When the year of scares comes around, everyone is always looking for something that can give them a good old fashioned scare. From reading books of vampires and the undead, to watching movies of aliens and serial killers. And then there are those that play video games around this time, experiencing the horror from a different perspective. Games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame… But anyone can tell you that Halloween is all about fear. It’s an important part of Halloween, yes, but there is more to it than that. It’s the feeling of using this to your advantage, the changing of the season of the warm summer to the cool autumn, the strange and bizarre coming out and being accepted in the world. And sometimes, there are those who want to experience these in video games rather than having to play a horror game, because they are just sensitive (And cowardly, *Ahem*). So, tonight, I will share with you the best non-horror games to play on Halloween. First off, it doesn’t matter the age rating. As long as these games aren’t horror games, or at least, aren’t considered horror games, than they count. And I am also going to include some other choices on here as well, as a little surprise. With that out of the way, let us begin the list.

~#10~

Legend of Zelda has always been the one to take chances when it comes to it’s horror. It never strayed too far into scaring people, but it did take some chances, like the Dead Hand and the Shadow Temple from Ocarina of Time. So when it came time for Nintendo to make a sequel to that game, they may have thought about doing something a little different than before than making it as colorful and wonderful. Now Majora’s Mask is Baby’s First Horror Game.

#10: Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask



I put this game lower on the list because, while it is definitely a creepy game, it just doesn’t have a feeling to where you’d get a better feeling for it during Halloween. Majora’s Mask is a good game to play at any time, really, not just Halloween. But I think it can still work here, because it just works well. It’s got tons of creepy moments, such as the entirety of Ikana Canyon, the ghosts, aliens, Majora, the moon, some of the bosses in the dungeons, and many more creepy moments that this game has. They are all so subtly used and in creative ways for a kids game, I’d go so far as to say that Majora’s mask is bordering heavily on being an E rated horror game… It’s more of a horror game than whatever the hell Resident Evil 6 was doing. It also has a very bizarre feeling to it too, something I just can’t describe too accurately. While Zelda has never been the most realistic game, Majora’s Mask just feels… strange. The characters are on a new level of weird and the world around you is just crazy. I’m not sure what I would use to describe it. Maybe it’s the creepy atmosphere surrounding Majora’s Mask, but it just gives off a completely different vibe than Ocarina of Time and some other Zelda games after did. But hey, that just makes it all the more entertaining to me. And it even has a large amount of masks for you to wear around town with different reactions from people, so that’s fun.

~#9~

Capcom has always been considered the kings of fighting games, with classics like Street Fighter 2 and Marvel Vs. Capcom, and that is just some of their earliest. And while I did have a hand at playing them, there was one classic fighter that always stuck out to me. It was the early 2 thousands, and while skating rinks were beginning to die a slow and painful death, they also had with them arcade machines. And the one that I played the most was Darkstalkers.

#9: Darkstalkers



Darkstalkers has the same slick and creative style of fighting you would expect from early Capcom fighting games. You pick a character, go through their arcade mode, waste tons of quarters until it was redone for online, and then finally win after you’ve empty your pockets on one character… If you were me, anyway. But what I think makes Darkstalkers stand out is its cast of characters. They are all a creative set of monsters and freaks and it works so well. You’ve got a nunchuck wielding werewolf, a punk rock zombie, a Frankenstein’s monster, a mummy, whatever the hell Felica is, and a Japanese undead spirit, and many more. The cast of characters being a creative set of monsters, either from classic English literature or Japanese culture, to even creating something insane like Q-Bee and Lilith, just makes the characters more interesting. And with a stage named Fetus of God, well how can you go wrong? Darkstalkers is a game that was, thankfully, released onto online markets for Xbox and Playstation, and I think that it is well worth your purchase for Halloween… Or, you know, you can buy Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite… It at least has Jedah???

