20 Best Multiplayer Horror Genre Games to Play with Friends
If there is something I knew, I’d say you should never play a horror game alone if you have friends as crazy as you are. Why would you face unspeakable horrors on your own while you can do it with your friends anyway? At least you won’t be alone and you will be supporting each other on the way while also having fun from your wretchedness. So, if you are into horror games and want to be able to play with your friends, here are some of the best multiplayer horror games you can play together. On the other side, we also know that it is really hard to find a good multiplayer horror game according to everyone’s taste. There might be tons of things that you or your friends could not stand even you will be playing altogether as well. So here are some of the cooperative and competitive environment which seem fit to showcase as some of the best multiplayer horror games.
Deceit
- Platform: Microsoft Windows
In this horror game, you will see that you can trust your friends or not, as the game makes you look over your behind all the time. And you’ll see it won’t really matter even if you are going on this journey with your friends. It’s mostly because Deceit makes you rush into exiting as an infected fiend, while there is someone among you hiding and plain sight along with following your every move.
Synopsis:
“Deceit tests your instincts at trust and deception in an action-filled, multiplayer first-person shooter. You wake up in unknown surroundings to the sound of the Game Master’s unfamiliar voice, surrounded by five others. A third of your group have been infected with a virus, but who will escape?”
Cry of Fear
- Platform: Microsoft Windows
Cry of Fear is a great moody and gloomy game as it allows you to play also with your friend as a multiplayer component along with its excellent single-player experience. You will be teaming up with your friends to survive a deadly horror that stalks you in the streets of Scandinavia.
Synopsis:
“Cry of Fear is a psychological single-player and co-op horror game set in a deserted town filled with horrific creatures and nightmarish delusions. You play as a young man desperately searching for answers in the cold Scandinavian night, finding his way through the city as he slowly descends into madness.”
Dying Light
- Platforms: Linux, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS
Dying Light provides an asymmetrical mode that players can exactly ‘be the zombie’ along with their friends in its four-player co-op option. But you also shouldn’t think it will be easy as you control a slow-moving creature. No, you will be controlling the zombies in a form of the grotesque Night Hunter.
Synopsis:
“First-person action survival game set in a post-apocalyptic open-world overrun by flesh-hungry zombies. Roam a city devastated by a mysterious virus epidemic. Scavenge for supplies, craft weapons, and face hordes of the infected.”
Dead By Daylight
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, Stadia, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
In Dead By Daylight, players are trapped in purgatory and being hunted by a merciless killer as they try to survive and escape. And there are of course lots of paranormal threats on their way for survival along with many serial killers as well. In the game, you can be both a survivor or a killer. Even if being a survivor does sound boring, with the characters that the game provides, controlling a survivor is also really fun.
Synopsis:
“Dead by Daylight is a multiplayer (4vs1) horror game where one player takes on the role of the savage Killer, and the other four players play as Survivors, trying to escape the Killer and avoid being caught and killed.”
The Forest
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4
The Forest is a survival horror game that includes gathering fundamental elements to stay alive, finding clean sources of water, building structures for protection from dangers, and more. You’ll never know in this game when a dinosaur might ransack your house or another player tries to steal from you. It provides a massive horror by replacing the PvP gameplay with a co-op or solo experience.
Synopsis:
“As the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants. Build, explore, survive in this terrifying first-person survival horror simulator.”
Hunt: Showdown
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
This multiplayer horror game gives you the chance to hunt alone or with a group with monster-hunter technology equipment as you look for the next big score in a Bayou. The game will make you sweat and won’t be easy to play while the ruthless cretins are stalking the swamps along with the other opposing hunters of yours. And you will all be chasing for the scoring and improve your hunter to become the best ever.
Synopsis:
“Hunt: Showdown is a thrilling, high-stakes PvPvE first-person shooter. Takedown nightmarish monsters, as you compete for the bounties that will bring you glory, gear, and gold in this unforgiving – and unforgettable – online multiplayer experience.”
Resident Evil 5
When it comes to horror games, the Resident Evil franchise always leads its flag in frontlines. And with its following game, it now provides co-op gameplay where players can team up to battle through another new virus, the Uroboros Mkono. You can play the game on both sides and online while its multiplayer mod has excellent integration. You can play as either Chris Redfield or Sheva Alomar through a story mode that includes the typical Resident Evil absurdities.
Synopsis:
“The Umbrella Corporation and its crop of lethal viruses have been destroyed and contained. But a new, more dangerous threat has emerged. Years after surviving the events in Raccoon City, Chris Redfield has been fighting the scourge of bio-organic weapons all over the world.
