12 Games To Play If You Liked John Carpenter's The Thing
Summary
- Play survival horror games like Dead Space and Distrust for eerie isolation vibes, similar to The Thing.
- Still Wakes the Deep offers a story-rich game on an oil rig with an alien monster.
- Unfortunate Spacemen and Project Winter are multiplayer games involving traitors among survivors, like in The Thing.
John Carpenter's The Thing is one of the classics in the horror genre and is highly regarded among fans. Carpenter is considered a master of horror and has produced several other classics, such as Halloween and Escape From New York.
Related10 Games That John Carpenter Should Make Into Movies
Apart from Dead Space, what other games you'd like Carpenter to adapt?
PostsThe Thing follows a research team in Antarctica during the dead of winter. The team quickly discovers an alien among them that can shape-shift to disguise itself among the crew members. If you appreciate the eerie undertones of being isolated in the middle of nowhere or the uneasiness of having an unknown alien impostor among a group, here are a few games to play that have similarities to The Thing.
Updated on September 10, 2024, by Mackenzee Hardyk: With The Thing Expanded Documentary being advertised, there is certainly some excitement that has been reignited. We will be getting a closer look into what was going on on the set of The Thing. John Carpenter himself will be conducting an analysis of the movie and his thoughts on everything surrounding the movie. How exciting. As such, we've updated this article with some more games that evoke the same vibes as The Thing.
12 Still Wakes The Deep
CloseStill Wakes the Deep
Survival Horror Released June 18, 2024 Developer(s) The Chinese Room Publisher(s) Secret Mode Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Powered by Expand CollapseStill Wakes The Deep is a story-rich psychological horror game that takes place on an oil rig in the 1970s. With no means of communication with the outside world, you are trapped in the middle of the sea with not just the crew, but also an otherworldly monster.
Not only are you trapped with a horrifying alien creature, but the oil rig is also collapsing. With everything seemingly trying to kill you, there is no safe place until you find your means of escape.
11 Dead Space
CloseDead Space
Survival Horror Released October 14, 2008 Developer(s) Visceral Games Publisher(s) Electronic Arts Platform(s) PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Powered by Expand CollapseDead Space is a survival horror game where you play as Isaac, who is one of the last crew members on a spaceship after a bunch of necromorphs slaughtered his crewmates. You are not only cut off from civilization from being in space, but you are also cut off from any survivors on the ship.
2:44 Related10 Creatures That Could Defeat Xenomorphs
The many creatures across the galaxy that can defeat the Xenomorph.
PostsSimilar to the alien in The Thing, the necromorphs are extremely dangerous and hard to kill. Even though it is set in space, the isolation of the spaceship and the danger of aliens roaming certainly give a similar vibe to The Thing.
10 Near Death
CloseNear Death is a short and sweet indie game in which you have crash-landed in Antarctica near a research station. While there aren’t any impostors or aliens running around, there is the very real horror of being absolutely and utterly alone.
Near Death highlights the terror of isolation in an unforgiving and harsh environment. It is up to you to survive by repairing the abandoned research facility with any materials you can scavenge. The barren setting is similar to The Thing and would be a great game if you wanted to feel the fear of being cut off from society.
9 Unfortunate Spacemen
CloseUnfortunate Spacemen is very similar to Among Us but a bit more realistic. It’s a free online shooter game where you can play with random people or with friends. Unfortunate Spacemen is about a group of people who are stranded in space, but not everyone is human.
Multiple alien impostors are trying to eliminate all the humans and there are no emergency meetings and voting impostors out. Instead, the humans are armed with guns to defend themselves just like the brave men in Outpost 31.
8 Project Winter
CloseProject Winter is a multiplayer game involving a group of people in a life-and-death survival situation. Among the group are survivors and traitors: survivors race against time to escape before a deadly blizzard hits, while traitors sabotage and kill off the survivors to prevent them from reaching their goal.
Similar to The Thing, the survivors need to be resourceful and diligent with their information and who they team up with. It is imperative to figure out who the traitors are before they sabotage the base and kill everyone else while also trying to survive the deadly weather.
7 Until Dawn
CloseUntil Dawn
Horror 10.0/10 Released August 25, 2015 Developer(s) Supermassive Games Publisher(s) Sony Platform(s) PS4 Powered by Expand CollapseUntil Dawn is a story-telling horror game about a group of young adults going to a lodge to reconnect with each other. During their trip, however, they all get separated and quickly realize there is something out there trying to kill them.
Related10 Best Survival Horror Games Of All Time
Do your best to survive these wretched landscapes.
PostsYou will follow each character and make decisions that will affect their survival and the outcome of the game. The group has to survive against two humanoid creatures called Wendigos that are trying to pick them off one by one until help arrives to rescue them off the mountain.
6 Distrust
CloseDistrust
Survival Strategy Released August 23, 2017 Developer(s) Cheerdealers Publisher(s) Alawar Entertainment Platform(s) PC, iOS, PS4, Switch, Xbox One Powered by Expand CollapseDistrust is a survival adventure game following a group of people who survive a helicopter crash next to a research station in the Arctic. You must scrounge food and other supplies to try and unlock other zones, but you have to pay attention to the characters' hunger, warmth, and sanity bars.
Distrust's gameplay is inspired by The Thing.
There are many risks to survival, but one of the more interesting problems is sleeping. When characters sleep, they may attract aliens called anomalies, which feed on their life, regress progress, or kill them off.
5 That's Not My Neighbor
CloseThat's Not My Neighbor
Simulation 10.0/10 Released April 3, 2024 Platform(s) PC, Mobile Developer Nacho Sama Publisher Nacho Sama Powered by Expand CollapseThat's Not My Neighbor is an indie horror game set in the 1950s. You are the doorman for an apartment, and your objective is to let in the people who live there. But, the residents are not the only people trying to get inside.
There are doppelgängers who are trying to pass as humans to break inside the apartment. Like Macready in The Thing, you have to put your detective cap on and figure out who's human and who isn't. Even if one doppelgänger makes it in, there will be consequences.
4 The Callisto Protocol
CloseThe Callisto Protocol
Survival Horror 2.5/5 Released December 2, 2022 Developer(s) Striking Distance Studios Publisher(s) Krafton Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X Powered by Expand CollapseSet on one of Jupiter's moons 300 years into the future, The Callisto Protocol is about a man, Jacob, who flies a cargo ship between planets. He eventually crashes onto one of Jupiter's moons, Callisto, which is home to a maximum security prison, and is taken prisoner there.
RelatedThe Best Horror Games Set In Space, Ranked
Horror games in space offer you the best of both worlds. Here are some of the best ones, ranked.
PostsAlone and with nobody to trust, Jacob is stranded in prison, but a violent outbreak of zombie-like creatures occurs, leaving him with no choice but to escape. These zombies mutate quickly, and like the alien in The Thing, they are difficult to kill and hellbent on survival.
3 Among Us
CloseAmong Us
Party Game 4.0/5 10.0/10 Released June 5, 2018 Developer(s) InnerSloth Publisher(s) InnerSloth Platform(s) PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S Powered by Expand CollapseAmong Us is an online multiplayer game where the objective is to work together to survive, whether you are an impostor or a crewmate. Crewmates must complete tasks to repair their base, while impostors have to eliminate everyone and not get caught.
Among Us was greatly inspired by The Thing while in development.
There are many similar qualities between the two, from the way the impostors disguise themselves among the crewmates to the map Polus, which has a similar wintery base setting to the movie. This game creates high tensions about not knowing if the person beside you is human or not, which is very similar to various scenes in The Thing where the crew is questioning everyone among them.
