The Monster Hunter takes that exact childhood nightmare and turns it into a ridiculously addictive game. You play as two brothers who finally decide they’ve had enough of the terrifying things bumping in the night. Instead of hiding under the covers, they grab a chandelier representing pure, blinding light and go to war. It sounds completely unhinged, but trust me, it works perfectly as your ultimate weapon.

FACE YOUR CHILDHOOD NIGHTMARES HEAD ON

The developers absolutely nailed the psychological element here. We’ve all felt that irrational panic right before turning off the bedroom light, and this game takes that universal fear and makes it your battleground. The story kicks off when the brothers realize their long running nightmares aren’t going to vanish on their own. They discover an actual, creeping menace lurking right below their mattresses. Armed with nothing but that glowing chandelier, your only job is to drop into the darkness and snatch up as many creepy crawlies as you possibly can.

BUILD A BIZARRE ROSTER OF CREEPS

Every single nightmare you conquer gets added to your bizarre collection. Just do not expect a cakewalk. The basic grunts are slow and easy to scoop up, but the deeper you go, the weirder they get. Some of these things will aggressively dart across your screen, forcing you to frantically adjust your aim. The real threat? The monsters that actively fight back against your light source. They will swarm your lamp and try to snuff it out. If your chandelier breaks, your run is instantly over. You constantly have to play defense while aggressively hunting, keeping the adrenaline pumping the entire time.

MAX OUT YOUR GEAR TO SURVIVE THE ABYSS

Bagging monsters pays out big time. You will want to dump every single coin you earn right back into upgrading your rig. Your lamp is everything. Spend cash to juice its raw power, widen the catching radius, and boost its drop speed so nothing escapes your grasp. You can even unlock heavy hitting external abilities to freeze fast moving targets in their tracks. The absolute best upgrade is increasing your lamp’s depth limit. You will be floored by how deep that dark hole under the bed actually goes and how many terrifying things are waiting for you at the bottom.