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Best Horror & Survival Strategy Games for Mobile 2023
Already beat Resident Evil Village? We tested all the top horror games to see which ones are worth having on your phone. Read on if you dare.

Table of Contents
Best for surviving a zombie apocalypse
Whether or not you’re a fan of the TV show, this game has more than enough to keep you engaged and having fun. The idea is simple, strengthen your base and keep everyone alive, but that’s not always as easy as it seems.
Why we chose The Walking Dead Survivors:
- Free to play but there are in-app purchases ranging from $0.99-$99. From our research, you don't need to pay to get ahead in the game.
- Engaging video storylines and interesting characters make the game hard to put down.
- A great range of tasks and objectives will provide you with hours of versatile fun.
- Fantastic graphics that look sharp and bring more life to the game.
- Also has a community aspect for those that like to join clans and interact with others.
This is a great game with a ton of activities to keep you occupied for hours on end.
Read The Walking Dead Survivors's Full ReviewBest for horror fans
If you’re a fan of horror, you’ll absolutely love this game. The idea is simple, yet it works so well as you find yourself doing your best to escape granny's house.
Why we chose Granny:
- Free to play game with no in-app purchases. You're welcome, wallet.
- Enjoy hair-raising fun with this game that will have you on edge throughout.
- It’s very easy to play and move around the game, making it great for all abilities.
- Fantastic use of surprise tactics keeps you entertained, as you’re never really sure what will happen next.
- A smart use of strategy and survival moves can help you survive this game.
We never believed a mobile game could scare us or make us jump, but Granny did (over and over again). This is a must-try.
Read Granny's Full ReviewBest for shooting zombies
If you want to take out zombies without having to face an angry horde head-on, this is the ideal way to do it.
Why we chose Zombie Gunship Survival:
- Free to play, although you can make in-app purchases from $0.99 - $149 for weapon boosts and other materials.
- Fantastic graphics and the use of 3D thermal imaging make this game feel more realistic.
- Great use of strategy means you have to think about how you play; it’s more than just a shooting game.
- 4 wide-ranging maps to play and enjoy.
- Fast-paced game keeps the action going. You won’t want to put this one down.
Instead of fighting on the ground as you try to push them back, you’ll find yourself shooting enemies from a chopper as you protect your man on the ground from attack. A great game without setting your nerves on fire like some of the other options do.
Read Zombie Gunship Survival's Full ReviewEverything We Recommend
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Our Pick
The Walking Dead: Survivors
4.5 Ratings 899K+ Reviews 10M+ DownloadsUpgrade and build up your town’s defenses to survive against both the living and the dead. Explore the world of The Walking Dead and recruit iconic comic book characters such as Negan, Rick and many more.
Battle for survival in the harsh world of The Walking Dead. Here, every decision matters as you encounter other players from all over the world. Will you fight for domination, or will you cooperate and create alliances? The choice is yours.
Game Features:
Official Game - The Walking Dead Survivors is an officially licensed game based on The Walking Dead comic series from Skybound Entertainment. Within the world of The Walking Dead: Survivors you will recruit iconic characters such as Rick, Michonne, Negan, Glenn and many more.
Strategy - Every decision matters in The Walking Dead: Survivors and there is no time to hesitate. Will you focus on growing your defenses and creating alliances, or will you grow your army, venture out and conquer the region by force?
Tower Defense - Your settlement is under constant threat of incoming walkers, and it is up to you to fend them off. Strategize your way to victory by strengthening your defenses, placing obstacles, constructing buildings, recruiting new Survivors and using their special skills to keep the walkers at bay.
Social Game - Walkers are the least of your worries. In the world of The Walking Dead: Survivors, you will encounter other players from all around the world. It is up to you to choose your allies and your foes. Be careful in whom you place your trust! Create Clans and build various clan buildings across the region to expand your territory and prepare for war against Negan!
Exploration - The Walking Dead: Survivors offers a vast region map with tons of important locations, characters, items and resources to discover. Getting familiar with your surroundings will play a huge part in your survival. Discover key buildings on the map and compete with other clans for their control.
Our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkingDeadSurvivorsFanpage
Contact Us by Email:
twdsupport@elex.comCostFreeFreeIn-App Purchases$0.99 - $99.99 per item$0.99 - $99.99 per item -
Runner UpWelcome to Granny.
Granny keeps you locked in her house.
Now you have to try to get out of her house, but be careful and quiet. She hears everything.
If you drop something on the floor, she hears it and comes running.
You can hide in wardrobes or under beds.
You have 5 days.
Good luck!
