1. Hollow Knight
Games like Hollow Knight is one of the finest platformer games of this decade. It combines 2D platforming and Metroidvania to great effect, similar to other games in the genre. Hollow Knight, like the other games on our list, has a gorgeous 2D aesthetic. Each scene is animated and hand-drawn individually. The setting is nonetheless dark, eerie, and disquieting. The game’s distinctive soundtrack incorporates both traditional horror and epic medieval adventure.
You portray a knight traveling to Hallownest. In order to survive in an insect-infested world, players must employ combat and platforming abilities. In a vast, interconnected world, players can acquire new skills and items to gain access to new locations as the story progresses. Finally, as the players investigate Hollownest, they will learn more about the plot. Cutscenes, action, dialogue, and environment all contribute to the plot. Overall, it provides a compelling and heartbreaking narrative, as well as outstanding adventure and platforming gameplay.
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2. Limbo
Limbo, the debut game from Playdead, is comparable to Inside and Little Nightmares. This 2D horror puzzle platformer belongs to the same genre as their subsequent release. In the game, a child searches a dark environment for his sister. The protagonist awakens in a forest just before entering Hell. A group of malevolent zombies and a child’s fading shadow surround him.
The game advances through a series of environments and puzzles. The aesthetic is reminiscent of silent black-and-white films. However, the illumination methods emphasize contrasts and shadows heavily. These elements create a distinct aesthetic reminiscent of a Tim Burton film. The story will be revealed to the player through action, analogies, and environmental storytelling. There are no cinematic cutscenes in the game, but what occurs delves deeper into life, death, and evil themes.
3. Inside
In the bizarre horror game Inside, players live in a terrifying world. The majority of Inside’s characters are helpless. Therefore, the primary gameplay mechanics consist of locating weapons, fleeing, and concealing. Inside is a video game in which the player assumes control of a child attempting to escape a dreadful world. The adversaries are evil humans, not extraterrestrial antagonists. From the viewpoint of a young child, the game explores the worst aspects of human nature.
Nevertheless, escaping is the primary objective of the gameplay. You must avoid being discovered, flee from hounds, find shelter anywhere, and conceal yourself from your attackers. All of this is portrayed as a 2.5D puzzle platformer. The maps’ main features are then highlighted by a lack of color and a gloomy background. Except for the occasional musical cue, sound effect, or dog howling, the game is otherwise silent. The experience is overall disorienting and disturbing.
4. Bendy and the Ink Machine
Bendy and the Ink Machine is a first-person-perspective action-horror puzzle game. It unexpectedly incorporates animation and graphics, similar to Cuphead. It is a 3D game with cell-shaded graphics similar to Borderlands games. Additionally, the character has a voice that guides you through the mission. You take on the character of Henry, who returns to an abandoned animator’s workshop. In a bizarre and thrilling encounter, he encounters ancient demons. You investigate the world, discover useful items, solve puzzles, evade foes, discover the story, and continue.
In the cartoon universe, both good and malevolent characters are pursuing Henry. Henry returns to them after abandoning them for several years to work at the studio where he created them. Unfortunately, he discovers that the primary objective of his artworks coming to life was to murder him. The game’s intimidating atmosphere of suspense, tension, and dramatic narrative is its final characteristic. It had a substantial fan base upon its initial release and continues to do so now.
5. Neverending Nightmares
This is a Little Nightmares-style 2D horror game with side-scrolling gameplay. Thomas, a young child with night terrors who one day awakens in a nightmare with the freedom to do as he pleases, is the protagonist of the game. In his musings, he nonetheless desires death for unknown reasons. The visual vocabulary resembles a sketchbook. Few colors are used to accentuate the blood, evil, and ghoulish elements. The majority of the game is in black and white. The designer’s personal experiences with OCD, depression, and paranoia informed the design of this product. The game explores a peculiar experience packed with enticing details.
Thomas descends further into his hellish domain, only to seek refuge from ghosts and inner demons. To awaken, he must determine the source of these atrocities. The psychological horror game Neverending Nightmares examines mental illness in its entirety. The fact that you play as a boy in this primary 2D hide-and-seek adventure makes it a gem for horror game aficionados.
6. The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes
The Dark Pictures Anthology is a collection of independent, horror-themed, interactive games. House of Ashes is the most recent and well-known game in the series. You assume the role of a group of soldiers stranded in Iraq due to a misguided mission. They flee behind the Sumerian ruins after being attacked by a strange creature. They are frantically attempting to survive as others investigate the situation and hunt them down. However, as the protagonists venture deeper into the tunnels, they uncover additional secrets.
Like other games in the series, all you must do is make decisions. A short animated film plays on the screen before prompting you to make decisions and view brief event segments. Depending on your decision, the narrative takes a variety of turns and can end in a variety of ways. House of Ashes is a tale of friendship, devotion, and survival. You must choose between sacrificing yourself or others to ensure your survival or discovering less obvious alternatives. It is not an independent game, but it is a small one that provides a frightening experience.
7. Among the Sleep – nightmarish games for parents
A game titled Among the Sleep cautions against leaving a small child unsupervised. A two-year-old boy and his teddy bear are the protagonists in a universe much larger than their own. The mother is no longer present, leaving the player to independently explore the terrifying-appearing world. Without preparation, skills, armor, or weapons, you are unfortunately unprepared. You have only your imagination and a stuffed animal.
As a consequence, a first-person horror experience begins. The objective is to find your mother in a frightening environment accompanied by ambient horror music. You are continuously exposed, terrified, and attempting to interpret what you observe. Playing Among the Sleep is a negative experience that will leave you feeling guilty and despondent. However, if you are a parent, the experience will be even more harrowing.
8. Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a series of family-friendly, interactive horror video games. Because it is possible to play either game without comprehending the plot, we chose the most recent installment in the series. You assume the role of Gregory, a young child who spends the night at Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex. As in earlier games in the series, the location is filled with animatronic hostesses. The player must devise a strategy to survive the frightful dangers and familiar and unfamiliar Freddy characters.
Adapting, concealing, retreating, and surviving are crucial gameplay elements. Accessing security systems allows you to inspect routes and travel safely. In addition, you can deceive foes by crawling, concealing, crouching, throwing objects at them, or both. Overall, it is a complete game with numerous spooky attractions, straightforward puzzles, and some humor.
9. Granny – one of the best horror games
Granny is an independent survival horror video game released in 2017 and developed and published by DVloper as a spin-off to his earlier Slendrina series. The objective of the game is to flee the house over the course of five days while evading Granny, who is on the hunt for the player. Granny searches the home for the player, using any noise they make to her advantage and setting bear traps to impede their progress.
The user can select from five different difficulties: Practice, in which Granny does not appear, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Extreme. You can also turn on Nightmare, which changes the graphics and sounds and adds spectral mice as an extra danger, Extra Locks, and Darker, which reduces the player’s field of view.
