There is joy in being a little scared. From pleasantly spooky atmospheres to frights that make your fingers fidget on the controller. Our team has played many horror-themed indie games, from cozy to creepy, and we’re excited to share some of our favorites to keep players frightened and having fun this Halloween season.
CloverPit
What’s scary about slot machines? Not much, unless you’ve ever tried to navigate a casino floor with your wallet (and ears) intact. But what if your life was riding on every jackpot? What if you were locked in a grim, rusted-metal nightmare room, suspended above a bottomless pit, with only a broken toilet and a few lucky charms to keep you company? Bet you’d be pretty scared then, huh? Huh!?
In any case, that’s the premise of CloverPit, a macabre slot-machine roguelite in which your only hope of survival is to win enough coins to clear an ever-rising debt. This isn’t entirely random; unlocking a few of those charms can tilt the odds in your favor, and learning to synergize them can keep you a few steps ahead of your unseen captors.
Also, the longer you survive, the more likely you are to get bonuses you can build strategies around, giving you more breathing room to plan an escape. So don’t get discouraged if your first few attempts send you tumbling into the abyss – there’s always a chance for better luck, even unstoppable luck, on your next run.
–Mikel Reparaz, Game Content Analyst
Escape the Backrooms
Escape the Backrooms is a horror exploration game that plunges you into the unsettling world of the internet’s infamous Backrooms legend. Traverse more than 30 eerie levels, solve puzzles, avoid terrifying entities, and search for a way out. Just remember: survival is far from guaranteed.
Brave the Backrooms alone for a tense, atmospheric experience, or team up online with up to three friends. Proximity voice chat means you’ll need to stick together whilst communicating carefully! The catch? Keep your voices to a whisper; the entities can hear you too.
What makes Escape the Backrooms a must-play is how brilliantly it balances psychological horror with chaotic multiplayer fun. Its unsettling environments and unpredictable dangers make solo exploration genuinely nerve-racking, while playing with friends can quickly turn into a chorus of panicked shouting and questionable decisions. Few horror games make being lost so terrifying, or watching your friends make everything worse so entertaining.
–Jonty Binns, Global Account Manager
Fangtopia
Not every spooky game needs to scare the life out of you. Fangtopia is a cozy, single-player puzzle game where you build your own monster-filled kingdom, one hexagonal tile at a time. Connect forests, towns, mountains, and railways to create a sprawling landscape, then populate it with werewolves, yetis, and other wonderfully weird creatures. And there’s no timer, so you can relax whilst planning each move.
Fangtopia is a must-play because it captures the spirit of Halloween without any of the scares. Its charming monsters, playful atmosphere, and satisfying puzzle mechanics make it the perfect game to unwind with after a night of horror. Whether you’re building the creepiest kingdom imaginable or simply seeing what strange creatures you can discover, Fangtopia proves that Halloween can be all treats, no tricks.
–Jonty Binns, Global Account Manager
Graveyard Keeper 2
Is it weird to call this medieval apocalyptic game cozy? Because this is exactly how I would summarise this game in one word.
I have never played the first game (Graveyard Keeper), so I learned the gameplay mechanics and story just by playing this one. I am usually not a fan of resource-management games, but somehow Graveyard Keeper 2 really hooked me, and I ended up losing track of time while playing! Customization also plays a big part, letting you decide where and what to build as you gradually bring the town back to life.
From the characters’ tone to the art style (2D, retro pixelated art), I started wondering why I never played the first one! The gameplay is quite full-on, with multiple things to do depending on what you prefer: complete quests, craft objects, build a zombie army to help you restore the town, or simply look after your church and graveyard. For someone new to the franchise, I recommend this game if you want a cozy, story-driven experience that unfolds at your own pace!
Who knew rebuilding a town with the help of zombies could be so relaxing?
