Phasmophobia by Kinetic Games, Ghost Exorcism INC. by StudioGoupil, Ghost Watchers by Renderise, Forewarned by Dreambyte Games, Devour by Straight Back Games, Malum by MalumGames, Gaming Thoughts article written by Richard.
Spooks, scares, screaming, and screaming at your friends! It's that time of year again, where you're getting frights, chills, and hopefully a lot of candy! Well today we have a little special something for you, that's hopefully just as sweet as candy. We're gonna be taking a look at some frightfully fun games for you and your friends! We'll look at how the game plays as well as the current status of the game.
Today we'll be looking at six different horror games that you can find on PC. Generally these will fall into two categories: ghost identification and item gathering. All of these are multiplayer and can be played with three friends, or by yourself if you're feeling up for the challenge. Note that most of these are still in Early Access at the time of writing, but are still fully playable as-is. Without further ado, let's get right into it.
Phasmophobia
First up we have a title most people are probably familiar with: Phasmophobia. This game really took off a while ago, but if you've either been living under a rock or cowering under the bed, Phasmophobia has you and a crew of up to four people explore a haunted location. You will need to use a variety of tools at your disposal to determine what type of ghost you're dealing with.
Since it first started, Phasmophobia has had a lot of updates with new locations, new ghost types, better user interface, and better responsiveness for the tools and ghost encounters. It used to be pretty tame, but has upped it's scare game as well as playability.
A solid choice that most people will probably already own. If you do already own it and haven't played in a while, you should definitely check out the most recent updates.
Ghost Exorcism INC.
This used to go by another title, which I have forgotten, but had to change the name due to some issues. What essentially felt like a bit of a Phasmophobia knock-off has evolved into something it can be proud to label as it's own. Like Phasmophobia, you will be sent off to a haunted location where you must collect evidence with tools in order to uncover what type of ghost is haunting the location.
Now, Ghost Exorcism INC. is a little different than Phasmophobia in a number of ways. First of all, there aren't as many ghost types, there is generally less evidence to collect, and the ghosts are more "active". It totally makes up for this though with the fact that you also need to exorcise the ghost, as well as different available game modes. You can bring in weapons with you to help fend off the ghost, but ghosts will need to be exorcised by following certain steps based on the evidence they leave behind. There is a lot more manually inputting things and it can be a little confusing at first, but the most recent state is really fun to play.
While there is a bunch locked behind your in-game level, there's also a decent variety of things to do and roles to take. Also, unlike any of the other titles on this list, at least as far as I know, the ghosts can, and will, chase you outside back to the van and try and open the door.
Ghost Watchers
Probably more similar to Ghost Hunters INC. than Phasmophobia, Ghost Watchers is another title where you head off to a haunted location and attempt to identify the type of ghost with the tolls you have. Similar to Ghost Exorcism INC., you also need to perform certain actions to weaken the ghost after correctly identifying it, and then you need to catch it. There are tools to bring that can help prevent the ghost from killing you, but the ghosts tend to be a little more violent in this one.
The current status of Ghost Watchers is, well, maybe a little buggy at the moment, as I've had ghosts get stuck, refuse to hunt when you need them to, or just generally be rather derpy, but the game is receiving updates, so hopefully this will continue to get better. Recently the ghost type is now hidden, as it used to be obvious from ghost appearance, and there are added mechanics where you have to correctly identify the ghost before weakening it, as well as the option to find ectoplasm floating around in order to make the ball to catch the ghost in.
It's definitely a lot of fun.
Forewarned
You ever wanted to feel like cursed Indiana Jones? Well now is your chance. Forewarned is a tomb/crypt exploration type game in essence. Once again you need to determine the nature of the being inhabiting the location, but you're also looking for treasure and relics as well as lore pages to bring back with you.
While you are exploring the crypt, you must pay attention to determine what the name of the being is. Once you think you know the answer, you can go input the name in a door. Be careful getting there though, as there are plenty of traps around. After entering the name, there are two things that could happen: either you guess right and open the door, or you guess wrong and the door remains closed.
In both cases, the Mejai will physically manifest, and you must protect yourself from them. You are also looking for a blue lever which will open the path out of the crypt. It's a lot of fun, and I'm really bad at it. It is really good for those looking for something that isn't just purely ghost identification. There was a recent update refining some mechanics and adding a new Mejai, so be excited for more updates in the future.
Devour
Devour is another title you've probably heard of. The basic idea is that you're a member of a cult, and one of the members has been possessed by a demon. You must find and destroy ten ritual items around the map while being chased by the possessed cultist. The more items you destroy, the more possessed and aggressive the cultist becomes.
This is pretty much a cooperative title, especially late game, where multiple mini demons will spawn to attack you, in addition to the possessed cultist. You can destroy the small demons with your UV flashlight, and stun the possessed cultist, but small demons respawn and the cultist is only stunned for a short while. The possessed cultist has both an active and docile mode they will alternate between. While active they can be stunned with the UV flashlights, and enough stuns will turn them docile again. They do have a period after being stunned before where they can't be stunned again for awhile, so be wary of them during this time.
Devour is a fun little change up to the ghost analysis types that are currently in a bit of a boom. Due to pandemic issues the development and updates have slowed down a bit, but there are still new maps and cultists in development, so look forward to running for your lives with your friends.
Malum
Hoo boy, where to start with Malum. Malum is...well, it's a special placeholder on this list. Malum is pretty interesting and has a three phase game progression mode. Your task is to defeat the demon inhabiting the area.
First up, you need to explore and find three glowing symbols. You can find multiple of the same symbol in the area, but three unique symbols will tell you what magic circle you need to complete. Once you know what the magic circle is, you need to go find the pentagram ritual spot. You must bring five ritual items scattered around the map to the ritual site and put them in the proper locations. After this, you can then defeat the demon.
All the while during this, the demon as well as it's minions will be attempting to hunt you down. So, why is this a special placeholder? Well, once you perform the ritual with all five items, you get magical guns, a badass soundtrack starts playing, and you need to go shoot the demon to death. Yeahs, I'm serious. First part, where you're finding the symbols and ritual items? Pretty spooky and a fun challenge. Once you get the guns? Super campy and way more fun than it has any right to be.
First time I played this I went from screaming to laughing my ass off. And you know what? It was actually really great. Malum gets regular updates and balancing patches, so you can be sure that the devs are paying attention.
Wrap-up
So what did you think of these spooky games? They aren't in any real order, so don't look into it too much, as they all have their positives and negatives. Grab some friends and try these out, and I hope you get as much of a kick out of them as my friends and I did!
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