26 Best Indie Horror Games of All Time

There are many twisted creative minds out there. Thankfully, so many of them take up video game development and use their insane concepts to entertain and delight with the best indie horror games. Trust us, it’s so much better than the alternative.

While some creatives wind up spearheading AAA survival horror projects, others are more inclined to remain independent and deliver well-crafted scares. Across pixelated and horrifyingly beautiful 3D worlds, we’re treated to tales bred by ambition and skill over budget and sales.

The following twenty indie horror games are incredible examples of the capabilities of independent horror creators. They’ll take you to depths of fear that even many big-budget horror titles can’t reach.

 

The Best Indie Horror Games

26. Escape the Backrooms

Developer: Fancy Games
Publisher: Fancy Games
Platforms: PC

The legend of the Backrooms dates back to a 2019 4chan creepypasta, but for some reason, they saw a resurgence in popularity in 2022. The result has been games like Escape the Backrooms, which charge you and up to three friends with doing exactly as the title suggests.

You’ll be pulled into the experience with a limited UI and realistic visuals that take you through eight unique levels. You’ll need to navigate the Backrooms in search of the exit. While splitting up may seem like a good idea, covering more ground just means losing contact with your teammates. Proximity chat really challenges players with working together to explore efficiently and safely.

While walking through an empty space may not sound so bad, there are horrors hiding around every corner, just waiting to make you a permanent resident of the Backrooms.

 

25. MADiSON

Developer: Bloodious Games
Publisher: Bloodious Games
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X & S, Xbox One

The latest in a trend of first-person horror games that favors immersion and ambiance over action and deep gameplay, MADiSON shoves a camera in the player’s hand and sends them off into a world of supernatural horrors.

Whereas a camera vanquished evil in Fatal Frame, in MADiSON, it uncovers the truth that the evil hides. Snap a polaroid and develop it to solve puzzles and reveal more of the truth behind the protagonist’s role in a demon’s brutal ritual. MADiSON likes to keep players on their toes, and does so with random events and challenges that pop up throughout the game. Because of these, no two playthroughs will be the same, so you can’t prepare for what horrors lie ahead.

MADiSON features a rich narrative and clever mechanics that make it a fresh experience in a sea of like-minded supernatural indie horror titles.

 

24. Mist Survival

Developer: Dimension 32 Entertainment
Publisher: Dimension 32 Entertainment
Platforms: PC

Take DayZ, slap a few more horrors on it, tweak the survival mechanics some, throw on a layer of mist, and you have Mist Survival. Unlike most survival games, though, you’ll have to tackle this one on your own.

Jump into an open world sandbox where everything wants to kill you, from the wildlife to the infected monstrosities that now call the world home. You’ll build safehouses and bases to store the supplies you’ll amass and scour the world looking for even the slightest scrap. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a weapon to defend yourself. With the horrors that stalk the world, you’re going to need it.

With no real guidance but to survive, you’ll have to determine the best course of action. Do you breeze through each isolated building, hoping to find supplies laying out in the open, or move slowly, hoping not to run face-first into an infected? That it’s a single-player game doesn’t take away from Most Survival at all, as there’s plenty for players to tinker with as they survive the nightmarish world.

 

23. Poppy’s Playtime

Developer: MOB Games
Publisher: MOB Games
Platforms: PC

Toy factories are the perfect space for a horror game. Just think about it. Dolls laying all over the place, their lifeless eyes permanently affixed on you. At any moment, one could spring to life to give you a fright. Or, even worse, the oversized mascot could emerge from the shadows, its rows of gnarly teeth just begging to rip into your flesh.

Either way, it’s not ideal, but it’s the latter you’ll have to worry about in Poppy’s Playtime. As an ex-employee of Playtime Co., you return to the abandoned factory where every employee was thought to have disappeared a decade ago. Strange, then, that you received a letter from them requesting your presence.

Poppy’s Playtime blends puzzles and horror across three chapters, two of which are now available. The game steps beyond the typical walking simulator for an experience that keeps you engaged while throwing monstrous horrors your way.

 

22. Monstrum

Developer: Team Junkfish
Publisher: Junkfish Limited
Platforms: PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One

By the time Monstrum was released, survival horror giants like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Dead Space dominated the genre. As much as each of those games and the many others that followed tried to find the perfect formula to enhance the horror experience, none of them did it quite like Team Junkfish.

Monstrum throws players into procedurally generated levels, where everything is randomized and the only constant is your permadeath. Pursued by AI-driven enemies, players must navigate through the unfamiliar layout of a deserted cargo ship, locating different escape routes to avoid being monster food.

The deeper players get into the belly of the ship, the more they’ll question every decision they’ve made that led to them being pursued by one of three different monstrosities. Solve puzzles and survive – there’s little else you can do when your life is on the line.

