Be a penny pincher and get your horror games too
Don't let a tight budget keep you from your horror games. Take a look at some of the best free horror games out there and satisfy your horror fix.
10. Vapour
This isn't Dante's purgatory.
Warning: you might punch your screen in jump scare fear if you play this game.
In Vapor play as a lost soul traveling through purgatory as they follow lights shinning within a dense fog. This horror game combines first person shooter, puzzle, and platfomring elements into one horrific experience.
According to the game's official guide, players take control of a deceased warlock who is trapped in purgatory and must kill the three Hell Lords by burning their remains and respective trinkets. Once these body parts and items are found, players need to make a mad dash towards a big camp fire to set everything ablaze. Sounds easy enough until the player is chased by flocks of creepy enemies like skeletal hands, detached skulls with handing spinal cords, and the Hell Lords themselves. Even worse is that when these items are obtained, terrifying jump scares take control of the game and warp it as players must watch as disturbing figures flash on the screen and scream. Players posses a fireball attack that can kill small monsters, but only slightly repel the Hell Lords, quick reflexes are the key to survival.
A commercial release for Vapour is coming out on July 3rd with greater level design, puzzles, and sense of character.
9. Ib
All are good choices
Horror games don't need groundbreaking graphics to be scary, the simplistic can be just as terrifying, Ib proves this. Ib is a horror adventure game made in RPG Maker 2000 and despite the low res graphics the game has a very heavy and creepy atmosphere. Players take control of Ib, a young girl who visits an art gallery with her parents for her birthday. After looking at a strange painting, Ib realizes that she is alone and the museum has somehow become empty. As she searches for her parents, she discovers that not everything in the gallery is as it seems. Ib finds herself trapped in a large and twisted art gallery whose world is filled with horrors like evil dolls and headless mannequins.
The game focuses on exploration and puzzle solving. Be prepared for tons of jump scares and chases as players can't fight the aggressive art works that hack at Ib's health. Players must be quick witted and resourceful in order to escape the twisted art gallery. If all else fails, the game's website has walkthroughs and guides to get each ending. Even with help, you'll still have to face the museum's terrors.
8. 7 Days
He's watching, always watching
Ever feel like someone is watching you, perhaps following you wherever you go? 7 Days is this fear realized. This horror game is, as you might have guessed, split into seven days, where each day holds its own meaning. Players wake up in a strange house and try to figure out what's going on before the entity following them will strike. Each day players must explore the house and find items to solve puzzles in their attempt to escape.
It's pretty confusing to figure out what's going on, as players are left with just cryptic notes to go on and nonsensical musings from the disturbing creature following them. If you can handle the jump scares, creepy wooden doll puzzles, and follow blood soaked directions well, escape might be in your future, or at least an inkling as to what's going on in nightmare you're trapped in.
7. Baby Blues
Get ready to leave your only comfort
Babies got it tough, they're small, helpless, and everything is infinitely scarier in the dark for them. Isn't great that those days over? Luckily for us, some game designers want everyone relive that horrific chapter of our lives again with Baby Blues. In this survival horror game players take control of Tommy the Toddler, an ordinary kid who loves his teddy bears above all else. Tommy wakes up in the middle of the night with a light shining in his eyes. He realizes that his beloved teddy bears are missing and quickly goes in search for them.
Some call Baby Blues "Baby Slender" as players search for Tommy's nine bears in a dark and seemingly empty house (seriously where are this kid's parents). There is no possible way to feel more helpless than playing as a baby in a haunted house, where jump scares are abundant and you can only crawl away from terrors. As players search through the house they need to find keys and avoid the freakish entities that are trying to find them.
Keep babies far away from this game and keep your precious teddy bears in sight as you relieve your childhood fears once more.
6. Dont Look Now
Reminds me of my college dorm
Ever feel like a scatter brain, with you thoughts spread out in every which way? Now it's time to string those thoughts back together with Don't Look Now. Players must navigate various environments, with disturbing messages etched on the walls of the "maze of pain and fear" you're stuck within in order to find their happy place. The game begins with players trapped within a maze with bright yellow post-it notes covering the walls and enchantingly fall from above. As players navigate the maze, they must collect the pieces of their mind which are represented as glowing orbs in trees. Monsters are lurking within the maze and one note warns that they will "haunt you and drain you of your sanity." These creatures have the ability to freeze players by looking at them and can force players to stare directly at them. It's game over if you look at them for too long, your only hope is to try to quickly redirect yourself by smashing the "Q" key.
The game provides a fantastic and conclusive ending that will leave players satisfied long after, only if they survive and can reach their promised happy place.
5. Soundless Mountain 2
That darn hole strikes again
Can't get enough of Silent Hill 2 even after all of these years? You're in luck with Soundless Mountain 2, which plays as an NES style demake of Silent Hill 2. The game follows Jake in his search for his missing wife, Kate, in the seemingly abandoned town of Soundless Mountain. This game holds tons of nostalgic value and will be best enjoyed by fans of Silent Hill 2 as Soundless Mountain 2 perfectly encapsulates the eerie atmosphere and iconic gameplay of the original game.
