#so fun story | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cinnamonest · 2 years

Text

Spooky Season Game Recs 🎃

Since it is That Day, I put together a quick recommendation list for games that I thought might be appreciated for fun and for anyone who might want to use it.

Here is a generalized list of games you should play! I'm including some horror-themed, some that just have gratuitous violence, some just have creepy vibes, some that are mild but have Halloween themes, etc. A lot of these are very popular, and likely some of you will have already played/heard of them all, but this is just for anyone who hasn't. Feel free to add to this!

Quick note: unfortunately, I am in the small percentage of people who get severe migraines and nausea from playing first-person perspective games (but not third-person perspective ones). As such, there's a lot of horror games that I can't really play, and there's only one first person game I've played here. I'll include a section for some renowned games that I haven't played, but are well-received.

I’m giving one link, but for some of these it’s available on multiple platforms, I’m just linking steam if available since it’s what most people might have. I played most of these on PS4.

Also warnings for all of these. Some have heavy violence, a few have references to sexual assault, in one you murder a toddler. Etc. Be warned.

Happy Halloween 😊

Console/Professional/3D Games:

Until Dawn

This is one of my favorites, it is a choices-matter game with multiple endings, the endings being determined based on who lives and who dies. It's very suspenseful, they did a great job at crafting the right atmosphere for the game. Although in my opinion (and apparently the popular opinion) several characters were not very likeable. I did really like Josh, though. Best boy.

It's really neat in that your choices don't just effect the ending, but your choices can branch you off into a different path entirely, changing future events themselves, working more like a flowchart than a "Choice one gets ending A, choice two gets ending B" sort of thing.

It is a PS4 exclusive.

(Link)

Inside

An eerie game with no dialogue and a really creepy atmosphere. I finished it in one Saturday. It's one of those games that's more of an "experience" than a game (kind of like Journey). This was one of those games where I kept seeing it for years and thinking like "huh, I should play that one day," then one day it was on sale on the PS Store so I finally did and I'm very very glad I did.

(Link)

Friday the 13th

Basically you play in locations across the movie franchise. You can play as a victim and try to hide, or as Jason Voorhees and try to hunt down victims. There’s multiplayer and single player. It’s basically a hide and seek with someone trying to kill you.

(Link)

Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan/Little Hope

These are made by the same developers as Until Dawn. They're not sequels, as they have different stories and a new cast of characters (save for the overarching narrator-esque figure, think Igor from the Persona series).

Personally (and according to most reviews/professional critics), I think these fell a bit short of Until Dawn's legacy, but they're still pretty neat. They utilize the same mechanics, just with a new story. Also that intro rendition of O Death is a banger.

There’s also 2 more after these but I haven’t played them.

Unlike it’s predecessor, this one is available on multiple platforms. (Link)

Resident Evil Series

This is a horror game staple and I'm sure most people are familiar with it, but I'd like to note that it's extra appreciated for other people who have motion sickness/migraines, as several games are in third person (7 isn’t I think?)! There's a pretty expansive list to choose from, but (here is a comprehensive ranking list).

Silent Hill Series

Another staple for the horror genre and the origin of the iconic Pyramid Head, unfortunately if you don't have a gaming PC or a PS2 to dust off or pay for PS Now, right now it is unavailable -- however, that is set to change, as just recently a PS5 remake was announced, although unfortunately it looks like it might be PS5 only and not PS4. The first three games are generally regarded as the best, but I would not recommend Downpour, it feels very slow and kind of dull by comparison in my experience.

(Announcement)

Zero Escape Series

This is iffy to include here, but it has a lot of very dark themes and atmosphere so I think it fits. It's basically "escape rooms: the game," wherein you have to solve a lot of puzzles to progress. This series was an inspiration for Danganronpa, but the critical difference is that while DR has a brightly-colored punkish aesthetic and over-the-top quirky, eccentric, often lighthearted elements/characters to offset the dark depressing nature of a game about murder, Zero Escape doesn't have that, so it's a lot more bleak and heavy.

(Steam page for ZTD)

The Wolf Among Us

A Telltale game with a really nice art style and memorable characters. It's a murder mystery and a "choices matter" type of game. I'm including it here because it's very gritty and violent at times, and kind of has like film noir vibes. Also if you like older men you'll probably like the main character.

(Link)

Bendy and the Ink Machine

I have no doubt you're all probably already aware of this one, but I tolerated feeling like someone was hammering my head with a marble chisel for this game (I played it in 10-minute intervals and took breaks between but nonetheless) so I'm mentioning it so my suffering is not in vain.

The stylized nature of the graphics gives it a very quirky, unique vibe. It's somewhat exploration-ish with a plot. The main monster is also a really unique choice.

(Link)

RPG Maker Games

Unless otherwise noted, you can find these (here on VGPerson). The ones on VGPerson and most of the ones on this list in general are free.

A classic of the genre. You are a little girl at an art museum who falls into one of the paintings and enters another realm. You meet two friends (one is a "friend") who try to help you get back home (or not).

The Witch's House

Also a classic of the genre. You are a girl looking to reach the top of the witch's mansion for... reasons. There's a really well-executed plot twist. A cat is there. What more can you want.

