this point, with no DLC or extra content being released. It also doesn’t help that the game has tons of glitches that can be used to cheat as well as player trolls who are some of the most toxic people in gaming.
However, If you have a group of 8 friends and can play in a closed party, this game is still fun as hell.
4. Nightmare on Elm Street (NES)
I have spent many hours playing co-op on this game with my friends. It was one of the first games in video game history that featured 4 player co-op at the same time on console. Each player was a different colored sprite/teenager that would roam Elm Street. The goal was to collect bones from houses and once all the bones were collected a battle with a warped Freddy would ensue. Upon completion of the battle the players are given a key to open up the next house/area on the block.
The game format was side-scrolling and in the early days of console gaming, these were some of the best types of games (and IMO are still today). What made this game fun was that you could have you and 3 friends play at the same time and the game was pretty dark and scary.
3. Friday the 13th (NES)
Yes, the “other” Friday the 13th game made my list as well. This, like the Nightmare on Elm Street game, has a great nostalgia effect on me. I played this game with family and friends for hours and hours in the 90s. I have fond memories of running around Camp Crystal Lake trying to avoid the purple Jason and somehow rescue the other teens.
As a kid though, I didn’t fully understand exactly how to successfully play the game and would end up just beating the game by chance. As an adult, and having the internet, the game made a lot more sense and bought me back to playing it.
Again in this game, you take part as a teenager trying to save the camp goers and other counselors by killing Jason.
There were 2 different interactions with the killer, one was in the map/overworld field where he would hurl axes (or other weapons) at you while the player battled back with the weapon that was equipped. The second battle type took place in a cabin where Jason would try to attack the player and the player would have to duck and weave and fight back. In the second scenario, the gameplay was more of a crappy old school NES Punch Out.
What made the game great was the crappy 8-bit music and the fear that Jason could pop out at any time. It had its share of jump scares from time to time too.
2. Dead By Deadlight (PC)
Much like the 2017 Friday the 13th (F13) game, this one required players to work together to escape the map from a serial killer. What makes this game better though is that there are tons of DLC, skins, etc. to keep the game interesting. While F13 had one serial killer, players could choose from an array of serial killers and skins in this game.
The game consists of 5 players. 4 trying to escape and 1 playing the killer. The player who controls the “killer” hunts down each other player and hangs them from a hook until their life drains. The other players try to work together to get generators working and once they are all fixed and working, they can escape the compound. The players can win if they escape, and the killer wins if all the other players are dead.
This was one of the first games I played when transitioning to PC gaming and I have a great group of people to play this game with. If you have a great group of friends that enjoy these types of survival games, then this should not be missed. There are tons of scares around every corner.
1. Until Dawn (PS4)
Anyone who listens to the Nerd Caster podcast knows that this is one of my favorite games of all time.
It is a single-player game, where the player controls different characters at different times. The main story takes place one year after 2 sisters were killed on a ski resort. The brother of the deceased gets the “gang” back together to go back to the location where they were killed.
The game is like a choose your own adventure and plays out more like a movie the game. As the player controls a character they are given choices on how to interact with other characters and items in the game. These decisions could have effects on events later in the game.
The choices you make in the game could cause you or other characters to die. Depending on how you play the game and who is still alive at the end, change the outcome of the ending. Since the game has multiple endings it has a huge replay value.
This replay value is what makes it top my list. If you played and like this game, check out Man of Medan as well. While not as good as Until Dawn, it is definitely worth checking out.
These are my top 5 games to play around Halloween, what are yours? let us know on Facebook or Twitter.