– Juliette Common – Go-To-Market Strategist
Hunter’s Moon
What I enjoyed most about Hunter’s Moon was how different it felt from most horror games I’ve played. Rather than relying on monsters or jump scares, it draws its tension from the people, places, and beliefs that shape its world. I found myself slowing down to absorb the atmosphere, listening in on conversations, exploring winding countryside paths, and gradually piecing together the lives of the community around me.
Some of my favorite moments came from simply observing the stories unfolding inside homes and taverns, while the game’s wonderfully strange mummers, handcrafted visual style, and strong sense of British folklore gave every encounter a distinctive character. One moment I was completely engrossed in the villagers’ lives and dramas; the next I was desperately trying to evade capture when a stealth sequence took an unexpected turn. The result is a mature, atmospheric folk-horror experience that feels genuinely unlike anything else I’ve played recently.
–Dominic Kendrick – Producer
Phasmophobia
Are solo scares not your thing? Maybe you’d feel braver with some friends along. Phasmophobia lets you team up with three other ghost hunters to investigate extremely haunted locations and gather evidence of the supernatural. Using voice chat and advanced equipment like UV lights, cameras, and thermometers, you’ll creep through dark spaces, hunting for clues about the resident ghost.
Just know that the ghosts can hunt you back. While you’re poking around and laughing with your friends, you might see eerie phenomena, lights flickering, doors slamming, or even the ghost itself, but when the front door locks and you hear it coming, it’s time to run, hide, and hope it doesn’t find you. And don’t scream, they’re always listening. Always.
– Mikel Reparaz, Game Content Analyst
Reanimal
Beautiful dissonance is the shortest way to describe the feeling of playing Reanimal. Juxtaposed against a morose color palette where scares lurk behind every shadow, it’s a tender, cooperative experience that gently guides the player through environmental storytelling at its finest. You play as an orphaned brother and sister on a mission to rescue their missing friends, navigating a nightmarish island through a combination of stealth and puzzle-platforming mechanics.
One moment, you may crouch behind an object to hide from a macabre creature; the next, you may be frantically chased through cavernous woods teeming with monstrous surprises. In all of these moments, you’ll have to work with your sibling to survive, forging a shared experience in the dark.
From its sumptuously dark atmosphere to its tense pursuits across the island, Reanimal is the perfect companion for spooky season.
–Becky Sayers, Independent Partners Team Lead
Silver Pines
A private detective lost in a rainy, mostly abandoned mountain town is a natural setup for a Lynchian survival-horror game; a side-scrolling search-action, not so much. Yet Silver Pines blends its inspirations cleverly, delivering a moody, mystery-filled adventure where players hunt for keys and clues while discovering weapons that let them tear through obstacles and misshapen creatures with equal ease.
It starts slow. Investigator Red Walker wakes up in a diner with little more than his modest ability to jog and dodge, but the game quickly immerses players in a nightmare mystery as Red delves into decrepit motels, flooded tunnels, and dreamlike spaces in search of missing musician Eddie Velvet. An unusual high-contrast art style and surprisingly effective scares deepen the sense of unease, while satisfyingly brutal, stompy combat makes pushing deeper into the horror more fun. It’s a strange, melancholic, and utterly unique take on survival horror.
– Mikel Reparaz, Game Content Analyst
The Midnight Walk
The Midnight Walk is a single-player, first-person adventure focused on exploration, puzzles, and stealth. You travel through a beautifully twisted dark fantasy world alongside Potboy, a small lantern-like companion whose flame is key to your journey.
What makes this a standout must-play is its incredible handcrafted art style, with every character and environment sculpted in clay and 3D-scanned into the game. It feels like stepping into a dark stop-motion movie that’s weird, beautiful, and unsettling in equal measure, and unlike almost anything else out there. If you love Tim Burton films or are a fan of Little Nightmares, this is a must-play for you.
– John Vega, Director, Head of Independent Partner Relations
Discover more indie favorites on PlayStation
What spooky games are you playing this Halloween season?
