Best Psychological Horror Games

Key Takeaways

• Psychological horror games have consistently improved in quality due to advancements in gaming technology, allowing for frighteningly immersive experiences.
• The genre has become popular for producing engaging stories that explore the complexities of the human mind, appealing to both AAA and indie studios.
• Some notable psychological horror games include
  Condemned: Criminal Origins
  ,
  Detention
  , and
  Layers of Fear
  , each offering unique and disturbing experiences for players.

Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror that predominantly focuses on unsettling and disturbing depictions of a person’s mental state. Like the horror genre, the psychological horror subgenre has consistently grown in quality over the past couple of decades, as improvements in gaming technology have let developers create frighteningly immersive experiences. Furthermore, the amount of money in gaming today means that many studios can now afford high-quality voice actors capable of nailing layered, disturbed characters, enhancing the horror even further.

Psychological horror games are tough to get right, though there have been some fantastic entries into the genre that have provided memorable experiences for players. These games are the best of the bunch and show just how effective the medium of horror can be when its elements are executed correctly. Psychological horror video games have a certain allure that makes them hard to resist, but players would ideally want to experience the best games of the bunch instead of exposing themselves to less-than-ideal experiences in this genre.

Updated on September 25, 2024, by Mara Cowley: Psychological horror games are among the best in the horror genre of a whole, excelling at creating suspenseful atmospheres that culminate in masterful scares when executed properly. Thankfully, there are many studios that have perfected the formula, resulting in masterpieces that are still discussed and celebrated to this day. The many examples would be nearly impossible to fit into one article; however, the cream of the crop among the best psychological horror games have been carefully hand-picked for this piece, ensuring that psychological horror fans have plenty to keep themselves occupied with during their Halloween celebrations.

20 Little Nightmares

Little In Name But Not Nature

A Tim Burton-fueled nightmare, Little Nightmares is guaranteed to haunt gamers’ nightmares in a big way. Six, the young character wearing the yellow raincoat, awakens hungry, cold, and alone on The Maw, a giant metal sea-faring vessel home to a menagerie of monsters that only appear vaguely humanoid. She will need to hop, skip, and climb over obstacles whilst avoiding the detection of the monsters, lest she become a tasty morsel for one of them.

There seems to be little rhyme or reason why they attack this helpless girl on sight, and trying to decipher their psyche is a fruitless endeavor. All that is left to do is explore the strange, unsettling surroundings that constantly teeter between reprieve and dread of what may lay ahead, and try to survive. With more games in the series, these Little Nightmares are continuing to grow.

19 The Mortuary Assistant

A Night On The Job Devolves Into A Nightmare

Working as a mortician would be a test of nerves, but when one is called to pick up a night-shift, that test becomes even harder. Unfortunately for Rebecca, she is right to be paranoid, as she is not as alone as she might have thought. While preparing the bodies and performing other duties in line with her job, she will be haunted by terrifying visions and hallucinations and must identify which body houses a demon.

The Mortuary Assistant provides some of the best scares in modern horror gaming and refuses to let up its vice-tight grip of terror on players until they have sent the demon terrorizing them straight back to hell. Their sanity and grip on reality will be put to the test, as ghosts and creatures taunt Rebecca as she works, making this a first night on the job to rival Leon Kennedy’s.

18 The Evil Within

Enter A Distorted World Of Unbridled Horror

Published by Bethesda, a company not known for horror, The Evil Within was a welcome surprise for horror fans in need of another AAA horror franchise to sink their teeth into. Playing as detective Sebastian Castellanos, gamers will be introduced to the world of horror and evil within this game as they are submerged into a nightmarish world infested with disfigured and distorted creatures.

Unlike most other titles of the genre, players aren’t utterly defenseless here; they are given weapons and the means to use them against the creatures that interrupt their path forward. But even with a gun in hand, it is a tall order to maintain a grasp on bravado when monsters such as Laura jump right onto the screen.

17 Inscryption

A Card Game With A Terrifying Twist

A roguelite card game that transforms into something else entirely, Inscryption‘s haunting art style is one of the best things about the game. It unnerves players to see just how this game transforms throughout an epic journey that blends multiple genres.

It takes a while for the supernatural to rear its ugly head in Inscryption, but this part of the game is executed flawlessly. Players will genuinely feel like their mind’s been messed around with once they finish this engrossing title. Any gamer who falls in love with Inscryption makes it a point to tell others that jumping in blind is the optimal way to experience this masterpiece, with the magic stemming from its wild unpredictability.

