Are you on the prowl to play a game that has you pausing every few minutes due to the sheer horror it makes you feel? Or maybe you fancy a change from the serious tactical gameplay of FPS shooting games such as CS:GO or browser-based games if you play CS:GO coinflip and want a change of pace? Well in this article we’ll list some of the scariest games you can play – make sure you keep the lights on!
The Medium
With horror games maturing past the point of aimless jump scares and gore, psychological horror has become more prevalent. If this type of horror is more your thing, the Medium could be right up your street.
In the game, you play as a medium (hence the title) who has the power to live between the spirit world and the real world. The game has you exploring a creepy old abandoned hotel, trying to piece together the mystery behind why you’re seeing visions of a ghost girl.
What this equates to is an incredibly atmospheric story that has intelligent horror elements, plenty of plot twists to keep you guessing and music that helps really set the mood. Overall, the game clocks in at around 11 years of gameplay – most of which will be spent glued to the screen!
Little Nightmares 2
If you’ve played the first game in the series, then you know exactly what to expect from this absolutely haunting indie game.
With a totally unique atmosphere, visuals that stay with you long after you’ve finished the game and a story that grips you, Little Nightmares 2 is worth a blast whether you’ve played the first or not.
You play as Mono, a small boy who finds his way to the protagonist of Little Nightmares, a little girl named six. Together they try to make their way through the dreaded ‘Pale City’, coming up against some of the creepiest bosses you’ll ever see. The puzzles and platforming sections of the game feel great – add on top of this the incredibly creepy ambience around the visuals helps this game become a must play.
Until Dawn
Some people love the slasher horror film genre – strangely there is a distinct lack of video games that support this genre, likely due to the fact they’re hard to get right. Until Dawn is a game that gets it right.
The game is extremely story driven and so cinematic you actually feel like you’re part of a film. Following the classic slasher troupe of a group of teenagers, they venture off to a remote cabin to spend some time together only to find something (or someone) is picking them off, painfully, one by one.
All of the gameplay is you picking choices for the characters, which may come down to certain characters dying in grizzly scenarios, affecting the rest of the game. It’s a genuinely scary game and the fact you’re essentially picking the narrative of the story makes it just that bit scarier.
The Evil Within 2
Coming from the same mind who created the legendary Resident Evil series – Shinji Mikami – you know you’re getting a game that will be something a little bit special. This is a third person survival horror game that is set in an absolute nightmare world that is chocked full of enemies that are both hideous and scary.
Lead character Sebastian Castanellos once again features, fighting enemies with numerous weapons and in various locations. Whilst you may think this is just your standard, run of the mill survival horror game, it cleverly fuses different elements of an action game, stealth gameplay and horror.
It may be 4 years old at this point, but it’s well worth a play if you want a horror game that’s a bit more action orientated and has you fighting some enemies that just look grotesque.
Dead By Daylight
The only game in our list that is a multiplayer horror experience, Dead By Daylight has an incredibly unique take on the genre – you either play as a killer trying to hunt and kill one of the four other players or as one of the four people trying to survive!
It’s an absolutely genius twist on your usual PvP gameplay and there is absolutely tonnes of depth to the gameplay – there are different survivors who all have different skills, tonnes of maps that all have their own environments to help you survive and plenty of killers to choose from, all with their own powers.
What really sets Dead By Daylight apart though is the fact you can download a whole host of extra killers from some of your favourite horror films. You’ve got Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Ghostface from Scream and Jigsaw from Saw and even the monster from Stranger Things!
The Dead Space Series
Dead Space was one of the best horror games that changed the genre when it first came out. Visceral Games – the people behind the hit series – set the game on a claustrophobic spaceship and made the game ‘un-pauseable’ – every menu you wanted to open was opened real time without pausing the game, adding a new level of horror because you couldn’t pause the game to catch your breath!
The game had the feeling of the classic film ‘Alien’ by Ridley Scott – not quite as much as our next game though – and the Necromorph were a comparable match to the xenomorph. The game brought a great story, top of the range visuals and pacing that rivals some Hollywood blockbuster films.
The first game is the one in the Dead Space series that has the best horror elements, whereas the second and third games in the series have more action and cinematic elements if that’s what you prefer in your games.
Alien: Isolation
If you know horror games at all, then you could’ve probably guessed this game was going to make an appearance on the list. Based on the cult film, the game is set 15 years after the film and you play as Ripley’s daughter, Amanda.
Gripping you from the second you start playing, the game is played totally in a first person perspective. The first quarter of the game is pretty standard fare as you feel the tension of the game builds, up until you finally come face to face against a single xenomorph.
What follows is sheer nail-biting terror, tension and one of the best horror game experiences you’ll ever experience as you try to survive and outwit the alien creature. The artificial intelligence of the alien is second to none – it learns your tactics and will regularly out smart you – If you want a tension filled game, look no further than Alien: Isolation.
