Halloween is coming, but there are far more ways to get yourself in the spirit of the season aside from dressing up and begging for candy. In between downing popcorn during a scary movie and planning for the night’s big party, try playing a mobile game that leaves you too afraid to tap on the screen. Here are ten to choose from that would gladly haunt your Android phone or tablet this Halloween.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a far more terrifying experience than you would expect from something about a giant fuzzy bear, even one as demented looking as Freddy. You take the role of a security guard who mans the night shift at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a place where the animatronic robots come to life when no one’s watching. Unfortunately, you only have a limited amount of power to control the cameras, lights, and security doors. Failing to manage energy wisely will give you the chance to explore the inside of a furry robot’s belly.
The controls and visuals are simple to the point of feeling like a B-budget horror flick, and that’s just part of the game’s charm. Sequels change up a few of the play mechanics and the location, but each version has left millions of players jumping from their phones.
Download: Five Nights at Freddy’s for Android ($2.99 with in-app purchases)
Download: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 for Android ($2.99)
Download: Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 for Android ($2.99)
Download: Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 for Android ($2.99)
I’m not quick to recommend endless runners, but Into the Dead comes with a visual style that makes it instantly memorable in an over-crowded genre. You will run through fields, forests, and corn fields that are swarming with undead marked mainly by their silhouettes. Sometimes you will have firearms, but even unarmed, you must survive as long as you can.
The first-person perspective gives you a sense of what it would feel like to be the sole survivor of an outbreak that turns everyone in your town into zombies while you’re out collecting candy this year.
Download: Into the Dead for Android (Free with in-app purchases)
You’re in a room with a safe that you want to get open. Yeah, nothing scary there. But it’s hard to concentrate once the whispers start. And could those letters be a little less cryptic?
The Room and The Room Two offer some of the best visuals to grace mobile devices. This may be a puzzle game, but you don’t need guns and monsters to walk away feeling a little spooked.
Download: The Room for Android ($0.99)
Download: The Room Two for Android ($2.99)
The Abandoned School is an oldie, but it serves as a reminder of the kind of creativity born from having limited resources to work with. Smartphones weren’t as powerful when this game first hit the Play Store (then known as the Android Market), so you don’t get to walk around fully rendered 3D environments. Instead you navigate through dark, boding rooms resembling old black and white photos that captured a time and place you never wanted to experience firsthand.
The game has hundreds of thousands of installs, and with the developers having added three more stages in 2014, there’s still life to be found in this abandoned school.
Download: The Abandoned School for Android (Free)
Your job is to find objects and escape, all while Slendrina is following your every move. Sometimes she’s merely watching. Sometimes she attacks without mercy. Don’t stare at her too long, or you might just wet your pants. Just when you think you’re safe, turn around. She’s standing right there.
There are a number of Slendrina games available in the Play Store, but each one is similarly frightening, even if the mechanics never deviate too much from the premise described above. Just try not to break your phone. You still need it for all those Halloween-related Android apps.
Download: Slendrina for Android (Free with ads)
Download: House of Slendrina for Android (Free with ads)
Download: Slendrina: Asylum for Android (Free with ads)
Download: Slendrina: The Cellar for Android (Free with ads)
Limbo isn’t scary so much as it is atmospheric. You explore a quiet and desolate landscape depicted entirely in black and white. Light, shadow, and sound guide your senses more than polygons and explosions. But even without ghosts leaping out at you or zombies vying for your brains, the eeriness of Limbo’s world will still leave you on edge.
This indie title originally launched in the Xbox Live Arcade back in 2010, but it has captivated players across every platform it’s visited since.
Download: Limbo for Android ($4.99)
Download: Limbo demo for Android (Free)
Like many great horror games before it, Eyes gives you an abandoned house to explore. You’re out to find valuables, but you quickly find that this building feels more like a labyrinth than a home. All you have is a crumpled map and your scribbles of where you’ve been.
Behind each door is a scary portrait, neglected furniture, and silence. Oh, and the ghost that haunts the halls.
Download: Eyes – The Horror Game for Android (Free with ads)
Download: Eyes – The Horror Game for Android ($0.99)
Yeah, several of the games on this list don’t have the most impressive visuals. Environments consist of low textures and empty rooms that serve as great places for creepy sounds to echo about. Dark Meadow: The Pact is different. This game is beautiful, and that only makes things scarier.
The developers made this game to take full advantage of what Tegra 3 processors have to offer. Leaves will sway, particles will sparkle, and cutscenes will pull you into the experience. This feels more like a console title than a mobile distraction, and the creatures you encounter should stick with you for some time to come.
Download: Dark Meadow: The Pact for Android (Free with in-app purchases))
Hopeless: The Dark Cave serves as a bit of a breather on this list. The sounds are spooky, but the monsters are almost as cute as they are frightening. You’re not going to be nearly as scared as the adorable blobs trying to hold back the onslaught of hungry beasts all around them.
To stay alive you tap on monsters and shoot, making sure not to kill friendly blobs that are looking to join your group. When you don’t have the time to immerse yourself in a longer, slower paced title, this little quickie can help you pass the time while still leaving you immersed in the general spirit of Halloween.
Download: Hopeless: The Dark Cave for Android (Free with in-app purchases)
Do you plan to go pumpkin smashing with earbuds in your ears blasting heavy metal? Does the general soundtrack to your life consist of electric guitar, headbanging, and screams? In either case, Hail to the King: Deathbat may be the kind of otherworldly inspiration that will best motivate you to don a costume and spread your wings.
Hail to the King: Deathbat comes from metal group Avenged Sevenfold. The title draws inspiration from the lore of the band’s many albums. Think of this game as the City of Evil album art come to life, then hacking and slashing its way through your phone or tablet.
Download: Hail to the King: Deathbat for Android ($4.99 with in-app purchases)
Being able to take these frightening experiences with you everywhere really is one of the marvels of modern day life. All you need is an Android phone or tablet, and you’re all set for hours of eerie gaming. Or you could check out similar games on an iPhone or iPad. Maybe you rather play on a laptop instead. Regardless, you have what you need to feel on edge everywhere you go this Halloween season.
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