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What are some good games with a creepy/eerie atmosphere but not outright horror?

The epitome of what I’m trying to refer to is the Playdead games (Limbo and Inside). Dark Souls and BioShock both hit on this idea but not quite so directly. The game BADLAND is also a great example of this, too. The mobile game The Silent Age also did this exceptionally well. Never quite knowing what’s going on, and maybe some tension without release, but again not straight up horror. A feeling of uneasiness is what I’m looking for.

When playing through Inside, there’s never any moments where you’re scared, but you’re never sure what’s going on and there’s always a level of unease. What are all the mindless zombie-like people? Why is everyone hunting the player? What happened to this city? What’s the goal of the character the player controls? What exactly is going on here? That’s what I’m looking for. If you know of any other games which do this, I’d greatly appreciate hearing about them. It’s a very specific niche so I’m not sure how many games do this, but the games that I’ve seen do this tend to be some form of post-disaster or dystopia. I’ve seen some great artwork do this too. Zdzisław Beksiński had done some stuff like this. Some great dystopian novels also do this quite well.

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  • Half Life/Black Mesa. I replayed it recently and I had forgotten the level of unease that pervades most of it. While short of horror, there's been an obvious disaster, people are panicking, and it's unclear to the PC what is going on for most of the game.

    • I played Black Mesa a few months back and loved it. It also did a really good job with what I’m trying to explain. I kind of want to go through the original as well at some point, too.

      • The original is great. I actually haven't played Black Mesa all the way, but played the original recently... I have to admit it looks quite dated, which isn't surprising considering it is (amazingly) 25 years old.

  • Control does a good job of starting out uncomfortable and weird, and continuing to escalate as the story progresses. A great deal of unease since you don't understand what's going on with your character or the environment she finds herself in.

    • That sounds perfect. Thanks for the recommendation. I own it so I really should play it

  • Returnal. It has an unsettling atmosphere on an unknown alien planet and a mysterious story that you piece together. It’s very tense and you are isolated with just your character’s thoughts, I highly recommend it.

    • The story is straight Lovecraftian style horror, even if the game play style isn't typical of a horror game. 🤷🏻‍♂️

    • I’ve heard of this one. It’s a very pretty looking game, if it goes on sale on Steam I’ll consider getting it. AAA price for a “we’ll see” isn’t worth it imo especially given my backlog on steam is massive. But it’s now on my wishlist so thanks!

  • There's 2 indie games that are SETI simulators. The original is Signal Simulator. It spawned a newer one, done like a half life clone, called Voices of the Void. Neither game is outright horror, but both give you a feeling of isolation induced paranoia. You feel like you're constantly being watched. There's a few random events that are creepy, but the idea is not outright terror.

    • I’ve never heard of either of those but they look really interesting. One of the better suggestions on here, based on pictures at least. I’ll definitely be checking both of those out, thank you.

      • I have another. One of my all time favorite games for the PS2 is Everblue 2. It's a first person diving adventure game, you swim around a tropical island, looking for treasure and advancing the plot. Travelling around the map, you're fixed to just moving left, right, forward, and back, but there are dive sites where you are given full motion. These are dark, claustrophobic spaces, sometimes with dangerous sea life. Usually, you're searching for a specific item at the request of a person on the island. You're given a time limit to each dive in the form of oxygen, and each item you collect effects both your overall health and the amount of oxygen you consume. Once you've got what you want, you then have to exit the site. There's literally no music during dives unless there's a threat. The only sounds are you and water...

        Not super scary, unless you have thalassophobia. Just paranoia inducing, creepy, and tense at times.

        If you're not opposed to emulation, because that's the only way to play it now,, I really recommend giving it a try! We only got the second game, but there's a European release of the first Everblue too. Emulation isn't perfect for it though. There's a ton of interlacing jitter no matter what settings you use, to the point that I can't play it because it screws with my eyes too much. The same company also made the Endless Ocean games for the Wii.

        I've been wanting more games in the genre like it ever since. Only Subnautica came remotely close.

  • I think Oxenfree has an eerie atmosphere. I haven’t played the second one yet since it got released just a few days ago, but I really enjoyed the first one.

    • It’s on sale right now for a couple bucks, I think I’ll get it and try it out. Thanks!

  • it's a step more horror-y, but little nightmares always felt to me like the third playdead game. i solidly recommend playing the first one first too

    there's also far: lone sails (and its sequel, but I haven't played that); and it's a bit more low-budget i also really liked darq

    salt & sanctuary had this atmosphere; but i've never finished it so i can't comment on its quality. and some other souls likes as well - thymesia and helloint come to mind

    also portal (1) kind of fits this if you haven't played it

    • I totally forgot to mention Portal. After leaving the test levels in the second one especially was really on-point, and probably what started my love for these types of games. The first one also did it really well too.

      I’ve got Little Nightmares on Steam but haven’t played it yet. I’ll definitely download it soon. I played the mobile one (Very Little Nightmares) and loved it.

