20+ Best Scary Games – Board Games, Video Games, and More

If you’re a horror hunter, then you’re sure to love any of these games. This expansive list offers the creepiest scary games out there, from board games, video games, and games to play in real life. Browse the board games if searching for scares on a game night with friends or a way to liven your Halloween party. If searching for a game that frightens you as much as a gory scary movie, scroll through the video games. Or, if you’re looking for something to bring fear into your home and daily life, choose one of the games to play in real-time.

Regardless of what game you choose, prepare to feel tension and anxiety in ways you’ve never felt before! Explore the list of scary games below to find which one seems like the right fit for you and your creepy clan.

Scary Board Games

Hunt A Killer

This subscription box turned board game is the perfect way to crack horrific mysteries alongside friends. Get your storytelling voice ready to set a tense ambiance and fingers crossed you pick the right killer.

Exit the Game

These board games create an escape room experience from your couch. Acquire your best deductive reasoning skills to ensure you can solve the riddles and puzzles presented in each room. If you struggle to see the clues in front of you, you could end up trapped forever! And beware, the clock is ticking.

Horrified

This horror game incorporates all famous monsters into one terrifying scenario. Can you defend the town against seven of the most notorious monsters? Take on Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, and more to see their unique challenges and discover if you’re capable of ending their reign of terror.

Mansions of Madness

This game requires the assistance of an app to guide you on a creepy journey through Arkham. Inspired by the tales of horror legend, H.P. Lovecraft, this board game has you battling terrifying monsters, solving mind-bending puzzles, and more. See if you can conquer this board game beast!

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Blur reality and fiction with this card game based on the twisted tales of H.P. Lovecraft. Take an investigative journey to see if you’re able to stop the Ancient Ones from entering our universe.

Dead of Winter

Explore the psychology of survival mode with this crossroads game centered around living in a zombie-ridden world. Each player has their own tasks and means to keep in mind, but they must work as a collective whole to stay alive. Will you stick together as a team, or will you each perish at the hands of flesh-eating monsters?

Obscurio

A strange sorcerer is out to get you while a traitor is in your midst. Will you escape this library alive or fall into the illusions that seek to confuse you? Be careful who to trust in this game of twists, turns, and psychological scares.

Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger

Decide which paths to take in this board game full of intriguing options. However, one wrong choice and death could be upon you! Gather some friends and boast your best storytelling voice to make this interactive game come to life.

Nyctophobia: The Hunted

Completing a board game while wearing black-out glasses is no easy feat, especially when there’s one player acting as a hunter on your tail. Will you succumb to the fear of what lingers in the dark or sharpen your wits to find a path to safety?

Scary Video Games

The Evil Within Series

This survival horror game was directed by Shinji Mikami, the Resident Evil series creator. The original “Evil Within” game was released in 2014 and after raving reviews, “Evil Within 2” was created and made available in 2017. This third-person game series is bound to have you trembling around each corner and wondering why you even started playing in the first place.

The Last of Us

A classic horror storyline surrounding an apocalyptic world full of horrendous monsters. The character development forged throughout this game will have your psyche doing backflips during tense points. Do you have what it takes to make it through your mission and survive this terrifying new world?

Resident Evil 7 in VR

The Resident Evil series is known for being one of the best horror video game series around. However, Resident Evil 7 took their bloody, horrifying universe a step further by producing it as a virtual reality game. Take on classic Resident Evil monsters and scares in a VR headset that portrays the world right before your eyes. Can you handle this blur between fact and fiction?

Alien: Isolation

This terrifying video game was inspired by the famous Ridley Scott film, Alien. You can run, but you can’t hide from the alien that hunts you day and night. Test your nerves with this scary survival horror game and see if you’re able to make it out alive.

Amnesia: The Collection

A first-person video game series that never cuts your nerves a break. Thrown into a lair with no weapons and a forever-dimming lantern, escaping the horrors here seems nearly impossible. Play the Amnesia collection to discover the best scares and features of each Amnesia game.

Phasmophobia

Work as a detective to uncover which ghost is haunting the premises. Use classic horror tools such as Ouija boards, spirit boxes, and smudge sticks to uncover clues on how to set this spirit free. Are you brave enough to navigate the long dark halls, quiet rooms, and ominous shadows that lurk throughout the game? Play to find out!

Blair Witch

Based on the famous found-footage horror film, The Blair Witch Project, this psychological survival game offers frightening scenes like no other. Attempt navigating the dense woods full of strange cabins, terrifying signs, and confusion that will haunt your psyche long after you’ve escaped.

Darkwood

This top-down horror game creeps into a player’s mind through its unnerving sounds and storyline. Collect supplies during the daytime because once night rolls around, you’re trapped, and they will be coming.

Outlast

This first-person horror game aims to incorporate the found-footage style of shooting used in many popular horror movies. Use your camcorder’s infrared mode to peer down the eerie halls and alleyways of this abandoned psychiatric hospital. Just hope you don’t lose your mind and end up trapped here for a lifetime.

Scary Games to Play in Real Life

Ouija Board

A tried and true real-life, horror game, Ouija boards have been connecting us with the spirit world since the late 1800s. The mystique that lingers around this famous game has inspired many movies throughout the years. Curious to see if it works? Grab a board and see if the spirits will speak to you.

Light as Feather, Stiff as a Board

Great for a late night with friends, this simple game toys with the magic of levitation. If someone is lying down, can you truly lift them up using the tips of your fingers? Chant “light as a feather, stiff as a board” while lifting them to see if they rise from the ground.

Bloody Mary

Stand in a dark bathroom and chant “Bloody Mary” three times with a candle lit on the counter. If she doesn’t appear in the mirror, spin three times. Her face is said to haunt you and who knows, she just might pull through into her world forever.

Sara Sarita

Sit in front of a friend and each hold a coin in your hand. Begin by asking “Sara Sarita, may we join your game?” Proceed by each tossing your coins. If they both land on heads, Sara Saita said yes. And if they land on tails, it’s a no. Lastly, if they land one on heads and one on tales, it’s a maybe and you must ask again. Once you enter her game, you may ask her any ‘yes or no’ questions you want. In order to leave, you must ask her permission first and flip your coins until she answers yes.

Sandman

Have a friend lay face down while another friend is deemed the “speaker”. The speaker must decide how the friend laying down has died a gruesome death and now their body is filled with sand. While the speaker is sharing the story, other players must rub the legs and arms of the person laying down. It’s said that when the story is over and the person stands, their body truly feels like it’s made up of sand.

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