7 Best Multiplayer Horror Games for Your Group in 2026
Someone wants to hunt ghosts. Someone wants to fight monsters. Someone would quite like to be the monster.
Choosing a multiplayer horror game is easier once you know which of those evenings your group has in mind.
The best multiplayer horror games offer more than one way to get frightened together. Some make you cooperate against creatures. Others put a human opponent in charge of the chase. And a few make simply carrying an object through a doorway feel like a team achievement.
Our quick recommendations: Hazard Levels for physics-driven expeditions, Dead by Daylight for competing against another player, Phasmophobia for investigations, and Sker Ritual for fighting back.
Co-op or Competitive: What Kind of Horror Do You Want?
Co-op horror puts your group on the same side against computer-controlled threats or a dangerous environment. Competitive horror introduces opposing players. Asymmetric horror gives those opposing sides different roles and abilities.
That distinction matters. A group hoping to explore together may want a different game from friends who enjoy outsmarting each other.
How We Selected These Multiplayer Horror Games
We considered the multiplayer format, supported group size, main objective and type of tension each game creates. The aim is to help you choose a playing style, rather than declare one universal winner.
This guide compares official published features. It is not based on independent hands-on testing, review scores or sales rankings. Wales Interactive develops and publishes Hazard Levels and Sker Ritual; both are identified as our studio titles below.
Multiplayer Horror Games at a Glance
Game | Group / standard match | Main format |
Hazard Levels | 1–4 | Cooperative exploration and recovery |
Dead by Daylight | 4 Survivors + 1 Killer | Asymmetric competition |
Phasmophobia | Up to 4 | Cooperative ghost investigation |
Sker Ritual | 1–4 | Round-based cooperative shooter |
R.E.P.O. | Up to 6 | Physics-based cooperative extraction |
The Outlast Trials | 1–4 | Cooperative survival objectives |
Murky Divers | Up to 8 | Underwater cooperative recovery |
1. Hazard Levels — Our Featured Pick for Cooperative Expeditions
Players: 1–4. Format: Cooperative survival horror.
Your group starts at The Fox Hole Arms, a British pub with a secret research facility beneath it. From there, The Family sends recruits into unstable dimensional rifts to recover bizarre ingredients.
In our game Hazard Levels, the Gravity Gauntlet lets players grab, carry and throw multiple objects. Procedural environments, strange creatures and proximity voice chat turn a straightforward recovery job into an exercise in staying together.
Why Choose This Multiplayer Format?
Your team shares the objective. The challenge comes from handling objects, navigating unfamiliar environments and deciding when to head home. Physics gives players opportunities to improvise, while separation makes communication more difficult.
Back at headquarters, ingredients support experimental brewing. Research recipes, fulfil orders and create cocktails with useful or unpredictable effects. The expedition and brewery connect the dangerous part of the evening with what your team does between runs.
Choose it if: Your friends enjoy exploration, physical interactions and bringing back a haul together.
Hazard Levels is available in Steam Early Access. Full release is scheduled for 12 November 2026 on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with demos available ahead of launch. Read the latest release update.
2. Dead by Daylight — For Competitive Cat-and-Mouse Horror
Standard format: Four Survivors against one Killer.
Dead by Daylight puts a human opponent on the other side of the horror. Survivors try to escape while the Killer hunts them, with different roles creating different priorities.
That changes the source of tension. A human opponent can react to your decisions, anticipate a route or take advantage of a mistake. Playing Survivor means balancing your own escape with opportunities to help the team.
Choose it if: Your group enjoys competition, chases and learning how to outwit an opposing player. Its standard 4-versus-1 structure is different from a five-person cooperative team.
3. Phasmophobia — For Investigating Before You Escape
Players: Up to four. Format: Cooperative investigation.
Phasmophobia sends paranormal investigators into haunted locations to gather evidence and identify the ghost.
Equipment such as EMF readers, thermometers and Spirit Boxes gives your team specific jobs. The question is not simply whether you can survive. You need to understand what is haunting the location before leaving with a useful conclusion.
Choose it if: Your group prefers comparing clues and coordinating an investigation to moving loot or fighting waves of enemies. It rewards a different sort of teamwork: sharing observations and making a decision together.