The game contains advertisement.CostFreeFreeIn-App Purchases$0.99 per itemNo -
Also Groovy
Zombie Gunship Survival
4.5 Ratings 406K+ Reviews 10M+ DownloadsThis is an action shooter, a zombie game! Survive the apocalypse and play this action zombie survival game. Unleash hellfire into the dead from your gun ship seat in the AC 130. In a world where most of the population turned into zombies, a few survivors fight the zombie horde attacks from a military operations base.
Build up your defenses in your base as the last shelter for survival. Help your ground troops complete their objectives from your ac 130 gunship. The zg survival of your squad against the walking zombies rests on your shoulders. Become a legendary weapon collector!
Equip your AC 130 gunship with undead effective weapons and upgrade them for more damage and spread your war wings! Shoot zombies from above to defend your army. Loot precious resources, gold and other rewards, bring them back to base and build your defense to repel zombie assaults in this zg survival game
Features:
- Provide air support for your troops from a mounted gun against the dead hordes of zombies. Plan your mission before deploying your troops to achieve maximum efficiency
- Play Assault, Demolition, Sniper and Scout and equip realistic weapons
- Military accurate infrared night vision. Realistic and upgradable weaponry and challenging first person shooter combat scenarios from your gunner seat.
- Zombies with several terrifying abilities threaten your squad’s safety. Hard to kill titan zombies will be a challenge to your shooter abilities and pose a risk to zg survival.
- Collect gold and other rewards to build better defenses in your shelter. Upgrade your tower defenses, barricades, weapons and guns to defend your army base against zombie assaults in this zombie shooting game.
- Shoot the most zombies using different weapons in weekly events for legendary rewards!
- Play with a vibrant community. Discuss shooter game strategies with friends.
By accessing or using a flaregames product, you're agreeing to our Terms of Service (www.flaregames.com/terms-service/).
Parental guide
Zombie Gunship Survival is free to download and play, however some game items can also be purchased for real money. If you don’t want to use these features, please disable in-app purchases in your Google Play settings. According to our Terms of Service, Zombie Gunship Survival is allowed for download and play only for persons 16 years or more of age, or with explicit parental consent. You can read more here: http://www.flaregames.com/parents-guide/FESFES.CostFreeFreeIn-App Purchases$0.99 - $129.99 per item$0.99 - $19.99 per item
The 411 from our Appventurer
How we tested?
I began by searching for the highest-rated and most popular horror and survival-themed games. I was looking for the best games that fall into that category, and once I found them, I downloaded them onto my phone to begin testing them straight away.
The styles of the games were quite different as some were based on surviving an attack (from zombies or other terrifying creatures). In contrast, others required completing tasks and activities to advance without as much fast-paced action.
To make it easier to analyze, I created criteria that I used to test all games against. This included assessing the graphics, gameplay, storylines, whether or not the games were ‘pay to win,’ and also how fun the games were to play overall. Having a clear set of guidelines helped me rank all games fairly, making it easier to select my top 3 games.
To test the games, I spent around an hour a day playing each one, and I tried to advance as far as I could within the games. Taking my criteria into account, I was then able to make my choice and create my list.
Why get the app?
As with any mobile game, getting the app, rather than simply relying on your console or PC, gives you a great way to play your favorite games wherever you are. Whether you’re on your daily commute, on your break at work, or looking for a way to pass the time at home, mobile games are so easy to play on the go.
Often, they’re designed to be played in short bursts, which means you can have some fun, even if you only have 5-minutes spare, and enjoy these games at your own convenience.
More About The Walking Dead Survivors: Our Pick
If you’re a fan of the show, simply seeing this game might be enough of a draw to get you in; however, if you haven’t seen it (our tester hasn’t), you’ll still be hooked on this game when you play for the first time.
With the new characters you recruit or meet along the way, you’ll tackle a series of tasks and objectives that will help you progress in the game. These are pretty straightforward, which goes hand in hand with the super simple gameplay, making this game so fun and easy to play.
The game uses a tap system that simply requires you to touch the screen to carry out an action, which means you won’t have any trouble completing your objectives.
As you’d expect from a game like that where you have to build, hunt, and forage for resources, there is some waiting time to contend with, luckily you can make in-app purchases (between $0.99-$99) if you wish to either buy the resources you need like lumber, veggies or bullets, or you can buy rubies which will help you speed things along.
Snags but not drags:
It’s possible for other players to attack you and take your resources, and while that is something you should expect in a game like this (where the whole point is you’re trying to survive), there are a lot of examples where bigger players, who have often spent a lot of money on the game, simply attack smaller players over and over.
