The Destructoid Checkpoint Spooky Edition - All Hallow’s Eve arrives!

Happy Halloween, Destructoid! Over the past month, we’ve issued dedicated Spooky Editions of our weekly newsletter, going through the world of horror and gaming and checking in with what gave you frights during the scariest month of the year. 

With Halloween officially upon us, it seems that no game, big or small, missed out on dropping patches and updates and events themed around the most terrifying entertainment. 

Here’s Art! 

Speaking of getting terrified: ain’t nothing more terrifying than the Terrifier from the movie Terrifier. Art the Clown is now officially in Dead by Daylight, and while he’s going to spend some time in PTB purgatory until Nov. 24, you can fire up the game’s beta and give him a spin. He comes with a bag of terrifying curiosities that he’ll use in terrifying ways to terrify players terrified by the Terrifier!

Art is accompanied by his Final Girl, Sienna Shaw, who has her own ways of dealing with the Clown. I just now realize that there are so many clowns and red-nosed face-painted clown-adjacent entities in DBD that this doesn’t quite narrow it down for you. But I guess that’s all part of the excitement. 

In space, no one can hear you scream

No Man’s Sky came in hot with its Forsaken update, taking the most haunting form of horror—the cosmos—and pairing it with strange entities of the void, traders dealing in otherworldly curios, and derelict ships wandering the vacuous, starless abyss shrouded by the remnants of stellar violence. 

The update came just 49 days after the game’s last major patch, and is, of course, completely free. No Man’s Sky reminds us that developers could very well support their games in meaningful ways and without extreme surcharges and nickel-and-dime tactics, but of course, in our postmodern, AI-infested, corporation-dominated world, the scariest concept of all is bringing value to your fans. 

Indie horror shows no sign of stopping

Horror party games have been on a roll since the release of Lethal Company in October 2023. It revolutionized the concept of co-op horror, proving that you can  be scared just fine even if you have a bunch of friends being spooked right next to you. R.E.P.O. and Content Warning are another couple of exceptional examples. 

And there is a new renaissance going down in the co-op horror department, and it’s not even always about scares. Machine Party simply puts you and your friends into situations where you’re going to die horribly and probably cause others’ demise, too. Dead Last builds on that formula, and by shifting to a first-person perspective and making the atmosphere much more dreadful, it turns into one of the best games you can fire up this Halloween. 

Compete with your friends in all sorts of events, hunt spiders in pitch darkness, hide from zombies, and try to survive! Fun for the whole family! 

Happy Halloween, Destructoid!

Well, Destructoid, that’s a wrap for this year’s spookiest month. Make sure to dress up in the best costume you have, scare the living crap out of everyone around you, and drink responsibly at that party you’re going to with the squad. And if you’re going as Paul Atreides,- please yell SILENCE from the top of your lungs at anyone trying to tell you something. You are the main character, so act like one!