The team-based survival horror offers a unique 4v1 formula. One player is a bloody Killer, whereas the others are the Survivors. It sounds simple, but it’s incredibly effective. Enough to have over 30K daily concurrent players on Steam. If you’re one of these players, you may be looking for similar experiences. Games like Dead by Daylight should revolve around violent mechanics as the hunter or the prey.
Selecting Games Like Dead by Daylight
We believe Dead by Daylight fans would like games featuring a mix or a twist of the cat & mouse title:
Genre: This is a multiplayer 4v1 survival horror action game. Four players work together to outmatch a serial killer.Perspective: Survivors play in third-person, as it gives more situational awareness. The Killer plays in first-person, focused on the prey. Goal: Survivors must escape the Killing Zone through specific areas. The Killer must capture the others to kill, torture, or sacrifice. Setting: The game offers about 16 procedurally generated maps. These are mostly ruined, dreadful, and abandoned places like factories and parking lots. Randomization: Maps will look different every time you play. Moreover, every player will spawn on random points. Team-work: Survivors can work together to set traps and distract the Killer. Going alone decreases the chances of survival. Inspiration: The Killer draws inspiration from horror slasher movies. The character plays and behaves like Jason Voorhes. Progression system: The Killer and the Survivors have a progression system that carries over to your account.Items: Survivors can find things like med-kits, keys, maps, and toolboxes. These items can enable traps, use machines, or escape. Immersiveness: The ambiance, scenarios, music, chilling environments, real human actions, and slasher actions deliver a comprehensive horror sim. Psychological horror: As in thriller movies and shows, the game’s experience revolves around mind games, psychological horror, and strategy. Gameplay: The survivors and the Killer have different mechanics. The Killer is a hulking menace, constantly revealing his position. On the contrary, survivors are agile and capable of vaulting, crouching, and jumping. Popularity: Lastly, Dead by Daylight is a highly popular game. It’s a key element, as it’s a multiplayer-only game. Therefore, we can’t recommend multiplayer games without a healthy player base.
Dead by Daylight offers a horror survival simulation where players must rely on witts rather than skill. Like many horror movies, it’s a mind-game where losing means rising heartbeats until a gruesome death.
Games Like Dead by Daylight
Friday the 13th: The Game
The original Jason Voorhees becomes a playable character in Friday the 13th: The Game. It’s a third-person horror survivor title where you play as the prey (a group of teens) or Jason himself. As the survivors, you’re a group of six unlucky teens doing everything possible to outwit, escape, and survive the slashy monster. The man can’t die, though, so you must use the tools you find to set traps, distractions, and open pathways. The seventh player is Jason Vorhees, a hulking, immortal enemy with multiple abilities to hunt, kill, and track. You can stalk from the shadows, perform brutal melee attacks, and terrify anyone crossing your paths. You can play on seven maps, each featuring locations from the movies. Regardless, you’ll play under cover of the night, and, sadly, Jason becomes stronger ¿the darker the night becomes. Lastly, the game encourages survivors to play together to survive. You can escape the areas in stealth or work together to fight and halt Jason’s progress. There’re many ways and conditions to win a match as the survivors. Yet, you can do any of these alone and leave the others to their fate.
Deceit
Deceit is a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter. There’re six players per map, and two of them play as The Infected, human-looking monsters hunting the others. However, players don’t know who the Infected are. Instead, the Infected can reveal itself in various ways. For example, the Infected needs to collect blood vials around the map so you can keep tabs on these items. The innocents can also catch the infected committing murder. The survivors must escape the map, but the journey takes all players through 6 eerie areas. In each place, survivors have to complete a goal to go through the other. The Infected can transform into a monster at the end of each area during a blackout covering their identity. The innocents must value finding items on maps versus escaping and working together vs. alone. The ideal scenario would be out-witting the virus together and using the environment as an advantage. Overall, Deceit offers fast-paced first-person shooting combat, with mind games, horror, and survival. It’s a social deduction title where mutants must murder the uninfected in secret, thus relying on their abilities to lie, manipulate, and dodge suspicion bullets.
Identity V
Identity V is an asymmetrical multiplayer survival horror game. It’s also a free game for mobile devices for those looking for a smaller experience. That said, it’s only available through the web page for PC. You play as a group of detectives trapped in a dangerous house, initially uncovering a series of murders in a manor. However, the new goal is finding the Exit Gates by deciphering five puzzles. Moreover, Survivors have 4 different categories: Assist, Decode, Contain, and Rescue. They must utilize their perks together to find clues, solve puzzles, halt the Hunter, and escape the area. Meanwhile, the Hunter can win the match by eliminating at least three Survivors. He can use a series of melee weapons to trap and murder the enemies. Lastly, the title uses Victorian settings, cartoon graphics, eerie music, and a minimal interface for an immersive experience. For example, audio cues heighten when you’re about to find a clue, but you won’t see clues as “markers” on any map.
