Horror is one of the most divisive genres in media. People either love it or stay far, far away from it.Horror gamesare special compared to books or movies because you’re no longer able to close your eyes or separate yourself from the situation by saying “That’s not what I would do”. After all, you’re in control. You may not have gotten your character into whatever nightmare they’re living in, but it’s up to you to get them out.
Games can tackle horror from a wide variety of angles. There’s the classic survival horror like Resident Evil, the more psychological like Silent Hill, and even action-focusedhorror like Dead Space. All those games come from big studios, however, meaning that they have a similar feel to them.Indie horror gamesare free to ramp up the terror in ways you never expect through new gameplay mechanics and themes mass market games just aren’t willing to touch. Indie horror exploded after Amnesia became a phenomenon, leading to a ton of copycats and low-effort knock-offs. Among all the shovelware, more than a few diamonds have cropped up. These are the best indie horror games I’ve played that kept me up all night.
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1Lost in Vivo
Claustrophobic terror
Lost in Vivo
Games don’t get much more indie than a single developer. Lost in Vivo is the work of solo dev KIRA and is laser-focused on triggering - or creating - your claustrophobia. The premise is your service dog has been lost in the sewers after a massive storm and you need to climb down into the cramped tunnels below. Only it isn’t just you and your dog down there. Graphically, Lost in Vivo sits somewhere between the PS1 and PS2 generations and makes the most out of its limited polygon art style with intentionally oppressive lighting and level design. This is a first-person experience, with some combat instead of purely trying to escape the twisted monsters, but odds are you will want to run away when you see them. Just try not to get lost in the narrow hallways.
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Don’t judge a book by its cover
You might think Omori was some kind of cozy indie RPG based on the screenshots, but that’s all part of the misdirection. You play as both the real person Sunny and his dream persona named Omori while exploring both the real and dream world called the Headspace. While in battle, you need to manage your party’s emotions, which act as the rock-paper-scissors system of strength and weaknesses. Emotions are a core theme, with tough concepts such as trauma, self-harm, depression, and anxiety being prominent. The colorful facade always feels just a bit off and slowly devolves into outright horror as you get deeper into the game and Sunny/Omori’s mental state. This one will startle you with its visuals, but haunt you with its themes.
3Paranormal HK
Urban legends from abroad
Every culture has its own urban legends that are spawned out of its own unique perspective and society that is completely unique. If you follow American urban legends then you will know of things like Skinwalkers, Bigfoot, or Mothman, while Mexico has animals like the Chupacabra. However, I doubt many people (myself included ) know any legends that come from China. Paranormal HK is a first-person horror game that will thrust you into a walled city named Kowloon with the intention of shooting an episode of a paranormal show. However, your hapless protagonist ends up getting far more than they bargained for. The most effective type of horror is the kind you don’t understand. which is a huge strength for Paranormal HK since it uses legends that we in the West haven’t grown accustomed to.
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Home sweet home
If you didn’t think a house - just the concept of a regular house - could be terrifying, Anatomy will prove you so very, very wrong. I will need to stay brief covering this game because you can get through it in less than an hour so I highly suggest you just go play it without knowing anything at all. If you do need a bit more, the idea is that you’re exploring a house and listening to tapes that reframe the concept of a house as a body and how that influences our relationship to it. I know, that doesn’t sound scary, but it’s all in the delivery and presentation. If you like true psychological horror without any combat, jumpscares, or monsters chasing you from room to room, Anatomy will restore your faith in the horror genre.
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Ghost in the shell
Amnesia: The Dark Descent spawned a renewed interest in horror by focusing on depowering the player to the point where running and hiding were the only options. That’s a perfectly scary formula, but I personally find it grows stale after a few hours or if I get caught and the threat stops feeling real. For Frictional Games' next project, it kept that same hide-and-seek approach to monsters but coupled it with an existential dread in the story. The very nature of humanity, consciousness, and blurring the line between man and machine. Exploring the underwater facility is tense enough, but when the ending hits and you realize what is really going on - that is what will keep you up at night.
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