Survival horror is a subgenre of horror games. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical action games through limited ammunition or weapons, health, speed, and vision, or through various obstructions of the player's interaction with the game mechanics. The player is also challenged to find items that unlock the path to new areas and solve puzzles to proceed in the game. Games make use of strong horror themes, such as dark mazelike environments and unexpected attacks from enemies.
Sunless Sea is a survival/exploration role-playing video game with roguelike elements developed by Failbetter Games. The game was released on 6 February 2015 for Windows and OS X following a successful Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund the project. The game takes place in the universe of Failbetter's browser adventure game Fallen London, in which Victorian-era London has been moved beneath the Earth's surface to the edge of the Unterzee, a vast underground ocean. On 11 October 2016, the game's first downloadable content Zubmariner was released, which allows players to explore beneath the surface of the "zee". A sequel, Sunless Skies, was announced in September 2016. It surpassed its funding goals on Kickstarter and was released on 31 January 2019.
Nineteen full expansions for the MMORPG EverQuest II have been released, as well as three Adventure Packs.
nDreams is a company that develops and publishes virtual reality video games. Based in Farnborough, Hampshire, UK, it was formed in August 2006 by former SCi and Eidos creative director, Patrick O'Luanaigh.
Gyromancer is a puzzle and role-playing video game developed by PopCap Games in collaboration with Square Enix. The player moves through a map of an enchanted forest, battling monsters using their own summoned monsters through a puzzle-game battle based on PopCap's Bejeweled Twist. In these battles, the player rotates groups of four in a grid of gems to line up three or more jewels of the same color; when enough lines have been created damage is dealt to the enemy. Between battles, a story is told through a series of cutscenes, while the player and the summoned monsters gain experience and power using role-playing elements.
Dungeon Defenders is a hybrid multiplayer video game developed by Trendy Entertainment that combines the genres of tower defense and action role-playing game. It is based on a showcase of Unreal Engine 3 named Dungeon Defense. The game takes place in a fantasy setting where players control the young apprentices of wizards and warriors and defend against hordes of monsters. A sequel titled Dungeon Defenders II was released in 2015.
Moe Chronicle, commonly known in Japan as Genkai Tokki Moero Chronicle, is a dungeon crawler role-playing video game developed by Compile Heart for the PlayStation Vita. It is the second game in Compile Heart's Genkai Tokki series of video games, following Monster Monpiece and preceding direct sequel Moero Crystal and Genkai Tokki: Seven Pirates. Moe Chronicle was released on May 15, and an Asian release featuring Chinese and English subtitles was later published by Sony Computer Entertainment and released on May 5, 2015. It was then released on Steam with English, Japanese and Chinese subtitles on August 16, 2017 as Moero Chronicle. On April 26, 2019 the game was released as Moero Chronicle Hyper on the Nintendo Switch with pre-orders opening for a physical version later that year.
Ark: Survival Evolved is a 2017 action-adventure survival video game developed by Studio Wildcard. In the game, players must survive being stranded on one of several maps filled with roaming dinosaurs, fictional fantasy monsters, and other prehistoric animals, natural hazards, and potentially hostile human players.
Thirty full expansions for the MMORPG EverQuest have been released. Initially, expansions were shipped in boxes to stores, but were later put for sale on digital marketplaces. The retail versions often come packaged with a bonus feature such as a creature that the player can put in their in-game house.
Monster Hunter Stories is a role-playing video game developed by Capcom and Marvelous and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It is a spinoff title in the Monster Hunter series and features a drastically different gameplay focus. Unlike previous titles in the franchise, Monster Hunter Stories lets players take on the role of a Rider instead of a Hunter, and are able to take part in a traditional turn-based battle system. Major changes and additions featured in this title include hatching eggs and befriending monsters, battling alongside them, executing special kinship techniques, and customizing monsters' abilities and appearance. The game was released in Japan on October 8, 2016, and in North America, Europe and Australia in September 2017. Later, a high-definition mobile version of the game was released on December 4, 2017 in Japan and September 25, 2018 worldwide. The Nintendo 3DS version includes support for Amiibo figures, with a first set launching alongside the game, and a second set launching two months later. An anime series Monster Hunter Stories: Ride On is a loose adaptation of this game, and the sequel Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin was released in 2021.
Nightfall: Escape is a survival horror game developed and published by Filipino company Zeenoh Inc. The game was created for Microsoft Windows, macOS X and Linux, and was released as a full game on June 26, 2016, for the Steam platform. The player controls Ara Cruz, a field journalist who is assigned to investigate an old mansion that lead to a series of mysterious disappearances. Nightfall: Escape received mixed positive and negative reviews from critics, but it was praised for its narrative story and the uniqueness of the monsters used. Nightfall: Escape was awarded as the Most Outstanding Narrative Story by the Department of Information and Communications Technology in collaboration with the Game Developers Association of the Philippines, and the Animation Council of the Philippines held an awards night ceremony for games and animation on November 27, 2015, at SM Mall of Asia Cinema 5.
VRChat is an online virtual world platform created by Graham Gaylor and Jesse Joudrey and operated by VRChat, Inc. The platform allows users to interact with others with user-created 3D avatars and worlds. VRChat is designed primarily for use with virtual reality headsets, being available for Microsoft Windows PCs and as a native app for Android-based headsets such as the Meta Quest, Pico 4, and HTC Vive XR Elite. It is also usable without VR in a "desktop" mode designed for either a mouse and keyboard or gamepad, and in an Android app for touchscreen devices.
Crypt TV is an American entertainment company founded by Jack Davis and filmmaker Eli Roth in April 2015, focused on the creation and distribution of horror-themed digital content with an emphasis on recurring monsters and characters in linked universes. Its creation was backed by producer Jason Blum and Blumhouse Productions.
The Backrooms are a fictional location originating from a 2019 4chan thread. One of the best known examples of the liminal space aesthetic, the Backrooms are usually portrayed as an impossibly large extradimensional expanse of empty rooms, accessed by exiting reality.
Phasmophobia is a paranormal horror game by British indie game studio Kinetic Games. The game became available in early access for Microsoft Windows with virtual reality support in September 2020. In the game, one to four players work to complete a contract where they must identify the type of ghost haunting a designated site. It is based on the popular hobby of ghost hunting.
Poppy Playtime is an episodic survival horror video game series first developed and published in 2021 by American indie developer Mob Entertainment. The game is set in the fictional toy-making company named Playtime Co. The player controls an unnamed protagonist, a retired employee who receives a note inviting them back to the abandoned toy factory after the company's staff mysteriously disappeared. In the game, the player navigates through a first-person perspective and must solve puzzles, such as requiring a gadget named the GrabPack, to progress while avoiding various monsters in the factory.
Lethal Company is an upcoming cooperative survival horror video game developed and published by Zeekerss. It was released in early access in October 2023 and gained popularity on the Steam storefront.
Crow Country is a 2024 survival horror game developed and published by SFB Games for PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Set in a visual style and design similar to PlayStation 1 horror titles including Resident Evil and Silent Hill, the player is an investigator exploring an abandoned theme park. Upon release, Crow Country received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise directed to the game's design evocation of earlier horror games, writing and narrative, and mixed views on the implementation of combat and puzzles.
Amanda the Adventurer is a horror themed video game series developed by MANGLEDmaw Games and published by DreadXP, the video game publishing arm of Dread Central. The series started as an entry into a game jam and was developed into a full game after it was acquired by DreadXP.
