There’s nothing more terrifying than a good scary video game. Whereas a well-made scary movie might put you on edge, an excellent horror game can be so gutwrenchingly tense that you can’t continue playing. The rise of VR has only cranked up the fear, with our experience with VR Resident Evil 7 delivering the most intense frights we’ve experienced in any medium.
Now fans on r/horror are debating some of the scariest games they’ve ever played. The OP begins by asking for recommendations, asking for new games to give them sleepless nights. They seem like they’ve got their horror head screwed on, as they’ve already played the Resident Evil, Outlast, and Evil Within games, as well as the hard-to-find but stunningly effective Kojima demo P.T.
But the replies have some excellent recommendations. Silent Hill is notably missing from that list, with PlayStation 2 classic Silent Hill 2 an easy candidate for the greatest horror game of all time. Dead Space is also mentioned, with the first game still a nail-biting action sci-fi romp. We’re also pleased to see Alien: Isolation on there, as the AI Xenomorph that hunts you down is one of the most intimidating enemies in gaming.
But there are a handful of games mentioned that you wouldn’t necessarily think of as scary. Underwater exploration game Subnautica rightly gets a nod, as does VR title Half-Life: Alyx, and some of the spookier bits of Elden Ring.
Essentially you’re spoilt for choice if you want a game to scare the pants off you and you won’t go far wrong with any of the games mentioned in this article.