Horror games have become a staple in the arsenal of games that companies push out each year. Why is it that players love these games so much? Is it the fear or the adrenaline rush that it gives them? These games make hearts ache as players check each corner of every room to make sure that they aren’t being watched.
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Outlast is one of the most notorious for its stressful moments that make you fear for your life and dark moments that are just generally creepy. What other games should you try if you are actively looking for a heart attack?
10 Outlast
Outlast starts off our list by having moments that can terrify even some of the most courageous people. You play as an investigative journalist who decides to investigate a remote psychiatric hospital. If that wasn’t creepy enough, there is fear around every corner that will make you need to hide or confront your fear head-on and die in the process. You get a front-row seat to the horror from behind your video camera as you try to solve the mystery of the building you are investigating.
9 Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game that places players in the shoes of Amanda Ripley as she tries to maneuver about a space station. You must complete objectives while constantly being hunted by the Xenomorph that is hiding within the ship. Never knowing when and where the alien will strike is extremely stressful. Anyone who has seen the Alien movies can understand how stressful it can be on one of those ships as an alien is trying to eat you. The atmosphere helps increase the fear that players feel from darkened corners and empty rooms that really makes you feel isolated.
8 F.E.A.R
F.E.A.R A.K.A. First Encounter Assault Recon is a game that focuses on the paranormal. Its story follows that of a little girl named Alma Wade who acts as the story’s antagonist as you try to uncover the mystery about her and why she is causing paranormal activity across the city. While the entire series can be stress, (mainly the first and second games) it is Alma who causes the real fear. She appears randomly throughout the story, almost as if she is chasing you. Throughout the game, objects will move, lights will flicker, and sounds will echo off the walls. It all combines together to create a horror game that will make you want to leave the nightlight on.
7 Resident Evil 7
Resident Evil games aren’t as scary as they are action-packed with zombies that we all know players love to kill (again). Resident Evil 7 takes a different approach that brings a survival horror element that will stress anybody out (especially in VR). In the game, you must traverse the Baker’s household to discover the secrets about a bioweapon while also looking for your wife.
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While this game will make you jump and gives off an amazing creep factor, the true stress lies in the inventory management and lack of resources. Like any Resident Evil game, you must be sparing with your bullets or risk not having them when it matters most.
6 Dead Space
Dead Space is exactly why you shouldn’t mess with alien planets and especially not try to rip off chunks of the planets to use for mining operations. Anyone who has played this game knows what kind of hell on Earth the mining crew suffered before Isaac Clark and his crew arrives. They crash land on the mining ship to discover a bloodbath along with people who are coming back to life as necromorphs. This is one horror game that will leave you checking every corner to make sure that nothing has broken free inside your home.
5 Five Nights At Freddy’s 3
While the first two Five Nights at Freddy’s games bring plenty of stress, the worst is FNAF 3. It brings more jump scares and stress as you try to survive each night inside your security room. Your power slowly trickles away as you check the security cameras and bar the door to prevent the wicked animatronic known as Springtrap from coming in to kill you. The game also brings in the added pressure of hallucinations that appear, though they don’t hurt you, they will creep you out and leave you begging for a safe place to hide.
4 Until Dawn
The stress in Until Dawn is unlike any other game. The game starts off with more of a slasher style horror, but transitions to a tale of wendigos and Native American curses. Every decision you make matters as they directly result in the fate of the characters. This means that if you make the wrong decisions at any given time, you will be directly responsible for your favorite character dying in a horrific way. This style of gameplay is not only unique but will make you want to take a few moments to chill out before you continue the gruesome and wonderful tale.
3 The Evil Within
Though it was criticized for having a confusing story, The Evil Within is what you get when you combine the mysterious and otherworldly horror of Silent Hill with the stress of resource management from Resident Evil. Resources are scarce as you make your way through the story and the nightmarish beings are all too real.
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More often then not, you will find yourself being chased down by a creature and not have the ammo needed to take it out. The psychological horror you will experience as it offers a bizarre story that will make you question reality itself.
2 Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is one of the most recognizable stories in the horror genre. In the game, you play as Daniel as he explores a castle and fights off nightmarish creatures that make him literally go insane. Many fans have brought up how impactful this game has been in the last decade for indy horror gamers. Something about this game makes players feel along and vulnerable as they try to survive. The question of what lurks behind every corner is frequently mentioned as you hear ghoulish sounds that will make you question your own sanity.
1 P.T.
P.T. was an interactive teaser for the Silent Hills game that ultimately never ended up being created. Horror fans clung to this teaser though as the saving grace in the horror genre. The demo was more horrific than many fully fleshed out horror games and more stressful than any other game on the market. Though it is just a teaser, there is a level of fear that you feel as you walk about the empty house with jump scares and imagery that most players can still see today. This is what happens when true horror masters come together to create something amazing.
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