There’s no doubt that Halloween is made better by getting festive with a spooky video game. Nintendo’s own Luigi’s Mansion 3 will be releasing on October 31, but it might not be the scary game that you’re looking for. After all, the series is known for its humor rather than its scares. Thankfully, those looking for a scarier game to play on Nintendo Switch have plenty of options as there are a ton of great horror games to play on the handheld-console hybrid. With the spooky holiday coming up, here are the best Nintendo Switch horror games that you can play on Halloween.
Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games | Bulb Boy
While not the scariest game on this list, Bulb Boy is a neat adventure game starring the titular Bulb Boy, who is indeed a giant lightbulb. Players solve puzzles by using the boy’s unscrewable head after his house has been corrupted by some sort of evil. Plenty of monsters are lurking in this stylish point and click title, and it’s a cool departure from what players normally expect from the genre.
Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games | Corpse Party: Book of Shadows
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows released earlier this month on Switch, and while the chibi-style graphics don’t scream horror, the well-drawn cinematic graphics and descriptive story do. There’s plenty of messed-up deaths to encounter and some writing that will give players goosebumps as players return to Heavenly Host Elementary School for one last haunted hurrah.
Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games | Detention
Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games moved critics with its 2017 horror game Detention and it was such a success that it became a live-action film that released last month. The Switch port of the atmospheric side-scroller released in 2018, and follows two students as they find themselves trapped in Greenwood High School. The game masterfully builds tension and manages to deliver plenty of scares despite its relatively basic art style. It’s well worth checking out if you want to experience some scares alongside a meaningful story.
Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games | Layers of Fear: Legacy
Bloober Team made quite the impression with its first foray into psychological horror. Layers of Fear immediately grabbed headlines for its spooky portrayal of a painter suffering from mental health issues while trying to complete what he believes to be his masterpiece. Players navigate through his Victorian mansion and have to solve puzzles as we learn more about the painter and his past. The Nintendo Switch port also includes HD rumble support and its Inheritance DLC. A sequel released earlier this year, but it’s not out on Switch just yet.
Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games | Little Nightmares: Complete Edition
One doesn’t usually assume a puzzle-platformer to be scary, but Little Nightmares proves that it can be done. The fantastic Complete Edition bundles together the main story and its three DLC packs that make up Secrets of the Maw. The gorgeous game stars a hungry little child named Six that is trying to escape from a mysterious vessel filled with twisted creatures like the one seen above. The horror game found critical and commercial success upon release and a sequel is set to release next year, so there’s no better time to get through the original.
Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games | Observer
Bloober Team have made some of the best psychological horror games in recent memory, and Observer is the studio’s best work. The cyberpunk-influenced game stars Blade Runner actor Rutger Hauer as a detective that can hack into people’s minds. However, looking into the darkest depths of a person’s mind is rarely pretty, and these sequences are quite terrifying. Observer has a fantastic story that is only let down by some less-than-stellar stealth sequences that have the player hiding from a monster.
Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games | Outlast: Bundle of Terror
Few games do jump scares better than the Outlast series and the Outlast: Bundle of Terror includes the first game and its excellent DLC story called Whistleblower. Players get to explore a run-down psychiatric hospital while running into (and away from) its not-so-normal inhabitants. If you’re looking for pure terror (that unfortunately plays out in a cliché asylum) then you can’t beat this series.
If you finish up the first game and like what you see then you’ll be glad to find out that Outlast 2 is also available on Nintendo Switch. Both are solid ports that keep all of the scares intact.
Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games | Resident Evil 4
While Resident Evil 4 wound up signaling the series’ move from full-fledged survival horror to third-person action, this entry has a perfect blend of the two styles. There are still plenty of scares to be had as Leon S. Kennedy works his way through enemy-filled villages and attempts to save the president’s daughter. The Switch port is a fantastic version of a game that has aged incredibly well in the decade-plus since its initial release, and getting to play it portably is a real treat.
Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games | Resident Evil: Origins Collection
If you want some survival horror then you can’t do better than Resident Evil. The Resident Evil: Origins Collection includes both the remake of the original and Resident Evil 0, which originally came out for the GameCube. While they originally released with tank controls, these enhanced ports can be played more like a modern title due to some fun enhancements like new controls and additional characters. The Switch port holds up, even if Resident Evil 0 isn’t the best of the classic RE games.
Best Nintendo Switch Horror Games | Vampyr
After the success of Life is Strange, most gamers weren’t expecting a horror-action RPG from French studio Dontnod Entertainment. However, that’s exactly what the developer gave players. The Switch port releases on October 29 and features plenty of moral quandaries for players to decide upon as they live out life as a vampire. Do you kill innocent people to make the life easier during the Spanish flu outbreak in London or try to be a morally righteous vampire (if there even is such a thing)? It’s all up to you and how you play Vampyr.