      I’ve heard of Far: Lone Sails but don’t know much about it. I’ll check it out; thanks! I’ll also look into Darq

      I saw Iron Pineapple play Salt & Sanctuary, along with a million other souls-likes, I’ve got that one and several others on my wishlist and kind of forgot about them until your comment. Thanks for the reminder

  • I wouldn't say it's that much niche. I can recommend the first Alan Wake game (since the sequel is allegedly going more into horror). It's a game that makes you tense without showing you guts or jump scares every 2 minutes. I remember it making me pretty anxious about staying in the light (it's the premise of the game, you can't be hurt in the light, the monsters come from the shadows).

    • That certainly sounds promising. I’ve seen gameplay before and it looked to be a bit too horror-esque but I’ll look into it some more. Thanks!

  • @cod a tougher ask than it initially seems. Most creepy games do seem to categorise as horror.

    I think Superliminal has an eery feeling to it.

    I don't think Intruders hide and seek is a horror, but it is pretty scary in virtual reality.

    • I started playing Superliminal a week or so ago but got stuck at one point and started a playthrough of Dark Souls, whoops. It was a pretty fun game though, I should finish it.

      I haven’t heard of that second one, but I don’t have VR so maybe that’s why.

      • @cod One or two of the puzzles are a bit finicky, but it does make you feel smart for solving them. Oh yea, intruders is just a short game, you finish it in about 2 hours. I bought it at a deep discount just to play in vr.

  • SOMA with the safe mode that makes the monsters not attack you is still really creepy and an extremely atmospheric game, but without the amnesia type hide and run horror elements.

    • Oh that definitely sounds promising. I’ll take a look, thanks!

  • I know this is gonna sound kinda goofy but luigis mansion has some of that unneasynes going for. While it is horror themed, of course its not going to be a horror game outright, you are luigi in a haunted mantion catching ghosts and trying to save mario. Its been a while since i last played it but its a very short and simple game, you catch ghost with a vacum cleaner and its a collectaton. It feels uneasy in a spooky halloween kinda way bit has an uneasyness on with the ghosts and stuff, maybe a even a little mysterius with the ghost not having clear backgroumds. Very recomended, if its not what you are lookinh for then atleast you will have a fun time with it. Im talking abouth the first one, dont really know about the 2 sequels since i havent played them. Also any of the n64 Zelda games, particulary Majoras masks. That one is kinda like being in a nightmare while not straight up turning into one, more like being a little disturbing with its art direction and themes, kinda like the movie nightmare before christmas feel going for it. I recomend it 100% even though i havent really finished it at the moment. Oh and also metroid prime.Really captures the feel of being in a hostile planet, very mysterious and atmospheric. I played the original one on gamecube but they just remastered it on nintendo switch so thats nice. A really good aspect of this one is the scanner visor with lets you scan everything from the scenario to enemies and powerups and gives you a little lore on them. Also really nice otherwordly soundtrac and being a metroidvania (obviusly) you are absolutely gonna love this one.

    • I loved Luigi’s mansion. Been many years since I’ve played it though. The others have been suggested by others too so I probably should look into them a bit more. Thanks for your time writing that up!

  • This might not hit the right genre for you based on the games you mentioned, but I feel like a lot of visual novels have that setting without horror. For example: 999, the Zero Escape games, Danganronpa, maybe AI Somnium Files as well can be creepy at times, CORPSE FACTORY

    • I’ve never tried that genre before, but I’m not immediately against it. I’ll take a look.

  • Bloodborne in my first play through was one of the scariest game I've ever played.

    • I want to play Bloodborne so bad. If they weren’t so expensive I’d buy a PS5 just to play Bloodborne and the Demon’s Souls remake. I do have access to OG Demon’s Souls through PS3 emulation and I’ve put in a few hours but I’m going to try to 100% the Dark Souls trilogy first. If they ever port Bloodborne to pc though I’m buying it in a heartbeat it looks fantastic.

      I’m aware I could buy a PS4 for Bloodborne and I do consider it sometimes. I recently got a pretty big promotion/raise at work so maybe now would be a good time to treat myself.

      • Congrats for your promotion!!!

        I've played all of Soulsbourne/ Elden ring games, and bloodborne for me is still the best game. First time playing it was an experience cannot be repeated by any other kind of media consuming. The atmosphere, the soundtrack of the game, the vibe it gives, the gameplay of course are a league of itself.

        I don't want to give you spoilers here, but the first half of the game feels really like a Victorian horror movie but the hell breaks loose first in the second half of the game.

        Extremely recommended.

  • I'm playing The Long Dark and I think it fits what you are looking for, however it is a survival game so if your not looking for a walking simulatior steer clear.

    The premise is your plane was brought down by an eletro magnetic storm in the Canadian wilderness mid winter and you have to survive and unravel the mystery of what's happening.

    Very creepy, lonely vibes with some really unsettling sequences, but no jump scares or anything.

    • That could be alright then. I also like the Canadian representation :) I’ll check it out, thanks

  • Signal Simulator is a game about being completely alone in a base in the desert doing science stuff in search of aliens. It's not really horror but there's plenty of uneasy stuff in it.

    There's also a newer game inspired by it called Voices of the Void which is more actively developed. Technically, it's not horror but the developer likes to fuck with you in all kinds of ways.

201 comments