As people pretend to spend Halloween weekend at home, Steam is running a massive sale on all of its spookiest games -- including some new releases that employ unique mechanics and task players with bizarre quests. As always, the platform also has a ton of new indie games to parse through, so recommendations can come in handy.
This week, we're highlighting five new and updated games on Steam, from a map-building puzzle adventure, to a survival horror title, to a wildly inaccurate management sim, as well as a multiplayer dating sim and a hide-and-seek PvP that's utterly chaotic. Here are the best titles to play on Steam this week, especially during Halloween at home.
Carto
Carto is a gentle, challenging puzzle game that tasks players with mapping and manipulating the world so the eponymous hero can find her way home to her grandmother. As players rearrange pieces of the map, the world changes around them and introduces tons of colorful NPCs and unique story moments.
Available on Steam, Humble Store, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One; $19.99
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope continues the survival horror series with a brand new story. Four college students and their professor are stranded in the abandoned town of Little Hope, which is covered by an impenetrable fog and keeps showing them terrifying visions of 17th century witch trials.
To survive, players must find a way to escape Little Hope, either in single player mode, with a friend through online co-op, or with up to five friends offline. This standalone horror title contains violence, mature language and mild alcohol use.
Available on Steam, Xbox One and PlayStation 4; $29.99
Graveyard Keeper
Graveyard Keeper is a wildly inaccurate medieval graveyard management sim, wherein players are tasked building and managing their own cemetery -- while cutting as many corners as they can.
In the second story DLC, Game of Crone, players must help the escaped prisoners of the Inquisition survive -- which means building a refugee camp, dealing with a bloodthirsty vampire, uncovering secrets and joining the revolution. Just don't forget: This game is about the spirit of capitalism, so don't be too helpful.
Available on Steam, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 for $19.99; Available on iOS and Android for $9.99
Monster Camp
In the highly-anticipated sequel to Monster Prom, players visit a summer camp where there are both old and new faces to romance. This dating sim features several co-op and multiplayer options, including cross-platform. Monster Camp also introduces new mechanics and "spicy surprises" to the franchise, including campfires and a new stage with magical mixed drinks.
Available on Steam; $11.99
Witch It!
Witch It! is a Halloween-themed, action-packed hide-and-seek game where hunters are tasked with tracking down witches across a variety of maps. Meanwhile, witches can disguise themselves as any of the items and props available in-game, to hide from the hunters and ideally outlast them when the timer runs out.
Players can choose which side to take and pick up items to create tools for their hunt or learn to mimic more and more props. There's several modes of play, including the classic hide-and-seek mode, a game of tag and a timed PvP fetch quest gone rogue.
Available on Steam; $19.99