What Are The Best Android Horror Games?
Compact gaming has made many strides since the days of the original Game Boy. Now with any number of games being easily transported to smartphones and tablets, the options have grown exponentially. And what better thrill to get from Android gaming than the offerings of the horror genre, now in travel size options!
11) The Letter - Horror Visual Novel
While inspecting the supposedly haunted Ermengarde Mansion, evidence is found to suggest the hauntings may be more than superstition. With a cast of seven key characters, the player unfolds the story according to whatever choices they make. Some live, some die, and the branching plotlines provide plenty of replay value.
While a cultural mainstay in foreign markets, visual novels were rather niche here in the States for the longest time. Thankfully, that’s changed in recent years, especially as more and more games adopt the play style. But for a more fundamental look at the visual novel in action, there’s 2017’s The Letter.
The Letter is great for those looking for a good narrative experience over gameplay. When it comes to plot, this one certainly cuts to the chase.
10) Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land
War is already hell, but add a doomsday cult to the mix and that’s just extra icing on the cake. As Professor Brightmeer and army officer Captain Hill, players brave the no man’s land of World War I to halt the efforts of Docktor Kaul and his army of fanatics.
Horror gameplay dives back to the roots of the genre with this tactical take on the Cthulhu mythos. In the same of vein as turn-based strategy games like the X-Com series, players take on all manner of enemies, be they cosmic, undead, or otherwise. For both fans and newcomers to tactics games, Wasted Land makes a great entry point addition to the tactics library.
And for Lovecraft fans as well, the game offers a unique take on the horror master’s tales, with shout outs and references aplenty. Just don’t let the madness overtake you.
9) Death by Daylight
John is an ace reporter intent on uncovering the truth behind a local haunted house. Years ago, it was the site of three deaths which the locals pinned on ghosts that supposedly shroud the place. But any reporter worth their salt knows to approach such matters with a healthy amount of skepticism, right?
As a first person puzzle game, players work their way through the decrepit house with two objectives. First, to uncover the truth, but more importantly, get John out alive. Because ghosts or not, he isn’t alone.
Death by Daylight hits the ground running with atmospheric horror all around. Constant dread will have you nerve-wracked before every step, but your curiosity will keep you going full steam ahead. And you’ll have to; that is, if you want to stay a few steps ahead of the creeping terror.
8) Forgotten Memories
Serial killers, hauntings, and an abandoned mental hospital: the perfect combination for a horror experience. Rose Hawkins is an officer hot on the trail of a notorious murderer and their potential next victim, a young girl named Eden. But when the case leads her to an abandoned asylum, darker secrets edge their way in to her already fractured mind.
Forgotten Memories harkens back to classic horror games of the nineties like the early Resident Evil games or Silent Hill. For those looking for a similar psychological horror bent, this game certainly delivers in spades. While Rose’s own journey will offer plenty of scares in its own right, adventurous gamers may find more yet to uncover in the hospital’s twisted past.
The game isn’t without some hang ups though, most annoyingly its ill-thought out combat system. Couple that with the old-school save-system (not unlike Resident Evil’s infamous ink ribbons), it’s going to take some generous oversight from players. Still, where the game does succeed, it does so with flying colors.
7) Never Slept
How do you escape a nightmare when you can’t even trust your own senses? As a child still reeling from the death their mother, you find yourself trapped in a nightmare version of the boarding school you were sent away to. Now with a monster on your heels, you must find a way out and confront the past that has shaped the horror you now face.
The game couples the challenge of avoiding the stalking terror while also solving the myriad of puzzles required to escape the school. You’ll have to keep your wits about you without letting your fears impede progress.
Never Slept finds the horror in an otherwise mundane setting through twists of dream logic. Taking the approach of childhood fears, players will find a horror experience that brings back the primal frights of youth. Isolation can be unnerving enough, more so when left with your own imagination.
6) Midnight Awake
Some time ago, you were in a car accident that killed your mother and left you paralyzed. Those are the only things you feel certain about. What isn’t clear is where you are, when you are, or whether you are even awake. And then there’s a phone call telling you you’ll die alone…
Moving back and forth between your house and the mental ward, the player must piece together what little remains of their past. Gameplay is relatively straightforward, with movement being limited to guide points and puzzles leaning on the easy side. While it may not be much of a challenge, this game knows how to keep its focus on the narrative.