~#8~

So Red Dead Redemption was a pretty fun game. It was a serious story of betrayal and looking for redemption. It had it’s less serious moments, but it still was a very serious story that demanded to be taken as such, but I wouldn’t say it was scary or Halloween-y… Now take out all that seriousness, and put zombies in it. Now we have a game for the Halloween season right here!

#8: Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare



So like I said before, Red Dead Redemption was a very serious game, but then the DLC, Undead Nightmare, came out, and became a complete parody of the zombie genre as a whole, and pretty fun one at that (Minus the headless glitch that screws up your game). The game has John Marston going on a trip trying to put an end to the zombie plague, while running into threats such as fast zombies, fat zombies, zombified wildlife, racist general store owners, and the just the same idiot citizens who are no different than the ones he met in the other game. The game has a new feel to it, with the world being completely different and feeling more empty than before, minus the zombie hordes walking around the wasteland. New weapons are also introduced, like a magma revolver, a blunderbuss, and holy water given to you by Spanish nuns. The music also gets a new addition, with one of my favorite original video game scores by music group, Kreeps, with their song, Bad Voodoo. And the game also gives you the Four Horses of the Apocalypse, each one with their own unique style and abilities, such as Death making enemies heads explore, War lighting enemies on fire, Pestilence being hard to kill, and Famine being the quickest. Also there is a unicorn you can tame… If that doesn’t sell a grown man, than damn it, I don’t know what will.

~#7~

Of all of the games on this list that isn’t a non-horror game, this one borders on it the most. But, it doesn’t count, so I still think I can count it. So, here we go… From Software’s Bloodborne.

#7: Bloodborne



If you were to look at some of the visuals, locations, atmosphere, and enemies in this game, you would think that this was a gothic horror game, but it is actually an action RPG. But god, it sure does want to be a horror game, but Resident Evil and Silent Hill will never let Bloodborne join the gang. It gives you too much weapons. Regardless of that fact, Bloodborne is still an incredible game to play during the Halloween season. The game seems to give off an Edgar Allen Poe feeling with the settings that look like a gothic Victorian London, but is clearly getting inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft when it comes to the story and bosses. This is just a big love letter for classic horror literature, filled with disgusting and grotesque enemies that make the player sick just by looking at them, threatening bosses that rush towards the player and make them feel weak, and having the odds stacked against you at all times as you play it, exploring a dangerous world where monsters roam the streets and claim it as their own. This game is just so well crafted in its setting and atmosphere that I think it almost rivals Dark Souls in disgusting beauty. It easily beats Dark Souls 2 and 3 because they didn’t even try to best the first game. So if you want a game that will truly challenge what is and isn’t considered horror, than Bloodborne is the game for you.

~#6~

Growing up in kindergarten and early grade school, I was always an I Spy kind of guy. Waldo was too much for me. I Spy had a more interesting look to me, using more realistic things in such creative way. And out of all of the I Spy books, I Spy Spooky Mansion was always my favorite. It was something I always borrowed from the library. Other I Spy readers in my class didn’t like me very much. Others probably liked it the best, since I Spy Spooky Mansion did get a game.

#6: I Spy Spooky Mansion



Okay, yes, I get it, this is as kid friendly as it gets. I mean, this is an I Spy game, a book made specifically for young children and turned into video games. But when it comes to the Halloween feel, I think that it works very well. Many spooky things can be seen in the game, like a Skeleton leading you around the creepy mansion with living bugs, eyeballs, gravestones, and other cliched haunted house things. It gives me a feeling of those classic Halloween specials that would come on TV when I was a kid, like It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, The Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror, and, in this games case, Scary Godmother. Does anyone remember that one? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, I Spy Spooky Mansion has a lot of charm for a children's game, and also manages to be a fun game to play around Halloween. Maybe not the best game to play all the time, since it is a rather simple and easy game. If you get sick, you can just click everything, but can still be enjoyed around October. It even got a remake for the Wii. Because of course it did.

