What we've been playing - "I've been intrigued by horrible images of live-action sequences for weeks"

A few of the things that have us hooked this week.

31st October

Happy Halloween! Are you scared? I am: I'm in a theatre play that opens next week and we're not ready yet. I'm also off to a ghost stories evening at the theatre tonight; I've had a few people there tell me, with faces as straight as a ruler, of their eerie encounters. Actually, one encounter involved me.

I was in a two-hander there, a play with only two people in it, and I got to the changing room one evening to see a concerned look on the face of the other person in the show. "Have you only just got here?" he asked. "Yes," I said in response. And at this, he blanched. He's a gruff sort of fellow with a streetwise sensibility: not a person I would associate with being easily scared. But he was. "I was just talking to you," he said. "You made the curtain move as you walked past." I remember the hairs on my arms and neck standing up, and I haven't been as confident sitting in that dressing room alone since.

But back to games! This, as you know, is our regular feature where we talk about what we've been playing this week. This week, Marie cooks with Death; Connor revisits a game that terrified him as a teenager; and Bertie is a little bit disappointed by a new indie horror.

But enough about us, what about you? What have you been playing this week? Do tell all! And don't forget we have an entire archive of previous What We've Been Playings for your leisurely perusal, just in case you forgot what you were playing a year or a month or a week ago (it happens). And now onward!

Moonlight Peaks, Switch 2

My supernatural farm is coming together very slowly, and I do mean slowly. I'm not in a rush this time - my many restarts of Stardew Valley have taught me to be patient while building or I'll want to wipe everything and start afresh. Also, I do not do scary games in the slightest, so this is my version of a halloween-themed entry, and I am fine with that.

So: my current farm contains a small livestock barn, a vegetable patch, a rather fetching vineyard next to some kegs, and I've just started to renovate the lower level by the beach. What that will be is yet to be decided, but the slow progress isn't bothering me as much as I thought it would. In fact, being unable to race through it is making it more enjoyable.

Also, watching Death learning to cook was not on my 2026 bingo card, but I am adamant a friendship will form from the literal ashes of his creations.

-Marie

Amnesia: The Dark Descent, PC

Given we're in the Halloween season and the site has been diving into all things scary, I wanted to pop back and play the game that kicked off a horror revival of sorts when I was almost a teenager: Amnesia!

Like many my age, my first exposure to Amnesia was through YouTube playthroughs back in the Let's Play early years. I didn't actually touch it myself until years later, dipping my toes in the game and swiftly pulling them back out, frightened.

Now I'm older and hardened by adult life, I wanted to give it another go and see how horror games have evolved over time. While they certainly have come a way since 2010, Amnesia holds up! It's well worth playing if you want a blast from the past.

-Connor

Tenebris Somnia, PC

I'm a bit disappointed. I've been intrigued by horrible images of live-action sequences from Tenebris Somnia for weeks, anticipating what I believed would be a terrifying experience. But a couple of hours into the game, I haven't had that. I've written about this at more length in a Tenebris Somnia preview, but suffice to say the adventure game half of Tenebris Somnia lets it down a bit, I think. However, I'm still impressed; I'm impressed by people approaching horror - and games - in these interesting ways.

It also reminds me strongly of Faith: The Unholy Trilogy, which is another, closely related 8-bit horror game that really is terrifying. It's tighter and meaner, and its crazed, hand-drawn MS Paint cinematics are worth seeing up close for yourself.

-Bertie

The Killing Stone, PC

What a spooky week it's been! After Monday's trawl into some of our favourite scary games, I delved - some 30 years after my original encounter - back into pioneering survival horror Ecstatica, dongs and all. Since then, we've had post-Soviet grimness, minty fresh breath and misery, plus Bertie straddling the line between retro pixel art and retro FMV.

In amongst all that (and a bit of Silver Pines), I've squeaked in some time with The Killing Stone. It's very early days, but I'm already intrigued by its distinctive mix of roguelike deck-builder and first-person narrative horror, especially given the folkloric aspects of it all as you, a Scandinavian witch's apprentice, reckon with previous dealings with the devil.

It's fascinating so far, with an unusual card-based combat system that plays out across a single line, meaning placement matters as you attempt to snuff out your opponent's orb at the far end by battling through - or around - its guards. Each of your units can be augmented with spells and abilities placed strategically, and adjacently, outside of the battlefield, introducing even more possibilities. And I especially love the fact you can play the whole thing in modern or ye olde English, the strong voice cast making fine work of both.

I'm excited to explore more, then, but with Halloween here I've other engagements to see through first. Two annual movie traditions: Trick 'r Treat, and then - as someone old enough to have been scarred by it the first time around - controversial BBC classic Ghostwatch, with Michael Parkinson, Craig Charles, and Sarah Greene. Over three decades later it remains remarkably effective, and that bedroom Pipes reveal still haunts me.

-Matt