Midnight Awake finds its main strength in relative simplicity. The horror of it abounds in a constant sense of uncertainty and an inability to trust your own senses. Wherever the player may be trapped physically, they are most certainly a prisoner of their own mind.
5) Distraint
Price is a man just trying to do his job. It’s just that his job happens to involve evicting tenants. While he tries to justify it as only business, the guilt becomes more than he can bear. Now at a crossroads, he must finally choose between following his conscious or following his ambitions.
Taking plenty of story cues from visual novels and walking simulators, Distraint keeps traditional gameplay low-key. Instead, it’s up to the player to keep progressing as Price’s story unfolds, with enough puzzle solving to keep things interesting.
The game strikes an interesting balance of morose themes with just enough satire and heart for some levity. And with its side scrolling gameplay and unique pixel art style, it makes for a standout visual experience.
4) Dark Meadow: The Pact
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A man wakes up in an abandoned hospital with no memories and only a disembodied voice to guide him. Only here, he has to contend with a horde of hellish creatures set on him by an enigmatic being, with the fate of the world possibly at stake. And there are still more twists to come.
While most of the games discussed here mostly make gameplay second to story, Dark Meadow is a reversal. The focus on story is still there, but gameplay takes precedent. Quicktime combat features heavily over the course of the game, not unlike other titles like Infinity Blade or even Fruit Ninja. It still keeps things interesting, however, by mixing different gameplay types.
Dark Meadow shows a remarkable amount of ambition for a mobile game, not least through its use of the Unreal Engine. Trial and error through combat will keep you honing your strategies throughout and the level system will provide plenty of ways to approach enemies. And even if the repetitive nature doesn’t always keep gameplay interesting, the bits of story sprinkled throughout will hold your attention.
3) Identity V
Orpheus is a struggling novelist turned detective haunted by a darker half lurking within himself. One day, he receives a letter from an elusive figure, urging him to take up a new case: find his missing daughter. The starting point: an abandoned manor that holds many more dark secrets waiting to be discovered.
For those who like a whimsical take on horror (a la Tim Burton), Identity V is a perfect fit. Gameplay takes two forms, the first being the conventional adventure where players control Orpheus and further his investigation. But the bigger draw is the survival action pieces as players control a number of characters as they elude killers stalking the mansion grounds.
These portions are also where the game’s biggest replay value comes from, via multiplayer. Much like 2016’s Dead by Daylight, four players take on the bystander role to avoid the fifth player who hunts each one down with extreme prejudice. There’s a wealth of great characters to choose from, so hunt or be hunted.
2) White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
Things start off innocent enough in White Day. A young student wants to sneak into school to leave his crush a surprise gift, except once trapped inside, he has to contend with a murderous janitor and the plethora of ghosts haunting the grounds.
Gameplay in White Day can go from slow and steady to quick intensity at the drop of a hat. While you’re working your way around the school trying to figure out its mysteries, you’ll have to keep your guard up for any new or familiar threats as they pop up. And with so much lore to explore, not to mention multiple endings, there’s value to be had in replay.
White Day gained a cult following in the years after its original 2001 release. While the initial version was never ported to the States, fan translations circulated around, creating demand. Now with the overhauled remake, gamers on both console and handheld can get a taste of one of the hidden gems of horror games.
1) Oxenfree
So you and a bunch of friends decide to meet up for some late night partying on a remote island, nothing too unusual. Except now, your radio picks up interdimensional stations, time loops are popping up, and you and the gang have to fight off ghostly possessions. So yeah, a little out of the ordinary.
Oxenfree has you control Alex, a teen girl who possesses the previously mentioned radio. With it, she can make her way further in the exploration of the island, itself an abandoned military base. Along the way, you’ll also use it for solving puzzles and to fight off the ghostly apparitions.
You’ll also manage your friendships along the way through numerous interactions and conversations. Like with any number of modern adventure games, dialogue trees come into play a lot. Both these and your actions in game will have a wide effect on the outcome of the ending.
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