~#5~

About a year ago, I did a Corner of Horror review of the classic Hot Topic rejected character, Death Jr. I enjoyed his character and his antics and did mention that he had a game for the PSP. I didn’t have much memory of that game and thought that it was the only Death Jr. game to be made. But I was wrong. There exists another! And maybe better than the one for PSP. It’s on Wii, so I’m not completely sure.

#5: Death Jr. Root of Evil



So right off the bat, I can safely say that Root of Evil is a superior game, mainly because of the fact that it already has background music, something the PSP version lacked greatly. Death Jr. has you follow… well, Death Jr. The son of death. As well as the colorful cast of characters, all of them bizarre in their own way. But we all know Dead Guppy is the best character, and don’t you forget it. I hear underrated games like Death Jr get praised for having a Tim Burton-esque feeling to it. Is that what we call German Expressionism nowadays? I guess it rings better with the teens reading these articles. Whatever. So, yeah, the visuals of this game are pretty nice, if a little dated, but only nerds care about graphics. Death Jr. gives the game a very dark sense of humor as well, mixed in with the chill vibe of a slice of life sitcom. It definitely does feel like a Tim Burton movie, if I HAVE to compare this to Tim Burton. It also allows for two player, so if you want to drag someone who doesn’t care about your enjoyment of underrated and bizarre games along for the ride, then Death Jr. Root of Evil is the game for you.

~#4~

Back in the days of Gamecube, people were not too happy that they couldn’t get a Mario game. And then they did… And it was Super Mario Sunshine… Look, Sunshine is a good Mario game, I think it’s pretty good… But if I had the choice, I will always pick Luigi’s Mansion over Super Mario Sunshine. This was a terrible opener. Okay, number four is Luigi’s Mansion.

#4: Luigi’s Mansion



Luigi’s Mansion was the game that started out the gaming career of Mario’s less appreciated brother, Luigi (Just pretend Mario is Missing never happened). In this game, Luigi is tasked of saving Mario from the grasp of King Boo inside of a spooky mansion. If you thought Majora’s Mask was a horror game, Luigi’s Mansion is a game that would more likely scare kids. It’s more simple than Majora’s Mask. Majora’s Mask would require more critical thinking, and while I’m not saying kids are not capable of hard thinking, I’m saying that being scared of a ghost jumping at you would be more effective in scaring children. Anyway, yeah, Luigi is going around a dark mansion with ghosts that jump out and try to kill him. It can be a pretty tense game for young kids. A short and easy game, but still pretty tense. You have all kinds of ghosts, from slowly moving ones, to quick ones, to masked ghosts, to “why is there a dead baby in a Nintendo game” baby ghost, to skeletons. Again, like I Spy Spooky Mansion, it has the most basic of haunted mansion tropes, but here, it works better, since Mario is all about that sort of stuff. Very basic things, as long as the gameplay is fun. And boy is it. I have not played the 3DS sequel to Luigi’s Mansion, Dark Moon, but I’m just glad that Luigi’s Mansion was loved enough to get a sequel. Unlike Wario World, if anyone cares about that game.

~#3~

I put this game on the Christmas level list, and god, it works the exact same here. So, let me show you the king of making any holiday better just by playing it, it’s Animal Crossing! Which one! Any, I don’t care! They’re all effective!

