The Friday the 13th game helped to spark new interest in the franchise, and reinvigorated a somewhat dormant multiplayer genre: asymmetrical multiplayer action games. This genre started with the first Left 4 Dead.
There were plenty of reasons to love the Friday the 13th game. Players had the opportunity to play as the teenage camp counselors and try to escape the famous hockey mask murderer. However, one player would also play as Jason.
If you want a similar gameplay experience or setting, we’ve got a bunch of excellent suggestions for spooky games right here. Here are 7 games like Friday the 13th to check out today.
Pacify
If you’re looking for a horror multiplayer classic that reminds you of Friday the 13th, look no further than Pacify. In this game, you play the role of an investigator working for PAH — Paranormal Activity Helpers.
In that role, you’re set loose in a dark, and mysterious house with the goal of exploring it for any paranormal activity. However, soon enough you realize that a specter of a little girl haunts the house. Is she completely evil or is there some actual good left in her? You’ll need to learn more and then succeed in pacifying (get it?) her to escape the house of horrors.
As the game progresses, dealing with the girl becomes more and more difficult, and it’s even harder if you decide to play by yourself in single-player mode. On the other hand, you’ve got an even more fun multiplayer mode as well where you can join with up to three other players.
However, there’s a catch, you can play against or with your buddies! Just make sure to stay as quiet as you can, and keep yourself out of sight; the girl can see and hear you almost everywhere. You’ll find wood, dolls, matches, and keys that can help you fight her.
All in all, while the graphics of the game are a little clunky, it’s quite fun. Plus, you can play it on the Steam Deck in a dark bedroom for an added level of horror. It’s one of the best games like Friday the 13th to check out today.
Last Year: The Nightmare
The premise of Friday the 13th spawned plenty of games inspired by it and some straight-up clones. And while Last Year: The Nightmare isn’t the most polished game on our list, it falls smack dab into the latter category of Friday The 13th clones, and it’s quite fun.
The game revolves around a 1996 Halloween night in a classic horror movie high-school. Unsurprisingly, you’ve got a choice. Either play as one of the few teenagers who are trying to escape the serial killer that has occupied the school, or step into the shoes of the killer and hunt the students.
If you decide to play as one of the teenagers, you’ll go through the school avoiding the killers while desperately trying to complete different objectives that can help you escape. For example, you can go to the science lab and try to build bombs you can use to fight the killers.
There are also 4 different student classes: medic, assault, scout, and technician. Each of them can create various items to fight the killer and escape.You can also choose from a few different killers to play as. As you might expect, each of them has various abilities that can be useful against teenagers in various ways.
Some of the killers can use the environment to kill the students in surprising ways, such as suddenly smashing through windows and walls. On the other hand, some can turn invisible, allowing them to sneakily approach the students or mess with their heads by moving around objects or opening doors.
This is a great option for fans of games like Friday the 13th to check out. It’s not the most visually stunning or unique game, but it does offer a fun, adrenaline-fuelled experience.
Killing Floor 2
Killing Floor 2 is a fun, chaotic addition to the world of horror-themed online shooters. It veers towards more of a thriller vibe than the horror vibe that most games like Friday the 13th go for, but still offers plenty of scares and engaging gameplay.
Focusing predominantly on online multiplayer (but still having a decent offering for single player content) this game has 10 unique classes, referred to in the game as Perks. Each Perk has different skills and weapons, and as you level up, you’ll be able to learn more about them.
Multiplayer consists of either 6 player co-op matches or 12 player free-for-alls where 6 of the players get to play as monsters. The latter is very reminiscent of the Friday the 13th game, and makes this one of the best party games on Steam for groups of friends who enjoy horror, zombies, and gore.
This isn’t the most technical or elaborate game on the market, and there are a few quirks here and there that you’ll have to contend with. But Killing Floor 2 does what it says on the tin. It offers fast-paced, chaotic gameplay packed with gore, satisfying combat, and a decent sprinkling of monsters and zombies.
It’s a hell of a lot of fun to play through with your friends, and perfect for fans of games like the Friday the 13th game to check out.
Dead By Daylight
While Left 4 Dead proved to players and developers all around the world that a PvE shooter can be fun and insanely replayable, it also got people thinking about asymmetrical horror games as a concept. This, in turn, led to Dead By Daylight being created.
