Amazing Scary Games That The Whole Family Can Play

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Everyone loves a good, mild scare now and then, and that’s especially true for families. Many parents seek games that are spooky and surprising without being truly frightening. Kids and teens often prefer eerie atmospheres, ghost stories, or quirky monsters over anything violent or harsh. These family-friendly scary games strike the perfect balance between fun and fright, making them a great choice for players of all ages.

This collection includes games you can play by yourself or with others. Families can enjoy watching a player navigate spooky environments, and older players can help younger ones with challenging sections. Each game was selected because it’s safe, enjoyable, and suitable for all ages.

Five Nights At Freddy’s

Night‑Watch Survival In A Haunted Pizzeria

  • Players manage security cameras to keep creepy animatronics from reaching them, creating tense but safe scares.
  • Jump scares are more about timing and strategy than gore, making it suitable for kids.

In the game Five Nights at Freddy’s, you play as a security guard working the overnight shift at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a spooky family entertainment center. Instead of typical monsters, the danger comes from murderous robotic animal characters that wander around after closing. To survive, you must use stealth, stay alert, and react quickly to stop them from reaching your office until your shift is over.

Even though the game is set up to be scary, the horror focuses more on creating a creepy atmosphere than showing graphic violence. There’s no blood or gore; instead, it uses sound, shadows, and sudden surprises – like animatronics popping up – to build tension. Since you can’t fight back, the scares come from building suspense and timing. This makes it a good choice for a slightly spooky, but not overly intense, family game night with older children.

Bendy And The Ink Machine

Creepy Cartoon Studio Mystery

  • A spooky, cartoon-style horror where players solve puzzles and explore an abandoned animation studio.
  • Creepy but whimsical visuals make the game scary in a fun, non-traumatizing way for family play.

Bendy and the Ink Machine takes place in an abandoned animation studio that used to create happy cartoons, but is now a creepy and unsettling place filled with ink and scary creatures. It’s a good choice for a family game night with older children because it feels more like a spooky mystery than a truly frightening horror game. While it’s tense and atmospheric, it avoids graphic violence or excessive scares.

What makes Bendy and the Ink Machine scary isn’t jump scares, but the way the game builds atmosphere. You’ll piece together the story through clues in the environment, unsettling sounds, and the growing feeling that the cartoon characters you thought you knew are now dangerous. As you explore and solve puzzles, you’ll uncover the secrets behind the animation studio’s downfall and a much darker truth.

Little Misfortune

Follow A Little Girl On A Dark And Whimsical Adventure

  • Follows a charming but slightly dark story of a girl on a quest, balancing cute and eerie moments.
  • Quirky dialogue and puzzles keep the tension mild, so scares are more about suspense than horror.

Little Misfortune starts like a cozy bedtime story, but quickly turns strange and unsettling. Players take on the role of an imaginative 8-year-old girl searching for lasting happiness. Guided by a mysterious voice through her headphones, she’ll explore forests, towns, and bizarre environments along the way.

Little Misfortune is a great game for teenagers or older children who like stories that are a bit sad, spooky, and thoughtful. It mixes moments of happiness and wonder with a darker, unsettling atmosphere created by strange sounds, confusing memories, and creepy visuals.

Corpse Party 3DS (2015)

Haunted School Mystery With Creepy Spirits

  • Players explore a haunted school filled with ghosts, solving mysteries to escape.
  • Horror elements are spooky and story-driven, with cartoon-like visuals making it less intense.

Corpse Party starts off seeming like a simple ghost story at school, but quickly becomes much more frightening. After a school event, a group of students decide to stay late and share spooky tales. They jokingly perform a ritual based on a local legend about a cursed school that once stood on the same grounds. However, their prank accidentally unleashes a terrifying force, and they soon find themselves trapped in a ruined, haunted version of their school, overrun with ghosts and lost souls.

In this game, you play as one of several students trying to survive a terrifying ordeal. You won’t find any weapons here – the threats come from ghosts, unsettling environments, frightening sounds, and the difficult choices you make. The game creates a tense atmosphere through notes you find, exploration of eerie classrooms, constantly changing hallways, and chilling sound design. Though it avoids graphic violence, the game is deeply unsettling, creating a sense of dread, making you worry about the characters, and genuinely frightening you with what might be lurking nearby. The 3DS version, also known as Corpse Party Blood Covered, includes an additional chapter not found in the PSP and iOS releases.

Little Nightmares 3

Guide Two Children Through A Strange World

  • Features atmospheric exploration in a mildly creepy world.
  • Scares are more about tension and creepy creatures than explicit violence.

Little Nightmares 3 is a thrilling but not overly frightening game. It follows two children, Low and Alone, as they try to escape a bizarre and unsettling world called the Spiral. You can play through the game by yourself with AI assistance, or team up with a friend online for a cooperative experience.