#3: Animal Crossing



For the sake of better understand, I’m going to be talking about the Halloween for New Leaf. I don’t know if it’s the same for them all, but screw it. Before the night of Halloween, you will run into Jack, a character who wears a Pumpkin over his head and tells you to get ready for Halloween by buying masks. You also need to buy candy and be ready to give them out on Halloween night. When you buy all the masks, you will need them to scare villagers in their homes. If you don’t get the right one, they will basically tell you to piss off. If you scare them, they will give you a lollipop, Jack’s favorite. Give to him and he will give you a piece of Halloween themed furniture for your house for each lollipop you give him. Now it can be Halloween all day, every day in the mayor’s house. Be careful, as everyone is wearing masks that look similar to Jack’s mask, and if they catch you, you have to give them the candy you spent all month buying. If you don’t have any, they will play a prank on you, which damages your clothing, ruining it forever, and making all the time you spent trying to get that Jester mask to make your character look perfect worthless all because you didn’t have a piece of goddamn candy- I HATE YOU SO MUCH, SPARRO! Sorry, my Sparro hate got the better of me. Animal Crossing just gives off the perfect Halloween feeling. Even the music in it has knocking in the music. It’s a nice little touch that I love so much, and I can’t wait for another Halloween in Animal Village.

~#2~

Another franchise, perfect for the Halloween season. It’s Castlevania. Which one?! All of them- Well, maybe not Simon’s Quest or the N64 ones. Those ones are scary for the wrong reasons.

#2: Castlevania



When it comes to feeling like a classic Bram Stoker novel or the original Dracula movie (Or something you heard about after watching one of the million anime or movies about teenage vampires and happened to hear Dracula in there and looked it up), Castlevania recreates that feeling like no other. Playing as different members of the Belmont clan, they are tasked with defeating Dracula every time he returns to destroy the world, using a whip and any weapon they have. The games go through different timelines, such as 19th century Europe, time during World War II, and modern day Japan, but no matter what, any game is perfect for Halloween (Except Simon’s Quest and N64 Castlevanias). Exploring the interior of Dracula’s Castle, fighting off hordes of monsters based on classic novels, mythologies, religions, or just created from the minds of the game creators, with some of the smoothest gameplay and finest soundtracks in gaming, it truly adds to a feeling that makes it feel like a sort of classic old movie, even if they did make an anime out of it instead of doing just that. The monsters can range from being your typical Halloween decoration like a skeleton or a floating head, while others can range from being nightmarish and abominations of god. Perfect for those under the M rating. Castlevania is a game for those wanting a very old time feeling with their horror games, giving them a sort of old Dracula feeling to their games, and I’d say that Castlevania does it well. But while it is a great game to play on Halloween, it isn’t THE Halloween game.

~#1~

Back in a time when Tim Schafer and his studio, Double Fine, were told by EA that they will never get to make another Brutal Legend game ever again, they decided to use what little money they had left and only a few ideas from the time they were making the first Brutal Legend. They went back to the games and out of the four, two were made into games. Those two were Stacking, which has nothing to do with this entry, and the number one spot, Costume Quest!

#1: Costume Quest



While the other games on this list would fit well and feel better playing them on Halloween, Costume Quest was a game utterly made for Halloween. Costume Quest for video games is like Trick r Treat for horror movies, minus the violent murders by ghosts of dead children. Every screen on Costume Quest is filled with something about Halloween, from jack-o-lanterns to kids in costumes. The game may look like a simple children’s exploration game, but it actually plays as an RPG, with the costumes you wear turning into actual battle armor, allowing you to turn into what you are wearing, from a giant robot to a knight in armor. Costumes are basically your choice of weapons and experience in this game is in the form of candy. This game is just so charming in so many ways. It’s a very simple game, again, but remember that the people who worked on this previously worked on Brutal Legend, a foul and violent game (Assuming you didn’t censor it like a coward) in a metal world with language and crude humor. Yeah, they ended up making this child friendly game. But both of those games were charming in their own way. Brutal Legend had the humor and well written characters, and Costume Quest has a simple battle system made interesting because of the use of costumes and exploring a world that is Halloween themed. And hey, unlike Brutal Legend, Costume Quest was able to get a sequel. Therefore, Costume Quest is clearly the better game. If you are looking for a game that is perfect for the Halloween season, while avoiding anything too scary, than I highly recommend Costume Quest. I may review this game and others here on the Hidden Gems articles some time in the future. But, for now, goodbye.