Phasmophobia
Phasmophobia is a co-op psychological horror game. You’re part of a four-player team searching for paranormal activities in different scenarios. The main campaign is not over as the game is on Early Access. You have ghost hunting gear, plus your wit to find clues of the supernatural. Your job is to see as much evidence on each map and then submit the proof back on your mobile base. There’s no action, so it’s Game Over if the ghosts find you. So, from a first-person perspective, you’re to study each area to solve the larger puzzle carefully. The idea is to answer who and what is haunting each area. As paranormal investigators, you can monitor the location with CCTV cameras, motion sensors, radios, and similar gadgets. Then, the mobile base is inside of a truck, where you store all of your tools and where you can send the info you gather. The experience is highly immersive. It uses realistic graphics, atmospheric music, and minimal user interfaces. At the same time, the ghost becomes more hostile as time goes on, so aside from being immersive, it’s scary.
DEVOUR
Devour is a co-op horror survival entry, but you can play it alone. Regardless, it supports up to 4 players, and matches revolve around defeating possessed cultists. You control one of these cult members. You’re to stop undead cultists alongside other players before they drag you to hell. Your tools are limited, though. In fact, you start empty-handed. See, gameplay happens from a first-person perspective. You’ll explore a labyrinthic house to find the items you need to solve puzzles, access new areas, and fend off the undead. It’s similar to the latest Resident Evil games, like Biohazard and Village. The game’s system procedurally generates each map, so no playthrough is the same. That said, matches end when you stop all evil by exercising the goat demon Azazel. The task can take up to one hour to finish the task. So, the idea is to work together to find the items and ingredients you need to perform ancient rituals. Aside from rituals, you can defend yourself with a UV light and level up to unlock perks and passives.
GTFO
GTFO is a co-op horror shooter offering gripping suspense and savage action. The experience relies on strategy, teamwork, stealth, and survival. And like other games on the list, it’s a multiplayer-only title. You play a part of a team of 4 prisoners in an underground jail. The prison’s Warden orders you to a Rundown, an expedition taking you deep into the “Complex” research facility. Together, you go down level by level. Gameplay is about finding the tools and resources you need to survive the tunnels. You’ll meet shadowy creatures in its dark corridors ready to eat you. Winning the game means completing all of the expeditions. You’ll use a series of weapons and limited ammo to fight your way through the compound. Resources are scarce, missions are randomized, and combat is challenging. Lastly, you will always play as part of a 4-men team, but you can’t play offline. Bots will fill the spots if you’re short on two or one player. These NPCs will follow you as you sneak, scavenge, and fight.
Hunt: Showdown
Hunt: Showdown is a punishing first-person shooter featuring a PvPvE design. You play as a bounty hunter, and your job is to kill a monster, collect the bounty, and escape the map. You can play it solo or as part of a 2-player team. Regardless, maps support up to 12 players, and everyone is trying to do the same. There’re monstrous creatures like zombies, giant spiders, mutants, and more. The game has an 1895 setting. It means you’ll use clunky and unreliable firearms. Aside from that, everything you do makes noise, and 3D audio plays a big part in each match. It allows you to find your opponents and vice-versa. So, you enter a map, find clues, track a specific monster, kill it, and get the Bounty. Every other player will know about your location if you kill the bounty. And if you escape, your reward is weapons and gear you can use on another match. But as in games like Escape from Tarkov, you’ll lose everything you carry if you die. Other players can loot your body and kill you in the most treacherous ways. For example, they could wait for their human prey nearby the bounty.
Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2 is a popular co-op horror zombie shooter, but it won’t have a sequel. The closest we got is Back 4 Blood, a newer game by L4D2’s former developer team. Still, the old Valve IP enjoys over 10K daily players on Steam, plus a dedicated modding community. You play as part of a 4-player team against hordes of zombies. The experience comes through five episodic campaigns across swamps, cities, and cemeteries of the USA’s southern regions. On top of the campaign, there’re Survival and Versus modes. You can choose among four survivors, each carrying particular perks and weapons. Then, you’ll fight with various firearms, grenades, and insane melee weapons for an all-out carnage. Then, the Infected feature erratic behaviors, smart AIs, and various rarity levels and powers. Then, the gameplay happens in third-person perspective as you shoot, run, loot, and dodge. Lastly, there’s a special AI system, the AI Director 2.0. It can procedurally change monster spawn and behavior, level and item layout, and other aspects to match your performance. As a result, the game will always give you a consistent challenge.
