Among Us has proven in the past couple of years that social deduction games are still fun social experiments even in the digital format. Players can enjoy their old group games such as Mafia or Wink Murder in the comfort of their homes. But these social deduction video games could be even more fun if they dabbled in the horror genre.
There are theatrics and visual treats that the video game medium can utilize to its advantage over face-to-face party games. There's also no absence of screams despite the lack of personal interactions; only, the screams of joy will be replaced with screams of terror. So this Halloween, make social deduction video games more riveting with a dash of horror.
8 Among Us
- Release year: 2018
- Platforms: Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
The cartoonish style might not be fitting for horror compared to the more serious horror genre staples, but Among Us definitely counts. Players will find themselves shaking and sweating with anxiety especially if they're designated as the impostor among the players.
Even as victims or survivors, players can also get to experience some horror elements since Among Us has a clever use of lighting for some of its maps. The horror aspect does wane with prolonged gameplay, but the same can be said for most horror games anyway.
7 First Class Trouble
- Release year: 2021
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5
First Class Trouble borrows a lot from the 1960s horror iconography. It even looks like a premise from a classic whodunit sci-fi horror film where the robots have taken over. Players assume the role of passengers in a space cruiser run by an AI. The AI has gone rogue and is finding a way to dispose of all its human passengers.
Helping the AI are human-looking androids who will act as impostors and sneakily kill all the passengers while blending in with them. The game is a blend of comedic and bloody visuals, taking inspiration from assassin games like Hitman when it comes to gameplay.
6 Project Winter
- Release year: 2019
- Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X, and Series S
For those who prefer their social deduction games as a way to roleplay whodunit films like The Thing or D-Tox, then Project Winter is the best option. It's partly a survival game set against a frigid and snowy backdrop where players are attempting to survive and escape their cold potential graves.
One of them, of course, is a traitor who wants to kill everyone else like a psychological horror movie villain. The traitor can disguise himself and also commit some unique actions. The game itself is quite novel since it blends survival game elements with classic social deduction mechanics.
5 Unfortunate Spacemen
- Release year: 2020
- Platforms: GeForce Now, Microsoft Windows
The limited platforms can be off-putting, but those with gaming PCs ought to try this one out with their friends or online strangers. Because Unfortunate Spacemen is one of the most faithful recreations of classics like The Thing or even Alien.
As always, players are stranded somewhere, this time in a space station. Among the astronauts is a shape-shifting, man-eating, grotesque alien who's very hungry. The difference here is that the survivors have weapons and can hunt down the alien, so they at least get a better chance to fight and win prematurely.
4 Barotrauma
- Release year: 2019 (early access)
- Platforms: macOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows, and Mac operating systems
Barotrauma originally isn't a social deduction horror game. It's more of a survival horror game where players control a submarine embedded in one of Jupiter's moons. However, there's an additional and optional mechanic where players can enable the "traitors" per game (multiplayer only).
This introduces a crewmate in the submarine who can sabotage the vessel while the normal crewmates are too busy fighting off giant sea monsters and other deep-sea alien anomalies. The more dynamic gameplay adds to the tension and each game can play out differently compared to other social deduction games.
3 Deceit
- Release year: 2017
- Platforms: GeForce Now, Microsoft Windows
Speaking of more action-oriented social deduction horror games, Deceit has plenty to offer other than horror. In this action-horror first-person shooter game, a third of all players are infected with a virus that compels them to kill their allies.
It's up to normal players to hunt them down and determine the imposter among them. Deceit employs dark lighting and some eerie use of darkness in order to raise the tension – enough for the game to turn into a deathmatch for some anxious players. To that end, playing as the imposter monster is double the fun since the victims can wipe themselves out more easily.
2 Town Of Salem
- Release year: 2014
- Platforms: Web browser, Android, macOS, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Adobe Flash Player, Mac operating systems
For those who don't have an ideal gaming device, Town of Salem is still available in a web browser. This title is heavily inspired by other social deduction games such as Werewolf or Mafia. The setting is a round town where players hold a meeting periodically to determine who's the killer.
The catch is that there are 33 different roles and a lot of them are evil. That means there's more than one killer and some of them are assigned different killing methods and goals. At night, the town certainly becomes creepier, darker, and a lot less safe for the villagers.
1 Dread Hunger
- Release year: 2021
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Dread Hunger is one of the latest and prettiest social deduction horror games to date. It explores a nautical setting where players assume the role of the crew of a ship who must survive their unfavorable circumstances in the Arctic. As with all crews in stressful situations, some are prone to mutiny, and that's where the traitors will usually come from.
These traitors can also call on some dark powers to help them undermine the leadership, usually through violence. Like Project Winter, it also doubles as a survival game where players need to look after their basic necessities while guiding their ship to safety.