When it comes to gaming, the horror genre is in no short supply. From battling the undead to fleeing from alien abominations, scary games allow players to step outside their comfort zones and experience something that’ll make them squirm or jump. Getting scared is just part of the fun after all.
Although some out there want to have such an experience, they end up being too nervous or squeamish. That’s okay! Even the most hardened horror fan had their first time when they started. Choosing your first horror game is like taking your first swim. You have to start in the shallow end of the swimming pool before moving on to the ocean. So, you can turn off that light, stop hiding behind your hands, and get ready to plunge into the top horror games even the most timid player can enjoy.
10
Layers of Fear
An Artist’s Worst Nightmare
Art and madness go together like a lock and a key. They can’t exist without the other. In Layers of Fear, you’ll play the role of a painter trying to create his masterpiece, yet with every layer of paint added to your canvas, the world continues to morph until it’s nothing but a dark and warped version of reality.
Despite some creepy visuals and the use of darkness, Layers of Fear is like walking through a funhouse. You hear or see something scary, then move on to see what comes next. The bulk of the game is spent walking from room to room, listening to the voice of a painter slowly losing his grip on reality as you explore his past and learn what triggered his mad behavior. As far as psychological horror goes, you couldn’t ask for a better mind than a perfectionist artist.
9
Kona
Mystery in the Tundra
You’re a private investigator brought to a small frozen village in Quebec to handle a vandalism case. Yet what started as a boring job turns into a surreal murder mystery when your client is found dead in his store. With a whole village to explore and the blizzard getting worse by the minute, it’s up to you to solve what happened and discover why most of the inhabitants seem to have vanished.
There’s nothing like a good mystery to get the brain pumping, and Kona will keep you on your toes while traversing an unnatural village. Though it has its creepy and sometimes chilling moments, the game is more survival than horror as you’ll be fighting the elements to keep warm or enduring the hostile wolves in the wilderness. If you want an interesting mystery with some horror sprinkled in, Kona is worth your time.
8
Oxenfree
A Coming-of-Age Ghost Story
A fun trip to party on a remote island takes a dark turn when Alex and her companions unknowingly open a supernatural rift releasing ghosts into their world. With everyone missing, it’s up to Alex to find the others and keep them together before these unleashed entities find them first.
As a side-scrolling puzzle adventure, Oxenfree offers an interesting and unique art style with a fun paranormal story. As far as horror goes, the scares come from the atmosphere and the use of sound effects as you encounter a different hostile specter. For gameplay, you’ll utilize Alex’s radio to solve signal puzzles and dialogue balloons to learn and expand her relationship with these characters. But be warned, the dialogue you choose will have lasting consequences on Alex’s relationship with the others. So, mind what you say.
7
Carrion
Reverse Horror
In numerous horror games, you’ll encounter all forms of strange and grotesque monstrosities trying to hunt you down. You can throw all that out the window because, in Carrion, the monster is you. Locked away in a research facility, you escape containment and go on a rampage, devouring all in your way on a quest toward the surface.
Possessing a pixel art style with side-scrolling action, Carrion is more gross than scary, as you mow down and destroy defenseless scientists, attack guards, and whatever mechanical defenses the facility has at its disposal. Your monster mutates with each upgrade, growing larger, more vile, and stronger as you unlock new abilities to pass through the different challenges in your path. So, if you’re looking for a horror experience that puts you in the starring role as the killer, check this one and go nuts.
6
Dead Island 2
Zombie Horror Comedy
A virus has broken out in Los Angeles and zombies roam the streets. It’s up to the player to round up survivors and escape the zombie-infested streets of the not-so-Golden State. Bash, slash, or smash your way through infected with a variety of customizable weapons.
Related
Despite all the variety in un-undeading the zombies, Dead Island 2 feels repetitive after only a few hours.
Zombies and gaming. Every horror fan has sunk their teeth into one, and Dead Island 2 has loads of content. Despite the morbid setting and creepy designs of the infected, the game is more about humor than horror, poking light at the situation with a diverse array of characters, quests, and locations. Also, Dead Island 2 has some of the most spectacular gore in gaming. Plus, even if you still feel nervous, you don’t have to go at it alone as the game supports online co-op. So, grab a friend and take on the horde together.