Now a member of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA), Chris is sent to Africa to investigate a biological agent that is transforming the populace into aggressive and disturbing creatures. Joined by another local BSAA agent, Sheva Alomar, the two must work together to solve the truth behind the disturbing turn of events.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxJbz_3PKQo
Phasmophobia
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows
This horror game is all about gathering as much paranormal activity as possible in an area. In Phasmophobia, you use various gadgets to capture paranormal beings such as ghosts. But during your running, you also never know when they will pop up, which makes the game lot tenser. Players also need to complete various goals as well. And we should warn you, not all of those goals are easy to get through, so you might have your nerve during those challenging tasks along with the creepy atmosphere of the game.
Synopsis:
“Phasmophobia is a 4 player online co-op psychological horror. Paranormal activity is on the rise and it’s up to you and your team to use all the ghost hunting equipment at your disposal in order to gather as much evidence as you can.”
Friday The 13 The Game
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
This horror game became a big hit when it was first released. And it is also a movie adaptation which many of you probably know. The game allows you to team up to eight players, seven of which are camp counselors while the one left becomes the main protagonist, Jason Voorhees. You will all have two end goals which are working together to defeat Jason or escape as Jason also looks for the hidden camp counselors to slaughter.
Synopsis:
“Jason is back! Jason Voorhees is unleashed and stalking the grounds of Camp Crystal Lake! Friday the 13th: The Game is one of the most highly-anticipated horror titles of all time. You will finally be able to take on the role as Jason Voorhees and Camp Crystal Lake counselors.”
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
- Platforms: Unreal Engine 4, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
In this horror game, you will be controlling a cast of characters. But you’ll never know which one of you will be able to make it through the story because your fates depend on your actions. As you dive into the sea to search for a sunken treasure with your friends, you will figure out soon enough there is much more waiting and lurking below than just a sunken treasure. So better be prepared before you head on your way.
Man of Medan provides you two versions for the multiplayer game which are a group locally or a secondary player online. In the local players mod, all of your choices will affect the storyline including what happens to your friends as each participant will be controlling a character within the story. But on the other side, the characters controlled will be split up between the two if you are in the online player mod.
Synopsis:
“The Dark Pictures Anthology is a series of stand-alone, branching cinematic horror games that can also be played online with a friend. In Man of Medan, five friends set sail on a holiday diving trip that soon changes into something much more sinister.”
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
As another installment to The Dark Pictures Anthology franchise, Little Hope is worth to be added to our horror game list since it’s also seen a little like the cult survival horror, Silent Hill. You will take control of college students this time along with their teachers as they get trapped in a haunted town. And the multiplayer options are just like the same as Man of Medan.
Synopsis:
“Trapped and isolated in the abandoned town of Little Hope, 4 college students and their teacher must escape the nightmarish apparitions that relentlessly pursue them through an impenetrable fog.”
Obscure
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
This horror game offers a simple two-player co-op multiplayer experience for you to tackle together. You and your friend have to find your way out as you also try to figure out a deadly conspiracy, which has infected many students. Obscure really deserves a chance to play with your friend as it provides you a simple but satisfying thrill experience.
Synopsis:
“For some time now, Leafmore High School has been the setting for unexplained disappearances. In this survival horror game, you take control of a group of 5 American students. With your friends, you try to unravel the mysterious happenings at this unremarkable-looking school. The night will be long and survival will not be easy…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHC84igPwW0
F.E.A.R. 3
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
In the past games of the F.E.A.R franchise, Alma’s presence was set up along with diving deeper into her followingly to expand it. And ultimately, the time of tackling Alma’s horrors together arrived with F.E.A.R 3 providing the needed co-op experience for its players. So, Alma comes back vengeful and horrifying just like she was. But this time, you won’t have to deal with her alone thankfully.
Synopsis:
“Alma is expecting and a new level of terror grows as you and your cannibal brother battle through a hellish nightmare. Fight together or die alone on a deadly mission to confront your twisted mother. Players can take on the role of Point Man, a genetically enhanced soldier with superhuman reflexes and the ability to manipulate time, or the undead spirit of his brother Paxton Fettel, a paranormal entity who possesses incredible psychic powers.”
No More Room In Hell
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, SteamOS
This horror game puts you in a group as you all try to survive against the undead in an open-world. During the game, you keep moving all the time in order to find resources, new safe areas while you are also battling against undead with some weapons like axes, guns, or whatever you can find. It doesn’t really matter as long as you kill them. And what’s best is the game is free along with its massive player base. But the players won’t probably stick around much longer since there is a sequel for the beloved horror game on its way. So, you may want to check out and give it a try before everyone leaves!
