Fans of fun, scary stories akin to Scooby-Doo, Monster House, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Frankenweenie may be in for a treat with the upcoming game Haunted Paws. Developed by the two-man company Lazy Flock, Haunted Paws will be the developers' second game after their 2022 2D, pixelated, arcade twin-stick shooter Void Prison. While Void Prison focuses on an unknown warrior fighting off aliens with a floating gun before being consumed by an encroaching void, Haunted Paws is a 3D co-op horror game. Here, gamers will play the role of two dogs attempting to rescue their human friend from within a haunted mansion where more horrors await them.
New Co-Op Horror Game Has You Playing as Dogs
Developer LazyFlock gives players a sneak peek at its upcoming cozy co-op horror game that will let players explore as dogs.
What Gamers Can Expect from Haunted Paws
Haunted Paws will open with the dogs’ human friend suddenly disappearing after briefly playing with them. The two dogs must then use their noses to follow the human’s scent to the haunted mansion and save them. However, this is no ordinary haunted mansion filled with ghosts. Instead, players will encounter a variety of spooky creatures including giant spiders, zombies, scarecrows, skeletons, werewolves, and more. Not every creature will be hostile though, as players can interact with and talk to some skeletons inhabiting the mansion, such as Wizbone. Others will feature more complex game mechanics, such as a cat who can turn into a murder of crows or an owlman who serves as one of Haunted Paws’ bosses.
In terms of gameplay, Haunted Paws will allow the dogs to perform an assortment of actions to help save their human friend and each other. Most areas on the mansion's grounds will require puzzle-solving to progress, such as finding buried keys or clues to open locked doors and chests. The dogs can not only carry keys in their mouths but also axes, guns, books, sticks, flashlights, and food to help complete tasks. However, unlike popular survival horror games like Resident Evil, the dogs won’t be able to easily defeat the monsters and will often have to run away and hide in boxes, washing machines, and other furniture before it’s safe to move on.
Customization Options in Haunted Paws
Not everything is too terrifying in Haunted Paws though, as players can customize and alter their dogs' appearance through diverse, comedic cosmetic options. Players can select which kind of breed they want their dog to be, including but limited to bull terriers, huskies, Basenjis, schnauzers, and pugs. From there, players can edit their dogs’ fur coat pattern, tail shape, eye color to feature unique dogs, such as a spotted bull terrier with green eyes or a red husky with blue eyes. Then the dogs can be equipped with fun clothing to further distinguish from their partner, like sunglasses, a chef’s hat, a witch’s hat, a unicorn hat, an umbrella hat, a wizard hat, a Nemes headdress, and bows and collars of any color.
Haunted Paws will feature both free online and split-screen co-op.
Haunted Paws’ Potential Future
No official release date for Haunted Paws’ has been announced yet but there may still be a lot in store for anticipating fans. This Halloween, Lazy Flock will release a free demo for players to try out the game for themselves. Here, players will be able to create their own puppy and attempt to escape from a prison cell and solve a few puzzles without being caught by the owlman. Fans can additionally go to Lazy Flock’s website to sign up for Haunted Paws closed beta on February 28, 2025 to help test out the game before its official release on Steam.
While Haunted Paws’ early gameplay trailer was just released, Lazy Flock has continued to add new features to the game and will likely continue to do so before the beta begins. Lazy Flock recently introduced an action wheel to the game, and while only three actions were shown in the wheel, it’s likely Lazy Flock will add more before the game releases. More customization options have been added as well, including the hat selection wheel, which allows players to change hats as more are unlocked by solving puzzles or helping NPCs. Based on this, Haunted Paws will likely feature more cosmetic options in the future.
- Developer(s)
- LazyFlock
- Publisher(s)
- LazyFlock
- Multiplayer
- Local Co-Op, Online Co-Op
WHERE TO PLAY
Haunted Paws is a Cozy Coop Horror game where you will play as two Puppies trying to rescue their human friend in a haunted mansion. Create your puppy, explore spooky environments, and defeat evil creatures in an action-packed adventure!
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Horror, Multiplayer, Casual
