Some of these games are jump-scary, while some are just downright silly — but they all have that frisson of horror that's perfect for setting a Halloween mood.
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(Credit: Robox Studios)
Grimm
AU$0.99
One would think that a mother losing her baby horrifying enough, because a baby in a pram, one would think, can't get very far by itself. This pram seems to be something of a self-starter, though, and it's up to you, using tilt controls, to guide it through a landscape of glorious hazards. But that's not all; the sinister Mr Grimm wants the baby for some nefarious reason of his own, meaning that you have to outpace him into the bargain. Darkly humorous and beautifully designed, Grimm is an appropriately black fable for the holiday.
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(Credit: Kydos Studio)
Soul
AU$0.99
In a dark, scary hospital full of shadow monsters and obstacles at every turn, someone has died. In the game Soul, it is your task to navigate the fragile soul through the perilous halls and on to the afterlife. You move the soul by turning your device, but be warned: hungry beasts lurk, and any collision will burst your soul quicker than a soap bubble on a thistle bush. It's actually rather difficult, but, once you get the hang of it, immensely rewarding.
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(Credit: Riverman Media)
DeathFall
AU$1.99
We're not really sure what the story is in DeathFall, but it's a pleasure to play. You're a skull that's falling; by tilting the device, you can control the skull's direction, guiding it to collect tokens of the "snaps and snails" variety as you go. These account for your score, and the more you collect in a row, the better you'll do. When you reach the bottom of each level, you collect a body part. It's not particularly deep, but the gorgeousness of the graphics makes it mesmerising.
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(Credit: Tale of Tales)
The Graveyard
AU$1.99
The Graveyard is one of the strangest games we've come across on the App Store. In fact, we're not sure that we can even call it a "game" as such, but it would be hard to know what else to call it. In it, you accompany an elderly lady on a trip to the cemetery. She potters around, has a bit of a sit down, then leaves; but every time she visits, there's a chance that she will die — kind of morbid, in a memento mori sort of way.
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(Credit: Peter Pashley)
Aftermath
AU$2.99
Zombie games on the iTunes store are innumerable, so one has to have something different to bring to the table in order to attract any notice. One game we like is Aftermath — a zombie survival game that relies on, amongst other tools, a torch. This is something of a necessity to find the shambling undead that you're up against, which you can then handily dispatch with the standard array of firearms and grenades.
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(Credit: Thomas Wagner and Gamesmold)
Spooky Hoofs
AU$0.99
Who wouldn't want to play a side-scroller game where your goal, as a team of magical undead carriage horses, is to escort a lovely lady to safety, battling demon hordes along the way? For a game with — let's face it — kind of a derpy name, Spooky Hoofs is pretty fun. With a simple control system, you collect orbs to gain power-ups, and use your whip to battle monsters, all the while leaping pits and galloping to safety.
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(Credit: Bulkypix)
Hysteria Project
AU$2.99
Remember Zork? Hysteria Project is a bit like that, only much better animated (naturally), and minus the grues. In an unfolding sequence of events, you have to choose from two options, hoping that your choices don't get your head cloven in with an axe, and trying to figure out how and why you ended up bound and unconscious in a hut in the woods. Cool, creepy stuff.
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(Credit: Electronic Arts)
Dead Space
AU$0.99
Aliens are scary, too — particularly the undead-human-turned-into-something-grotesque kind found in Dead Space. In this atmospheric game, written specifically for iOS, you can play through the story or enter a heart-thumping survival mode, where you face off against waves of Necromorphs.
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(Credit: Lucidsphere Media)
Necronomicon
AU$0.99
Howard Phillips Lovecraft is arguably the finest horror writer to date. This gorgeously illustrated card game sees you acting as supernatural investigators in the Lovecraft universe, trying to prevent a full-scale Cthulhu-vasion after the theft of the Necronomicon from the Miskatonic University.
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(Credit: Halfbrick Studios)
Monster Dash
AU$0.99
He most recently appeared collecting coins in Jetpack Joyride, but Halfbrick hero Barry Steakfries first appeared on the scene mashing up monsters in the side scroller Monster Dash. Steakfries has nothing to lose, making his mad dash in a monster-infested wasteland a fast-paced thrill ride.
Also check out Barry Steakfries' fantastic foray into the land of the undead in Age of Zombies (also available for Android).
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(Credit: Phosphor Games)
Dark Meadow
AU$2.99
Imagine a point-and-click horror mystery combined with the intuitive combat system of Infinity Blade, in an eerily beautiful urban fairy-tale setting, and you might begin to understand Dark Meadow. The story begins when you awaken, amnesiac, in a hospital, and the only way you can escape is to find and destroy the witch who holds you in thrall.
