LibGuides: Video Games: Horror

Horror Games

Originating from horror fiction and film, the horror genre incorporates visual and narrative elements designed to scare the player. Since the genre is largely defined by horror storylines, gameplay styles vary widely within the genre.

Action Horror

Action horror combines the gameplay of action games with visual horror. These games follow linear storylines with a heavy focus on combat.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered
Publication Date: 2024
Five years after their dangerous journey across the post-pandemic United States, Ellie and Joel have settled down in Jackson, Wyoming. When a violent event disrupts that peace, Ellie embarks on a relentless journey to carry out justice and find closure.
Lies of P
Publication Date: 2023
You are awakened by a mysterious voice that guides you through the plagued city of Krat - a once lively place that has been poisoned by madness and bloodlust. In our soulslike, you must adapt yourself and your weapons to face untold horrors, untangle the unfathomable secrets of the city's elites, and choose whether to confront predicaments with the truth or weave lies to overcome them on the journey to find yourself.
Resident Evil 6
Publication Date: 2012
Capcom's long-running series about zombies, bioterrorism, and political machinations continues with four distinct campaigns, overhauled controls, and four-player co-op in Resident Evil 6.
Bioshock: The Collection
Publication Date: 2002
Rapture, a city hidden beneath the sea. Originally constructed as an idealistic society for a handpicked group of scientists, elite individuals, and industrialists, the idealism is no more. Now the city is littered with corpses, wildly powerful guardians roam the corridors as little girls loot the dead, and biologically mutated citizens ambush you at every turn.

Survival Horror

Survival horror games are focused on the survival of the player, requiring stealth, puzzle-solving, and management of limited resources. This genre frequently uses environmental horror elements, such as limited visibility, maze-like areas, and jump scares.

Dying Light 2: Stay Human
Publication Date: 2022
15 years after the virus won, civilization has fallen back to the Dark Ages. Plunge into the post-apocalyptic world and explore the reaches of one of the last standing cities. Shape it with your choices and face the consequences, as you decide its fate.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Core Collection
Publication Date: 2020
The core collection includes the first five games that started it all: Five Nights at Freddy's, Five Nights at Freddy's 2, Five Nights at Freddy's 3, Five Nights at Freddy's 4, and Five Mights at Freddy's: Sister Location.
Alone in the Dark
Publication Date: 2024
Deep in the 1920's south, Emily Hartwood's uncle has gone missing. Together with private investigator Edward Carnby, she embarks on a journey to Derceto Manor, a home for the mentally ill where something is lurking. You'll encounter strange residents, nightmarish realms, dangerous monsters and ultimately uncover a plot of rising evil. At the intersection of reality, mystery, and insanity, an adventure waits that will challenge your core beliefs.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
Publication Date: 2019
Five friends set sail on a holiday diving trip. As the day unfolds and a storm rolls in, their trip soon changes into something much more sinister. Who will live? Who will die? It's all down to you.
Metro Exodus
Publication Date: 2019
Explore the Russian wilderness across vast, non-linear levels and follow a thrilling story line that spans an entire year through spring, summer and autumn to the depths of nuclear winter.
Hello Neighbor: Hide & Seek
Publication Date: 2018
Follows the tragic story of the neighbor's family in this dramatic prequel to Hello neighbor. Experience playing a game of hide-and-seek with your brother as you both deal with a loss of a family member.

Psychological Horror

Psychological horror games utilize emotional or psychological states to frighten players. These games focus on disturbing or unsettling situations rather than monsters or intense action. Psychological horror games may also break the fourth wall and appear to directly affect the player's console for greater effect.

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
Publication Date: 2021
A terrifying world of romance and poetry awaits! Write poems for your favorite club member and erase any mistakes you make along the way to ensure your perfect ending. Now's your chance to discover why Doki Doki Literature Club is one of the most beloved psychological horror games of the decade!
In Sound Mind
Publication Date: 2021
As you awake in the corridors of an inexplicable building, you find the environment takes on a life of its own and leads you to discover a series of victims, all exposed to the same experimental therapy. In your search for answers, bizarre visions emerge and introduce a host of imposing horrors. With your sanity in question, you have no choice but to rely on your instinct, and a cat named Tonia.
The Quarry
Publication Date: 2022
When the sun goes down on the last night of summer camp, 9 teenage counselors are plunged into an unpredictable night of horror. The only thing worse than the blood-drenched locals and creatures hunting them are the unimaginable choices you must make to help them survive.
The Medium
Publication Date: 2021
Wield unique psychic abilities reserved for those with the gift. Travel between the realities or explore them both at the very same time. Use the Out of Body experience to investigate places where your real-world self can't go. Create energy shields and deliver powerful spirit blasts to survive the spirit world and its otherworldly dangers.