Experience the thrills and scares of a horror game head-on in VR—literally.
VR is a relatively newer product, only available to the public in the last decade. Ever since developers have hopped on to create games you can enjoy across a variety of genres. A popular genre in VR is horror—immerse yourself in the setting and have an up-close and personal experience with the monsters and scares. If you want to make your blood run cold and send shivers down your spine, try out these horror VR games.
15. Edge of Nowhere (PC)
Edge of Nowhere trailer
In Edge of Nowhere, experience a world inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, a horror writer most famous for the Cthulhu Mythos. You play as Victor Howard on an expedition in Antarctica. He’s searching for his fiance who was lost in a previous expedition there. As you explore, watch reality twist and warp around you as you enter a strange, monstrous world previously unknown to man.
This third-person game is an ode to Lovecraftian monsters. You can even discover Cthulhu, arguably the most well-known of these monsters. Imagine putting your headset on and coming face to face with this giant tentacled monster. Bringing these monsters to life right before your eyes isn’t something you can experience anywhere else. With a unique story and setting, it’s something worth playing.
14. Wilson’s Heart (PC)
Wilson's Heart trailer
Experience a world without color in Wilson’s Heart. The stylistic black and white graphics only further the psychological horror aspect of the game. Play as a patient named Wilson in first-person as he wakes up in a hospital with a strange metal orb in place of his heart. All he wants is to get his heart back, but that is a harder task than he originally thought. As you explore, run into other characters that may or may not be on your side who hide secrets they don’t want to reveal.
Hospitals are classic horror game locations. It’s hard to go wrong when making one, but that also means they need something unique to stand out from the others. What makes this different from other horror games with a hospital setting are the supernatural creatures you meet along the way. Discover werewolves, vampires, and even something that resembles Frankenstein’s Monster. Adding the VR element to the game takes it to the next level. Immerse yourself in the world of a hospital gone crazy and try not to lose sight of yourself in the process.
13. Lies Beneath (PC)
Lies Beneath trailer
Lies Beneath brings a comic book to life right before your eyes. Discover the strange secrets of Slumber, Alaska as a returning resident. You play as this returning resident, Mae, who was away at college. She must now save herself and her father from the creatures and terrifying townsfolk overrunning the town. Fight off monsters with melee or ranged weapons and solve puzzles to unlock the mysteries of the town and Mae’s own past.
This VR game is worth playing for the graphics alone. Though they might not seem impressive at first because they’re not realistic, experiencing a comic world is a dream of many. The comic style is not only nostalgic, but it makes it feel like you could be one of the heroes everyone reads about. It plays just like a normal survival/horror game, making you limit your ammo and food rations as you go. This isn’t a game you want to miss.
12. The Persistence (PC, PS4)
The Persistence trailer
Another popular horror scenario, space, is thoroughly explored in The Persistence. As the last surviving crew member aboard your ship, you must restore functionality to it and make it back to Earth. The only problem? The ship is overrun with murderous aberrations.
However, death can’t stop you. The ship's clone printer is malfunctioning so each time you are killed, your consciousness is uploaded into a new body. But as security protocols go haywire, each new body you get shuffles the layout of the ship’s rooms. Can you survive?
The game's uncommon use of death makes it that much more interesting. If you die here, not only is that death very real but brings about its own set of consequences. As the ship reshuffles with each death, you might lose the chance to get a certain upgrade and have to wait until it resurfaces again. The game expects you to die many times, which only increases the horror aspect in VR as the aberrations rip you apart as you stand there, helpless. This isn’t a game for the faint of heart.
11: Affected: The Manor (PC, PS4)
Affected: The Manor trailer
Terror lurks around every corner in Affected: The Manor. Your goal is to escape the manor you find yourself trapped in. However, as you venture further and further into the abandoned house, you’ll find the only thing keeping you alive is your sanity.
With jump scares galore, playing this in VR is a must. It will raise the stakes when you feel as if you’re walking through the mansion yourself. There are multiple paths through the house, making exploring worth your while. It probably means you’ll run into another scare though, so pick and choose your battles.