Dead By Daylight is the game that transferred the Western horror movie premise into the world of gaming: one player is killer hacking, slashing, and stalking their prey, while the other four players are desperately trying to escape and survive.
In the process, they’ll accomplish various objectives, each of which brings them a step closer to their ultimate escape. One of the main reasons why few similar games have surpassed the popularity of Dead By Daylight is its incredibly well-thought-through balance.
The survivors are playing a survival game, which sees them slowly making their way across the maps and activating the power generators they need to escape. Once they reach these power generators, they must pass a skill-check minigame whose failure triggers a noise that inevitably attracts the killer.
On the other hand, the killer is looking to wound the survivors and then carry them to his hooks, where they’ll remain until they’re sacrificed, or freed. You have to watch the power generators, stop the prisoners from escaping, and hunt the others.
It’s a tense and unnerving game, with a dark atmosphere and wicked gameplay. It’s one of the best horror games on Steam to play with friends, and a great pick for fans of the Friday the 13th game to check out too.
Paper Dolls 2
If your main draw to games like Friday The 13th is difficulty and horror-themed challenges, you’ll enjoy Paper Dolls 2 despite it having no multiplayer element. This is a tense, gorgeously atmospheric horror adventure game.
The setting is fairly original for Western audiences, taking place in an old Chinese manor house that’s (inevitably) haunted by an evil presence. And from the moment your protagonist wakes up, alone and confused, and with a magical dagger, the game doesn’t stop its puzzling-adventure thrill ride.
There’s a survival element with resource management, as well as plenty of challenging puzzles to figure out. As you navigate the foreboding, dark hallways of the ominous manor, you’ll find ghostly memories, ancient ritual texts, and long-forgotten journals. All of them will help you figure out how to beat the evil specter and escape the manor.
Right off the bat, it’s obvious that the chilling atmosphere is the biggest perk of Paper Dolls 2. The eerie rooms haunted by the previous owners, dimly-lit corridors, and creaking wooden floors all add to the tension, mostly created by a lack of clearly defined objectives.
The game masterfully recreates the feeling of a lost and confused protagonist in a creepy haunted house by not giving you much information. Also, the simply masterful sound design definitely helps.
We can’t count the number of times we’ve scuttled away to a nearby closet after hearing the faint but distinct sound of footsteps approaching from the hallway. All things considered, this game is a great recommendation for fans of games like Friday the 13th who want to branch out and explore a single player horror experience.
Phasmophobia
Phasmophobia is the ideal pick for fans of games like Friday the 13th who enjoyed the horror aspects and the need for good communication with your team. This game moves away from slasher films and heads down a more paranormal route.
This game is a 4 player online co-op ghost hunting game, where you’ll need to work with friends to learn more about the types of ghosts in the world and record evidence of paranormal activity.
There are 10 types of ghosts, each with different traits. There are also different methods for contacting and managing ghosts, including EVP sessions and ouija boards. Some of these methods even use voice activation and respond to your microphone.
There’s plenty to work through in Phasmophobia and it offers a pleasant, high quality experience overall. With a solid, spooky aesthetic, decent sound design, and genuinely unnerving ghosts, what’s not to love? This is an ideal pick for Friday the 13th fans who don’t mind crossing between horror subgenres.
DEVOUR
This co-op survival horror game sees you and three other friends don the robes of former cultists, who are trying to prevent the cult they’ve escaped from summoning Azazel, an evil goat demon.
Prepare for plentiful moments of co-op hilarity, like when your buddies and you inevitably succumb to the frequent jump scares in the game or start panicking when confronted with the maps’ various demons. This game is a lot of fun with friends, and there’s a decent (if incredibly difficult) solo option as well.
As you complete various objectives, the game will become progressively more difficult even in co-op. The demons will become more aggressive and communication and teamwork become more essential.
The biggest flaw of the game is a lack of replayability. There are only three maps, which are bound to get old after a while. You can basically complete every map once in the span of a single afternoon. However, the budget-friendly price tag still makes this a great purchase.
And there’s plenty of originality to be found here, especially in the macabre design of the game’s NPC bosses. Watch out for Zara, the spider with a human head, as well as Molly’s horrific jump scare.
Though the graphics aren’t exactly the most elaborate or intricate, the sound design and the smart lighting tie everything together into a short, but thoroughly enjoyable (and affordable) package.
