It’s no secret that a lot of people like being scared, it’s why horror movies are such a perennially popular genre. Though half the fun of watching a horror movie is watching it with your friends, and horror games are no different. Being able to share that experience with your friends, conquering whatever horrors the game can throw at you in a desperate quest to survive can be a truly adrenaline-inducing experience. So, without further ado here are my picks for the best fifteen multiplayer games available to play right now.
15. 7 Days to Die
7 Days to Die is one of those games that has been in early access for what seems like forever. However, the upside of this is the fact that it is constantly getting more features and content (and as it stands right now, it’s a very solid multiplayer survival game.) The concept behind the game is largely right there in the title; you have seven days to prepare for a zombie horde that is coming. In this time you can build, harvest resources, find or craft weapons, and work together to either fortify an existing structure or create an entirely new one. The zombies in the world will gradually increase in number and difficulty as the days pass (and they will become faster and stronger at night). After your week is up, the game becomes a desperate battle to not be killed by the powerful hordes of enemies now bent on feasting upon you and your friends. It’s a fun game on your own, but having friends to help you build and forage brings things to a whole new level. With limited time, you can do much more ambitious things with extra sets of hands. It’s also a lot easier to survive with friends watching your back when the zombies start flooding in. How long will you and your friends survive?
Choose this game if:
- You enjoy games with survival aspects such as a need to eat or drink water.
- You liked minecraft but wanted it to be more focused on the zombies and have better graphics.
- You are constantly talking to your friends about your perfect zombie survival plan.
14. No More Room in Hell
No More Room in Hell, is yet another example of a popular game that started out as a mod, in this case to Half-life 2. It was later released in its current form as a stand alone title. It’s graphics are very dated, and it feels a lot like a less polished Left 4 Dead game, but one strong thing it has going for it is it’s pricetag or lack thereof. It’s free, and that does generally make people a little more forgiving of its flaws. It’s janky, and it can sometimes take a while to find a server, but if you have a group of friends that want to download it and play it together, you can be guaranteed many hours of zombie killing fun together.
Choose this game if:
- You don’t mind somewhat dated graphics
- You want something fun and free to play with your friends
- You really like killing zombies
13. Deceit
While at first I was tempted to describe Deceit as another twist on the genre that has become incredibly popular due to the massive success of Among Us, I was surprised to discover that Deceit actually came out a full year before Among Us. In Deceit, you and five other players are dropped into an abandoned asylum and your goal is to make it from the basement starting area, to the exit on the top floor. However the twist is that two of your group are infected with a virus that transforms them into lethal monsters when the lights go out. It’s up to the uninfected to stick together, and try to make it to the exit. The infected players will try to keep their identities secret, and do what they can to kill the other players when the lights periodically go out. It’s an adrenaline inducing FPS, and the best part of all is that it’s free! This is one that’s definitely worth checking out, especially if you like this sort of twisted trust exercise.
Choose this game if:
- If you enjoyed Among Us but would prefer to have some chance to shoot the imposter when they come for you
- You can’t resist a creepy abandoned Asylum romp
- You like being kept on your toes.
12. The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
Little Hope just came out on Halloween, and I’ve had the pleasure of playing through it a couple times already. Little Hope follows the same formula of the previous games by Supermassive Games, (Until Dawn, Man from Medan, etc), in that it’s really more of an interactive horror movie than it is a traditional game. In this one, you are trapped in the titular town of Little Hope, as you deal with twisted and monstrous spirits from it’s past during the Witch Trial era. It has a lot of good scares (though most of them are jumpscares) and it’s twist ending was surprising, though I found it to be a bit of a let down. It’s really fun to play with your friends, and it’s a clear improvement on their previous entry in the Anthology, Man from Medan. You and a friend can power through this one at least once in a day, so if you just want a fun activity you and a few friends, Little Hope will not disappoint.
Choose this game if:
- You enjoyed Until Dawn, or Man from Medan
- You don’t mind a more narrative-driven horror experience
- You like watching horror movies with friends, and want a slightly more interactive experience.
11. Resident Evil 5
Though I wouldn’t say that Resident Evil 5 made my list of favourite Resident Evil games from a single player perspective, it definitely deserves an honourable mention for how much fun it is as a multiplayer experience. I have very fond memories of me and a buddy sitting in his living room and powering through this game. I don’t think we ever finished it, but we certainly sank a lot of hours into it. It was also a massively refreshing update from Resident Evil 4 in that they gave us a partner character that was actually useful and could not only take care of herself but also take out plenty of enemies on her own. Other than that, the only thing that really isolates Resident Evil 5 from most of the rest of the series, is that like it’s predecessor, you aren’t actually fighting zombies. Instead, Resident Evil 4 and 5 introduced parasites that could control host and create bizarre mutations. This differs from the classic T-Virus zombies of the rest of the series, in that these infected have different abilities, are often capable of normal human movement speeds, and are capable of using weapons. Resident Evil 5 has been criticized for stepping away from the survival horror element of the rest of the series and instead becoming more of an action game. That could be good or bad depending on your tastes, but in terms of a multiplayer experience it translates amazingly well and will keep you and a friend entertained for several hours for sure.