Recent updates have brought new game modes you can try. Compete in global leaderboards while you speed run through the house or just race your friends. Or, add a whole new level of horror to the game with a candle in your hand as your only light source. Play through the game and experience an escape game like you never have before.
10. The Forest (PC)
The Forest trailer
After four years of early access beta, The Forest was officially released, its story and gameplay finalized. This survival horror video game is set on a forested peninsula. You play as Eric LeBlanc, one of two plane crash survivors—the other being your son who is kidnapped before your eyes. You pass out before you can stop them, and when you wake up again wanting to find your son, you find out the forest is crawling with cannibals. You need to stay alive and avoid the cannibals as you search for your son and his kidnapper, hoping he’s still alive.
You have to survive on the island in a combination of survival and sandbox game elements. Build your own shelters, weapons, and other survival tools. Kill or flee from the cannibals. As you progress further and further into the forested peninsula and surrounding caves, experience more and more cannibal mutations that make it harder to survive.
Playing this in VR adds a new layer to the game, especially with the day and night cycle. In the darkness the night brings you struggle to see if the cannibals are around, waiting to attack. There’s an optional multiplayer mode to the game too, so grab your friends and survive on the island together.
9. Five Nights At Freddy’s: Help Wanted (PC, PS4)
Five Nights At Freddy's: Help Wanted
A popular horror game series, Five Nights At Freddy’s, was recently reimagined on VR in Help Wanted. Even if you’ve never played a FNAF game, you probably understand the basics through social media. You’re a newly hired security guard at the pizzeria who finds out the animatronics are haunted and trying to kill you. Survive the night from 12 AM to 6 AM, with each night only increasing in difficulty. Try not to get yourself killed by the animatronics in a jump scare moment.
Experience the classic pizzeria or explore new game modes. Some of the levels are remakes of the first few games. It’s worth playing through them though, as the VR aspect makes it an entirely new experience. Feel like you’re actually sitting in the security room and hear the footsteps of the animatronics around you. And, not to mention, the jump scares are right in your face.
There are new minigames to experience too, like repairing the animatronics in a game similar to Operation or repairing the vents in the building. Whether you’re a fan of the franchise or just a fan of horror games, this one is worth our time.
8. Narcosis (PC, PS4)
Narcosis trailer
If you have a fear of the ocean, Narcosis is not for you. Explore the depths of the Pacific Ocean and the horrors around it as you play as a diver stranded on the ocean floor. You have only a few tools and a short supply of oxygen. Try to make your way back to the surface and survive and encounter multiple issues fighting against you. This includes the sealife and an increase in oxygen use during intense moments that drain your supply.
The game does have an overarching story, but the main goal is to survive. As you play in VR, try to remember you can breathe normally as you aren’t actually in the ocean. Still, with nothing but the creepy soundtrack and the shadowy depths to accompany you, it’s hard to not feel like you’re really there. At any moment, something could swim out from the inky blackness and attack before you have a chance to register its presence. Without any supernatural creatures involved, experience a game focused on human fears and limits.
7. The Inpatient (PS4)
The Inpatient trailer
Your actions have consequences when you play The Inpatient. This game is a prequel to the popular game Until Dawn. You play as a patient suffering from amnesia. Explore the run-down Blackwood Sanatorium as you try to recover your memories and run into something more pressing. The Sanatorium harbors dark secrets and experiments so watch out.
This first-person VR game will continue to pull you through twists and surprises as you delve further and further into the plot. Not everything may be a surprise if you’ve played Until Dawn, though. The two games connect at the end, tying any loose ends together. Discover the supernatural as you try to survive. Once you put on that headset, you can truly feel the life of the main character as they suffer through these trials. With an engaging plot and interesting characters, you’ll want to buy this one.
6. Dreadhalls (PC)
Dreadhalls trailer
As a game inspired by a typical dungeon crawl, Dreadhalls has a lot to offer. Explore and survive the halls of this dungeon as you try to escape. Armed only with a faint light, you’ll have to use your stealth and courage to make your way through this one. No two runs are the same either, so your memory won’t help you here.
