The epitome of what I’m trying to refer to is the Playdead games (Limbo and Inside). Dark Souls and BioShock both hit on this idea but not quite so directly. The game BADLAND is also a great example of this, too. The mobile game The Silent Age also did this exceptionally well. Never quite knowing what’s going on, and maybe some tension without release, but again not straight up horror. A feeling of uneasiness is what I’m looking for.
When playing through Inside, there’s never any moments where you’re scared, but you’re never sure what’s going on and there’s always a level of unease. What are all the mindless zombie-like people? Why is everyone hunting the player? What happened to this city? What’s the goal of the character the player controls? What exactly is going on here? That’s what I’m looking for. If you know of any other games which do this, I’d greatly appreciate hearing about them. It’s a very specific niche so I’m not sure how many games do this, but the games that I’ve seen do this tend to be some form of post-disaster or dystopia. I’ve seen some great artwork do this too. Zdzisław Beksiński had done some stuff like this. Some great dystopian novels also do this quite well.
Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines’s hotel level was one of the best atmospheric horror parts in a game that I’ve ever played. Just incredible.
Subnautica is pretty good too.
I’ve got Bloodlines so I might do that one soon. I’ve seen it recommended a couple times. Control is the one I’ve seen recommended the most, by a pretty large margin, so I’ll probably do Control and then Bloodlines
Signal Simulator is a game about being completely alone in a base in the desert doing science stuff in search of aliens. It’s not really horror but there’s plenty of uneasy stuff in it.
There’s also a newer game inspired by it called Voices of the Void which is more actively developed. Technically, it’s not horror but the developer likes to fuck with you in all kinds of ways.
STALKER for that horror undercurrent, Deus Ex Mankind Divided probably has the best atmosphere of any game I’ve ever played and the fact the franchise was abandoned for that marvel brain-rot is a crying shame.
STALKER was my first thought as well. amazing atmosphere. The zone doesn’t care if you’re there or not.
Metro games are pretty good too, especially the first two for that creepy vibe.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen Morrowind in the comments yet. The storytelling gave me the impression that Todd Howard must’ve played a lot of DND campaigns while under the influence of psychedelics just to lay the setting for the plot. I highly recommend because I’ve had a lot of moments throughout my playthrough asking myself “wait, did that actually happen?” And, “Is this a Bethesda bug, or is the game straight up cursed?”. Also, Many of the characters, creatures, and a certain “house”, or faction in the game are straight up Lovecraftian, with aesthetics pretty on par with Bekzinski’s art-style. I also think the Marathon series fits the bill on a lot of these aspects. It’s Bungie’s precursor to Halo, and while its narrative may be similar, I think the devs had to get creative with the limited software capabilities available at the time and so the narrative ended up being an experience I’d describe as “wild and uncanny”.
I’ve heard of the Marathon games but never played them. I’ll look into them more.
I’m a huge fan of Oblivion and Skyrim, and really enjoyed ESO as well, and I’ve tried getting into Morrowind a few times but every time I get a few hours in another game comes around. I never stop playing the game because I get bored or anything, I always really enjoy it, but every time I start a playthrough it ends because of another game. I really need to just isolate myself from other games for a while and sink a bunch of time into it. The limited time I’ve had with it really impressed me, to the point that I think it could become one of my favourite games ever. Oblivion is probably my favourite game ever (tied with Sekiro and Elden Ring) and Morrowind managed to impress me even more, so I really think once I get into it I’ll really get into it. The setting is just incredible.
Sounds good. A forewarning before playing, they’re a major product of their time so the controls and mechanics are a bit janky but not quite to the levels of the original system shocks.
I completely agree. It’ll definitely sink a lot of your time though but it’s setting is incredible and unique. Morrowind and the Shivering Aisles are my two favorites in the whole series so far because of their creativity and sense of wonder.
I also like how much freedom you get in Morrowind. The game just lets you do whatever you want. It invites you to break it apart more than any game I’ve ever seen. And then on top of that, the environment is just spectacular. I really Souls sink some time into it. I really want to 100% the Dark Souls trilogy before I do much else though, and I only just got to Anor Londo in Dark Souls 1 so I’ve got a ways to go yet. Plus a ton of suggestions on here, and Starfield in September, and I’ll be jumping back into Elden Ring for the DLC whenever that drops. But Morrowind needs to happen. If only I had more time.
Control does a good job of starting out uncomfortable and weird, and continuing to escalate as the story progresses. A great deal of unease since you don’t understand what’s going on with your character or the environment she finds herself in.
That sounds perfect. Thanks for the recommendation. I own it so I really should play it
America McGees Alice and Alice Madness Returns are both great game, the first one is very very dated, but the second game plays quite well with some manual patching. I strongly recommend Madness Returns and it has a creepy atmosphere like you’d want
My girlfriend is a huge Alice in Wonderland fan so her and I started playing Madness Returns (really just me playing and her watching but that’s what her preference is anyway). Unfortunately we got stuck due to a bug pretty early on and we haven’t continued yet, but we’ll probably try to figure it out eventually and go through the game. It’s definitely got a really cool atmosphere and art style, for sure.
