Read on for my suggestions for games that will keep you firmly on the edge of your computer chair… đŸ‘» You’ll play as Daniel, and help him explore Castle Brennenburg. Sounds pretty nice, right? Well, think again, because the dark is home to horrifying monsters! Oh, and you have nothing to defend yourself against them either, so you better hope Daniel’s done his cardio recently. You’ll need to solve puzzles, avoid dangers, and try to keep your sanity up by staying out of the dark as much as possible. Low sanity means more terror for poor Daniel, who may hallucinate or attract more monsters to fend off.  A game of puzzles and panic, Amnesia: The Dark Descent will have you sleeping with the lights on. Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Mac, and more This online 4-player co-op horror centers you and your team as paranormal investigators. Together, you’ll gear up with ghost hunting equipment and either  stay in the van and be the team’s “guy in the chair” or enter the haunted locations, which include houses, a prison, and an asylum.  Each game is different, and you’ll need to keep calm enough to gather clues for your case report. Local voice chat means your team can drift in and out of ear shot as you scope out the locations, as if you’re really using walkie talkies. You’re definitely not safe in the game — you can die if the ghosts get to you! You can try to send your team messages from the other side, but since your voice chat function will be turned off if you’ve gone beyond the veil, it’s down to your imagination how you’ll do that (apologies to my friends who took a vase to the head in game!😅). The closer you are to identifying the specifics of the haunting, the more money your team gets to purchase upgraded equipment for the next location.  A game that combines sleuthing and scaring, Phasmophobia already has a cult following online. Platforms: PC and VR only The series sparked a live-action film series, animated films, a TV series, comic books, novels, audio dramas, and loads more. The earlier games focused mostly on a team fighting the evil Umbrella Corporation, a pharmaceutical company who develop a virus which mutates animals and plants into hideous monsters, and humans into zombies.  The series features a lot of puzzle-solving and mostly focuses on characters fighting bio-terrorists unleashing monsters worldwide. Starting in 1996 and having a release almost every year since then (and planned for 2023, too), this game certainly stands the test of time. Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and more The very first installment focuses on Harry Mason as he searches for his missing adopted daughter in a spooky New England town called — you guessed it — Silent Hill! Multiple game endings mean you can play through time and time again and get a totally new storyline based on your actions.  The series has been pretty renowned since its release in 1999, and continues to inspire popular culture — for example, did you know the Upside Down in Stranger Things was inspired by Silent Hill? Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Wii, and more It’s a first-person shooter which has the player complete levels by reaching a marked exit room. Of course, it’s not as simple as just having a leisurely amble across military bases on the moons of Mars, or in hell. Oh no, “Doomguy,” as the protagonist is nicknamed, must fight a whole variety of enemies and a big boss to conclude each “episode,” which is what clusters of levels are called in the game. Doom was released in 1993, but certainly stands the test of time — in fact, it’s said that it “changed PC gaming forever,” with many games that came after being dubbed Doom clones. Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Nintendo Switch, and more A governing body called EarthGov has fleets of “planet crackers,” which harvest resources by, as you might have guessed, breaking other planets to gather materials to sustain their own. When EarthGov stumbles on an alien artifact they believe could be the key to renewable energy, it’s not long before things go south and a new cult-like religion is born, worshipping the artifact as the origin and meaning of life. The thing is, the artifact also causes the dead to reanimate. The first game in the series follows engineer Isaac Clarke, who joins a search and rescue team for a ship that had gone silent after receiving a message from his girlfriend. Now, I’ve told you about colonized planets, cults, and zombies, so you can’t be here thinking things will be smooth (space) sailing for you as you aid Isaac on his rescue mission… Platforms: Xbox, PlayStation, and PC This psychological horror centers on the F.E.A.R. unit, a group within the US Army who investigate supernatural incidents. As the newbie in the squad, you’ll find yourself up against a terrifying paranormal entity in the guise of a young girl who destroys everything in her path. Heavily influenced by Japanese horror, F.E.A.R. incorporates