Halloween is the perfect excuse to turn the lights down, grab a bowl of lollies and settle in for a scary night on the couch. But horror movies are a spectator sport. Why just watch the jump scares when you and your mates can be the ones screaming at the screen, controllers in hand?
We've picked 5 of our favourite spooky local multiplayer games that you can play together on the same screen. Some are genuinely creepy, some are more "cute with a dark side", and one is basically a zombie comedy road trip. Whether you're after a cosy haunted-house adventure with your partner or a chaotic monster-blasting session with the whole gang, there's something here for your Halloween game night.
If you only play one game this Halloween, make it this one. Luigi's Mansion 3 sends everyone's favourite scaredy-cat plumber into a haunted hotel packed with ghosts, secrets and some brilliantly themed floors, from a spooky film studio to a medieval castle.
The story can be played in 2-player co-op, with the second player taking control of Gooigi, Luigi's gooey green double. It's a fantastic pick for families and non-gamers, because it's more giggles than genuine terror. Got a bigger crowd? The ScreamPark party mode lets two to eight players battle it out in team minigames on a single Switch.
Looking for something with real chills? Reanimal comes from Tarsier Studio, the team behind Little Nightmares, and it's every bit as unsettling as that pedigree suggests. Two siblings head back to their nightmarish island home to rescue their missing friends, and it's not a holiday.
You can play solo, but it's built for two, with local co-op on the same screen (plus online if your scaredy-cat friend lives across town). A directed camera makes every shadowy corner feel cinematic, and the grotesque creatures will have you both whispering "you go first". Released in February 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 and PC, it's the freshest horror co-op on this list.
Cute on the outside, very dark on the inside. Cult of the Lamb has you building a loyal cult of adorable woodland creatures, then heading out on bloody roguelike crusades to take down the old gods. It's equal parts colony sim and dungeon crawler, with a gloriously creepy sense of humour.
Since the free Unholy Alliance update in 2024, a second player can join on the same screen as the Goat, fighting alongside the Lamb and helping run the cult. It's a great choice if you want a Halloween vibe without the jump scares, and the "just one more crusade" loop makes it easy to lose an entire evening to it.
What's Halloween without a zombie horde? Zombieland: Double Tap - Road Trip is a top-down twin-stick shooter that throws you into the film's world, complete with its famous survival rules. Expect plenty of undead, plenty of bullets and plenty of silly one-liners.
Zombieland: Double Tap - Road Trip
Up to four players can team up in local co-op, which makes it perfect for a group of friends who want to switch their brains off and blast things together. It's not the deepest game on this list, but it's easy to pick up, it's often on sale, and it delivers exactly what it promises: four mates, one screen, a lot of zombies.
Our final pick is a gorgeous fairytale with a spooky twist. In Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince, a wizard, a knight and a thief chase down a runaway prince whose bad dreams are coming to life as shadowy monsters. It's a physics puzzle-platformer that looks like a storybook come to life.
Up to four players can play together locally, and the puzzles get wonderfully messy (and creative) when everyone has their own ideas about how to solve them. With its moonlit forests, haunted manors and dreamlike creatures, it's a lovely "lights off, blanket on" Halloween game for families and couples who'd rather be enchanted than terrified.
Whether you're hunting ghosts in a haunted hotel, sneaking past monsters in Reanimal or mowing down zombies with your mates, Halloween is better when you're scared together. Pick your game, dim the lights and make sure someone else is sitting closest to the door. Which spooky couch co-op game will you be playing this year? Let us know, and happy haunting!