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.
Hugo's House of Horrors is a parser-based adventure game designed by independent software developer David P. Gray and published as shareware in 1990. The game follows the character Hugo as he searches for his girlfriend Penelope in a haunted house. To progress through the game, the player uses items and interacts with the environment to solve puzzles and access more rooms in the house. The gameplay was inspired by Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. Hugo's House of Horrors was praised for its environment and atmosphere, but it was criticized for its plot and visual design. It was followed by two sequels: Hugo II, Whodunit? and Hugo III, Jungle of Doom!, and a spin-off first-person shooter game, Nitemare 3D.
Ravenholm is a fictional ghost town in the first-person shooter game Half-Life 2, developed by Valve Corporation and released in 2004. It serves as the primary setting for the game's sixth chapter, "We Don't Go to Ravenholm", which follows the game's protagonist Gordon Freeman as he journeys through the area as part of an escape from Black Mesa East after it is attacked by Combine forces in order to reach a nearby Resistance outpost. Ravenholm is a mining town in Eastern Europe destroyed by a Combine bombardment using headcrabs that turned its residents into hostile zombies, its sole survivor, Father Grigori, offers his assistance to Freeman throughout the level, culminating in a last stand at the town's cemetery.
Yume Nikki is a 2004 adventure game created by pseudonymous Japanese developer Kikiyama. The player controls a girl named Madotsuki and explores her dreams, collecting 24 effects that change her appearance and equipment. Random events also occur throughout the game in the form of cutscenes and unique gameplay sequences. The game was developed using RPG Maker 2003 without a traditional plot or battle system. Gameplay instead focuses on exploration of the dream world.
Among the Sleep is a first-person survival horror action-adventure video game developed by Norwegian developer Krillbite Studio for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It was released on 29 May 2014 in North America for the PC. The PlayStation 4 version was released on 10 December 2015 while the Xbox One version was released on 3 June 2016. A definitive remaster titled Among The Sleep: Enhanced Edition was released for Windows on 2 November 2017, and later released for PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on 29 May 2019.
SCP – Containment Breach is a horror and indie game developed by Joonas "Regalis" Rikkonen based on fictional stories from the SCP Foundation collaborative writing wiki. The player takes the role of a human test subject, also known as a Class-D in the Community, and is imprisoned in an underground testing facility devoted to containing and studying anomalous entities and artifacts known as SCPs. The goal of the game is to escape from the facility as the role of said test subject during a breach of these anomalies while also avoiding the Foundation’s Military Force that are sent in to contain them. The game has a procedurally generated environment featuring multiple anomalies/SCPs from the SCP Wiki.
Nidhogg is a side-scrolling two-player fighting video game developed and published by Messhof. Players duel with swords in a pixelated environment. The game was commissioned for the New York University Game Center's annual multiplayer show, and was revised and demoed at private events over the next four years before its final release. It won Indiecade 2013's Game Design award and the 2011 Independent Games Festival's Nuovo Award. It was released for Microsoft Windows on January 13, 2014, and later ported to OS X, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita. Critics praised the feel of the gameplay and its balance, but considered its single-player mode unsatisfying. Messhof released a sequel in 2017 with a higher resolution art style and additional weapons and arenas.
Hack 'n' Slash is a video game developed by Double Fine Productions. Prototyped during Double Fine's open Amnesia Fortnight 2012, Hack 'n' Slash is a top-down action-adventure game similar to The Legend of Zelda, though with in-game weapons and objects that allow the player to hack the game's world to achieve victory. The game was released to Steam's Early Access on May 6, 2014, for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux computers. It left early access status and became a full release on September 9, 2014.
Videoball is a minimalist sports video game by Action Button Entertainment. Up to six human and computer-controlled players form two teams. Each uses an analog stick and a single button to control triangles that shoot charged projectiles at a ball and other players. The objective is to knock the ball into the opposing team's goal. Apart from exhibition matches, the game has a scenario challenge-based Arcade mode, and supports online team and ranked multiplayer matchmaking. Videoball has a simple visual style with bright colors, basic shapes, and many customization options.