Choose this game if:
- You like co-op Shooters
- You enjoy the Resident Evil Series
- You miss the days of couch co-op
10. Dead Space 3
Dead Space 3 is a very similar entry on this list to Resident Evil 5, and honestly it was hard to choose which should go higher. However in the end, I went with Dead Space purely because I personally found it far scarier than Resident Evil 5. In the Dead Space series you don’t battle zombies, instead you battle Necromorphs which are more like twisted flesh golems than they are traditional zombies. The third and final installment in the series introduced something new; however, it introduced a secondary protagonist and the ability for a second player to take control of them. As with Resident Evil, Dead Space 3 isn’t as scary without the crushing sense of loneliness in the face of evil, but it does manage to hold onto some of its horror roots a little bit better in my opinion. You should find plenty of reasons to let out a shriek as some monstrous abomination pops out of nowhere and tries to part you from your limbs. It’s a dark, gorey romp and it’s definitely a fun experience to share with a friend.
Choose this game if:
- You enjoy gorey games
- You want something different from your typical take on undead in video games
- You want something a little on the darker end of coop shooters
9.Killing Floor 2
At this point, if you haven’t at least heard of Killing Floor or it’s sequel, you have probably been living under a rock. These two games have been a phenomenal success, and whilst I’ll admit they aren’t my favourite shooters by any stretch of the imagination, it’s hard to deny their massive popularity or extensive possibilities for fun multiplayer experiences with friends. Killing Floor 2 is similar to Zombies mode in the Call of Duty games. You and some friends will fight waves and waves of increasingly powerful enemies, and you use the points you make as you go to purchase weapons and such. If there’s a plotline, I have no idea what it is, but for the most part it does well enough without one.
Choose this game if:
- You enjoy arcade style shooters
- You liked the first game
- You just want to mindlessly slaughter some monsters with your friends.
8. Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight is debatably the king of the asymmetrical multiplayer genre. It’s premise is really simple; one player plays the killer and the other four play survivors who have to avoid the killer, and fix up some generators in order to open the exit and escape. The thing that really makes Dead by Daylight unique, is it’s massive roster of killers that you can play both ingame and via DLC. Want to play Freddy Kruger? Pyramid Head? Ghost Face? Michael Myers? They’re all there and there’s more, and that roster is always growing. This is one of those games that can be as much of a friendship building game, as well as a friendship ruining game, it really depends if you are all survivors together or if one of you gets to be the killer. That being said, either way it’s guaranteed to be a fun experience.
Choose this game if:
- You enjoy Asymmetrical multiplayer games
- You like games that let you play the bad guy
- You are good at teamwork
7. Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2 likely needs no introduction. It’s one of the first few big zombie games to really define the genre, and even now 11 years later it’s still spoken of in a certain tone of respect. In Left 4 Dead 2 you and three players (or npcs) team up to finish episodes of a short story. You have to fight your way through each level and complete objectives whilst surviving waves and waves of zombies. It’s a high adrenaline adventure through various locations, and you don’t get a lot of moments to catch your breath in between.
Choose this game if:
- You enjoy bloody zombie action
- You want to play though some short stories with your friends
- You want a zombie game that focuses entirely on combat and not on other survival elements.
6. GTFO
GTFO has things in common with many of the games on this list, and you will definitely find similarities between it and Left 4 Dead, and No More Room in Hell, but really one of the ways that this one shines is just by it being newer and more polished looking. GTFO is a pretty game, and I don’t know about you, but good graphics do help suck me into a horror experience. In GTFO you and three other players each take on the role of one of the four playable characters, and are forced into a sprawling underground complex to scavenge materials, search for answers, survive the onslaught of monstrous mutants and ultimately escape with your lives. This game relies heavily on teamwork and a quick trigger finger, but ultimately will reward you with a truly engaging team experience. It’s still in early access since its release last year, so you can bet that there is more to come with this game, and it’s definitely one to keep an eye on.
Choose this game if:
- You want a hardcore team experience
- You are a fan of fast paced, edge-of-your-seat shooters
- You just want to blow the heads off some unsettling monsters
5.Unfortunate Spacemen
Unfortunate Spacemen is a shameless knockoff of Among Us...but that being said it manages to be really fun (and quite different) game than it’s *cough cough* “inspiration”. In Unfortunate Spacemen you either play one of the eponymous spacemen, or you play the single shape changing alien that is hidden...within their group. The Spacemen will try to do tasks and survive until the rescue shuttle arrives, and the shape changing alien will try to kill them all. Every so often the spacemen can get together and vote on who they think the imposter is, and the people with the most votes are marked as “suspicious for everyone to see.” This is where it’s similiarity to Among Us ends, however. In Unfortunate Spacemen, figuring out who the monster is, is only half the battle. Once you know, you have to pin them down and kill them with the arsenal of guns provided for your use. This can be difficult if you don’t work as a team because the Shapeshifter can also use guns in Spaceman form, and it it’s alien form becomes very fast and capable of dishing out a lot of damage with melee attacks. Combine this with the fact that it can take on the shape of anyone it’s killed and consumed the body of, and you have a much more survival horror experience than Among Us. In practice it can be pretty buggy, and games can stretch on for what feels like too long a time to wrap up, but good matches are really fun. This is another free game on the list, and if you enjoyed Among Us but though it could use a bit more of an FPS vibe, then this is probably the game for you.
