Jupiter’s top 10 horror games for Quarantine (or any other time)
Disclaimer here, that I watch a lot more lets plays of horror games than I do play them myself, because I’m a big wuss, so these recs are based on atmosphere and story more than they are gameplay mechanics. That said, I haven’t recc’d anything where I know the actual mechanics to be miserable.
I’ve given a content warning for one game which deals with mental health issues in a way I know to be triggering for some people but it should go without saying that as horror games all of these contain at least some potentially squicky or triggering content. If you want more detailed warnings, hit me up and I’ll be happy to provide them. Oh, and I won’t say that there’s no jump scares in here, but there’s no games which rely on jumpscares as a regular mechanic, because that’s just lazy writing.
Soma
One of the rare games that really is as clever as it thinks it is, Soma is a hauntingly creepy slice of hard sci-fi with a lot to say on the nature of consciousness, hope, and nihilism. It also has an optional no monsters mode, which I’d recommend personally. It doesn’t detract from the atmosphere one bit, and it makes the game accessible for people with motor issues by removing the QTEs.
Resident Evil VII
I’m not usually an action-horror fan, but this is brilliantly atmospheric and charmingly weird in a way that’s uniquely Resi. Fun gameplay and a story that’s just the right balance of compelling and utter nonsense blend surprisingly smoothly with an atmosphere of old school horror.
Outlast
I know I know, horror set in asylums has been done to death and has some really fucked up origins, but hear me out on this one. Outlast takes genre tropes and character beats that have been done a million times before and elevates them. Mostly by having a main character who makes entirely reasonable decisions. Yes he sneaks into the creepy hospital at night (albeit for a good reason) but the minute he figures out he’s in a fucking horror story, his only motivation is to gtfo and that makes everything he goes through relatable in a way horror protagonists rarely are.
Little Nightmares
I have limited patience for the use of child protagonists in horror stories, but like Inside (below) Little Nightmares gets around this aversion by having some of the best art direction I’ve ever seen, no cutesy child dialogue (no dialogue at all in fact) and atmosphere by the bucket load. It’s Limbo by way of Gormenghast and I urge you to try it for the stunning art if nothing else.
Pathalogic 2
My mutuals will already know how much I adore the Pathlogic series (I may or not be planning to get a Pathalogic tattoo). Honestly the original is a more effective horror game, but it’s also badly translated and janky to the point of being more or less unplayable. 2 fixes most of the jank, and only those few weirdos who actually remember the first one would ever think it was lacking anything. This is a series totally unlike anything else you’ve ever played, and it’s worth your time. It’s unlikely you’ll ever play another game with quite this much thought behind it again.
Verde Station
This game was made in response to a challenge - to make a horror games that doesn’t use darkness. It’s also the only one of these recs that comes with a major content warning - if you suffer from false memories, lost time, or dissociation, take care when playing this game. It’s only a couple of hours long, but it’s probably the greatest use of gameplay mechanics as storytelling I’ve ever seen. The Charnel House Trilogy
This is probably the game on this list the least people have heard of, but it’s well worth checking out. Great voice acting, plenty of black humour, and the best representation of what it feels like to be at home by yourself with only your paranoia for company since Gone Home.
Deadly Premonition
Did you watch Twin Peaks and think “wait I thought this was supposed to super weird, and also I really wish the main character would stop hitting on highschoolers’? Good news, Japanese auteur game director Swery is here to show David Lynch how it’s done. It holds the Guinness world record for the most polarised game reviews ever, so when I say you’ll either love it or you’ll hate it, I really do mean that. Personally I love it.
Pony Island
Yes IMSCARED did the meta horror first, and Doki Doki Literature Club did the reveal better, but Pony Island is a brilliantly weird not particularly scary little meta horror game, full of nicely realised little details and fun puzzle gameplay.
Inside
The only other exception to my children in horror rule (don’t @ me Inside the Sleep fans), Inside is an absolute masterclass in non-verbal storytelling. From the first moment, when your player character cowers away from a threat you didn’t even know was a threat yet, this is a story told in lighting and body language. If you’ve ever wondered what ‘show don’t tell’ really means to writing, this is it.