4. Sker Ritual — Our Pick for Round-Based Horror Action
Players: 1–4. Format: Cooperative horror shooter.
Sometimes the answer to a supernatural threat is to run. Sometimes your group would rather bring better weapons.
Developed by Wales Interactive, Sker Ritual puts combat at the centre of the session. Fight the Quiet Ones, improve your weapons and use Miracle abilities while surviving increasingly demanding rounds.
Choose it if: Your friends enjoy holding out against enemy waves, upgrading equipment and tackling objectives while the pressure builds. Where Hazard Levels centres on exploration and recovery, Sker Ritual gives the team a shared battle to survive.
5. R.E.P.O. — For Careful Cargo and Chaotic Teamwork
Players: Up to six. Format: Cooperative extraction horror.
R.E.P.O. makes transporting valuables a shared problem. Objects respond to physics, so recovering something large or fragile requires more than finding it first.
The danger comes from both the creatures nearby and the practical challenge of getting your cargo to its destination. Proximity voice chat adds another reason to stay coordinated.
Choose it if: Your group enjoys physical problem-solving and the tension of handling valuable objects under pressure. It also accommodates a larger team than the four-player games in this guide.
6. The Outlast Trials — For Stealth and Survival Challenges
Players: 1–4. Format: Cooperative survival horror.
The Outlast Trials places players inside Murkoff's disturbing experiments. Complete objectives, evade dangerous enemies and use tools to improve your chances of surviving.
For groups, the appeal is completing a threatening assignment together. Progress depends on navigating danger and making use of the resources available rather than approaching every encounter as a fight.
Choose it if: Your group wants a darker survival experience built around hostile environments, evasion and coordinated objectives.
7. Murky Divers — For Larger Cooperative Crews
Players: Up to eight. Format: Underwater recovery horror.
Murky Divers gives your crew an unpleasant cleanup assignment in abandoned underwater laboratories. Recover evidence, return to the submarine and survive whatever is lurking in the wrecks.
The submarine introduces shared navigation responsibilities between recovery missions. Oxygen and environmental dangers add pressure when you leave its relative safety.
Choose it if: Your regular group is larger than four and wants to work on the same side. Its up-to-eight-player support is useful when leaving someone out would be the scariest part of organising the evening.
How to Choose a Multiplayer Horror Game for Your Group
Start with the number of people playing. Then agree on whether everyone wants to cooperate or whether a competitive opponent sounds more interesting.
Next, choose the activity your friends enjoy: investigating, exploring, carrying loot, surviving objectives or shooting enemies. A shared horror setting does not mean two games will suit the same group.
Finally, check each player's platform and the game's current multiplayer requirements. A game appearing on several platforms does not automatically mean players on those platforms can join each other. The counts here describe the listed modes, not mods or every special event mode.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between co-op and multiplayer horror?
Multiplayer horror is the broader category. Co-op games have players working together, while competitive games put players on opposing sides. Dead by Daylight combines cooperation among Survivors with competition against a player-controlled Killer.
Which multiplayer horror games support four friends on the same team?
Hazard Levels, Phasmophobia, Sker Ritual and The Outlast Trials support four-player cooperative groups. R.E.P.O. and Murky Divers allow larger teams.
Which should we choose for five or more players?
R.E.P.O. supports up to six and Murky Divers up to eight. Dead by Daylight's standard match has five participants, but one plays against the four Survivors rather than joining their team.
Is Hazard Levels competitive?
Hazard Levels is a cooperative survival horror game. Its one-to-four-player team explores rifts and recovers ingredients while facing creatures and environmental hazards.
Find Your Next Horror Night
For more games built around working together, explore our best co-op horror games guide.
If your group enjoys looting under pressure, compare these games like Lethal Company. For sessions where distance makes communication part of the challenge, browse our horror games with proximity chat.
For cooperative exploration and physics-driven recovery, join us at The Fox Hole Arms. For rounds of supernatural combat, Sker Ritual has another fight waiting.
Bring your friends. Agree on the plan. See how long it lasts.
About this guide
Prepared for Wales Interactive using the official game listings linked throughout. Recommendations compare multiplayer formats and group suitability, rather than independent test scores. Wales Interactive develops and publishes Hazard Levels and Sker Ritual.
Game information checked: 14 October 2026.
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