Cheap Games for Cheap Scares
By Alex Wilson
Image: Halloween decorations on a keyboard (Kyle Sutherland)
It's officially All Hallows’ Eve. That means for all you introverts and children not trick or treating, it's time to grab that crushed-up controller and search for some Halloween games to put you in that bone-chilling mood. But what if you’ve spent all your money on costumes and goodie bags for children? Then you’ll need to shop on a budget. Here are some terrifying games for less than a tenner for you to scream your guts out till your pants are brown.
5. Poppy Playtime Chapters 1 & 2 (2014)
Image: Poppy Playtime Cover (Mob Entertainment)
Poppy Playtime has only three chapters available at the moment, but each extends in price, ranging from the first which can be played for free, Chapter 2 for £8 and Chapter 3 for £16. While they are all immensely replayable body horror toy fear rides, the first two chapters are available for less than a tenner.
Chapters 1 and 2 will have you facing off against the iconic horror monsters Huggy Wuggy and Mommy Long Legs as you traverse an underground abandoned toy factory called PlaytimeCO in search of missing employees and uncover your own dark history with the company.
4. Slender: The Eight Pages (2012)
Image: Slender: The Eight Pages Cover (Parsec Productions)
Slenderman has been the number one fear of almost all children who grew up with unrestricted internet access in the 2010s. Featuring a faceless figure terrorizing you into collecting pages from a sketchbook, all with creepy and distorted doodles of unnatural figures staring at you from the shadows, you try to uncover what happened to your friend who went missing two weeks ago deep in the abandoned woods.
The game is free to download.
3. Choo-Choo Charles (2022)
Image: Choo-Choo Charles Title (2 Star Games)
This entire indie game was made by one man and his family, with help from friendly ghouls from the website Newgrounds. In Choo-Choo Charles, you play as a museum architect trying desperately to find your next exhibit to encapsulate the world. Whereupon your old friend has discovered a beast that's half train and half spider-demon from hell. After arriving on the island, you are fitted with your own tank engine and set off to hunt to kill Charles and his ritualistic cult followers so you may claim the locomotive as your prize.
The game can be bought from the Xbox and Steam store for £8.75 on deal
2. Five Nights at Freddy’s (2014)
Image: Five Nights at Freddy’s Cover (Scott Cawthon)
This classic practically started its own religion of followers and started a trend of animatronic nightmares.
Five Nights at Freddy's was the passion project created by Scott Cawthon, someone who used to make Christian learning games before going into horror after a review claimed that his character models in-game looked like “creepy animatronics”.
This inspired him to create a survival horror game where you're the night security guard, trying to stay alive in the security room of a children's pizza plaza. Animatronics roam the night and your task is to ward them off as you utilize the security cameras and battery-powered security doors to ensure survival.
The game can be bought for £5 or £15 for the first four games if you prefer the bundle.
Back 4 Blood (2021)
Image: Back 4 Blood Cover (Turtle Rock Studios)
A surprise inclusion considering the game is recent but if you're in the mood for a Left 4 Dead clone then this is the game for you. Team up with up to four players as you battle through waves of zombies to get from one checkpoint to another.
Buy the game on sale now for £5