10 Best Halloween Party Games To Play With Friends

Published Oct 10, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

Yuliya Geikhman has been writing professionally for over 17 years. She started out in the MMO scene with Pando Media Booster and now dives into everything gaming at Screen Rant. She's a lifelong gamer, a relentless industry sleuth, and a passionate follower of everything happening in the games industry.

This Halloween, put on your costume and have a spooky, scary night in with friends thanks to horror-themed party games. Good party games are simply more fun to play with friends, and some are designed specifically to be played in a group. But only a few of them fit the Halloween vibe.

These horror-themed games make the perfect way to have some fun with a group on Halloween. Play games where you try to kill each other for fun, uncover scary stories, and set things on fire, hunt for ghosts, and so much more. Plus, check out options for both online and local co-op play, to suit any kind of gathering.

Ritual Party

There's no better way to spend Halloween than by summoning Eldritch horrors. In Ritual Party, up to four friends can perform rituals together to call forth cosmic monsters from the Cthulhu mythos... or try.

It turns out that unleashing unspeakable terrors into the world isn't as easy as you think. Players compete against the clock and avoid obstacles like rogue tentacle monsters, freezing winds, blood puddles, and other typical problems of Lovecraftian proportions.

Ritual Party is currently in Early Access, with more environments and features being rolled out over time through player feedback.

Escape Academy

Escape Academy is a head-scratching escape-room style game, and its puzzles are fun to figure out together in local or online co-op. (The upcoming sequel will also have multiplayer implemented, but it won't be out until November.)

The title has a fantastic Dark Academia atmosphere and setting that's perfect for Halloween. You're enrolled into Escape Academy, where you train and hone your skills as an escape room expert through increasingly challenging puzzles.

As you go, you'll unlock the Academy's spooky secrets. Better keep a pen and paper on hand, because this is one of those titles that need you to take notes!

The Dark Pictures Anthology

Created by Supermassive Games, The Dark Pictures Anthology is a story-driven, choice-heavy game that feels like a high-stakes, terrifying Choose Your Own Adventure game.

Your actions and interactions with other characters and the world in general have a direct and often immediate effect on the story. One wrong move can have deadly consequences. There are currently five titles in the series:

Title	Setting
Man of Medan	ghost ship
Little Hope	abandoned town
House of Ashes	underground
The Devil in Me	serial killer's home
Directive 8020	stranded spaceship

The games incorporate a hot seat-style local co-op system, where different people can play different characters. The game tells you when to hand the controller off to a friend so you can remember to breathe until it's your time to play.

We Are So Dead

We Are So Dead tests your communication skills by giving one player all the information, but removes their ability to speak. This two to six player online horror title places players in a haunted house and has them complete a ritual to cleanse it of evil spirits.

The catch? One player starts out dead. The ghost is able to see the threat and find the different elements needed for the ritual, but is unable to communicate with the rest of the players.

Their only mode of communication is using the Ouija board, or through ghostly shenanigans like opening and closing doors, flickering lights, and, when all else fails, just screaming.

Escape From Mandrillia

Horror games are even more terrifying in VR, but there aren't many you can play with a friend. That's where Escape From Mandrillia comes in. The title is a local asymmetric VR and PC game. This means that this two to three-player game has the VR player seeing something entirely different from the PC player (or players).

The VR player plays through a survival shooter, tasked with escaping from a creepy underground facility overrun by monkey-like aliens. Meanwhile, the PC player(s) can either help in the fight by controlling drones, or try to stop you as one of the monkey aliens.

Everyone can work together to fight back against the Mandrillians, with the VR player restoring and repairing the drones as you go. Or, the PC players can turn against the VR player, tormenting them and making their escape more difficult.

The Headliners

When monsters, demons, and other mysterious terrifying creatures attack New York in The Headliners, most of the citizens run away from the threat... except the daring press, of course. Up to eight players can play together in this online co-op game, which asks players to rush toward danger and bring back souvenirs.

Work together to document the horrors and unfolding chaos on the streets. Take photos of the monsters, the destruction, or even your fellow press members getting ripped apart by otherworldly creatures.

Content Warning

If you like this The Headliners, you and your friends might also enjoy Content Warning. The premise is similar: a group of friends heads out to document the Old World, an underwater world full of scary monsters, creepy crawlies, and lots of loot.

Content Warning looks and feels a bit like Peak, but you're traveling down instead of up. Up to four people can work together to capture video footage of the terrifying denizens of the Old World, then upload it to SpöökTube... if you can make it back alive, that is.

Phasmophobia

Phasmophobia took the world by storm in 2020, for its unique premise: Ghost hunting, but the ghost can hear and react to your words and sounds. SInce then, the game has gotten bigger and better, with many revamps and updates to the mechanics and locations.

At its core, the game remains the same: team up with up to four players to visit a haunted location and uncover clues and figure out what kind of ghost has made itself at home there. Use different tools, like EMF Readers, night vision cameras, and other tricks in your ghost-hunting arsenal to search for clues.

You can even try to communicate with the ghost using a notebook or your voice. After all, "the ghosts are listening."

Machine Party

Machine Party is what would happen if Jigsaw from Saw designed Mario Party. The game takes two to four friends through a series of increasingly more dangerous minigames. The game features classic minigames where some players compete to survive the round while one other player does everything in their power to stop them.

But these games aren't exactly wholesome and family-friendly, instead featuring hilariously bloody and violent ways to die and "multiple devious ways of screwing your friends over."

Jackbox Trivia Murder Party Packs

When you're looking for a party game for non-gamers or for a large group of people, you can't go wrong with Jackbox Games. Party games range from fun trivia that'll test your knowledge to silly and creative ways to get you thinking outside the box.

The series has a huge number of games in its catalog, so it's no surprise that there's not just one but three different horror game categories. All three Trivia Murder Party games allow up to eight players to play through a series of minigames in a spooky haunted camp.

Only one copy of the game is needed, with other players participating with their phones. The third title even allows for online matchmaking, so you can share the spooky Halloween party game with your buddies no matter where they are.