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(Credit: id Software)
Doom Resurrection
AU$5.49
Horror sci-fi rail-shooter Doom was a game changer, and, although that can't really be said of this iOS version, it's still a solid game that is bound to please fans of the franchise. In this game, written just for iOS, an experiment has gone awry on Mars, literally unleashing hell. As the last surviving marine, it is — naturally — your duty to send the demons back to where they came from.
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(Credit: PopCap Games)
Plants vs. Zombies
AU$0.99
Oh, come on. We couldn't very well leave it out, now, could we?
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(Credit: Super Squawk Software)
The Creeps!
Free
The monsters in the closet are real, and they're gunning for you — so it's time to turn the tables. This tower-defence puzzler sees you strategically placing projectile weapons and other nifty tools to take out the hordes as they make their way to your bed.
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(Credit: 99Games Online)
Mystic Emporium
AU$0.99
If you like time-management games, then Mystic Emporium is one spooky way to get a fix. As a young witch taking over a magic store, you will be making and selling potions, as well as magical artefacts, to an increasingly numerous and impatient crowd of witches, vampires, ghouls and gorgons. Power-ups can be purchased along the way, as well as boosts from completing mini puzzles successfully, to build your own little shop of horrors.
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(Credit: Backflip Studios)
Army of Darkness Defense
Free
Those pesky undead just won't stop trying to kill everyone and nick back the Necronomicon (man, that book shows up everywhere). But don't worry — S-Mart employee and hero Ash Williams is here to save the day in this tower-defence game based on the Bruce Campbell film (that's Army of Darkness, and if you've not seen it, go do that first). You can call on allies and a number of weapons from the film (including the chainsaw, the broomstick and the deathcoaster) to go up against wave after wave of smelly corpses.
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(Credit: Clickgamer Technologies)
Helsing's Fire
AU$0.99
Now, let's get one thing straight: monsters are not "nice". Monsters want to eat your face off. So in Helsing's Fire, you will be killing monsters. Not with conventional weapons, though, oh no. As professor Helsing, you are first and foremost a scientist — so science is what you use. There are two parts to the gameplay: illuminating the monsters with a torch and trying to pick the best point in a room full of obstacles so that the light will hit all of them; and then zapping them with the appropriate potions. It sounds strange, but once you start you'll be hard pressed to stop.
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(Credit: Fireproof Games)
The Room (iPad only)
AU$1.99 (half-price for Halloween)
Our love for The Room could have been because of the beautiful game design, the spooky-but-not-terrifying ambience and the mysterious storyline. Those things are all awesome, but they're just the delicious icing on the gameplay cake.
The Room is a puzzle-box game that sees you exploring in 3D a series of chests, boxes and cabinets that are scrawled with arcane symbols and scratching, and filled with clockworks and cryptic notes. You have to figure out how to open various hidden compartments, fix broken mechanical features to solve the box, collect the story clues and move on to the next box. It can be really tricky — but the marvellous thing is that it's never frustrating, with gentle clues that you can read (or ignore) to nudge you in the right direction — and we found ourselves, with each successful solution, feeling that excited "a-ha!" moment, accompanied by a warm satisfaction that had us gleefully returning for more. Combined with the tactile experience of touch-based gaming, and minus the pressures of points and achievements, it's a title that's actually exciting to play.
It's a stellar achievement in iPad gaming.
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(Credit: Red Wasp Design)
Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land
AU$5.49
Lovecraft makes his second appearance on this list in a turn-based strategy RPG. Set during World War I, something under the earth is stirring — something ancient and terrifying — and it's up to you to stop it before it's too late. But when your own sanity is working against you, how much hope can you really have?
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(Credit: Ayopa Games)
Escape from Age of Monsters
Free
Remember the really cool game that had spectacular monster art and gameplay that was essentially rock-paper-scissors ... aka, "Age of Monsters — Rock Paper Scissors"? The monsters are back, and this time it's something a little more involved: an endless runner where you're being chased by a sharp-fanged, long-clawed, slavering horde. With you are two small children who represent two of your lives, which we think is appropriately grisly. Like other endless runners, you have three objectives to clear at any given time, which keeps the gameplay compelling; and, rather than controlling the movement of your character, you tap and swipe on the screen to clear obstacles and collect bonuses and power-ups. It's not anything amazingly original, but, like the first game, it's worth getting just for that shiny, shiny art.