Whispering Willows is an indie adventure horror video game developed by independent developer Night Light Interactive for Ouya in May 2014.
Five Nights at Freddy's (FNaF) is a 2014 point-and-click survival horror game developed and published by Scott Cawthon. The player takes on the role of Mike Schmidt, a night security guard at a family pizzeria. Schmidt must complete his shifts without being confronted by the homicidal animatronic characters that wander the restaurant at night. The player has access to security cameras to monitor the animatronics throughout the shift, and a set of steel doors that can lock out the characters. Using the cameras and doors consumes the player's limited electricity, and draining all of the power causes these tools to become inoperable.
Her Story is an interactive film video game written and directed by Sam Barlow. It was released on 24 June 2015 for iOS, OS X, and Windows, and the following year for Android. In the game, the player searches and sorts through a database of video clips from fictional police interviews, and uses the clips to solve the case of a missing man. The police interviews focus on the man's wife, Hannah Smith, portrayed by British musician Viva Seifert.
Devil Daggers is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by indie development team Sorath. Players are tasked with surviving for as long as possible against swarms of demonic enemies on an arena shrouded in darkness. The player character can fire daggers from their fingers to eliminate foes and move about to avoid contact with them. The player dies upon touching an enemy, and as time passes, more threatening creatures begin to appear. Survival times are recorded on a global leaderboard where replays of playthroughs can be accessed and viewed. The deliberate use of unfiltered textures and effects like polygon jitter and texture warping make its visual style reminiscent of early 3D games released in the 1990s.
Kitty Horrorshow is the pseudonym of an independent video game developer. Releasing her games on the distribution platform itch.io, she specializes in the psychological horror genre, with her games focusing on surreal and atmospheric horror in the aesthetic style of early 3D videogames.
Celeste is a 2018 platform game developed and published by indie studio Maddy Makes Games. The player controls Madeline, a young woman with anxiety and depression who aims to climb Celeste Mountain. During her climb, she encounters several characters, including a personification of her self-doubt known as Badeline, who attempts to stop her from climbing the mountain.
Doki Doki Literature Club! is a 2017 freeware visual novel developed by American independent game studio Team Salvato for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The story follows a student who reluctantly joins his high school's literature club at the insistence of his friend Sayori, and is given the option to romantically pursue her, Yuri, or Natsuki. Club president Monika also features heavily in the game's plot. The game features a non-traditional plot structure with multiple endings and unlockable cutscenes with each of the main characters. Although it initially appears to be a light-hearted dating simulator, it is actually a metafictional psychological horror game that extensively breaks the fourth wall.
Paratopic is a 2018 first-person horror video game, released for Linux, macOS, Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series. The game uses a graphical style reminiscent of 32-bit era graphics. Later that year, a "Definitive Cut" edition added new locations and objects. Paratopic won the "Excellence in Audio" category at the 2019 Independent Games Festival Awards.
A horror game is a video game genre centered on horror fiction and typically designed to scare the player. The term may also be used to describe tabletop games with horror fiction elements.
Omori is a 2020 role-playing video game developed and published by indie studio Omocat. The player controls a hikikomori teenage boy named Sunny and his dream world alter-ego Omori. The player explores both the real world and Sunny's surreal dream world as Omori, either overcoming or suppressing his fears and forgotten secrets. How Sunny and Omori interact depends on choices made by the player, resulting in one of several endings. The game's turn-based battle system includes unconventional status effects based on characters' emotions. Prominently portraying concepts such as anxiety, depression, psychological trauma, and suicide, the game features strong psychological horror elements.
No One Has to Die is a 2013 video game by independent developer Sammy Madafiglio. The game is a narrative-driven puzzle game that explores science fiction elements including time travel, in which the player must make choices to rescue and sacrifice characters trapped in a fire at the headquarters of a mysterious corporation. Critics praised the game for its unorthodox use of the time loop theme in gameplay mechanics and its narrative and characterization.
