The Absolute Best Horror Games of All Time
There is just something about seeking a thrill that makes horror games the most fun to play. At least, I hope. I think you will agree. I've put together this list of the 25 best horror games for you and your friends to enjoy. Let's get into it.
25. Silent Hill (PlayStation/PS-2, Xbox, PC)
This game is old and has the graphics to show for it. However, this game is a classic of the horror genre. In this survival game, you must search for your daughter in a monster-filled town. The primary goal is to survive. This game delivers the fear factor we all love about horror games.
24. Layers of Fear (Android, Switch, Xbox One, PS-4, PC)
Experience the mind of insanity in layers of fear the monster is you. Navigate through the game as a painter suffering from a psychotic illness. Solve the puzzles to uncover the mystery of your past. This game is a different type of fear than most on this list, as the monster isn't an external being. This game is significant for players in the mood for a psychological fright.
23. Until Dawn (PS-4)
Until Dawn, is a dramatic horror game. Until Dawn’s storyline, rather than the actions themselves, plays an integral role throughout the gameplay. This game plays as an interactive slasher film. You have the teenagers in the woods at a lodge and what goes wrong is like all the great slasher horror movies involving teenage lovers in the woods. You have a crazed maniac who comes out of the woods, only to cause chaos and terror. This game has classic horror elements and a legitimate fright, earning it a place on this list indefinitely.
22. The Last of Us (PS-3/4/5, PC)
A Fungus ravages the country, turning infected people into aggressive creatures. Twenty years after, civilization is not what it once was. A small group of survivors must now navigate the decimated country and avoid contact with the infected. The storyline for this game is just top-tier. If you have not played it already, please do.
21. Darkwood (Switch, Xbox One, PS-4, PC)
Darkwood is a survival exploration game. Wander through the woods from a bird's-eye perspective on your character and with only a diary to decipher what you need to do and look for. This game is ominous as you awake alone in a forest in soviet occupied Poland. Your only objective is to escape. Terror awaits at every turn, as you have a limited field of vision, it's even more thrilling.
20. BioShock (iOS, Switch, Xbox /360One, PS-3/4, PC)
BioShock is a first-person shooter game. Its set in 1960 and follows the character into an underwater city where a genetic material that causes superhuman powers made the nice utopia the city once was, into a city of villains you must fight to stay alive. This game is shocking and is too much fun to be left off this list.
19. Observer (Switch, Xbox One/X/S, PS-4/5, PC)
Observer follows a detective who can hack into people's minds to interrogate them. They set the game in a dystopian future where the cooperation has made a nano-augmented police force. Playing as one of the nano- augmented officers, you truly get to experience the future. Although I hope this isn’t what our version of 2084 looks like, I enjoy playing this game.
18. Condemned: Criminal Origins (Xbox 360, PC)
This first-person survival horror is a puzzle game inspired by movies like saw and seven. The game places a strong emphasis on melee-type combat and solving puzzles. It is super fun to play. Some people dislike the story’s progression. However, I think it tells a great story. I had great fun playing it. I believe this is one of the greatest games of all time.
17. Slender: The Eight Pages (PC)
This game is about the folk-lore creature Slender Man, a tall figure with a black suit and a blank, featureless face. He is known for abducting children in foreboding places, such as deep in the forest or at an abandoned building. In this game, you are in the Forest. The player must collect all eight notes without Slender Man finding you. This game is a total thrill.
16. Dead By Daylight (Android, iOS, Xbox One, Switch, PS-4, PC)
The greatest slasher films of all time inspired Dead by Daylight. This game brings in the genuine terror of the horror classics we all love. With multiple playing options, you can be anyone you want, a killer or a survivor. This multiplayer game puts you through a nightmare. Just when you think you've survived, they terrorize you once more. It's a good game for a thrill with friends.
15. The Thing (Xbox, PS-2, PC)
Let us just pretend that this is the best graphics you can get. At the time they produced it; it was. It's not the graphics that make this game outstanding, it's the story, the fighting creatures and using whatever you can find to survive the attack in Antarctica. The game is the sequel to the movie of the same name. John Carpenter, the filmmaker endorsed this game.