The VR aspect of this game adds to the horror element. Because the light you have is only faint, you have to rely on the surrounding sounds as well as visuals. Hear where the monsters are around you as you try to sneak by and escape. Every time you load the game, the map changes too, giving it high replayability. Don’t forget to put headphones on when you play.
5. Layers of Fear (PC)
Layers of Fear trailer
Delve deep into the mind of an insane painter in Layers of Fear. You play as the painter who is only trying to finish what he believes to be his masterpiece. However, his insanity is constantly getting in the way. Uncover the visions, fears, and horrors of the painter and try to finish the painting as you go.
One cool aspect of this game and the VR part is that the environment is constantly changing around you. Once you look away from something, if you look back, chances are it doesn’t look the same as it did, whether it’s a subtle change you might not notice or something more alarming. The ever-changing graphics combined with the dark and twisted storyline will make you second guess what is real or not in the game.
4. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood (PS4)
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood trailer
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is a direct spinoff of Until Dawn. This rail shooter game has many twists and turns, and not just because you spend a lot of it in a roller coaster cart. In this horror-themed roller coaster park, play through multiple levels that only grow more intense as you try to piece the story together and find out what is really going on. Shoot at monsters as you ride the rails and try to escape from the villain.
You can find familiar creatures and locations here if you’ve played the original Until Dawn, like the Sanatorium. If you have little VR experience, this is a good game to start with as most of the time you are stationary and just need to worry about shooting the monsters that pop out at you. If you’re a more experienced player, it’s still a great VR horror shooter that’s worth playing.
3. Phasmophobia (PC)
Phasmophobia trailer
Though it’s still in early access, Phasmophobia is one of the best and most popular VR horror games out there. Take up the role of a ghost hunter called out to one of several haunted locations, ranging from small houses to large asylums. While there, use different tools to find and identify the ghost. Try not to get killed in the process and make it back to the van with your ghost identified to earn money.
Play with up to four players, whether they’re your friends or random strangers. The game has a proximity chat feature so you can only talk with the other players through walkie-talkies if they’re too far away. Be careful what you say, however, as the ghost can hear you and react to it too. The proximity chat in VR makes hearing people from all over the house that much more real, and when the ghost hunts, makes your death even scarier.
With 12 different types of ghosts, each as unpredictable as the next, every level will bring a new challenge even if it’s in the same location. Complete bonus quests while you’re hunting the ghosts too to earn a little extra cash. Then you can spend it on more tools, or use it to replace what you lost if you died. As the game continues to update and gets closer to its full release, it’s worth giving it a try.
2. Half-Life: Alyx (PC)
Half-Life: Alyx trailer
Half-Life: Alyx is the third game in the Half-Life series and is solely VR. Set between Half-Life 1 and 2, play as Alyx Vance on a mission to seize a superweapon currently in the hands of an alien. Combining elements of both games, this first-person shooter has both puzzles to solve and a survival horror aspect. Fight off the aliens as a member of the resistance and try to save the world.
This game keeps the player in mind and gives you a couple of options while playing. The game is in first-person, and each gun or other weapon available can be used with one hand. This allows you to interact with the world around you while still armed. You have a few movement choices as well, from the typical point and teleport of a VR game to physically moving around in your room, and even a strange in-between drifting with the analog stick. However you want to play, this full-length game is captivating in both gameplay and story.
1. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (PS4)
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard trailer
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is the seventh installment in a long line of horror games. Play as Ethan Winters on the search for his missing wife. Along the way, discover a family that seems nice at first, but you soon discover they are infected by a virus and they try to kill you. When you do find his wife, you find out that she is similarly infected. Develop a cure and save yourself before it’s too late. As you play, find out the cause of the infection in the first place and see if you can stop it.
This is the first Resident Evil in first-person, which works nicely with VR. Enjoy the horrors and thrills not only from this perspective but as if you are actually Ethan Winters and everything is real. From surprise mutations to sudden creature revelations, each twist is sure to send chills down your spine. As a great game from a popular franchise, you’ll get a thrill out of playing this game.
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