15. Cannibal Abduction
Cannibal Abduction is a VHS-styled survival horror game that came out in January of this year! You play as Henry, driving towards a weekend getaway, when your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. A seemingly nice local offers to take you back to their farm and help fix your car, but little do you know, they have plans. Dinner plans.
I think what I like most about this game is the VHS styling of it. I am a big fan of everything ‘found footage’ or 80s. There’s just something about finding horrifying videos of a place you’re in and then slowly realizing that you’re next.
14. Resident Evil Village
Being the eighth installment of the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil Village is a well known survival horror game, with amazing graphics and storytelling. This game is set a couple of years after the events of Resident Evil 7 and you play as Ethan Winters, who thinks everything is in the past, only to be sorely mistaken.
The thing I like most about this game is that it’s first person, which like, yeah, a lot of games are, but with a game as scary as Resident Evil, to have to play it in first person is terrifying. On top of that, Resident Evil is pretty gory and we’re experiencing it first hand. (Teehee, get it?)
13. Clock Tower
Clock Tower is a point-and-click survival game that was released in Japan in 1995. In 2024, this game will be released on modern platforms. In Clock Tower, you play as Jennifer Simpson, once an orphan, but was recently adopted alongside her friends by a wealthy man and taken to his large manor. Only, things aren’t as they seem and you soon find yourself trying to defend yourself against darker forces.
I honestly thought this game was a fever dream. I remembered specific parts of it but I could not remember the name for the life of me! The developer/writer of this game has an amazing grasp on the concept of storytelling and while the graphics are not great considering it came out in the 90s, it was still visually exciting!
12. The Night of the Scissors
The Night of the Scissors is a survival horror game that came out last year (2022). It follows a boy named Adam who breaks into an abandoned post office and soon discovers that he’s not alone. This game requires a lot of hiding and sneaking around. It also has a third-person option, in case you’re like me and terrified of first person.
What I love about this game is that it’s styled after those VHS movies from the 80s. But also it’s one of those games where you can explore and discover hints to a bigger story. Do you dare find out the truth? Or are you just wanting to get out of there with your life and sanity intact.
11. DEVOUR
At number eleven, I put DEVOUR. DEVOUR is a co-op slasher where you and perhaps your friends have to stop cultists before they stop your life. It requires a lot of running and screaming. According to reviews, single-player mode is for hardcore players only.
Usually, I don’t prefer to play co-op games, especially horror games. I tend to get in the zone and want to do my own thing rather than a team thing. But this game really requires you to put your brain cell(s) together and come up with a way to survive.
10. Outlast
Playing as investigative journalist Miles Upshur, you decide to break into the ever-secretive Mount Massive asylum, where you discover horrors beyond your imagination. But in order to escape you have to go deeper and discover darker secrets.
This game has been popular since I was young but if I’m being honest I had no clue what it was about until recently! How did I allow such an amazing game to escape my sight for so long? I will admit that I was so scared during the playthrough, I had to turn on the lights. It’s easily one of the scariest games I’ve ever seen.
9. Friday The 13th
Based on the classic slasher movie of the same name, Friday The 13th is a multiplayer survival horror game that is kind of similar to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre game. You can either play as Jason or as a camp counselor, it’s quite literally kill or be killed.
This is a really fun game to play with your friends, especially if it’s more than just one-on-one. You can team up as camp counselors to try and defeat Jason! Another thing I really like about this game is that you can play as several different versions of Jason.
8. Lunch Lady
At number 8 we have Lunch Lady, which is a co-op survival game in which you and your friends decide to break into your school overnight to steal test answers and you end up having to avoid the school’s murderous lunch lady.
This game is kind of reminiscent of Slender: The Eight Pages, because you have to collect 10 sheets of paper with the test answers on them. In my opinion, Lunch Lady is one of those things that’s fun to play with friends but may be overwhelming to play by yourself. But I might just be a scaredy cat.
7. Until Dawn
Until Dawn is an interactive horror fiction game that dropped in 2015 on the PS4. It follows a group of friends who go to a lodge for a winter getaway, not having any idea that the night would end in tragedy.
This game is SO GOOD. Watching a silent streamer play would be like watching a movie, except this game is choice dependent so it would be like a slightly different movie for each playthrough. The graphics are really good and it reminds me of Heavy Rain. Until Dawn really has top-notch storytelling, graphics, and even actors (Rami Malek).
6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
My number six pick is based on the 1974 classic film of the same name. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a multiplayer survival game where you can either play as the victim or be the killer. Well, to be more specific, it’s a seven-player game with four victims and three killers.
I think this game is a fun way to bond with your friends, it’s kind of like the gorier, more disturbing version of Among Us aside from the obvious differences. I really enjoyed it the one time I played this game and I would love to play it again.
5. Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight is an asymmetrical (4vs1) horror game with one killer and four survivors. The survivors play in third person so they can have better awareness of their environment while the killer plays in first person so they can have better awareness of their prey.
Dead by Daylight is so fun. The main thing I love about it is that the environment changes with each game. The second thing I love about this game is that you can play as different killers such as Michael Myers and Pyramid Head.
4. The Quarry
When nine teenage camp counselors decide to throw a party on the last day of summer camp, things quickly take a turn for the worst when there are no rules in place. The Quarry is a co-op cinematic experience to die for. Literally.
I really enjoyed The Quarry. It’s one of those games that’s easy to get lost in. The last time I played, I didn’t even realize that it took me until four in the morning. The graphics are amazing and the creatures are terrifying.
3. Sons Of The Forest
In this game, you were sent on a mission to find a missing billionaire who got lost on a remote island, but instead, you find yourself in cannibalistic territories. Having to build shelter, hunt, and fight to survive was not on your bucket list. This game can be played alone or with friends and it is the open-world survival game you never knew you needed.
What I like about this game is that your foes aren’t just cannibalistic humans, but there are also creatures you could never fathom and you can fight them off with a myriad of weapons. This is another really fun co-op game!
2. Slayaway Camp
Slayaway Camp is a killer puzzle game where you play as Skullface intent on slaughtering Slayaway Camp’s counselors. It’s a comedic yet gory slasher game that was released in 2016 with amazing reviews.
Slayaway Camp is so cute I had to put it at number two! I mean yes, it’s gory, but the character designs and the puzzle landscapes that you have to slide Skullface through are cute! I really enjoyed playing this game and would definitely play it again!
1. Alan Wake 2
The sequel to Alan Wake, Alan Wake 2, comes in at number one due to its amazing graphics and storyline. Alan Wake follows a character by the same name or…is trying to anyway. Bestselling author Alan Wake went missing in 2010 and Saga Anderson finds herself wrapped up in this terrifying case as she realizes some of Alan Wake’s horror stories are coming true.
I really love games like these, with amazing graphics and storytelling, almost like it’s a movie and not a game. When you’ve managed to create something so breathtaking and entrancing, you deserve the number one spot on this list.