FEAR hits this nicely, but maybe is a little more towards “horror” than you’re looking for. Although it’s not as horror as Dead Before Daylight.
Duly noted, I’ll be checking it out. Thanks.
Outer Wilds. It isn’t the whole game, but there are parts that will chill you to the bone.
I’ve heard that before, I found 99% of it just beautiful. I dropped acid playing it in VR and it was just incredible. But yeah, I knew enough not to go to Dark Bramble! Some of the quantum effects can be spoopy too.
“Don’t go to Dark Bramble” is the only thing I’ve heard about that game, other than a general idea of what the game is. It does sound intriguing though, I might have to play it
It’s honestly one of the most wonderful games I have played in a really long time. Totally different from anything I’ve played, the sort of thing I wouldn’t have thought I’d have enjoyed.
All I can say is, read as little as you can before going in, and resist the temptation to look up guides, at least to start with. Your curiosity slowly leads you to answers, and the satisfaction of piecing together bits of information and constantly making and adapting your own theories as you play is priceless. It’s a game actually designed to be completed by natural curiosity and exploration, which you rarely see!
Oh cool! Yeah I’m definitely interested and will check it out. I rarely use guides anyway so no issues there. I only ever do a guide if I’m going for 100% which is usually not on the first playthrough anyway
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
it’s about scavenging and fighting in a radioactive exclusion zone in Ukraine
it has some monsters, that scare the shit out of me, and ‘anomalies’ that break the rules of physics
it’s really good
That sounds really cool. I’ll definitely be taking a look, thanks.
I think the S.T.A.L.K.E.R games are outright survival horror. The realism of the games, the historical event as background, makes it even more creepier.
Cultist simulator! It’s a single player (card/board?) game inspired by gothic horror
Oh interesting! Very different than anything I’ve heard suggested so far. It looks super cool!
There’s 2 indie games that are SETI simulators. The original is Signal Simulator. It spawned a newer one, done like a half life clone, called Voices of the Void. Neither game is outright horror, but both give you a feeling of isolation induced paranoia. You feel like you’re constantly being watched. There’s a few random events that are creepy, but the idea is not outright terror.
I’ve never heard of either of those but they look really interesting. One of the better suggestions on here, based on pictures at least. I’ll definitely be checking both of those out, thank you.
I have another. One of my all time favorite games for the PS2 is Everblue 2. It’s a first person diving adventure game, you swim around a tropical island, looking for treasure and advancing the plot. Travelling around the map, you’re fixed to just moving left, right, forward, and back, but there are dive sites where you are given full motion. These are dark, claustrophobic spaces, sometimes with dangerous sea life. Usually, you’re searching for a specific item at the request of a person on the island. You’re given a time limit to each dive in the form of oxygen, and each item you collect effects both your overall health and the amount of oxygen you consume. Once you’ve got what you want, you then have to exit the site. There’s literally no music during dives unless there’s a threat. The only sounds are you and water…
Not super scary, unless you have thalassophobia. Just paranoia inducing, creepy, and tense at times.
If you’re not opposed to emulation, because that’s the only way to play it now, I really recommend giving it a try! We only got the second game, but there’s a European release of the first Everblue too. Emulation isn’t perfect for it though. There’s a ton of interlacing jitter no matter what settings you use, to the point that I can’t play it because it screws with my eyes too much. The same company also made the Endless Ocean games for the Wii.
I’ve been wanting more games in the genre like it ever since. Only Subnautica came remotely close.
I’ll definitely look into that more, it sounds right up my alley. Thanks for the suggestion, I especially love hearing about these lesser-known games
Vampire the Masquerade, Bloodlines. Came out before HL2 and I still go back to it ever year or two
I’m a pretty big fan of Outside Xbox and they talk about that game all the time, so I’m definitely aware of it. I bought it recently so I think I’m going to have to play it soon.
There’s one famously scary area, however.
Portal series
Absolutely. I forgot to mention those in my post but I’ve played them many, many times and they’re some of my favourites. Once you leave the test rooms in Portal 2 and explore the rest of Aperture after it became abandoned is one of the coolest experiences in video games for me. I love abandoned stuff, creepy in all the right ways
Yes, the games are not especially creepy but the implications are really horror material the more you think about it. Like the reason why Aperture is abandoned, what experimentations were conducted there, what are the consequences, who is the rat man… Chills.
That’s the best way to do creepy imo. Not immediately in your face or done in a horror-type way but more subtle.
I would recommend Yuppie Psycho. It is about 80% creepy and 20% horrow. That is not exactly what you wanted, but I think it is a good game regardless. https://store.steampowered.com/app/597760/Yuppie_Psycho_Executive_Edition/
It certainly looks interesting. I’ll consider it for sure, thanks!
Firewatch. The story and gameplay don’t lead you to believe you’re in for a paranoia existential plot but it certainly goes there. Sounds right up your alley. It’s an amazing game and certainly hits the point of scaring you without jump scares with an uneasy tension.
I heard lots of good things when it first came out and then sort or forgot about it. I’ll look into it some more, your description sounds exactly like what I’m looking for
