By: Ryan Noble

In: Video Games

Published: 09 November 2021

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10 Horror Games To Add To Your Christmas List 2021

Written by Ryan Noble

Now that Halloween is over—although it’s Halloween for 365 days a year here—let’s look ahead to the next big holiday: Christmas!

Whether you’re looking for the perfect spooky gift for yourself or horror-loving friends and family, here are our top 10 horror games worth adding to your Christmas list.

We’ve also broken them down into co-op horror and solo spooks to find what interests you most. We’re not monsters.

Co-op horror:

1. Phasmophobia

Studio: Kinetic Games
Platforms: PC (Steam), VR.

Chances are you’ve already heard of Phasmophobia, because it’s one of the most popular multiplayer horrors of 2021 (although it came out in September of 2020)!

1-4 players band together to hunt down ghosts with a range of equipment across a variety of spooky suburban and rural homes, abandoned schools, asylums, and prisons. Can you figure out what kind of ghost is haunting a place before it wraps its cold, dead fingers around your throat? Let’s find out.
Phasmophobia is a truly creepy game that’s an absolute blast with friends, although you can also play alone if you’re brave enough. I’m not.

2. Devour

Studio: Straight Back Games
Platforms: PC (Steam).

Another 1-4-player co-op horror filled with frantic fear, unique creature designs, and a wide range of environments is Devour, which has you searching for and destroying 10 objects to banish a possessed cultist.

With each object you manage to get rid of, the more dangerous the possessed cultist becomes, so prepare to stun them with your UV torch, run, and hide. Fast.

3. The Dark Pictures Anthology

Studio: Supermassive Games https://www.thedarkpictures.com/
Platforms: PlayStation 5/4, Xbox One/X/S, PC (Steam).

From the developers of the acclaimed Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology is a collection of short horror stories designed to mystify, terrify, and entertain. There are eight games planned as part of this anthology, but so far, we have:

Man of Medan: From a teen deep-diving trip to a haunted ghost ship. What could go wrong?
Little Hope: Four students and their teacher are trapped in a town shrouded by fog when their bus crashes. Are they alone? Probably not.
House of Ashes: What begins as a military search for chemicals weapons in a buried Sumerian temple turns into a discovery of something much older and more deadly. Careful what you wish for, I guess…

Like Until Dawn, these games feature a star-studded cast of characters, and with every choice you make (or don’t make), their lives are in your hands. Each playthrough could see the story take a completely different path based on your decisions, making them incredibly replayable despite their shorter length.

Play solo, with a friend or stranger via online co-op, or even with up to four players on your sofa with “Movie Night” mode, where you’re each responsible for the choices of a particular character. You’ll soon see it’s not easy to make the right choices when you’re in the driving seat of an interactive horror…

4. Back 4 Blood

Studio: Turtle Rock Studios
Platforms: PlayStation 5/4, Xbox One/X/S, PC (Steam).

A spiritual successor to the beloved Left 4 Dead series, Back 4 Blood brings back everything you might have loved—fast-paced first-person action, shooting down hordes of creatures with gruesome designs and deadly attacks, run-and-gun co-op gameplay that’ll keep you on your toes.

Although you can play alone, many of the game’s achievements and trophies can only be completed by playing with other people, a controversial decision to encourage people to experience the game at its best—with friends.

Solo spooks:

5. Chasing Static

Studio: Headware Games
Platform: PC (Steam).

Chasing Static is a PS1-inspired psychological horror set in the Welsh village of Herth, a village that seems to have by abandoned. After stopping in a roadside café on your way through North Wales, you witness a terrifying murder and are thrown into the mystery of this quaint rural area, discover a shady scientific facility, and must find the truth by hunting down “anomalies” with unique, audio-driven gameplay.

At a bite-sized 2 hours of gameplay, it’s a gift you know there’ll be time to get to. We even covered Chasing Static back when it was announced—read our full article.

6. Chilla’s Art games (any of them!)

Studio: Chilla’s Art
Platform: PC (Steam).

Chilla’s Art is a Japanese studio known for short, sharp bursts of horror.

If you (or your potential recipient) love Asian horror, you really can’t go wrong here. All of their games are set in Japan and inspired by Japanese folklore.

Here’s the full list of Chilla’s Art games you can currently get wrapped up:

Chilla’s Art seem to always be releasing more games, so by Christmas there may even be more chilling Japanese games available.

7. Tormented Souls

Studio: Dual Effect https://twitter.com/DualEffectGames
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PC (Steam).

Coming soon to: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch.

If you long for the days of classic survival horror like the original Resident Evil and Silent Hill games, Tormented Souls is one for you.

You play as Caroline Walker, exploring a mansion in search of missing twin girls. Along the way, you’ll find scarce resources to aid your survival, solve puzzles, and go head-to-head with creepy creatures you’ll wish you could forget.

Ditching the tank controls of the originals for more modern movements and a dynamic camera, Tormented Souls really feels like classic horror for a new generation.

8. Resident Evil Village

Studio: Capcom
Platforms: PlayStation 5/4, Xbox One/X/S/360, PC.

Resident Evil Village is the eighth game in the main storyline of Resident Evil, a game that’s mutated from simple zombies to so much more over the years, with the help of a few scientists and villains who have their eyes on bioweapons and world domination.

If you’ve already played Resident Evil 7 and haven’t yet had the chance to see how Ethan Winters’ story plays out, Village is the perfect gift. It’s beautifully gothic, has some of the most intriguing settings and characters of any Resident Evil game, and it still retains the intense atmosphere of its predecessor.

9. Alan Wake Remastered

Studio: Remedy Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 5/4, Xbox One/X/S/360, PC (Epic Games Store).

A cult hit that was previously only released on Xbox 360 and PC back in 2010 and 2012, respectively, Alan Wake Remastered allows people of all platforms to experience this psychological thriller for the first time.

Alan Wake is searching for his missing wife in the fictional town of Bright Falls, Washington, a picturesque locale with a much darker problem; quite literally, the dark. While you solve the mystery of the missing wife, you’ll use conventional weapons alongside torchlight to fight off the “Taken,” murderous shadows who don’t take too kindly to you popping by on vacation.

Not only have the game’s visuals been remastered, but this edition includes the two additional chapters released at a later—The Signal and The Writer—meaning you get all Alan Wake has to offer in one tidy little package.

10. Mundaun

Studio: Hidden Fields
Platforms: PlayStation 5/4, Xbox One/X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC.

Mundaun is one of the most unique games on this list due to its completely hand-penciled style. Set in a dark-secluded valley in the alps, there are plenty of puzzles to solve, secrets to discover, and more than a few hostile encounters waiting for you…

For something a little different to the norm, give Mundaun a try.

That’s a wrap…

Did you get any new ideas for Christmas? If all you picked up were more horror games for your own list, that’s totally fine, too! It’s hard not to after such a strong year for horror.

Santa better think twice before coming down our chimneys this year, because we’re going to be on edge and ready to throw hands.

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10 Horror Games You Need For Christmas 2021