Horror co-op games take away that sense of isolation that the genre thrives in, as when people are alone, they are also more vulnerable. Because of this, most horror experiences are single-player to take advantage of the player's loneliness, with only horrid creatures and creeping dread to keep them company.
The Scariest Horror Video Games Of All Time, Ranked
From the torture of Doki Doki Literature Club to the eerieness of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, here are the scariest horror video games of all time.
Horror games that can still evoke dread, tension, and fear even when playing with friends are a true testament to the developers' skill in crafting a truly horrifying experience. Eerie locations, masterful sound design, and a terrifying ambiance can still hold players in an icy grip of horror even when they are in the company of others.
Updated on December 21, 2025 by Mark Sammut: Sure, Christmas might be coming around, but every day is a good day for a few scares. Consequently, we have added a section that highlights the best games for specific co-op styles. To keep things a bit fresh, we included a few titles that are not highlighted individually.
Dead By Daylight
Certain Killers On The Roster Are Nothing Short Of Terrifying
Dead by Daylight
- Released
- June 14, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Behaviour Interactive
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Stadia, Switch, Mobile
- Genre(s)
- Horror, Survival
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
There is no other game in the world where gamers can flee the Demogorgon from Stranger Things while playing as Resident Evil's Jill Valentine and teaming up with Nicolas Cage. This is the major key to Dead by Daylight's success, as their killer and survivor rosters are both brimming with licensed characters from iconic horror IPs.
As an asymmetrical horror game, those who play as survivors either team up with friends or other random players to try and survive the trials ahead of them. They must repair generators while avoiding the grasp of the killer to escape through the exit gates or hatch. While Dead by Daylight is closer to a party game than a horror game, there are still times the killer will terrify the wits out of the survivor, be it because of their sudden, stealthy appearance or because of which killer they are facing. There are few things more terrifying than being chased around by the Xenomorph, for example, or the scratched mirror Michael Myers, who eliminates all warnings that he is near, leaving players stuck in a smothering limbo of suspense.
Escape The Backrooms
Explore The Eerie And Fabled Backrooms With Friends
Escape the Backrooms
- Released
- October 23, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
Originating from 4chan of all places, The Backrooms became one of the most famed fictional places of modern times. It comprises multiple different settings, but yellow wallpaper and damp carpet are the bread and butter of this liminal space. Any who enter The Backrooms are said to do so by accident, clipping through the fabric of reality to end up in this alternate realm. It is also said that any who fall in here may face the dangerous entities that call this place home.
Escape the Backrooms takes place in this fictional setting, where up to four friends need to survive The Backrooms and find a way to return home. Drenched in an eerie, spine-tingling ambiance, players need to keep their wits about them and listen for any dreaded sound that breaks the silence, other than the sound of their friends. With a total of 12 entities in the game, players never know what to expect, which only makes encounters more frightening.
Resident Evil: Revelations 2
Work Together To Survive The Horror
Resident Evil: Revelations 2
- Released
- February 24, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
Resident Evil is normally a single-player affair, with one person facing the survival horror alone, solving puzzles, exploring a location, and killing their fair share of horrid, mutated creatures inflicted with one Umbrella Corp. Virus or another. Resident Evil 5 began the series' short tryst with co-op gameplay, specifically designing the game with the idea that it would not be played as a solo experience with its underwhelming AI partner.
Resident Evil: Best Duos
The Resident Evil franchise has witnessed a lot of likable duos over the years.
Resident Evil 6 continued that trend, and then it was also implemented in Resident Evil: Revelations 2. The first entry brought the game back to its isolated, claustrophobic horror roots, which was continued in the episodic sequel. The dual storylines connect Claire and Moira's captivity on the island, along with Barry searching for his missing daughter. Teamwork is the aim of the game here, but it does little to dispel the tension of the eerie locations, which definitely feel haunted. It won't be ghosts that players are facing, though, just classic mutated creatures that were maybe once human and are absolutely terrifying. Even as a team, these creatures can still induce plenty of scares, and the scenery plenty of tension.
Obscure
Co-Op Added To The Classic Survival Horror Formula
Obscure
- Released
- April 6, 2005
WHERE TO PLAY
- Multiplayer
- Local Co-Op
- Number of Players
- 1-2
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS2, Xbox (Original)
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 tries to marry the franchise's old-school roots with its action evolution, resulting in an experience that falls somewhere in the middle. If you want to try something that is 100% classic survival horror, Obscure is arguably the better pick, as the PS2 game plays almost identically to a PS1 Resi title. As a group of five teenagers, you explore a school that has a few pretty nasty hidden secrets, along with plenty of monsters that can deliver scares.
Even in single-player, two characters are always paired up, so the game transitions into co-op relatively smoothly as each player just takes charge of one of the active teens. However, each character can die permanently, so there are genuine consequences that help increase the scare factor.
The Outlast Trials
Avoid Psychosis Or Witness The Skinner Man
The Outlast Trials
- Released
- May 18, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Red Barrels
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
Outlast began its run as a single-player survival horror experience, taking players first to an abandoned asylum, and then to a rural farming village in the sequel. With the gaming industry placing a large emphasis on multiplayer, it came as no surprise when Outlast tapped into this market, resulting in The Outlast Trials, a four-person horror co-op experience.
Playing as alleged "volunteers" for new methods of brainwashing and mind control masquerading as therapy, players must complete various trials that involve different locations and objectives to earn their freedom. The catch is that there are plenty of enemies standing between the players and their objectives that are undeniably terrifying. By far the most frightening enemy is the Skinner Man, a hallucination brought on when a player's sanity drops to zero. Psychosis is not only a dangerous state to be in, but it calls forward an entity that is nothing short of nightmare-inducing.
