7 Best Horror Games You Definitely Didn’t Play

There seems to be a seemingly infinite amount of horror content available at our fingertips. With bite-sized free titles, impressive early access games and demos, and inspiring indie releases that put AAA studios to shame, it’s hard to keep track of the sheer amount of horror that drops every year. Steam and itch.io are full of gems, but only a handful get their moment in the spotlight.

You’ve likely heard of Mouthwashing, Crow Country, and Bad Parenting, which rose to the top in 2024. But what about those lesser-known games that may get their moment on YouTube but deserve a longer standing ovation? Think No, I’m not a Human, I’m on Observation Duty, Static Dread, We Harvest Shadows, KARMA: The Dark World, and many more. Perhaps you know of the legendary indie horror devs Puppet Combo, Chilla’s Art, and rayll.

Countless horror games are released every year, so it’s easy to miss some. We’ve collected our 7 favorite lesser-known horror titles, and we’ll be shocked if you’ve played them already. With a criminally low amount of Steam reviews, these are our horror recommendations that deserve a moment of your time.

1) 10 Dead Doves

Games Like It: Fatum Betula, Sorry We’re Closed, and Yumi Nikki.

Like something plucked straight out of the great David Lynch’s mind, 10 Dead Doves is a truly unhinged horror game. I can’t get my head around anything unfolding on-screen, yet its in its bizarre abstract narrative and fantastic dialogue, I found it impossible to put down. We’ve tried our best to compare it to other games, but there really isn’t much like 10 Dead Doves. It perfectly mixes horror with comedy, providing a great atmosphere full of exploration, and a strange story that’s hard to comprehend. A cosmic horror with fixed-camera angles, 10 Dead Doves is unforgettable for its art direction and storytelling.

2) XXX_CYBERRAT_XXX

Games Like It: Welcome to the Game, Start Survey?, and s.p.l.i.t.

CYBERRAT is a horror hacking game that’ll mess with your mind and soul. A title as challenging as Welcome to the Game and Scrutinized, CYBERRAT mixes the supernatural with home invasion elements. With a bounty on your head and pills to take to keep the monsters at bay, the stress of playing this game comes from juggling multiple mechanics at once. CYBERRAT is one of those games where the horror is building in the background, bubbling away as you slowly forget about it. Out of sight, out of mind, right? But you’re in for the fright of your life if you get too distracted by your money-making scheme.

3) Funeralopolis: Last Days

Games Like It: Silent Hill 4: The Room, Static Dread: The Lighthouse, and Look Outside.

A short and near-flawless narrative experience places you in the Lovecraftian world of Funeralopolis. Trapped inside your apartment as an epidemic has spread across the once peaceful city, the events in Funeralopolis feel like if lockdown had gone cosmically wrong. The worldbuilding puts so many horror games to shame as the mystery and dread slowly builds to a bottomless pit of hopelessness. With multiple endings and so much to admire, Funeralopolis remains one of my favorite indie horror games ever made. I wish there were more of this game as I’d gladly sink hours into discovering every inch of this hypnotizing world.

4) Hollow Cocoon

Games Like It: Resident Evil, Jisatsu, and MASKED DEVOURER.

Trapped inside a house with a creepy stalking enemy on your tail, Hollow Cocoon is the best modern-day version of old-school Resident Evil. With puzzles and note collecting, Hollow Cocoon mixes Amnesia and Resident Evil to make what feels like a classic horror game. Visuals are stunning, puzzles provide a challenge in the form of backtracking, and the persistent threat of the entity keeps you on edge throughout. The story is interesting, but where this game falls short compared to the rest of this list is its repetitive formula. This is not the game for you if you don’t find the entity scary. But it’s one for puzzle horror fans that enjoy the psychological side of the genre.

5) Midnight Scenes

Games Like It: The Drifter, NextDoor, and Night in the Woods.

If The Twilight Zone were a video game series, it’d be Midnight Scenes. The beautifully crafted pixelated side-scrollers immediately immerse you in their fictional world full of intrigue and wonder. There’s a lot to love about Octavi Navarro’s take on Twilight Zone as each “episode” tells a fun bite-sized horror that never overstays its welcome. Fairly priced; each game has excellent writing, great scares, and an atmosphere you can’t help but explore. These horrors won’t take you too long to beat and they’re well worth your time and money, so sit back, relax, and enjoy your time in the Midnight Scenes.

6) Night Freak

Games Like It: Bloodwash, Christmas Massacre, and Fears to Fathom: Norwood Hitchhike.

You know something dark and disturbed is about to go down when you have to play as a kid in a horror game. Forced to spend the night at home without parents to call for help if something goes wrong, the fixed-camera angles build a sense of dread for you never know what’s hiding around the corner. The younger perspective makes the imagination run wild, for you feel something will jump out at you any second. The persistent reminder that a killer is on the loose doesn’t help either…and he’s targeting children. A slow-building horror that lunges at you when you least expect it, Night Freak is a short but entertaining game with a horrifying climax.

7) Power Drill Massacre

Games Like It: Manhunt, Murder House, and Northbury Grove.

From the slasher powerhouse Puppet Combo, one-man developer and mastermind behind the terrifying Nun Massacre, anxiety-inducing Stay out of the House, and brilliant Murder House, brings you Power Drill Massacre. While this title is still in early access…10 years after its initial release, it remains one of the most challenging horror games to date. A ridiculously difficult game to get through, Power Drill Massacre is brutal and unforgiving to anyone brave enough to step foot in it. It’s claustrophobic, intense, and stressful. Good luck making it out of this one alive.

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