 

21. The Mortuary Assistant

Developer: DarkStone Digital
Publisher: Dread XP
Platforms: PC

Ever want to work in a mortuary? Well, DarkStone Digital is here to make sure that desire is completely eradicated. Players join Rebecca Owens during her first day in her titular role, but it doesn’t take long for things to go haywire. There’s more to this mortuary than meets the eye, and Rebecca quickly finds that the dead don’t always lie in peace.

While trying to fulfill her duties as an assistant, she must also uncover the mystery behind a dark force taunting her as she works. Full of jump scares and unsettling imagery, The Mortuary Assistant is one of 2022’s most effective horror titles. From the setting to the ambiance, even the strong-willed are sure to feel uneasy as they get closer to the evil haunting Rebecca.

Can you identify the supernatural threat by piecing together subtle clues, or are you damned to be its plaything for eternity?

 

20. World of Horror

Developer: Panstasz
Publisher: Ysbryd Games

Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft are renowned scribes in the horror industry, separated by generations but connected by their affinity for the strange and unusual. World of Horror pulls inspiration from both artists, resulting in a game that is completely off the wall and full of disturbing scenarios.

World of Horror unfolds through point-and-click gameplay enhanced with turn-based combat and elements of roguelite. Maybe most impressive is its art style, which seems to mimic the style of Ito. Influences of Lovecraft are evident in the presence of Old Gods and ancient wonders that could end mankind in the worst way.

Players will choose between five characters, all charged with unraveling mysteries of cosmic proportions. With a stellar, haunting soundtrack and the writings of Cassandra Khaw (Hammers On Bone), World of Horrors is a game sure to get under your skin and fester.

 

19. Among the Sleep

Developer: Krillbite Studio
Publisher: Krillbite Studio

We all have traumas or bad memories that tend to follow us throughout life, defining many of the decisions we make even as adults. For poor two-year-old David in Among the Sleep, those memories are enough to fill a lifetime of therapy sessions.

Krillbite Studio swapped out the traditional hapless victim of horror titles for a child, whose only defense is to run, hide, and inevitably wet himself. And we really don’t blame him considering the monstrosities awaiting him outside of his crib. The poor tyke merely wants to find his mother, but he’ll have to navigate nightmarish dreamscapes alongside his favorite teddy bear.

Among the Sleep is driven by a considerably real and personal story that drives the horror instead of undermining it completely. In fact, of all the monsters that David evades, it’s a familiar face that threatens him the most.

Among the Sleep is unsettling and, for many, will hit a little close to home.

 

18. Five Nights at Freddy’s

Developer: Scott Cawthon
Publisher: Scott Cawthon

The game that started an unexpected horror franchise.

Scott Cawthon didn’t have a big team behind him and there was no massive budget. Yet, he was still able to create one of the most culturally important video games of the current generation. Five Nights at Freddy’s takes a simple point-and-click concept and combines it with mass amounts of jump scares to create an effective, if not occasionally frustrating, horror title.

The murderous animatronics are the height of Five Nights at Freddy’s horror. Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie the Bunny, Chica the Chicken, and Foxy the Pirate Fox may look innocent on the outside, but all that changes when they pop up unexpectedly to cram you into an animatronic suit with fatal results.

 

17. Doki Doki Literature Club!

Developer: Team Salvato
Publisher: Team Salvato

Believe it or not, there are games out there that reel you in with a devilishly bright and attractive package only to subject you to horrors sure to stick with you for weeks to come. Doki Doki Literature Club! is one such game. Don’t be fooled by the pastel pinks and purples and overly girly appearance. Doki Doki Literature Club! is far from what its outward features will lead you to believe.

As a newcomer to the titular literature club, players interact with the club’s current members to learn more about them and share poems and prose. All seems normal at first, but then unusual things start to unravel the literature club.

The game looks like it’s bugging out as the quartet of new friends become aggressive. What was once a happy-go-lucky literature club dissolves into a place for horrors to breed – and you can bet you’ll have to face them before your time with Doki Doki is through.

Though the game is really more of a visual novel, there is some interactivity on the player’s part to keep them immersed.

 

16. Imscared – A Pixelated Nightmare

Developer: Ivan Zanotti’s MyMadnessWorks
Publisher: Ivan Zanotti’s MyMadnessWorks

A horror game doesn’t need to be set in stunning 3D worlds with graphics at the peak of the generation. Imscared – A Pixelated Nightmare is a grand example of how a pixelated horror game can work. The first-person experience puts players as the focus of a meta-horror, where the world tries to toy with your psyche. Picture Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, minus the complex gameplay.

Developer and publisher Ivan Zanotti used Game Maker 8, MS Paint, and FL Studio to bring this experience to life. The result is a horror title that knows how to supplement visual style with atmosphere and psychological trickery.