16 Devotion

Involves Dark Topics In A Tragically Told Narrative

The controversy surrounding Devotion received more attention than the game itself, which is a shame. This psychological horror title deals with a story revolving around abuse and mental anguish that is handled deftly.

With this game available on the official page of Red Candle Games, most fans can finally get their hands on a masterful horror game. Devotion features one of the best narratives told in a video game that messes with a player’s head and forces them to go through some dark moments in the protagonist’s life.

15 Condemned: Criminal Origins

One Of The Most Terrifying Fiction Serial Killer Dwells Within

Xbox 360 launch title Condemned: Criminal Origins follows FBI agent Ethan Thomas as he investigates assaults and killings in the fictional city of Metro. The game features a disturbing atmosphere and intense melee combat that is just as engaging today as it was back in 2005.

Condemned: Criminal Origins received a sequel in 2008 titled Condemned 2: Bloodshot. The game was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and is also well worth considering for psychological horror fans.

14 Detention

Contains Some Of The Most Disturbing Enemies

Detention is a 2017 psychological horror game developed by Red Candle Games that takes place in 1960s Taiwan, which was under martial law at the time. The game’s atmosphere, visuals, and sound design are among the best in horror gaming today, while the “lingered” enemies are some of the most disturbing enemies that the genre has ever produced.

The game is made by the same people who worked on Devotion, and it shows. Fans of Red Candle Games will love how expertly this game tackles the psychological horror genre, making it a fun title for people to engage with.

13 Layers Of Fear

Grotesque Beauty Lies At The Heart Of This Game

Layers of Fear was developed by Bloober Team, who have created numerous psychological horror games over the past decade, including Observer, Blair Witch, and The Medium. It puts players in control of a troubled painter who is desperately trying to create a masterpiece.

The game isn’t for the faint-hearted, as Layers of Fear is packed with jump scares that made the title a hit with reactionary streamers. The 2023 remake was something that most fans deemed unnecessary, but it still allowed more people to check out a better and visually updated version of Layers of Fear. It’s a great way to experience a unique psychological horror game.

12 F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon

Created The Most Terrifying Ghost

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who don’t find children scary and those who have played the original F.E.A.R. Monolith Productions’ F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon was first released in October 2005 and introduced the gaming world to Alma Wade, a psychic spirit out for revenge after the Armacham Technology Corporation conducted disturbing experiments on her.

Unlike many other psychological horror games, F.E.A.R. is a combat-heavy shooter that features surprisingly solid FPS mechanics for a horror game.

11 Silent Hill

The Most Influential Pyschological Horror Game

The first game in the iconic Silent Hill series was developed by Konami’s Team Silent and first released on PlayStation 1 in 1999 before arriving on the Game Boy Advance in 2001, becoming one of the most celebrated and influential horror games of all time. Here, players control Harry Mason as he searches for his young daughter in the eponymous town.

Silent Hill stood out from other horror games at the time with its disturbing but encapsulating atmosphere and for putting the player in control of a regular person instead of a trained soldier or police officer, which was uncommon at the time. While Silent Hill‘s visuals and many of its gameplay mechanics struggle to hold up today, its storyline is still gripping, and it deserves to be mentioned among the genre’s best releases for its influence on horror elements alone.

10 Silent Hill 3

A Continuation Of The First Game

From one Silent Hill game to another, Silent Hill 3 was also developed by Konami’s Team Silent and was released on PlayStation 2 and PC in 2003, returning to the plot laid down in the first game of the franchise.

The game puts players in control of a teenager named Heather, who finds herself alone in a shopping mall following a nightmare. Silent Hill 3 doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel with its gameplay, as exploration and puzzle-solving are again at the forefront. Silent Hill 3 was a hit with fans and critics alike, doing justice to the psychological horror genre and then some.

9 Doki Doki Literature Club!

Lulls Players Into A False Sense Of Security

One inherent issue with making a psychological horror video game is that when a game brands itself as psychological horror, players will boot the title up already expecting shocking imagery, key characters having severe mental issues, and other quintessential aspects of the genre, making it difficult for the developers to create a genuinely unsettling experience.

Doki Doki Literature Club! aimed to solve this issue by trying to hide that it was a psychological horror game. The game was originally branded as simply a visual novel, and images of the game made it look like some sort of dating simulator, which is exactly how the game appears to begin with. However, Doki Doki Literature Club! will soon take some disturbing turns based on the player’s choices, which can affect not only the main character but also the player in ways they would never expect.

