Spooky season is upon us! Now that October is finally here, nobody will be able to escape skeletons, black cats, or the color orange until an army of children invades our neighborhoods to demand candy. It’s also a chance to remind folks that spooky can be fun rather than needing to be scary. Sure, there’s plenty of horror out there for those that want to feel their bones chilled, but the rest of us who enjoy the vibes of Halloween without the scary parts have a plethora of options as well — including video games!
While most games that fall under the spooky label in gaming are horror games, there are a handful out there that fit the spooky mold without going into the horror genre. These games are perfect to play if you want to get in the season, or maybe have some Halloween-themed gaming with a partner, sibling, or child. We did our best to find games that are as close to not scary as possible while still being spooky and also being something that you can legitimately still find.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 – Switch
The Luigi’s Mansion series is the pinnacle of spooky but not scary video games. All of them feature Luigi going around sucking up ghosts in a vacuum cleaner Ghostbusters style and just like the iconic movie these games are not meant to be scary. Luigi himself may be spooked as he tries to traverse through a world of ghosts, but the ghosts themselves are about what you would expect from a Mario game. They’re silly, over the top, and extremely creative in a way that is very unique to Nintendo.
We went with Luigi’s Mansion 3 here for a few reasons. The biggest one is that since it’s on the Switch it’s going to be the easiest to find. The other is that Luigi’s Mansion 3 has a great co-op option that makes this game perfect to play with someone else on the couch. It’s plenty of fun on your own, but everyone knows that games are more fun with friends so this gets a strong recommendation from us.
Costume Quest – Steam
Costume Quest is probably the most Halloween-centric game on this list because it’s literally about Halloween! While out trick or treating, your sibling is kidnapped and you have to go on an turn-based RPG adventure to rescue them. Everything about this game is Halloween from the costumes, to collecting candy, and the quests that the player has to complete. On top of all that, it’s also really fun to play too. The gameplay itself is fairly simplistic, making it great for kids, but it’s really fun to explore the world and talk to characters because the writing is superb and genuinely very funny. It also features co-op so it’s yet another game that can be played with someone else on the couch.
Unfortunately, the first Costume Quest can be a little difficult to find on modern consoles since it’s an Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 game. You can play it on Steam, or if you’re someone that doesn’t mind playing the sequel first then you can always play Costume Quest 2 on any modern console. It came out for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One which means it can be played on a PlayStation 5 or Series X/S through backward compatibility. It’s not as complicated to hunt down as it sounds, but you might have to put in slightly more work than the other games on this list.
Death Road To Canada – PC, Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
What if you took The Oregon Trail, set it in a zombie apocalypse, let players put their friends into the game, and wrote one of the funniest games ever made? Well, then you would have Death Road to Canada a total gem of a zombie apocalypse game. While not necessarily spooky outside of the zombie setting, this is a game that’s really fun to play with a large group of friends. It’s the zombie apocalypse and rumors that Canada is a safe haven has the player on a journey to Canada to escape, and as they go on their journey they’ll come across others that can join up with them and those others can be player created versions of friends, family, or whoever really you want them to be. You better be good at managing your resources though, because if your friends die or get mad and leave the party then that’s it for them. They aren’t coming back.
Death Road to Canada shines in its writing. Without giving too much away, there is a scenario where the player gets into a flexing contest with a group of raiders and depending on the result someone has to walk away in shame. It’s extremely funny and only made better when you insert all your friends into the game as well. It’s available on pretty much every modern platform and we highly recommend it.
Castlevania – Switch
Pick any classic Castlevania game and you will find pretty much everything that embodies modern-day spookiness. The player will go on a side-scrolling adventure, whip in hand, and destroy Dracula. On the way, they’ll come across many classic horror icons such as Frankenstein’s Monster, Medusa heads, skeletons, and Death itself. It’s funny because these games were considered horror games back in the day but by current standards the scariest thing about them is how difficult they are. They’re retro games, challenge and all, making them a great way to experience some classic spookiness.
Since these games first came out on the NES and SNES there are plenty of ways to experience them today, but the easiest way is probably the Castlevania Anniversary Collection on Switch. It has all the classics on there so any player can get their fill of spookiness for only $20. Just maybe look up a guide online if you decide to play Castlevania II.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons During October – Switch
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is not a spooky game. The closest it comes to that is a silly ghost that you scare so bad he splits into pieces making you put him back together again, but throughout the month of October, the entire game is full of spookiness. There are Halloween decorations that you can put up, candy is everywhere, and there are plenty of costumes for the player to put on to get into the Halloween spirit. All of this leads up to October 31 when everyone gathers in the town square and the player can use all of the candy they’ve earned for cool rewards and furniture.
Halloween is one of the more fun events in Animal Crossing and it gets even better as your entire island starts to become full of the decorations you put up all over town. If you bought Animal Crossing back in 2020, and haven’t played it since we strongly recommend picking it back up for the holidays. There’s been a lot of updates since then and it’s really fun to back and experience your island for an event like Halloween.