Lethal Company
Encounter Hostile Creatures While Salvaging
Lethal Company
- Released
- October 23, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
A fun game designed with multiplayer in mind, Lethal Company tasks up to four players to travel to different planets and search for salvage to bring back to The Company to reach their mandatory quota. Failure to meet the quota in the time given will result in them being fired...straight out of an airlock.
If the horrors of dystopian capitalism weren't enough, players also come face to face with all manner of hostile alien life while searching the buildings on each planet for valuable scrap. These places are more often than not dark and maze-like, which can make fleeing to safety doubly hard. Despite often being seen as a silly little game to enjoy with friends, Lethal Company packs a surprisingly scary punch with its monster design, which includes large spiders, a creepy ghost girl, and the coil head, all of which are uniquely terrifying.
Phasmophobia
Hunt Ghosts While Avoiding Becoming A Part Of Their Undead Legion
Phasmophobia
- Released
- October 29, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Kinetic Games
- Early Access Release
- September 18, 2020
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror, Puzzle
Those looking for something more in the paranormal vein should definitely check out Phasmophobia, as it might just be the scariest ghost game on the market. Playing as a group of drastically underpaid paranormal investigators, the team will journey to their chosen location armed with as much equipment as they can afford. They must then cycle through their equipment to see what triggers a response to narrow down which entity is haunting the premises.
There is a slew of possible entities that require thorough investigation and a lot of courage to identify. The locations players travel to are always derelict and dark, creating the perfect atmosphere to terrify players. The activities of the ghosts can also be startling, especially when they go into hunt mode, and might just end up killing one of the unfortunate players in their path. With the addition of VR compatibility, Phasmophobia never relents with its oppressive atmosphere and haunting terror.
Devour
Stopping A Cult Is A Team Effort
Devour
- Released
- January 28, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Number of Players
- 4
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
Devour is not all that different from Phasmophobia, but it works brilliantly as an alternate when you are looking for a co-op horror game that can deliver both laughs and scares. Since its 2021 launch, the game has expanded to 7 maps, with each one having a cultist/demon that wants to drag you and your friends to hell. In the meantime, you need to collect items and complete a ritual, although the process to complete the task varies quite a bit between maps. The cultists also have fun designs that are perfect for jump scares, and they fit their maps well.
Something that separates Devour from the crowd is its difficulty, as quite a few of the maps are genuinely quite difficult. The game is designed to be played by four people, and teamwork is crucial to have any chance of surviving. While possible to play with fewer folks or even go solo, you are basically setting yourself up for a bad time, which might be what you are craving.
The Dark Pictures Anthology
A Narrative Series That Players Can Influence Together
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan
- Released
- August 30, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Supermassive Games
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
From Until Dawn fame, the studio Supermassive Games went on to create more immersive choice-based horror games, collectively known as The Dark Pictures Anthology. The first season began with Man of Medan and concluded with The Devil in Me, comprised of four scary games in total, each with its own smart twist that completely alters the storyline. Though these games are great to play solo, there is also the option to play with friends locally or online.
This works by players controlling a different character on the screen and tasking them with making that character's decisions. This can create moments of tension or chaos, particularly in Man of Medan, when the characters suffer hallucinations to make it impossible to determine friend from foe. Intricate, well-crafted storylines and plenty of scares make these games fantastic, and the feeling of dread never relents, even in multiplayer.
Best Co-Op Horror Games by Co-Op Style
Now that we have gone over the individual games, let's put together a rundown of great picks that match specific wants and styles. Most of these games are already highlighted above, but this section will make it easier for you to quickly select something to play.
We will list two or three titles in each category, and they are all relatively scary co-op horror games. That said, I am going to include a few games that are not mentioned above, just for the sake of variety. If you are not sure what to play, start with these.
Online Co-Op Horror Games
- The Outlast Trials – Although not quite as intense and terrifying as the single-player entries, The Outlast Trials is nevertheless one of the scariest co-op online horror games. It is also replayable and relatively accessible, at least more so than something like Dead by Daylight.
- Lethal Company – One of the most popular modern co-op horror games, Lethal Company perfectly walks the line between silliness and genuine nightmare fuel. It is not too scary to put off people who generally dislike the genre, while still offering enough scares to entertain die-hard fans.
- Phasmophobia – Arguably the definitive modern online co-op horror game, Phasmophobia manages to translate the magic of single-player terror to multiplayer better than any of its peers.
Local Co-Op Horror Games
- The Dark Pictures Anthology – The perfect group horror games that force everyone to take responsibility in shaping the course of the story. Their relatively short length means they can generally be completed in one or two sittings.
- Resident Evil 5 – Yeah, Revelations 2 is the scarier game, but RE5 is just wildly entertaining, arguably more so than its smaller sibling. It leans more into action than horror, but the latter is not absent either.
Small-Group (2-3 Player) Horror Experiences
- GTFO – Blends intense gunplay with genuine frights, along with a punishing difficulty that can even keep gaming veterans on their toes.
- Devour – While it supports up to 4 players, Devour is enjoyable with smaller groups, although it tends to result in a harder playthrough.
Big-Group (4+ Player) Horror Experiences
- Dying Light – Arguably the greatest open-world horror game ever, Dying Light is a blast solo or with friends. The parkour system leads to consistently top-notch movement, and you do feel fairly powerful at times. However, zombies are deadly, and your group will instantly become overwhelmed if they are caught outside during nighttime.
- Sons of the Forest – The other prime contender for the best-ever open-world horror game, Sons of the Forest has great multiplayer support as up to 8 players can try to survive. Admittedly, the tension steadily declines as more people join, but that happens with nearly every multiplayer horror game.
Best Horror Co-Op Games To Play With Friends
Be it on Halloween or in the middle of Summer, it is always the right time for a fun co-op horror game.