The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes features an interesting form of multiplayer where not everyone plays at once. Instead, everyone in the game takes turns. House of Ashes features both online and local multiplayer. Unfortunately, the online multiplayer only supports two players while the local multiplayer supports up to five all sharing one controller.
To start the multiplayer, select the option “Don’t Play Alone” on the main menu. This will bring you to a new screen where you can select from two different game modes, Movie Night and Shared Story.
If you select Movie Night, you will watch as the man on the screen walks over to a film projector and a new menu pops up. Select the option to start a new story if it’s your first time playing and another menu will appear. Add all the players who wish to join and have them select the character they want to control.
The online multiplayer works a little differently. While the local multiplayer allows each person to control their own character, the online multiplayer makes both individuals to share in the fate of all the characters. To play the online multiplayer, select Shared Story from the menu and invite whichever friend you want so you can get started.
The multiplayer in House of Ashes supports cross-gen play. So, if you are playing on the Xbox Series X, you will be able to invite your friends who are on the Xbox One. Unfortunately, the game does not support cross-platform multiplayer.
