If you’re looking for a game that will truly horrify you and your friends this Halloween, then Devour may be the stressful cooperative horror game that floats your boat.
You play as some unfortunate cult members who didn’t think demons were real, much less that you could summon one. However, you soon get the shock of your life after one of your members successfully raises the demon Azazel from the depths of hell. You’re then forced to try and send him back to his fiery prison with the help of some goats and hay.
Of those cult members available, most joined for surprisingly mundane reasons. You have Sam, a washed-up Hollywood actor who loves John Wayne films and hates most people. Molly, a failed stand-up comedian who used her college funds to pay for the cult’s robes, and Kai, who joined the cult instead of going to work one day and simply likes not having to pay bills. These are just a few members of the rag-tag group of cultists you can choose from.
However, it’s not all just fun and games. Devour actually takes a good deal of pre-planning to get right. Scattered around the first map you’ll have to complete, you can find resources such as hay and gasoline. The hay is used to lure the goats in, and the gasoline sets them on fire in the sacrificial pit. Gathering these resources may not sound like much work, but the task becomes significantly harder when you have a 7-foot demon chasing you around a dark and claustrophobia-inducing house.
Rally the troops
At the start of our first run-through of Devour, my friends and I were quietly confident. We’re all relatively well-versed in multiplayer horror games and like to think that our cooperation is smooth and coherent. We found the ghost in Phasmophobia’s Asylum map, don’t you know? Devour is even kind enough to gift players time to set up a plan of attack, as the demon is only released once you open the goat pen.
I was forced to play a terrifying game of tag with the demon
All we had to do was collect the hay and gasoline, five hay at the front door, five hay at the back, and 10 cans of gasoline at the sacrificing pit; it was so simple. We had our roles. Everyone knew who had to find the goats, who had to be a human meat shield and take the brunt of the demon’s attacks, and who was the designated medic tasked with rescuing those beaten by said demon; our plan was airtight. Or so we thought until someone let the goats loose.
I was happily walking around the crooked and ominous house when we were all suddenly transported into a cutscene. All I could do was look on as the goats ran inside the house, accompanied by a petrifying scream. I was all alone in the confusing maze that was the haunted house, being hunted by a demon that could make even a killer from Dead by Daylight cry.
Chaos erupted as everyone forgot their roles and quickly tried to go into damage control, picking up hay, goats, and gas wherever they could find it. I was forced to play a terrifying game of tag with the demon before she picked me up and carried me to the attic like a selfie stick.
Needless to say, despite managing to sacrifice eight goats, we didn’t succeed in our task of sealing Azazel away. But that doesn’t mean we came out of that match with nothing.
Look on the bright side
It can be slightly tricky to jump straight into a Devour map, but that’s one of its best features. The endless planning and different strategies you can deploy to seal away the demon means you can replay this horror game tons of times before it gets boring.
Planning out a strategy and, crucially, reading how you are meant to seal each demon away - every map has a different process - will help you tremendously; there’s nothing to stop you from simply using trial and error.
Devour is a great way to test your sanity and cooperation, thanks to its ruthless demons that leave no room for error. It’s a great way to spend a spooky season or a gloomy Halloween and is one of my favorite go-to horror games, thanks to its relentless scares and hilarious team antics. The only problem I have as of late is that, even now, nobody has owned up to the infamous goat incident.
If you’re a fan of horror games, then be sure to check out these fantastic indie horror games, just in time for Halloween.