8 Outlast

Mount Massive Provides One Of The Most Unsettling Locations

Like many indie horror games from the past decade, Outlast can attribute much of its success to streamers and influencers, who would have large audiences watching them to see their horrified reactions to many of the game’s scariest moments.

Along with a handful of jump scares, Outlast also aims to frighten its players by not letting them use weapons – meaning their only choice is to run and hide – creating some extremely tense moments. It is just Miles Upsher and his hand camera against the world as he explores the asylum, uncovering the horrors visited upon the patients who have become horrors themselves.

7 Soma

Questions What It Truly Means To Be Human

Soma was released in 2015 by Frictional Games, the same company that made the psychological horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent (more on that later). Consequently, the game was highly anticipated by psychological horror fans, which, as mentioned before, can make it difficult for developers to unsettle players, as they will already know roughly what to expect. Frictional Games did a fantastic job of subverting expectations, however, by misleading players in a subtle way.

The game begins with the protagonist suffering a serious brain injury and agreeing to let a doctor perform experimental treatment on them, which results in them waking up in an unfamiliar, eerie place. Seasoned psychological horror fans’ ears will have perked up at “brain injury,” and many will have expected the protagonist to have awoken in some sort of manifestation of their inner thoughts – an expectation that the developers were likely leading players down. Instead, what follows is a Black Mirror-like look into the possibilities of technological advancement.

6 Observer

A Dystopian Nightmare

Observer was first released in 2017 by Bloober Team, the same studio that created The Medium, Layers of Fear, and Blair Witch. Like the aforementioned Soma, Observer received some criticisms upon release for its gameplay, which put a lot of players off purchasing it. However, the game’s world design, atmosphere, and story are all among the best in the psychological horror genre, making it a must-buy for anyone wanting to be immersed in such a game.

In November 2020, an enhanced version of the game was released titled Observer: System Redux. The game features more story content and improved visuals and is ultimately the best way to play Observer today.

5 Omori

Blends Together Elements Of Pyschological Horror With RPG Gameplay

Omori is a unique entry on this list, as the game features an interesting blend of psychological horror and classic Japanese role-playing gameplay. The game puts players in control of a withdrawn teenager named Sunny and follows him in both his real life and the dream world that he has created.

Omori is based on a webcomic series of the same name and was initially released on PC in late 2020 after a Kickstarter campaign. The game’s haunting story goes down a dark and depressing path, which is what makes the true ending’s hopeful nature all the more impressive.

4 Alan Wake

Makes Clever Use Of A Unique Lighting Mechanic

Alan Wake was initially released exclusively on Xbox 360 in 2010 before coming to PC just under two years later. In October 2021, a remastered version of the game was released with both DLCs on most modern platforms, following the story of the eponymous writer, who takes a break after struggling with his next novel.

The game’s psychological horror story takes a healthy dose of inspiration from Stephen King, who is referenced in the opening. This is particularly clear in the abundance of supernatural enemies and occurrences present, which accompany the story’s focus on a writer worried that he’s losing his mind.

3 Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Unsettling Twists On Norse Mythology

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was developed by Ninja Theory and is an unorthodox psychological horror game in the sense that – unlike most games in the genre – it doesn’t take place in the modern-day with an immediately relatable protagonist. It is instead set in a dark fantasy world inspired by Celtic and Norse mythology.

Despite this fantasy setting, the game’s story focuses on the all-too-real mental illness of psychosis. Hellblade‘s depiction of psychosis, which was constructed with the help of neuroscientists, has been central to the game’s praise.

2 Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Players Must Run And Hide From The Terrifying Monsters

Amnesia: The Dark Descent was released in September 2010 by Frictional Games and is one of the most influential games in not just psychological horror history but horror history in general. Like Outlast, much of the game’s success can be attributed to frightened YouTubers playing through the game to the amusement of their audience, most notably PewDiePie.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent was particularly influential for not giving players any weapons, which went against the grain of horror releases at the time, as they were becoming more and more like action games with zombies simply taking the place of soldiers, aliens, or whatever else.

1 Silent Hill 2

A Masterclass In Pyschological Horror

As mentioned before, psychological horror games are, generally speaking, getting better and better as technological advancements allow developers to create more detailed, immersive, and ultimately scary horror experiences. This serves as a reminder as to how special of a game Silent Hill 2 is. Despite being released over 20 years ago, it still offers one of the best horror experiences in gaming.

This is predominantly due to how great Silent Hill 2‘s storytelling is, as the journey of discovering what happened to Mary is still as interesting today as it was upon release, while the depiction of James’ psyche remains one of gaming’s best visual storytelling achievements.