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(Credit: Lonely Few)
Brainsss
AU$0.99
Hey, just because zombies walk funny and smell bad doesn't make them the bad guys. Or maybe it does, but who hasn't wanted to play as the bad guys? Brainsss puts you in the zombie captain's chair, from which you can direct your undead troops to round up, corral and infect the humans who think they can get away. It's an RTS game that borrows inspiration from the giants, such as StarCraft and Syndicate, but it's simplified for the mobile platform. The gameplay itself is easy to understand, but the humans aren't dumb — it can be quite challenging to herd them in such a way that there's no escape. Add a few gun-toting cops into the mix, and you have a wonderfully designed game that's engrossing for hours.
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(Credit: Sunside)
Crow
AU$0.99
You're a crow flying over the land. As you explore each level, you find fragments of story — one voice telling you to seek and curse the land's guardians, so that it can take their power for itself, and another petitioning you to show mercy and not be taken in by the temptation to do harm. When you find the guardians, you must fight, using attacks and blocks, all the while dodging their attacks; and at each level's final boss, you have a choice: will you inflict the curse, or show mercy? The smooth, one-touch controls are wonderfully responsive, the gameplay is intuitive and the story is both intriguing and thoughtful. It's stunningly beautiful and superbly built.
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(Credit: Three Rings Design)
Corpse Craft (iPad only)
FreeThis real-time strategy game for iPad is just beautiful. With artwork inspired by Edward Gorey (and done well, too), it plonks you in the middle of zombie battles. You fight your contestants by sending your Frankenstein's monster-esque undead against theirs — which you create by solving match puzzles. Differently coloured blocks create different units. It's the kind of gameplay at which developer Three Rings excels.
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(Credit: Konami)
Silent Hill — The Escape
AU$1.99
All you need to know about this first-person shooter is that it has those creepy, creepy Silent Hill nurses. Eek!
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(Credit: Microsoft)
Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin
AU$0.99
Tentacles is a strange game. Professor Phluff, the dolphin-headed mad scientist, in his quest to create the cutest thing ever, has accidentally created a four-limbed monstrous micro-organism — and then swallowed it. As you might have guessed, you control that micro-organism on its journey through Phluff's guts. You tap on the screen to latch onto the walls of your environment, pulling yourself forward, but the innards of Phluff are rife with dangers: saw blades, monsters, acidic geysers and moving walls that can crush you flat — so it behoves you to proceed with caution. Also, each level contains either a speed or damage challenge. And then there's the way you regain health — by ripping out the eyes of other micro-organisms that you find down there. Awesome.
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(Credit: Startek Invest)
Nightmarium
FreeThe gameplay of Nightmarium is a little bit like Fruit Ninja — but a lot scarier. A small girl is blissfully asleep, oblivious to the monsters that are trying to eat her all up. It's your job to keep them away by tapping, swiping and shaking them as they emerge from their dark lairs. But it's not enough to keep them out of the bedroom; once you've cleared the room, an even darker, scarier stage takes over. Luckily, you have a variety of power-ups to help you blast the monsters to smithereens ... but how long can you keep her alive?
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(Credit: Bulkypix)
Hasta la Muerte
AU$1.99
We've all seen the standard navigate-the-maze-and-avoid-the-baddies game (hello, Pac-man), but Hasta la Muerte dresses it up in some ooky-spooky brilliance. You control the little Death dude, and as you get yourself from point A to point B, you have to collect souls along the way. As you draw near, your proximity sets off a timer; once it runs down, the soul turns into a lost soul, which you must avoid at all costs. We particularly like Death's awkward, glooping gait, which gives the game just that little je ne sais quoi to push it out of the realm of the merely good and into the truly atmospheric.
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(Credit: Riverman Media)
Pizza Vs. Skeletons
AU$5.49
This is the kind of idea that's so preposterous that it just has to work. From the team behind the gorgeous Deathfall (you can definitely see the similarity in art style), the premise of Pizza Vs. Skeletons is that the dead are rising, and you, as a puissant pizza pie of prodigious proportions, must roll back and forth over the growing hordes to squash them flatter than flat. This is achieved by tilting your iDevice from side to side. It's ... genius.
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(Credit: Bulkypix)
Terra Noctis
AU$0.99
The side-scrolling platformer is never going to get old. Terra Noctis is pretty simple, controls-wise, and it has a fun little story to boot: as a nightmare, Allen is just far too cute to be scary — so he sets off on a quest to get his monster mojo. Levels include monsters, traps and secret collectibles to keep things fresh, and the controls are smooth and slick, making it a pleasure to play.
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(Credit: Spike-Chunsoft)
Kowa-Oto
AU$1.99
If you ever played the game Project Zero (known as Fatal Frame in the US), the terrifying atmosphere of Kowa-Oto will be a very familiar one. The only other media that gave us this level of terror was possibly Silent Hill 2 — or The Ring.
Did we miss your favourite spooky game? Tell us about it in the comments below.
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