The scariest game I’ve ever played was Silent Hill on the PlayStation, back in 1999. It got its influence less from slasher and zombie films, like its competitor Resident Evil, but rather from the psychological horror genre. Your character visits an abandoned town to find his missing daughter, but ends up stumbling upon a cult trying to summon its evil god. The game is dark and moody, with your flashlight the only light source for a lot of the game. There was a lot of fog, making it scary and uncomfortable to move around. I learned later that the darkness and fog were just the developers obscuring the fact that the PlayStation didn’t have enough power to show what they wanted, but it worked out in the game’s favor.
Another favorite spooky game of mine, if a little goofier, was 1993’s Zombies Ate My Neighbors. This was a top-down shooter that had you trying to save your neighbors from all kinds of monsters in a suburban hellscape. You encounter zombies, of course, along with vampires, werewolves, mummies, and guys with chainsaws and hockey masks. The game had a fun art style and details. For example, even if a weapon you get seems silly, like silverware, you might find that it’s exceptionally useful against a werewolf.
For something a little more modern, Jackbox Party Pack 6 is a collection of party games that includes a spooky trivia game called Trivia Murder Party 2. Up to 8 people can play, using their smartphone as a controller. Answering your question correctly saves you from having to go to a minigame called The Killing Floor. Lose that, and you become a ghost. (But don’t worry, ghosts can still win the game.) It’s available on all the current game consoles, plus PC, Mac, Amazon’s Fire TV stick, and Android TV.