If you’re a casual player who simply plays for fun, then this can make the game less enjoyable and probably quite infuriating.
It isn’t a deal-breaker, and there’s still a lot of fun to be had in the game. Otherwise, it’s just something we feel should be limited so "free to play" players can enjoy the game without it being ruined by others.
More About Granny: Runner Up
The game itself is simple. Your objective is to escape Granny’s house, and you’ve got 5 attempts to do it, but she doesn’t make it easy, and as soon as she hears a noise, she’ll be with you, ready to attack.
This game is super addictive, and whether you’re a fan of horror or not, you’ll enjoy playing this game which will make you jump (more than once), laugh, and maybe even scream out loud.
The gameplay itself is straightforward. You can move your character with ease, there aren’t too many controls, and it’s easy to navigate the house.
In all of our time testing, we, unfortunately, weren’t able to escape Granny’s house, but it didn’t stop us fro from trying, and we will continue until we escape.
More About Zombie Gunship Survival: Also Groovy
Instead of trying to survive on the ground, you’ll find yourself in a chopper protecting your guy below with a range of high-caliber weapons.
You’ll still get the rush and sense of impending doom you would if you were playing a ground-based game, but without the snarling zombies getting in your face.
It’s a strategy game that you’ll love, and it’s super easy to play, and whether you’re a new gamer or you're more experienced, you won’t have any trouble getting to grips with the controls or gameplay. You’ll quickly find yourself playing mission after mission as you try to upgrade your weapons and conquer more levels, and because the game is so much fun, you won't want to put it down.
When you do play, you’ll appreciate the design and graphics of each level, which aren’t overly in your face or too exaggerated. Instead, you’ll feel like you’re actually in a gunship, with the movement, appearance, and style of play all extremely realistic.
All in all, this is a really simple and easy to play game that can be played in short 5-minute bursts, or you can spend hours advancing through the game.
Other Apps Considered
This is a great game and one that almost made it into our top three. It follows the same outline as many of the other zombie games out there, requiring you to build up your town and protect it against a zombie invasion, but ultimately we felt it was too similar to ‘The Walking Dead: Survivors’ game which is why it just missed out.
This is a fun game with an interesting take on the genre. You still fight zombies, but in this game, rather than positioning your soldiers and firing at the enemy, you solve puzzles, which makes your heroes fight. Fun twist and an enjoyable game.
This is a pretty fun game that’s capable of giving you a good scare. It’s definitely worth downloading even if you’re not a fan of horror because the game is engaging. The only thing we’d like to see improved would be the movement and interaction features as we found it difficult to interact with our surroundings at times.
If you like the idea of sitting terrified at your phone, then you’ll love this game. It’s really entertaining, and at any moment, there’s a chance that something will jump out and scare you. It makes the game super engaging and keeps you firmly on the edge of your seat the entire time you’re playing. Also, if you like this game, there are plenty more in the series. However, we only tested the first one.
Great game with a really good concept. It puts you right into the thick of the action, and throughout the game, you’re on the edge of your seat. You’re never quite sure if someone will jump out at you, but that just makes the game more fun. Our only area for development is the controls. It was easy enough to move, but it became very difficult to follow and keep up when chasing another player.
The storyline of this game was engaging, and we feel the developers got the thriller/horror angle just right. However, we couldn’t rate this game any higher because it was just so hard to see. It improved a little as the game advanced, but even with brightness up, we struggled to see the game, which made it difficult to play for prolonged periods.
We were excited to try this game, but unfortunately, the controls didn’t seem to work. Every Time the game started, we’d simply run ahead into an oncoming zombie. We couldn’t move or dodge, and when we used a weapon, we couldn’t aim it.
Anton Mark
As a freelancer, I use all types of different apps so that I can manage my time and remain organized with ease. I’m always on the go so I love anything that can help me to stay on top of my tasks but for fun, I love playing games or watching movies.
I’m a huge sports fan so I’ll usually be checking the latest scores or following up on my teams and I also like to expand my mind with audiobooks and podcasts. Using apps allows me to get through so much more in a typical day that I simply wouldn’t be able to cover otherwise and I love it.
Being able to write about apps is pretty great as I get to research the best apps out there and find the hidden gems that people may not know about then share that information to help others discover their new favorite apps.
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If you're looking for a good, immersive horror game, you don't have to look much further than right here. We tested some of the highest-ranked games to see which ones are worth your time and money. After our extensive research, The Walking Dead Survivors game came out on top, beating off stiff competition from another Walking Dead game and some other pretty awesome zombie games. Want to know which other games completed our top 3? Read on to find out more.