Synopsis:
“The chances of you surviving this all-out war of society and the undead are slim to none. Already, there are millions of the walking dead shambling about, searching for food to eat. There’s no known cure. One bite can possibly end it all for you. However, you aren’t alone in this nightmare.”
In Silence
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Here is another 5v1 horror game for you. But this time there is actually one difference that changes nearly everything about it. Like most of the games, a group of players tries to escape from the area while the opposing player is searching for them to capture. But the monster’s player will have really limited eyesight which means he or she will have to rely on sounds more in order to find the group. So if the group makes too much noise, the monster will be able to localize them as well. Ultimately, it’s a battle where the silence wins.
Synopsis:
“In Silence is a multiplayer horror game. One player takes on the role of the monster who has hypersensitive hearing abilities and is almost completely blind. The other players(2-6) play as survivors, trying to escape or hunting the monster.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QQKhOhxuKc
White Noise 2
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, SteamOS + Linux
If you like grotesque oddities, this horror game might be for you as it also has its own purpose opposite most other games. You will be cooperating with your teammates in order to survive while the monster is hunting and not far behind you. And you will have two groups as 4vs1 pitting four players of investigators and the other one as the monster after you.
Synopsis:
“Enjoy a 4vs1 asymmetric horror experience like no other. Be a part of the investigator team, or take control of the creature and devour them!”
Killing Floor 2
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Killing Floor 2 is a cooperative FPS survival horror game where players will find themselves in a pandemic as it spreads around incredibly fast. You will be battling against all kinds of creatures, Zeds, as they come with waves. In the meantime, you will also have to face boss battles as well that will give you rough times. The game’s main purpose is to challenge yourselves in order to see how far you can get through waves as they keep getting harder each time you progress.
Synopsis:
“In KILLING FLOOR 2, players descend into continental Europe where the outbreak caused by Horzine Biotech’s failed experiment has quickly spread and gained unstoppable momentum, essentially paralyzing the European Union— Just one month after the events in the original KILLING FLOOR, the specimen clones are everywhere and civilization is in disarray; communications have failed, governments have collapsed, and military forces have been systematically eradicated. The people of Europe know survival and self-preservation too well and lucky survivors have gone into hiding.
Not all have given up hope though… A group of civilians and mercenaries have banded together to combat the outbreak and established privately funded operation bases across Europe. Upon tracking specimen clone outbreaks, players will descend into zed-laden hot zones and exterminate them.”
Left 4 Dead 2
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Mac OS X, Linux
Left 4 Dead was one of the most popular horror games back in time that it didn’t take much for us to see a sequel of it. The first-person combat game returned with much more special zombies that can blow your mind possibly.
Despite its first installment, Left 4 Dead 2 is primarily based on a co-op experience for players. While an online competitive mode pits players in the special infected role, others try to pass through each level by completing objectives in order to find an escape.
Synopsis:
“Set in the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) is the highly anticipated sequel to the award-winning Left 4 Dead, the #1 co-op game of 2008. This co-operative action horror FPS takes you and your friends through the cities, swamps, and cemeteries of the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans across five expansive campaigns.”
Unfortunate Spacemen
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows
This horror game might be seen like Among Us but as its first-person version. You have a group just like most of the games but be careful! This time, you won’t be knowing who is the enemy unless you find out or fail tragically by a betray. So after all, it’s actually about gaining trust, keeping a low profile, and then betraying them. In the meantime, the rest of the group will try to escape from the area and continue to complete tasks.
Synopsis:
“Unfortunate Spacemen is a co-op / multiplayer game about Shape-shifting Space-Based Murder and Betrayal! As a hapless yet brave spaceman employed by “The Company” you’ll work diligently to defend and be rescued from failing outposts, but not everyone around you is who they claim to be…”
The Blackout Club
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows
BioShock and Dishonered’s developer AAA has come with a cooperatively focused horror game called The Blackout Club. The game pits players into the sneakers of a few teenagers in a particular town as they have trouble with random blackouts. And nobody knows what causes these blackouts as well and none of the adults believe in these strange blackouts. So, teenagers will have to work together to figure out what’s causing the blackout issues and then prove it to the entire world. You won’t be armed with any weapon as well since you are just teenagers, so instead, you will have tools to use to your advantages such as noisemakers and grappling hooks.
Synopsis:
“The Blackout Club is a first-person co-op horror game centered around a group of teenage friends investigating a monstrous secret beneath the skin of their small town. 1-4 players explore procedurally-generated missions against a fearsome enemy you can only see with your eyes closed.”
You might also want to take a look at all games that are coming in 2021 here.