Teamwork is key in Little Nightmares 3. Players often need to help each other – one might hold a rope while the other avoids a trap, or one might distract a monster while the other sneaks past. This focus on working together, whether with a friend or family member, creates a shared and exciting experience. If everyone enjoys a spooky setting, it can make for a really fun and memorable game night.

MediEvil (2019 Remake)

A Skeleton Knight Battling Spooky Monsters And Haunted Lands

  • A playful action-adventure where a skeleton hero fights monsters.
  • Combines lighthearted humor with adventure, making “scary” moments fun and approachable for kids.

MediEvil is a rebuilt version of the classic game, so the story remains the same. However, it features significantly upgraded graphics, controls, and sound. You still play as Sir Daniel Fortesque, a skeletal knight who rises from the dead to battle evil forces in a creepy, monster-filled world. The game has a dark, gothic atmosphere, but it’s also lighthearted and fun.

Okay, so the combat in MediEvil is all about swords, cool magical weapons, and fighting classic monsters like skeletons and ghouls. But it’s not trying to be scary-realistic, which is awesome. That mix of spooky vibes, fantasy fighting, and its cartoonish look actually makes it a great game for families. If your kids like a little bit of a thrill but aren’t into anything too frightening, they’ll probably love it. It’s got action, adventure, a cool hero you can cheer on, and it’s just plain fun without being genuinely disturbing.

Costume Quest

Use Magical Halloween Costumes To Solve Puzzles And Battle Monsters

  • Players explore a whimsical Halloween world, battling monsters in turn-based combat.
  • Cute costumes and playful monsters provide light scares without intense horror, perfect for family fun.

Costume Quest feels more like a fun Halloween party than a scary experience. While it includes monsters and spooky elements, everything is presented in a playful and imaginative way. The game centers around classic Halloween themes like costumes, trick-or-treating, and magic, making it perfect for younger players. It’s a safe, lighthearted adventure that offers a gentle thrill without being frightening.

This game follows two siblings trick-or-treating when one of them is snatched by monsters. The other sibling must then pursue them through a fantastical world where wearing a costume actually becomes reality. Dress up as a knight and gain knightly powers, a robot and transform into metal, or a monster and become one yourself!

Luigi’s Mansion Remake

Ghost Catching Adventure

  • Players guide Luigi through a haunted mansion, capturing mischievous ghosts in a charming, cartoonish way.
  • Creepy settings and puzzles create suspense, but the tone is friendly and family-appropriate.

The remake of Luigi’s Mansion retains the fun ghost-hunting gameplay of the original, but with some welcome additions. Now, Luigi isn’t alone – a friend can join as Gooigi, a ghostly doppelganger. Together, they can team up to explore, solve puzzles, and capture ghosts.

Okay, so the ghosts in Luigi’s Mansion are definitely spooky, but honestly, they’re more cute and cartoony than genuinely terrifying. The whole mansion feels like a fun ghost story, not a scary horror movie. I mean, Luigi jumps when a ghost pops up, sure, but the game always keeps things light and playful. There’s definitely some suspense, but it’s not like a hardcore horror experience. It’s perfect if you want something a little spooky but not nightmare-inducing – a great choice for a relaxed, spooky game night!

Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered

Join The Ghostbusters On A Fun Mission To Catch Mischievous Spirits

  • Players join the Ghostbusters team, catching ghosts around the city using proton packs and traps.
  • The story is fun and light, with humor, familiar characters, and spooky-but-friendly ghosts suitable for teens.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered is a great choice for a fun and slightly spooky family game night. It’s full of action and offers mild scares, and this updated version features improved graphics and controls. Plus, the actors from the original movies are back, giving longtime fans a nostalgic experience.

In Ghostbusters: The Video Game, you play as a new member of the Ghostbusters, completing missions all over the city. As you learn how to bust ghosts and work alongside the team, you’ll encounter bizarre and unusual spirits.

The Darkside Detective

Solve Weird And Creepy Cases With Detective McQueen

  • Mixes mild scares with humor, quirky pixel art, and safe supernatural mysteries for families.
  • Players solve short, weird, and funny supernatural cases using puzzles, clues, and exploration.

What makes The Darkside Detective so appealing is its ability to transform bizarre mysteries into short, humorous, and relaxing adventures. You play as Detective Francis McQueen, who investigates all the weird cases the normal police don’t want to touch. The city seems ordinary, but strange secrets lurk beneath the surface. Despite dealing with ghosts, curses, and unusual creatures, the game maintains a lighthearted tone, and the charming pixel art style makes even spooky elements feel gentle and approachable.

In The Darkside Detective, you solve mysteries by clicking on objects to investigate – anything from doors and books to loose bricks might reveal a clue. Each case generally involves exploring a scene, chatting with characters, collecting items, and figuring out how they fit together to progress. The puzzles are designed to be fun and lighthearted, and even the ghosts have quirky requests. The game maintains a humorous tone, so it’s never scary or overly challenging.

By Casey David Muir-Taylor

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2025-12-10 14:38