Choose this game if:
- You enjoyed Among Us, but wanted more action
- You enjoy a challenging asymmetrical multiplayer experience
- You don’t mind games that can be both very fast paced, and games that can be very slow paced.
4. Phasmophobia
It seems like you can’t go anywhere lately without hearing about Phasmophobia, which went from being newly released on Steam early access in September, to being one of the top 5 most viewed games on Twitch by the middle of October. The game has been a phenomenal success, but why? Well, for starters it uses that oldest of horror tools of giving you an enemy you can’t defeat. The goal in Phasmophobia isn’t to beat the ghost, but instead to gather enough evidence on it to be paid. You aren't an exorcist, you are more of a detective. You and three players will use various tools (thermometers, EMF Meters, Ouija Boards, etc) to gather clues and information on the ghost, of which there are several (12 at the time of this article) distinct types. Now if this all sounds a bit too safe, then you would be right; there’s more to this. At various points (depending on the type of ghost and other factors) the ghost will initiate a hunt, during which your radio will cease to work, the lights will flicker, and the ghost will wander the map trying to kill players. This motivates you to try and find all the evidence and clues you need as quickly as possible, the longer you take the more chance you aren’t making it out alive.
Choose this game if:
- You like a true, old school horror experience
- You prefer puzzle solving and exploration to straight up action
- You enjoy horror games where you can’t just shoot your way out of any given situation
3. Dying Light: The Following Enhanced Edition
Dying Light was already a fairly solid zombie game, and it’s sizable expansion pack, The Following added a lot of content to the game. With the Enhanced Edition you get both of these, some improvements to the game, and a large amount of smaller DLCs. In Dying Light you get to explore the large open sandbox of the city of Harran, and the surrounding area. Harran is a parkour playground for you to explore in first person as you either avoid the ravenous hordes of undead that infest the city. Add to this a day/night cycle that impacts the challenge of what you have to deal with, and a vast array of craftable weapons, and both co-op and competitive multiplayer where you can play a powerful form of zombie. This game just has so much content, that you and your friends should be able to find things to do together for quite a while.
Choose this game if
- If you like open world survival games
- You are a fan of zombie games and over-the-top gore
- If you are a fan of fast-paced parkour action
2. Until Dawn
Until Dawn, though not as well set up for multiplayer as Little Hope is, in my opinion, a much stronger game. It’s themes are dark, it’s scares are solid and the plot twists are genuinely surprising. Though I wish there was a little more wiggle room in terms of choices you could make to massively effect the outcome of the story, I played this through in one sitting with my best friend when it came out and we finished another two times in the next day. Without the draw of the mystery and unanswered questions it does lose some of its replayability (like most strongly narrative-driven games) but it still manages to be fun until you’ve explored the various options (like a playthrough where everyone survives, or one where no one does). I can’t go too into talking about this without spoiling either of the plot twists that make the story interesting, but I will say that whether you are just a horror fan or an interesting story fan, Until Dawn has a little something for everyone.
Choose this game if
- You like horror movies
- You enjoy games with hard to see (though not impossible to see) plot twists
- You want to share an experience with friends where some of your characters might die and the game won’t just end there.
1. Hunt. Showdown
I don’t say this lightly, but I got to play a lot of Hunt: Showdown over a weekend a little while back and I have to say, I think it’s just about the perfect online multiplayer experience. The setting is eerie and dripping with an almost wild-west atmosphere, the monsters are twisted and interesting, and the combat can be both fast paced, and carefully slow and methodical depending on your approach to a situation. In Hunt: Showdown, you and up to 12 players take on the role of bounty hunters that are tasked with hunting down monsters on a large map. The other players can either be helpful, or try to take you out as possible competition. It’s a fun mix of spooky mysticism and weapons more grounded in reality, like revolvers, shotguns and crossbows. It also has a 15 minute battle royale mode, fitting in well with the current popularity of that type of gameplay. Ultimately this game hits a sweet spot of being both a great co-op experience, and a great pvp experience, with interesting and twisted AI-controlled enemies milling about the map to give you a solid PvE experience as well.
Choose this game if
- If you are looking for a game to sink some serious time into
- You enjoy PvE elements as well as PvP elements
- You love gritty horror shooters
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