Soundless Mountain 2 begins with Jake speaking to his reflection in an utterly disgusting public bathroom. He steps out and reads a letter from his wife, "In the dark of night, I see that place. Soundless Mountain" (fans will be hearing the "proper" dialogue in their heads now). Players will soon pass by a girl (known as Angela in Silent Hill 2) sitting in a cemetery and tells Jake that she is looking for her "Mama." The girl then directs Jake to Soundless Mountain where the frights are about to begin. Players will find the radio and the game's first enemy just like they did in the original game (you guys know how it goes). After the encounter, players will explore the town, finding find health drinks, weapons, ammo, and a trusty flashlight.
Don't be disappointed when you reach the "end" of the game, the actual ending is currently a work in progress. Fans of Silent Hill 2 should be very excited for the completion of this wonderfully made demake.
4. Forget Me Not Annie
Who doesn't love partnering with large creepy teddy bears
Mysterious hospitals and creepy little girls are a staple of horror gaming, play as one such twisted and psychic girl in Forget Me Not Annie. Players take control of fifteen-year-old Annie as she travels throughout her mind in order to find out the truth about her past. This game plays as a first person puzzle horror game where players must navigate the strange facility that Annie is within while using her powers to solve puzzles.
Annie is able to lift up almost any object with her telekinetic powers and can summon Howard, a large grotesque teddy bear. Howard is her only friend and the two rely on each other throughout the game. Annie can move Howard around with her mind and swap places with him as she tries to solve various puzzles.
The game gets even creepier as players progress as the screams and cries of girls can be heard throughout the game. Annie's conversations with Howard get bizarre and disturbing the closer she gets to the truth. Players must uncover the truth about Annie's past to figure out what's even real.
3. Nightmare House 2
Just your average hospital basement
Video game mods can be plenty freaky too. Nightmare House 2 is a horror mod for Half Life: Episode 2 and plays as a first person shooter. Nightmare House 2 is one of the best mods out there. The game is polished and bug free, with fantastic voice acting, combat, and features well crafted creepy environments.
Players wake in a padded room within an abandoned hospital called "Never Lose Hope" without any idea of how they got there. The character has vague visions of Emily, a girl from Nightmare House. Players will quickly be unable to distinguish dreams from reality as they encounter strange creatures and zombies, blood smeared environments, and skeletons that get pulled away by unseen entities. The game has a constant stream of jump scares and throws many enemies to players at once. Thankfully there are multiple weapons to choose from, such as a revolver, shotgun, and axe to fit various play styles. The puzzles are engrossing and sensible, players will be tasked with replacing fusses, finding secret passages, and navigating dark vents.
Can you escape the asylum and what awaits you if you succeed?
2. SCP - Containment Breach
Pretty sure it just wants a hug
SPC - Containment Breach is a survival horror game based on the works from the SCP Foundation community, a creative writing wiki that details the SCP Foundation. This secret organization is responsible for "containing and researching anomalous artifacts and entities that threaten the normality of the world."
Characters play as a Class D test subject, who is essentially a human guinea pig. The facility quickly undergoes a massive containment breach, that leaves players stranded in the darkness while the escaped entities freely roam the facility. Players must try to make it out alive as the SCP-173 can kill them at any moment. SCP-173 is a concrete statue that kills living things when sighted and can move several feet in the blink of an eye, snapping their victims neck with their great strength and speed. Similarly to the Weeping Angles from Doctor Who, SPC-173 can't move as long as someone looks at it. The game has a blinking mechanic that forces players to control when their character blinks and is critical when SCP-173 is in sight.
Players can search the facility for documents and other clues to figure out what caused the breach, even attempting to try to fix the dangerous situation. There are tons of obstacles in the game, such as decontamination gas that makes players blink faster, locked doors that need special keys, and several escaped SCPs. Watching playthroughs of the game will be of little help to players as the map is procedurally generated, making each session unique.
Blinking has never been so frustrating.
1. Homesick
One of the most beautiful games you'll ever play
Experience homesickness and loneliness like never before as you take on Homesick. Players must explore an abandoned building and discover who they are. The game features a daytime and nighttime world that impacts the other with each puzzle solved and clue found. When the player sleeps they are plagued by nightmares and must frantically run from the darkness. In order to escape your nightmares, players need to find clues, solve puzzles, and decode text.
The game features beautifully detailed 3D graphics that are absolutely stunning for a free game. During the day, the abandoned building that players are trapped within is crumbling and has weeds sprouting along the floor, but feels almost beautiful and serene within all of the decay. The direct sunlight is blinding and raises the question of how long your character has been within the building. The nighttime world is far more disturbing, as players wake up with an axe and all of the color has vanished. Blackness bubbles and spikes all around players, while the loud voices of former inhabitants fill the room.
The game's environment is super interactive and really makes the building feel like it was once lived in. Players can interact with the most minute objects like making the sink water run and press piano keys. Homesick is a gem among free horror games and even its enchanting music score comes bundled in the game's downloaded for free.
Ready to take on these free and amazing horror games? Got some suggestions of your own? Comment bellow and add onto the list of great free horror games so everyone can make their days even scarier.
