It’s early October and everyone’s already in the Halloween spirit! We’ve got leaks for a ton of Halloween game events. And whether you want to carve pumpkins, eat candy or just scare yourself silly, the Nintendo Switch has the game for you. Here are all the best games you can play to get ready for Halloween.
Outlast: Bundle of Terror by Red Barrels
In the remote mountains of Colorado, horrors wait inside Mount Massive Asylum. A long-abandoned home for the mentally ill, it’s here that Miles Upshur discovers a terrifying secret. Armed with only your journalistic integrity and a camcorder your only hope of escape lies with the terrible truth at the heart of Mount Massive. This one definitely isn’t for the light-hearted. Famous for being controversial (the sequel, Outlast 2, was banned in Australia), the series features a lot of gore even by survival horror standards. I know they say the pen is mightier than the sword but this is just ridiculous. C’mon Miles you didn’t think to bring a gun or a bat or something. It’s like you want to die. If you want to get a headstart we’ve got our beginner’s guide to Outlast 2 here, you’re probably still going to scream but at least you’ll be ready about it.
Any Of The Resident Evil Games by Capcom
An oldie but a goodie. The Switch has definitely proven itself to be a home away from home for the Resident Evil series. Whether it’s the cult classic of Resident Evil 4 or the Resident Evil Origins collections, there’s plenty of ports to the Switch. Sure, it’s no Resident Evil 2 remake, but it’s not high-fidelity graphics that make this a landmark horror series. If you can crawl your way through the amazingly claustrophobic level design, the screech and wail of the terrifying foes, and the general ability of the Resident Evil series to hide a scare behind the most unexpected corners then you’ll be well-rewarded.
Layers of Fear: Legacy by Bloober Team
Possibly the best horror title to come to the Switch so far. Layers of Fear: Legacy traps you in a lonely Victorian-era house with a protagonist whose sanity is slowly deteriorating. As you move between the present and past, you’ll see what it is that makes your protagonist lose his mind. Are those painting really moving, or are you just losing it? The scares are psychological, and even a simple pan of the camera can alter the environment considerably. Is it too high brow to be a scary horror? In a word, no.
Little Nightmares by Tarsier Studios
A psychological puzzle platformer that looks like a world of Tim Burton and Coraline. It’s a pretty haunting aesthetic that follows the journey of a little yellow raincoated girl named Six. Six is trapped in The Maw, an underwater resort filled with monstrous, disfigured inhabitants that tower over her. The background details are never explicitly explained, but it’s clear from the beginning that you must escape. The deformed creatures that inhabit the Maw fuel some of the game’s most harrowing moments. The blind underground caretaker known as the “Janitor” has long, slender arms that heavily juxtapose his thick frame. While the chef twins are hulking, grotesque creatures that wear the skins of other people’s faces as masks. Don’t be fooled by the diminutive size of our protagonist, Little Nightmares is a chilling odyssey well worth taking.
Death Mark by Experience Inc.
Asian horror is a whole nother level of horror, fight me about it later. Death Mark is Asian folklore with doses of psychological trauma and it’s pretty eerie. The basic premise of Death Mark is built around a man investigating a mysterious mark that’s appeared on his arm that’s turned out to be a harbinger of death for anyone who has it. Death Mark is an exploratory adventure game, and much of your time will be spent wandering around trying to find clues and objects that will help solve your little problem. Get ready for an ever-rotating door of folklore horrors that you need to vanquish before you can even think about curing yourself. There’s plenty to offer here for the horror and mystery fans alike.
Detention by Red Candle Games
Taiwanese horror game developer Red Candle Games is great at telling realistic and emotional horror stories. The premise for Detention is Silent Hill but set in 1960s marital law Taiwan. Detention has an important message behind it as it introduces themes that seem almost unfair when viewed through the eyes of a child. But that only helps to escalate the horror. Through a terrifying atmosphere, a series of chilling ghouls, and a soundtrack that will sink its teeth into you. Detention is a suitably horrifying title that should be experienced first-hand.