unique elements such as a slow-motion technique known as “reflex time” and a super detailed particle system to create an immersive environment. The game also uses a technique which gives enemy non-playable characters a wide range of actions in direct response to the main player’s actions, which at the time of the game’s release, was rare and really supercharged the adrenaline players felt. Platforms: PC, Xbox, and PlayStation Inspired by the comic book series which brought The Walking Dead TV show to life, this VR game’s storyline is driven by your choices, so you could play it and get a totally different arc to a friend who’s also playing. You’ll be cast into the ruins of New Orleans, where the undead play, and the survivors do everything they can to survive. If you thought it didn’t look too bad when Rick had to kill zombies in The Walking Dead, report back after you’ve done it yourself in VR! Platforms: Oculus Quest, Meta Quest 2, PlayStation 4, PC, Mac, and more If you’ve ever discussed with your friends who’d die first in a horror movie or apocalypse, Left 4 Dead may allow you to cash in on your bets. You can play single-player, four-player co-op, eight-player online versus mode, or four-player survival mode.  Join a group of immune survivors in post-apocalyptic Pennsylvania, and traverse through hordes of zombies as you try to get to safety. Depending on how you play, you might be up against Regular Infected, aka zombies controlled by the game’s AI, or you could be fighting for your life against a mutated Special Infected, who will be controlled by another player just like you. Hey, you may even be that Special Infected trying to chow down on some poor other player! Since real-life humans can be involved behind the heroes and the villains, Left 4 Dead is a little different to other zombie games you may have come across, with the unpredictability keeping you on your toes as you try to meet your objectives in the game. Platforms: PC, Xbox, and Mac This 4 vs. 1 horror game has one person take on the role of the Killer, and the others play as Survivors. The Killer’s goal is to sacrifice those pesky Survivors to “The Entity.” To do this, they hunt, chase, and ultimately impale the survivors on one of many sacrificial hooks. If you play as a Survivor, you’ll repair generators to power up the exit gates, evade and engage the Killers in terrifying games of chase to give your allies time to fix things up, and escape the Killers if they attack you. Help your buddies stay alive, rescue them from “Dying State” (which happens if you’re struck twice by the Killer), and repair those generators to power up the exit gates for your escape before time runs out. You can play as a range of wily Survivors or truly creepy Killers, including franchise DLC such as Ghost Face from Scream, Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street, Pinhead from Hellraiser, and Laurie Strode from Halloween, as well as characters from other famous games, like Jill Valentine and Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil! Platforms: Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and Switch Playing as a bounty hunter, you’ll traverse the swamps to take down horrifying monsters. Successful quests mean more bounty and therefore better (and more gruesome) weapons — but on the flip side of that, failure means you’re stripped of your character and gear. Ammo is hard to come by, so it’s crucial to keep your gear and make each shot count instead of firing willy-nilly when filled with adrenaline! Throughout each match, you’ll collect clues to narrow down the monster’s lair, dodge traps, avoid environmental dangers and enemies known as Grunts, Hives or Armoreds, and ultimately kill that game’s boss.  That’s not all there is to it, though. At the start of each Bounty Hunt, up to 12 players are assigned to the same map with one or two boss monsters to kill. Those 12 people could be solo players or teams of two or three. When you kill a monster, you’ll need to get to the extraction point pronto. Why? Because those other players will be shown your location and will want your head on a stick, because your death at their hands means the bounty becomes theirs! This game will fill you with adrenaline as you realize the real terror might not be nightmarish creature you’re hunting, but also real life players hiding nearby ready to stab you in the back… Platforms: PC, Xbox, and PlayStation Focusing heavily on stealth and survival horror elements, the game sees Amanda try to escape from a Xenomorph alien creature on the loose by avoiding, outsmarting, and defending herself with whatever tools she can find. There’s also hostile human and android antagonists, because, of course, a big ol’ scary alien chasing you around a space station where your mother went missing isn’t terrifying enough! With an aesthetic reminiscent of the original Alien film, Alien: Isolation will certainly send a chill up your spine. Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and more A shocked Miles is greeted by the mutilated corpses of hospital staff, and is informed by a dying officer from the military unit that the inmates and patients have escaped and are roaming the grounds, butchering anything that may fall in their paths.  The inmates aren’t themselves anymore; they are “Variants,” forever changed as a result of a series of horrendous experiments conducted by the Murkoff Corporation, a company infamous for its lack of regard for basic ethics. Preying on vulnerable patients in a secluded hospital, Murkoff creates a host of subhuman creatures whose behaviors cannot be predicted.  Based on the real-life MK-Ultra experiments in the 1950s-’70s, Outlast is scary not just as a game but also as a reminder of some horrifying chapters in human history.  Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, and more But look past the cutesy visuals, and you may be shaken to your core. Described by Polygon as “uncontrollably horrific,” this metafictional visual novel is a psychological horror disguised as a dating sim. And perhaps, that’s exactly what makes it so unnerving. The series of warnings at the start of the game (17+, violence, blood, and “not suitable for those who are easily disturbed” to name a few) should give you fair warning that something darker lies hidden beneath Doki Doki Literature Club’s candy-colored shell.  If you’re looking for a game that breaks the fourth wall, gets under your skin, and makes you feel like you’ve entirely lost control of the situation you’ve been thrown into, this could be the one for you. Plus, it’s free to play! (Though, as one reviewer on the game’s Steam store page said: “The game is free, but the therapist isn’t!”) Platforms: Mac, PC for original freeware version, and PC, Mac, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox for the paid-for version The Quarry follows a bunch of camp counselors who end up stuck at the empty Hackett’s Quarry after the campers have gone back home. As the sun sets over the secluded retreat, they begin to realize that a few beers around the campfire may not be the only thing in store for them that night.  This twisted tale has no main character; you play as all nine counsellors, and you could be the star of the show or dead before daylight. Every single tiny decision you make for each individual character has a ripple effect which significantly changes the rest of the game. In fact, game director Will Byles confirmed that there are over 186 unique endings!  So, how will your story unfold? Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, and PC Play as Six, a hungry little girl on a quest to escape the Maw, an underwater vessel filled with disturbing creatures looking for their next meal. Shrouded by darkness, every step for Six is a giant leap in her supersized reality — and every shadow seems to keep her in its darkness forever. A chilling combination of childhood nostalgia and creepy puzzles, Little Nightmares is a short but spooky game with stunning visuals. Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch With only a trusty teddy to keep him company, the poor little dude is on a desperate quest to find his mom in an unfamiliar world. Traveling through various strange and spooky settings, the game has no combat and instead focuses on building atmosphere and simple puzzle solving, allowing the same tentative exploration of unknown and scary lands as that of a real toddler.  As a grown adult, the experience is jarring and unnerving, but the game itself has an underlying story that’s actually really sad and will make you want to hug little David! Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Mac     From the creators of Limbo, this game is just as atmospheric and also similar visually, using a mostly monochrome palette. You play as a young boy, but the situations you end up in are certainly not child’s play.  The game is masterful at building atmosphere through its sheer simplicity; the art style and reined-in color choices throughout make the graphic deaths even more shocking due to their stark contrast, and the fact that you play as a young boy makes the variety of grisly deaths you encounter that much more horrifying. Not for the faint of heart, don’t be fooled into thinking that Inside looks like an innocent little platform game! Platforms: PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Mac   Similar to The Quarry (which, like Until Dawn, was also made by Supermassive Games), you’ll play as a variety of different characters who must learn to survive on a mountain until their rescue at dawn. Again, your choices will have a ripple effect that changes the whole game, whether they’re mundane, everyday decisions or ones that could affect another character’s life. Wanting the game to be the equivalent of being immersed in a real-life slasher movie, Until Dawn’s writers used the galvanic skin response test to measure the level of fear in the play testers! Platforms: PlayStation