Yume Nikki

The final entry here of the iconic genre-defining trio. There is no real plot, I don't think there's even any dialogue if I recall correctly. It's largely just a matter of exploring the world around you. It's very trippy and relies on aesthetic, it's not everyone's thing, but I found it pretty calming actually. If you collect all the effects, you reach an ending.

(Free on steam)

Pocket Mirror

This is one of those games where you play it and then are really surprised to learn it's not more popular than it is. I highly recommend it. It's somewhat Alice in Wonderland-esque, in the sense that you are a young girl traveling through an odd land trying to go home, and meet interesting (and sometimes dangerous) characters along the way. One of the biggest selling points for this is the music, which is (except for a few) original and not borrowed from free use websites. The art and game as a whole is GORGEOUS visually. Developer is Astral Shift.

(Link)

End Roll

You are a 14-year-old boy who also happens to be a murderer. You are being put through a rehabilitation project that will cause you to have vivid dreams, which are very pleasant and welcoming... at first. The dreams are intended to eventually induce remorse in the subject, which, in this boy's case, means he has to relive some of the things he has done.

Corpse Party

Technically, the original was 1996, but pretty much any version you can get now is a remake with improved graphics. That being said, there are several different versions with different graphics.

Synopsis is a group of students become trapped in their school by supernatural means and have to find a way out. Gratuitous death and vengeful ghost hijinks ensues. This one is paid. You can purchase an old PSP copy as well. There's an anime based on the game that is significantly more graphic. There's also a lot of games after the original, but I've only played the original (or at least the remake of the original) so I can only speak for that.

I played (this version) a few years back, but to my knowledge (this version) is the most recent remake.

OFF

This is a personal favorite. You are a man on a mission to purify your (very bizarre) world, and defeat an evil queen. This is one of the best RPGMaker games in my opinion. The music is great, the characters are memorable, and the plot twist is very well-executed. It does a really good job of slowly becoming more and more unnerving to the point that by the time you reach the end, you know something isn't right regarding your understanding of things, but need to progress to find out exactly what. The way it utilizes unreliable narrator/limited perspective is very well-done. Also obligatory Zacharie my beloved.

(Free official download)

Hello Charlotte

This is a series of several games about a girl named Charlotte. Some are paid and some are free. The art style is really neat, and it has that constantly mildly unnerving vibe that I really like. I believe the first one is free and the rest are paid.

(Link)

Omori

Also really well-known already but I wanted to include it, this is more of a tear-jerker than a horror game, but there are some unsettling moments/imagery. The art style is really cute, and the characters are very lovable. It does a great job of setting up an atmosphere/story that leaves you just perfectly in the middle of your understanding, where you sort of know what's going on but makes you desperate to know more and fully understand what's happening.

(Link)

Pre-2000

Don't expect much from these in terms of graphics/mechanics, but they're fun nonetheless.

Monster Party

This is a 1989 game. It's Halloween themed (ish?) and really cute. Unless you have an NES on hand, you'll need an NES emulator and ROM to play it. Retroarch is a well-known emulator for all sorts of vintage games.

(Retroarch)

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

This is a point-and-click from 1994. Personally I have to include this as it's one of my absolute favorite games/stories of all time. It is based on a renowned short story. Personally its selling point for me is that it has one of my favorite fictional antagonists of all time. The author of the original story voices AM in the game, too! I could ramble on about how much I love this work for literal hours but I'll spare you all that. I recommend reading the original story as well.

Synopsis: A supercomputer hellbent on satisfying his hatred for humanity has destroyed the world, leaving behind five humans who he spends eternity torturing. The five humans, each desperate to die and finally be rid of their tormentor, must go through stages designed to be personal hells for each of them to hope to achieve that.

(Steam page)

Short Indie Games

These are basically short interactives meant to be unnerving and unsettling, which they do well. Time consumption ranges from anywhere from two minutes to maybe half an hour. A lot of them are made by independent creators so it's good to support them! All of these can be found on itch.io’s horror tag. In general, this whole page is full of good ones, so I’m just listing a few I found particularly neat.

Next Door

A short browser game based on a Junji Ito story.

(Link)

(Don't) Open Your Eyes

A short Renpy game. It has voice acting, which is like 99% of what makes it so unnerving. Basically, the title is the summary.

(Link)

Please Answer Carefully

I LOVED this one, it's stalker-themed. Basically a short survey from someone who misses you and wants you to forgive them :)

(Link)

Discover My Body + Water Womb World

Body horror based, point and click narrative. Both are made by the same person. The graphics style is really unique. I like this creator's portrayal of the characters, there's a common theme of a sort of religious fervor that blinds them to reason and drives them to insanity.

(Discover my Body)

(Water Womb World)

Assessment Examination

Very short, the images can be unnerving/uncanny if that bothers you.

(Link)

Honorable mentions:

First-person gamesI haven't played these; they're pretty well-renowned, though, and while unfortunately I am not able to enjoy them, you very well may, so they are worth checking out if you can!

Outlast

Layers of Fear

SOMA

Alien: Isolation

Amnesia: the Dark Descent

Blair Witch