With the approach of Halloween, there’s no more fitting genre for the season. Yap, I’m talking about horror games, and to be honest there’s a lot of titles worth your time.
Here I tried to fit 10 Indie horror games released this year, also with the help of the community on discord and Twitter, for you to check in no particular order.
Visage – (PS4, Xbox, PC)
Visage is a first-person psychological horror game. Explore a mysterious ever-changing house in a slow-paced, atmospheric world that combines both uncannily comforting and horrifyingly realistic environments, and enjoy a genuinely terrifying experience.
The developers describe the content like this:
This game contains realistic depictions of violence, which can be very disturbing. Also, note that some of its themes revolve around alcohol and drug abuse. Some of its content may not be appropriate for all ages. Player discretion is advised.
Amnesia rebirth – (PS4, PC)
In Amnesia: Rebirth, you are Tasi Trianon, waking up deep in the desert of Algeria. Days have passed. Where have you been? What did you do? Where are the others? Retrace your journey, pull together the fragments of your shattered past; it is your only chance to survive the pitiless horror that threatens to devour you.
Locked Up – PC
The game takes place in a house where terrible events occurred earlier. You will have to repeatedly wander along the same corridor in order to uncover the causes of insanity and understand who you are. Be patient, and the house will open previously locked doors and show you frightening memories of the past. The narrative of the story is transmitted through the environment in a measured rhythm. Each item tells a story, relying on your imagination.
There’s also a demo version which is a prequel to the main story and acts as an independent free game that tells the story of a family living long before the events that occur in the main game.
Phasmophobia – PC
Phasmophobia is a 4 player online co-op psychological horror where you and your team members of paranormal investigators will enter haunted locations filled with paranormal activity and gather as much evidence of the paranormal as you can. You will use your ghost hunting equipment to search for and record evidence of whatever ghost is haunting the location to sell onto a ghost removal team.
You can choose to support your team by monitoring the location with CCTV cameras and motion sensors from the safety of the truck or head inside and get your hands dirty with the ghostly activity that will get increasingly hostile as time goes on.
港詭實錄ParanormalHK – PC
Paranormal HK is a first-person horror game about Urban legends of Hong Kong, China. The story is about a crew of online supernatural channel “Beyond the Invisible” went to Kowloon Walled City to film a short movie for their latest episode and encountered something out of their expectations.
Maid of Sker – (PS4, Xbox, PC, Switch)
Maid of Sker is a first-person survival horror, set in a remote hotel with a gory and macabre history from British folklore. Brave the nightmares of the Quiet Ones. Do not panic…don’t even breathe!
Set in 1898 and inspired by the haunting Welsh tale of Elisabeth Williams, this is a story of a family empire driven by torture, slavery, piracy, and a supernatural mystery that suffocates the grounds of the hotel.
Created and developed by Wales Interactive with a plot crafted by the writing talent and designers behind the likes of SOMA, Don’t Knock Twice and Battlefield 1.
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – VR Only (PS4, PC)
A first-person VR action game where players play as a hardened survivor traveling through a walker-infested, semi-flooded New Orleans. Players use an assortment of melee weapons like blades, axes, and ranged weaponry like bows, pistols, shotguns and machine guns to fend off the undead and the living alike. Combat is often close quarters, with blood and gore alongside decapitation and dismemberment as frequent sights. The environment often has dead bodies or blood visible in the area. During combat, the player may impale zombies in their heads and bodies with sharp objects, leaving their damaged corpses behind. The player is often put into moral dilemmas in which they may use violent action against initially non-hostile characters.
CARRION – (Xbox, Switch, PC)
CARRION is a reverse horror game in which you assume the role of an amorphous creature of unknown origin. Stalk and consume those that imprisoned you to spread fear and panic throughout the facility. Grow and evolve as you tear down this prison and acquire more and more devastating abilities on the path to retribution.
The game takes place in the fictional location, Hallowseed.
A place forgotten by time, wrapped in a mysterious demonic terror!
3 friends were camping, when an obscure event takes them, causing 2 of them to disappear.
Alone in an unknown place, Michael seeks answers about what happened, while trying to find his friends.
This title focuses on telling a story where the player gradually gets involved, until he realizes his role in this tragedy!
Pumpkin Jack – (PS4, Xbox, Switch, PC)
Pumpkin Jack is a Spooky Scary 3D platformer in which you embody Jack, the Mythical Pumpkin Lord! Dive into an Epic Adventure through otherworldly landscapes and help the Evil annihilate the Good!