5
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit
Point-and-Click Adventure Through Time
After stumbling upon a supernatural ball pit that can transport him to a pizzeria in the past, ten-year-old Oswald’s curiosity leads to his father being kidnapped by a haunted animatronic. Now the murderous Yellow Rabbit is loose in both the past and present. Alone, Oswald must brave the haunted pizzeria and rescue his father before it’s too late.
With mascot horror, the Five Nights at Freddy’s series has more than enough disturbing content to go around. The good news is newcomers won’t need a dictionary worth of lore reading to play this game. Into the Pit plays more like a side-scrolling point-and-click mystery as you solve puzzles to get past obstacles and enemies. Compared to its predecessors, it’s probably the least frightening. Most of the scares come from tense moments of chasing and hiding scenarios, with the occasional jump scare thrown in. It wouldn’t be Five Nights at Freddy’s without them.
4
SOMA
A Sea of Bleakness
Brought to you by the same developer behind the Amnesia series, Frictional Games presents their tale of science-fiction and horror. At first glance, SOMA looks like Dead Space under the sea, but it is anything but. There’s no combat, so you’ll be mostly running and hiding from some disturbing creature chasing you. These encounters are brief in the grand scale of the game though.
Most of the time, you’ll be solving puzzles while exploring the underwater facility and piecing together the clues of where you are and why you’re there. SOMA is definitely a must-play for its story and writing alone as nothing can prepare you for how it plays out. Just be aware that this is also one of the bleakest games you’ll find, a dark tale dealing with themes of existentialism. Don’t go in expecting a feel-good ending.
3
F.E.A.R.
A Total Blast from the Past
When an operative possessing psychic powers goes rogue, he takes control over a battalion of Replica soldiers and begins a campaign of blood and violence. As the Point Man, it’s up to him to track this mad psychic and put them down. Yet for some reason the longer the Point Man hunts his target, the more intense these haunting visions of a strange girl following him get.
An oldie but a goodie, F.E.A.R. puts the class in classic FPS action. While it can get frightening during scripted moments of hallucinations and dark areas, you’ll be too busy having fun in combat to focus on them. F.E.A.R. has some of the best-designed enemy AI in gaming, made better using Point Man’s enhanced reflexes to slow down time while wielding an exquisite selection of weaponry. What’s truly scary is the fact that barely anyone remembers this game.
2
Bioshock
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
After a plane crash leaves you stranded at sea, you stumble upon a city hidden beneath the ocean called Rapture. However, the hidden utopia has become an undersea nightmare, its inhabitants turned mad from their addiction to ADAM, a genetic substance that can enhance a person’s genetic code. Alone, with only the mysterious voice on your portable radio as your guide, you’ll have to fight and evolve in order to survive.
There’s a reason this is hailed as one of the best shooters in gaming. In Bioshock, you have the perfect setting, roster of enemies, and gameplay, all linked to an intriguing story. It’s true in the beginning you’ll probably be anxious facing the deformed denizens of Rapture, but they’ll lose their edge once you level up your character. It’s hard to fear a spliced-up maniac when you’re hurling a fistful of lightning into their face.
1
Alan Wake
The Only Thing to Fear is Your Imagination
Bestselling author Alan Wake finds himself trapped in a horror story of his own making. A vacation to Bright Falls takes a dark turn when his wife is snatched away by a mysterious entity known as the Darkness. With her life on the line, and the darkness threatening to swallow the whole town, it’s up to him to ensure this story has a happy ending.
A must-play for any player getting into horror, using gunplay and light for combat is one of many reasons Alan Wake stands out from others. Its main scares stem from the menacing atmosphere it builds, while the actual enemies lose some of their terror once you realize they’re mostly thralls with mining equipment, floating objects, and ravens. None of this detracts from the edge-of-your-seat gameplay, picture-perfect visual aesthetic of a small town in America, and a phenomenal soundtrack.
