Horror games. My favorite kind of games of all time. Whether you’re being chased around an abandoned asylum, experiencing paranormal activities in a dark mansion, or walking around alone in a forest for no obvious reason, horror games affect us like no other. With Halloween just around the corner, here’s a list of the top 10 horror games you should be playing or replay. This list does not ignore the classic horror games that have been around for years such as Resident Evil or Silent Hill. But if you really want a good scream and a reason to keep all the lights on in your house, try out these games! These are not listed in any specific order.

10. Until Dawn

unitldawn

Until Dawn deserves a place on this list for its cliché horror movie experience. The story begins with eight teenagers who decide to vacation up in the mountains. Things go left when a psychopathic killer starts to kill them off. You must make moral decisions that will impact the lives of each character. The characters can die gruesome deaths if you make the wrong choices and it takes every chance it can to scare you. This game has many endings, forcing you to replay this game over and over. It’s similar to games like Heavy Rain or Beyond Two Souls, but scarier. It is the first horror game that gives off that indie horror movie feel and hopefully not the last. You’ll probably laugh a little more than scream, and few horror games give that sense of fun.

9. Amnesia: The Dark Descent

amnesia

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a mixture of panic and anxiety. It refrains from unnecessary jump scares and builds tension within the environment through sound and its atmosphere. Play this game if you’re brave enough to face your fears. You’re trapped in this creepy castle with no recollection of who you are and why you’re there. If that isn’t scary enough, you also have to maintain your sanity by avoiding monsters and staying out of the darkness. Kind of hard to do since that’s what basically sets the game. To make matters worse, you have no weapons. To get the full experience, use headphones and play in the dark if you dare!

8. Five Nights at Freddy’s

fnaf

Now I know what you’re thinking. “Five Nights at Freddy’s isn’t scary!” “They’re just filled with cheap jump scares.” Look, there’s more to this game than just the jump scares, okay. That fact that this game is so predictable, adds to its effectiveness. FNAF has great game mechanics. Every FNAF game ends with the animatronic screaming at you, nearly making you fall out your seat. It has a pretty dark back story. I definitely recommend reading up on it. In most games, you don’t see the jump scares coming. But in FNAF, you can always tell when you’re about to get one — when you forget about a certain room, you know you’re about to get screamed at!

7. Dead Space

deadspace
Dead Space is all about the element of surprise. You could walk down a hallway, and hear creatures rustle in the vents. There is a lot of tension building in this game. At times, the game hides its enemies within the shadows, making you have to be that person in the scary movie you would usually yell at saying ”Don’t go in there!” Sometimes, you get the satisfaction of killing those enemies too! The creepy atmosphere accompanied by the music really sets the tone for this game.

6. Alien: Isolation

alien

A lot of alien games give you a gun and the ability to shoot your way through the game. In Alien: Isolation, you get the ability to hold your breath and try to sneak your way out of the alien’s sight. It is definitely a real survival horror game that stays true to Ridley Scott’s film. It keeps you at the edge of your seat throughout the entire game. You must avoid the Alien while exploring everything around you. The atmosphere is very impressive! Just when you think you have some time to recollect yourself and breath, the Alien creature comes out of a vent and kills you! This game is no joke.

5. Manhunt

manhunt

Rockstar’s game Manhunt is a different kind of horror game. There are no ghosts, monsters or zombies, but it’s a different type of creepy. You play as James Earl Cash, death row inmate who has a thirst for human violence. Cash is forced to murder gang members in very gruesome ways. This games really makes your question how entertained you are by violence.

4. The Evil Within

evil

The Evil Within is a mixture between Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Within the first 30 minutes of the game, you’ve already broken your leg, swam in a pool of blood and escaped the grasp of a chainsaw having maniac. This game doesn’t need jump scares to create a horrifying experience. This survival game can become stressful at times when it comes to having ammo for your weapons or escaping an enemy and not knowing where to go, adding on to the horror game experience.

3. SOMA

images

So there are few things that SOMA does. It traps you in an underwater facility. It makes you doubt if what you’re seeing is real. It brings to head on with creepy monsters. It makes you really question, who the real enemy is — the monsters or you? This game really fucks with your mind. The environment has creepy sounds and causes to take cover when nothing’s even happening. There are also robots who believe they are human. You begin to discover things as you get deeper and deeper into the game.

2. Silent Hill P.T.

silenthill

Farewell to this beautiful piece of art. It still hurts! Unfortunately, this piece of horror gold was canceled. The game is set in a photorealistic, looping hallway. It forces us to turn every corner over and over again. This is the game that makes you tell yourself “It’s just a game” over and over again. It even scares us more when it starts to manipulate the scene in weird ways, making you want to quit the game but at the same time play more. If you haven’t had the pleasure of playing this demo, I hope you have a friend who still has it on their PS4.

1. Outlast

image-12-700x381

This game is to much! I believe it was created to purely and only scare people. It was not meant to be fun. Outlast is scary as hell. You’re a noisy journalist investigating an insane asylum. The best part is, the only thing you can use is a camera. And get this — You can’t even use it as a weapon! Since most of the game takes place in the dark, you’re forced to use the night vision on the camera, causing your battery to run out quickly. This game is all about hiding, jumping and running, a lot! The characters are the worst part in this game. You have people with mouths sown shut, skin peeled off, random naked guys, and someone wearing someone else’s skin. This game is the definition of horror, and with Outlast 2 coming out, I can’t imagine how it can get any worse!

And there you have it! These are the games I think are the scariest. What games would you add to this list? Share your favorite horror games with us in the comments!

Are you following Black Nerd Problems on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr or Google+?

Tags:

  • Anissa Hanley

    Digital Artist

    Jane of all Trades, Master of ALL.

  • Show Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

comment *

  • name *

  • email *

  • website *