Yahoo Lifestyle Here Are 17 Of The Most Bone-Chillingly Terrifying Video Games Ever Made
1.Silent Hill 1 (1999)
People have opinions about which of the Silent Hill games is the most terrifying, but we're including the original here. It follows a man as he searches for his missing daughter in the nightmarish town of Silent Hill, uncovering dark secrets and facing grotesque creatures along the way.
2.Amnesia: The Dark Descent (2010)
In this first-person survival horror, you'll navigate through a nightmarish, decaying castle while grappling with amnesia, avoiding monsters with no weapons to defend yourself, and all the while uncovering some dark secrets of your past. Atmosphere, soundtrack, and general psychological terror are all 10/10.
3.P.T. (Playable Teaser) (2014)
Connected to the Silent Hill series, this legendary playable teaser designed and directed by Hideo Kojima (best known for his Metal Gear Solid series) dropped in 2014. It's a first person POV with a protagonist that navigates a looping hallway plagued by supernatural events, psychological horror, and surreal puzzles. It turned out to be a demo for a new Silent Hill project directed by Guillermo Del Toro alongside Kojima, which was then cancelled in 2015 before its release.
4.Darkwood (2017)
In Darkwood you're in a forest somewhere in Poland, scavenging during the day and then trying to survive the twisted, supernatural horrors of nighttime. There are no jump scares in this one but proceed with caution if you're a person who gets anxious easily and deeply fears being lost in a forest alone at night. 1000% nightmare material.
5.Detention (2017)
Another 2017 release, this atmospheric, slow-burn game is set in 1960s Taiwan, where under the White Terror martial law, two students must navigate a haunted school while facing their own guilt and uncovering the dark history behind their surroundings. Some find it more sad than scary, but we call it both.
6.Until Dawn (2015)
In this interactive drama horror you navigate the choices of eight friends trapped on a remote mountain, determining their survival against a series of terrifying, supernatural events. There's a PS5 and PC remaster coming this year, and a film adaptation in the works, so if you aren't yet acquainted with this cult horror classic now is the time.
7.Layers of Fear (2016)
In the original Layers of Fear, a psychological horror adventure game, you assume the role of a disturbed painter striving to complete his magnum opus while navigating a constantly shifting, haunted mansion filled with all kinds of mind-bending horrors.
8.SOMA (2015)
This sci-fi horror is set in an underwater research facility that is now the last outpost for humanity after an extinction-level comet hit Earth. There are monsters to avoid, but the real existential dread comes from the story and terrifyingly tense atmosphere in this one.
9.Alien: Isolation (2014)
This survival horror game is set 15 years after the events of the greatest space horror film of all time, Alien, although you don't have to have seen the 1979 classic to enjoy—and be scared the hell out of by—this game. You play Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley (the protagonist in the film) and must complete objectives and avoid or eliminate enemies, all while being stalked by the ever-present Alien creature.
10.Dead Space (2023)
Some stand by the original 2008 sci-fi survival horror classic being scarier, but we're including the remake here. Either way, you're on a deep space mining ship trying to survive encounters with mutated corpses that have been reshaped by some horrific extraterrestrial infection, among other things.
11.Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017)
The first game in the series to use a first-person perspective, in Resident Evil 7 you're controlling protagonist Ethan Winters as he attempts to save his wife from an abandoned rural estate and then has to confront members of a deranged family, along with humanoid fungus creatures. Tip: play this one in daylight, and not when you're home alone!
12.Outlast (2013)
Another first person survival horror, in which you control an investigative journalist as he navigates an abandoned psychiatric hospital and is hunted by homicidal inmates. Aside from the relentless jump scares and general terrifying atmosphere, people agree that what makes this one so stressful is that you can't fight back and instead have to rely on stealth and a night-vision camera to survive.
13.Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (2003)
This Japanese survival horror is the second in the Fatal Frame series, and even though nobody can seem to agree on which is the scariest, we pick this one. The story follows twin sisters Mia and Mayu as they explore an abandoned village armed only with a Camera Obscura that can capture and repel ghosts, and discover the village was once host to something called the "Crimson Sacrifice Ritual" which is as horrible as it sounds.
14.Condemned: Criminal Origins (2005)
This first person action and psychological thriller immerses you in a dark, gritty world where you play an agent with the FBI's Serial Crime Unit (SCU) who is investigating brutal murders and has to face off against deranged criminals in close-quarters combat. It's the tense atmosphere that really makes this one scary, though.
15.System Shock 2 (1999)
This is the sequel to the original System Shock, and it's set in 2114 on a military starship that eventually becomes infected with a biological hive mind. The game combines elements of first-person shooting, role-playing, and survival horror as you explore the ship, battle mutated creatures, uncover the sinister plot behind the infection, and confront a rogue AI called SHODAN.
16.The Evil Within (2014)
This action-survival horror follows detective Sebastian Castellanos, who is drawn into a terrifying, distorted reality while investigating a gruesome mass murder at a psychiatric hospital. The game isn't confined to the hospital though; eventually you'll be wandering abandoned buildings and dark forest and confronting things that are honestly too horrible to write about here — and all with limited resources.
17.Bloodborne (2015)
This action role-playing game is set in the gothic, decaying city of Yharnam, where you'll take on the role of a Hunter seeking a cure for a mysterious bloodborne disease. If you're into atmospheric, Lovecraftian horror then this is the game for you. Just non-stop tension and dread.
These games are scary enough without VR, but now imagine playing them using a device that uses neuro-imaging to infiltrate your mind, reading your thoughts before you even have them and blurring the line between reality and game? Yeah, no thanks, sounds horrible. But this is what happens in the sci-fi thriller Latency, which is out now wherever you usually rent or buy movies. Check out the trailer:
