The Best Mobile Games You Can Play in Darkness This Halloween

Halloween is the ideal time to indulge in horror. No matter what you are into, Halloween is the perfect time to indulge in horror. Movies, TV Shows Fears of horror can be overcome by reading Stephen King novels or enduring the terrors of nightmarish scenes. Video games that are creepy and disturbing are no exception. (See our complete list here of terrifying console and PC games.)

We have compiled a list mobile horror games for Android, iPhone, and iPad that will make your Halloween extra scary. 

Oxenfree

Netflix Subscriptions Include Free Access

When a group of teenagers accidentally create a ghostly rift, a bad situation ensues for the friends. Soon, the group finds itself fighting for survival, navigating time loops, doubting whether everyone is really who they claim to be. 

This game, which is choice-based, is amazing. Oxenfree describes itself as a “supernatural teenage thriller”, but he avoids clichés and tropes. Instead, Oxenfree creates characters with depth and an eerie plot. This is a fast game that can be played in one sitting. However, there are multiple endings so you can always return.

Oxenfree now available for free with a Netflix subscription.

Edith Finch: What is Left?

iOS: $5 

What Remains Edith Finch is an emotional, dark journey through the seemingly cursed Finch tree. Edith Finch, Edith’s only living relative, returns to her vast ancestral home. It seems like the house is endless and there are many rooms and secret passages that you can explore. 

Edith’s history is presented as a series of stories that the player can follow. Edith keeps track of her family tree as you go along. It’s both a puzzle and walking simulator that you can play in one sitting. 

The game is dark without giving away too much. It features themes such as suicide, human and animal death, mental illness, and other disturbing topics. It’s a fun game. But if any of these topics trigger you (or you think they might be related), you will find a lot of them.

Go Home 

iOS: $5

From the beginning, Gone Home will seduce you. You play the role of Katie Greenbriar returning home after a year-long journey through Europe. Your family appears to have vanished when you return home, in the middle of a storm. Explore every corner and crevice of this sprawling home. Find clues to unravel the mystery of what happened while you were away. 

The tension generated by mystery and suspense is almost scarier than jump scares. Gone Home was a thrilling, engaging, and emotionally charged game for me as a dedicated mystery gamer. I found myself in a strange place, feeling alone and uneasy. While I felt sadness and frustration at the thought of opening doors to find no one behind me, the emotional payoff was so sweet and satisfying. 

The iPad can be difficult to use, and it could be improved with controller support. It’s still well worth the effort.

Very few Nightmares

iOS and Android $7

Very Little Nightmares predates the console game Little Nightmares. The Girl in Yellow Raincoat awakes in a mysterious home and must find her way out. She must also navigate through unstable architecture and puzzles. Very Little Nightmares felt a little less scary than the console games. This is an acceptable game to check out if you aren’t a horror fan. 

Limbo

iOS: $4, Android: $5

Side-scrolling platformer Limbo is as scary as it looks. As a young boy, you must solve puzzles in order to navigate through a dark chiaroscuro landscape filled with horrifying monsters and traps. 

Inside 

iOS

From the makers of Limbo comes Inside, a beautiful, haunting puzzle platformer that features a creepy, moody soundtrack and a compelling story. Like What Remains of Edith Finch there are disturbing elements of manipulation that can trigger some. The game features a young boy who is faceless in a cold, isolated world with muted colors. It doesn’t take too long to realize that other characters in the games aren’t always the best of intentions and have dark secrets to reveal. The developers add another layer to the atmosphere by conveying the sadness and exhaustion of the main character, despite his ambiguity. 

Sara is missing

No cost on iOS or Android

Sara is Missing is an extremely short mobile game but it is very immersive. Find a missing girl’s phone and the app displays it as if it were yours.

After unlocking Sara’s phone you will be taken into a world full of lies, mystery, and secrets. To piece together Sara’s final moments, you can look through text messages and emails. You can also retrieve deleted files and data. The Siri-like mobile assistant Iris guides you through your search. It might have some secrets of its own.

There are many choices to make, hidden subplots, and quite a few jump scares.

I am Innocent

No cost on iOS or Android

I Am Innocent is a detective-game similar to Sara is Missing. The gameplay is longer and more complicated. The investigation will involve a series murders that are somehow connected to the disappearance your sister. As you dig deeper, uncovering secrets, no one is as they appear.

Your interactions with the characters can either improve or harm your relationships, just like in real life. A mysterious Ghost starts sending you messages. He connects with Finch, a kidnapper in desperate need of your help.

You can use your resources to improve photos, gather information, search archives, find out the fate of your sister, and help Finch. You can unlock more information by beating the Tetris-style games.

Thimbleweed Park

iOS and Android $10

Discover the haunted hotel, the destroyed pillow factory, and the abandoned circus that make up Thimbleweed Park.

Agent Ray and Junior Agent Reyes are a Mulder/Scully duo. Frank the ghost is a cranky clown named Ransome. Delores is the game developer. You can have characters that work together or make it more difficult to solve the murder.

Thimbleweed Park is an ad-hoc noir parody, set in 1987. It’s nostalgic in its pixelated style. This is a fun, lighthearted game that you can play at this time of the year. 

Life can be strange

iOS and Android: Episode 1 is free. You can then purchase individual episodes, or the season pass ($1-10).

Although Life is Strange isn’t necessarily scary, it’s well worth playing for its mystery and suspense. Max, a young girl who has visions of impending disasters, is the protagonist of Life is Strange. Soon, she discovers she can change time and could be able to use these powers to save Chloe her best friend.

Max and Chloe investigate the disappearance of a student and discover that there is a darker side to their town. Max alters the past and it has an effect on the future.

Even on a small smartphone screen, the graphics in Life is Strange look stunning. The plot is well-written and the soundtrack is great. It reacts to your choices so the ending can be different. This game can be found on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Xbox One. You can also find the second installment, Life is Strange: Before the Storm if you enjoyed this one.