Pacify
Pacify is a horror multiplayer co-op. You’re a team of PAH Inc. paranormal investigators going through three supernatural missions. The goal is to capture unique monsters. The team includes four players, and you can work together to solve the mysteries. Sadly, it’s often not what happens, as the researchers don’t have the proper tools, weapons, and gadgets to defend themselves. Running, hiding, and solving puzzles are the way to go. However, each area packs particular enemies, gameplay mechanics, and environments. There’s one thing that remains consistent at all levels, though. The goal is to “Pacify” evil via various rituals. Still, evil becomes more violent, faster, and smarter as the story progresses. In multiplayer, you can play with or against others. If you choose to become a selfish investigator, you can use the tools, keys, and clues for yourself and leave the others to their fate. You can also play alone in the single-player mode, but the gameplay would be the same. That’s a first-person horror game revolving around exploration, puzzles, and challenging settings.
We Were Here Together
We Were Here Together is a multiplayer horror game with escape room puzzles and gameplay. You, alongside a partner, rely on in-game radio communication to escape the dreadful Castle Rock. The story starts with a distress flare coming from a far-away castle. The 2-player team travels together while leaving the camp behind. You’re, however, in Antarctica, a place full of cold, dangers, secrets, and puzzles. Because of that, the adventure has platforming and puzzle-solving elements. The areas evolve to increase the challenge and add new mechanics to the setting. More importantly, solving puzzles requires teamwork and witts. The title remains consistently scary. It uses an eerie scenario, ambient sounds, atmospheric music, and a looming mystery to engage the players. For example, as the story goes on, you’ll get to know “The Jester,” a malevolent entity looming over the castle. Lastly, the game conveys its story through the environment, clues, and settings. The setting is immersive, and the theme is grim. Over time, the goal shifts from discovering a mystery to simply escaping alive.
Hidden in Plain Sight
Hidden In Plain Sight is a multiplayer-only game, and every player requires a controller. The title delivers violent challenges that support up to four players. You control a character in top-down, 2D, and 16-bit sea if identical characters. Your goal is blending with the NPCs to accomplish a goal: taking out the other living players before they get you. So, everyone is both the hunter and the prey. There’re additional game modes, though. For example, “Death Race” is a player and NPC race to the finish line. However, each player has a gun with a single bullet. It forces you to balance the risk of sprinting ahead vs. the reward of shooting at someone. Other game modes create similar tense situations. In essence, the game continuously pushes you into conflictive positions. Often, you have to blend with other NPCs to complete the mode’s goal. Lastly, every match works in rounds, making rounds quick, humorous, and easy to play. These elements turn it into a fun title we recommend for all kinds of players and the multiplayer experience you’d want to share with close friends.
Secret Neighbor: Hello Neighbor Multiplayer
Secret Neighbor is a multiplayer stealth survival horror game. It’s also a social deception game and a multiplayer version of the older Hello Neighbor game. You play as a group of intruders trying to rescue a friend from the Neighbor’s basement. In disguise, one of the intruders is the Neighbor, trying to trap the others in his torture chamber. Naturally, as the match goes on, players will disappear. There’re six players per match, and one of the players is the traitor. The neighbor blends with the team as everyone works through 3D cartoon environments. Each player can interact with the environment to pick up items, open doors, hide, and solve puzzles across a labyrinthic house. The gameplay mechanics are easy. You play in first-person perspective as you pick or break things, use items, open doors, and hide. Meanwhile, the neighbor must grab the intruders and take them to secret rooms. You could also play the offline version, Hello Neighbor. Here, you play as Nicky Roth, a kid, investigating Peterson’s house. He believes the person across the street kidnapped his friend. The task is solving a series of puzzles to unlock access to the basement.
Dread Hunger
Dread Hunger is an FPS about survival, betrayal, and an unforgiving Arctic setting. Matches include eight players who are survivor crew members. There will be two hidden traitors, ready to take selfish actions no matter the consequences. The gameplay is about the crew surviving the tundra together. That means gathering resources like food and coal to keep the camp running. You build fires, fight off predators, hunt, and even fight against humanoid monsters. The traitors can feed poisoned food, lure predators, set traps, use blood magic, shoot the others in the back, etc. They can even butcher their bodies and eat each piece to stay alive. The setting takes you to the 19th Century. You’re the crew of a warship, traveling on a deserted Canadian tundra. Together, you plan around a day and night cycle, where blizzards, wolves, and more. Even though the mechanics are top-notch and the community is hefty, we left the game for last for a reason. Its community constantly complains about the state of the servers: it’s full of hackers and griefers on top of bugs, glitches, and performance issues.