14. Dead Rising (iOS, Wii, Xbox 360/One, PS-3/4, PC)
You're a photojournalist named Frank West and must survive 72 hours in a zombie-filled mall and save as many survivors as you can, while also trying to uncover clues to find the cause of the outbreak. The best part is that you can use anything as a weapon.
13. Clock Tower 3 (PlayStation 2, PC)
Clock tower follows the story of a young girl who is part of a line of warriors who travel through time to defeat evil beings. You are armed only with a long bow. This weapon isn't like some of the weapons typically used in horror games. I found this aspect of the game refreshing. The fights are still frightening.
12. The Suffering (Wii, Xbox, PS-2, PC)
This game follows a prisoner on death row for a crime he doesn't remember committing. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose, and you're now fighting for life against supernatural beings. This game is a new terror in a new place.
11. Manhunt (Xbox, PS-2/4, PC)
This game is visceral. The player must complete challenges where you have to murder people when their backs facing you. This game is a surreal psychological thrill. It almost needs its own category of horror.
10. System Shock (Xbox One/X/S, PS-4/5, PC)
You are a security hacker aboard a space station in 2072. You must stop the plans of the rogue AI, SHODAN. As you play, you encounter cyborgs and mutated crew members. This game gets more frightening as artificial intelligence gets more common. This game makes me think of what could happen if Amazon’s Alexa went haywire. Maybe I should unplug her for a while.
9. Phasmophobia (PC)
Phasmophobia is a 4-player, online, psychological horror game. In which you're a ghost hunter looking for ghosts and tracking signs of their presence. Phasmophobia delivers the thrill of the Ghostbusters movies. Playing online makes it even more fun and challenging.
8. The Evil Within (Xbox 360/One, PS-3/4, PC)
The evil within is an intense survival horror adventure. This third-person perspective game centres on a city you must navigate through to find a means of escaping terrifying killer creatures. The creatures and graphics to go with them can be frightening to even the most steadfast players.
7. Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360, PC)
After the world has collapsed due to an outbreak of a virus causing people to turn to zombies, 4 survivors must make it to safety to get rescued. Defend yourself against the hoards and get to the helicopter. This game is exceptional single-player but I love playing this one multiplayer. This game is perfect for casual gaming as the checkpoints are frequent.
6. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (GameCube)
Being made so long ago, in 2002, Eternal Darkness is only available on GameCube. However, It's a classic. This Psychological thriller follows the main character through a mansion in Rhode Island and the book the character finds. This game will have you questioning reality within minutes. For good reason, Eternal Darkness received high ratings. Will you survive or go mad?
5. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Switch, Xbox One/X/S, PS-4-5, PC)
searching for his wife through an old plantation inhabited by a family of the infected. You must solve puzzles and stay alive to find your wife. This game is frightening, due in part to the nature of the story and the visual effects. Resident Evil 7 is one of the greatest horror games of all time.
4. Dead Space (Xbox 360, PS-3, PC)
The premise of Dead Space is the player get’s sent to a space mining ship that needs repair, but what you find; you didn't bring the tools to handle it. You are stuck in space and must find a way to survive what the original mining crew could not. Whatever came after the crew of the ship is now after you, too. Dead Space is just the first installment of the series. I strongly recommend the whole franchise.
3. Amnesia: Dark Descent (Android, PS-4, Xbox One, PC)
As you explore the creepiest castle I've ever seen, you find you have amnesia and have not a single clue as to where you are. You must solve the puzzles and survive what hides in the shadows. The graphics and the soundtrack make you feel like you're actually inside a paranormal horror movie. Amnesia is terrifying, and I recommend it to everyone.
2. Little Nightmares (Switch, Xbox One/Series X and S, PS-4/5, PC)
Follow the character, Six, as they explore sinister locations and solve puzzles to survive. This game takes place in a dwelling of some terrible creatures. You must lurk through shadow to avoid detection and find a way to escape. There are so many more things I can say about this game, but it all boils down to playing it yourself.
1. Alien: Isolation (Android, iOS, Xbox 360/One, PS-3/4)
Alien: Isolation is my favourite game of all time. This game follows Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, through space as she searches for evidence of what happened to her mother. As she explores the space station Sevastopol, she discovers sinister adversaries. This game brings the fright of the original Alien franchise and lets you experience it in a fresh new way.
