Now it's getting spooky: The best games for Halloween

Candles, pumpkins, controllers: when the leaves rustle outside, it's time for a little a little spooky on the screen too. Every year, Halloween provides the perfect excuse to dive back into digital nightmares. Atmospheric, spooky and with just the right amount of adrenaline to keep us awake. Here comes the latest dose of cultivated goosebumps.

Luigi's Mansion

Luigi was never the bravest. And that's exactly what makes "Luigi's Mansion" so charming to this day. While Mario disappears without a trace, Luigi wanders through a haunted mansion with a torch and a fright path 08/16, accompanied by Professor I. Gidd's dry humour and a good dose of self-doubt. Room by room, he sucks in ghosts, solves puzzles and follows the trail of his brother, who is trapped somewhere between old portraits and creaking doors.

The GameCube classic from 2001 is now playable on the Switch 2 as part of the Nintendo Switch Online + expansion pack. Perfect for all those who prefer to spend Halloween with a slight shiver rather than real horror. The game still has its own magic. No scares, no splatter orgies, just flickering lights, floating furniture and that typical Nintendo humour that almost turns fear into affection. Luigi mumbles, trembles, triumphs, and you simply tremble along with him. The fact that the whole thing is now accessible again via the online service is a great reason to revisit the old haunted corridors. Because the real magic is in the rhythm of the game: open the door, hold your breath, catch the ghost. And at the end? A relieved "Mama mia".

Cronos: The New Dawn

"Cronos: The New Dawn" feels like the nightmare of a scientist who has watched too much "Dead Space" and "1984". Bloober Team, the makers of "The Medium" and the "Silent Hill 2" remake, send a time traveller through concrete ruins and time loops where every decision leaves a wound. Between retro computers, neon flashes and the emptiness of a decaying Europe, the game tells the story of a future that refuses to wake up. The setting, inspired by Eastern European brutalism and science fiction classics such as "Alien", is as bleak as it is fascinating.

The plot follows the "Traveller", who travels between a post-apocalyptic future and 1980s Poland on behalf of a mysterious collective to rescue lost souls. Every assignment is a moral dilemma, every mission a game of time and identity. What begins as a rescue mission unfolds as an existential drama about memory, guilt and what remains of humanity. Between rusty steel girders and abandoned industrial halls, "Cronos" unfolds an oppressive mixture of science fiction and metaphysical horror, in which technology does not save, but devours.

The combat system is merciless: Those who do not burn fallen enemies will see them return. This grotesque "fusion" mechanic ensures constant tension and lends weight to every battle. In addition, the souls of the past whisper until your own sanity shatters. The game utilises the full power of Unreal Engine 5, visually somewhere between "Alien" and Polish brutalism. An uncompromising trip to hell that shows how intense modern horror can be today - raw, visionary and captivating to the last frame.

Until Dawn

If horror films used to be a thrill, "Until Dawn" is now a shiver. The new edition of the cult slasher game for PS5 and PC feels like you're playing your favourite horror game from your teenage years, including questionable decisions, clichéd dialogue and the kind of suspense you don't really need at half past twelve at night.

The game sends eight friends to a remote mountain hut where every move counts and every mistake can lead to death. The so-called butterfly effect turns small gestures into fatal chain reactions. New features include the third-person perspective, which makes the horror more tangible, and a completely revamped presentation with realistic lighting, new animations and dynamic 3D sound. Everything looks as if someone has digitised the VHS shocker of your youth in 4K, only this time you don't scream because someone is going into the cellar, but because you pressed the wrong button yourself.

Little Nightmares III

And again Supermassive Games: After "Until Dawn", the studio is now venturing into the shadows of its own childhood. "Little Nightmares III" takes two new characters, Low and Alone, through a nightmarish world that looks as if Tim Burton had cast a fairy tale in concrete. Instead of jump-scares, unease reigns here, in every empty corridor, in every echoing footstep. The game is dark, beautiful and disturbingly human at the same time.

Low carries a bow, Alone a spanner, and together they fight their way through places like the Necropolis or the candy factory, where fear literally takes shape. Those playing in co-op share the panic, those playing alone trust the AI and its fragile sense of tact. Supermassive combines puzzles and platform mechanics with a mood that feels like a feverish fantasy about childhood fear and addiction.

Technically, "Little Nightmares III" may not be revolutionary, but it remains one of the most atmospheric games of this year. Every location is like a nightmare that is too beautiful to escape from immediately. And even if the finale leaves questions unanswered, the feeling of having come very close to something dark remains. Almost too close.

Silent Hill f

The latest instalment takes the series into unfamiliar territory: instead of deserted US streets, the new chapter is set in 1960s Japan. Developed by NeoBards Entertainment, it unfolds a story in which nostalgia, madness and floral nightmares intertwine. In the fictional town of Ebisugaoka, schoolgirl Hinako Shimizu fights against a force that turns everything beautiful into ruin. Between cherry blossoms and decay, a horror emerges that aims both for shock effects and the discomfort of everyday life.

The horror lies in the atmosphere, in the silent threat and the gradual dissolution of reality. "Silent Hill f" combines classic psychological motifs with new mechanics in which proximity seems more dangerous than distance. Every step, every sound and every glance into the fog suggests that the series is back - more sensitive, more Japanese and more disturbing than ever before.

→ If you're looking for even more thrills after this digital campfire in the mountains: You can find more highlights in our "Level Up" section - and of course in the current issue.