 

15. Lone Survivor

Developer: Jasper Byrne
Publisher: Superflat Games

A customizable gaming experience is not one we always get, so when it’s presented to us, especially in a horror package, we jump on it. Sometimes it’s a hit and a miss. Other times, like with Lone Survivor, it’s memorable, fun, and, dare I say, scary.

Over the course of five years, Jasper Byrne crafted the mysterious world, devastated by disease, by himself. What’s more impressive is that Lone Survivor lets players tackle the game how they want.

Explore with stealth. Kill everything in your path. Push the protagonist past his limits. How you want to survive in this horrifying world is up to you. Just don’t expect everything to be as it appears. The further you get, the more the world chips away at your mental health, leaving your mind to deceive and terrorize along the way.

 

14. Bendy and the Ink Machine

Developer: Joey Drew Studios, Inc.
Publisher: Joey Drew Studios, Inc.

Spread out across five chapters, Bendy and the Ink Machine shows us the seedy underbelly of our favorite animation studios.

Sure, on the surface they produce innocent and playful content, but what you find within will give you nightmares. As animator Henry, players explore the depths of Joey Drew Studios, the animation studio behind the titular Bendy. What he finds is a studio filled with horrors, all looking to rip him limb from limb.

Bendy and the Ink Machine is a twisted tale that works well as a survival horror game. Players will engage in puzzle solving and exploration as they try to get Henry out in one piece. With monstrosities like the evil version of Bendy and the Ink Demon lurking about, however, it won’t be an easy task.

 

13. SCP – Containment Breach

Developer: Joonas Rikkonen
Publisher: Joonas Rikkonen

There are many wonders in our world, some terrifying and deadly, others mystifying and passive. At the SCP Foundation, you’ll learn all about these unusual entities. Or, if you’re brave enough, come face to face with them in SCP – Containment Breach.

As test subject D-9341, players must escape the underground facility in the wake of a containment breach. With all of the foundation’s most horrifying inhabitants loose, escaping is no easy feat.

Joonas Rikkonen, otherwise known as Regalis, does the source material justice as players come across a host of different subjects scattered about randomly generated rooms. Your path to safety is hindered by entities like SCP-106, SCP-096, and SCP-682, all more terrifying than the last. Fans of the SCP Foundation website will be delighted by the numerous Easter eggs scattered throughout while those unfamiliar with its history are in for a horrifying treat.

SCP – Containment Breach is free-to-play and even has an HD remake built on the Unity engine. Either version is worth a playthrough, though the Unity remake is a more complete and better-looking experience.

 

12. The Beast Inside

Developer: Illusion Ray Studio
Publisher: Movie Games S.A.

Wedon’t often put faith in full narrative adventures developed by an independent studio. Illusion Ray Studio reminded us that it’s okay to let my defenses down and get sucked into the fascinating and horrifying story being laid out in front of us.

The Beast Inside pits players as a CIA cryptanalyst, which fits surprisingly well into the plot that spans generations of his lineage and the game’s complex puzzles.

Along with the abundance of scares, both subtle and aggressive, The Beast Inside utilizes cryptic puzzles to further immerse players. At its core, The Beast Inside is a well-rounded horror game that requires patience, skill, and a strong heart to make it to the end. Fans of jump scares and disturbing imagery will find plenty to enjoy in this independently developed title.

 

11. Visage

Developer: SadSquare Studio
Publisher: SadSquare Studio

How well do you know your home’s past? Has it always been yours? Or have their been prior owners, creating imprints of nefarious deeds and horrifying acts?

Visage really makes you wonder as you explore what appears to be a normal, suburban home. Deep within its roots, however, lies a history that’s sure to make your spine chill and your heart race.

It’s up to you to uncover the murderous past, but be mindful of what you dig up. The more you reveal, the more it will come back to haunt you. Literally. Visage is a haunted house movie wrapped up in the package of a video game, and it’s beautifully done.

You’ll be brought to the brink of insanity by demented visions as the world around you twists into a perverse version of itself.

 

10. Darkwood

Developer: Acid Wizard Studio
Publisher: Acid Wizard Studio

There is something to be said for Acid Wizard Studio’s ability to create a top-down survival horror that is atmospheric and terrifying. Right from the start, Darkwood isolates you from the typical and familiar staples of gaming, like quest markers or tips on where to go. You’re thrust into a gloomy world and forced to work things out as you go along.

Blocking your path is a horde of monsters that you can escape by barricading yourself in sparse shelters or bring down with scarce weapons. Darkwood has elements of a survival game to freshen up a genre that’s seen and done it all. Scavenge for supplies to survive the night or brave a world full of things itching to tear you apart.

Incredible use of lighting and sound design further enhances the tone and ambiance as you explore randomly generated cursed woods and abandoned homes.

 

9. Layers of Fear

Developer: Bloober Team SA
Publisher: Aspyr

Not every successful horror title has to rely on frequent jump scares and grotesque monstrosities. Some can earn praise for their effective use of psychological horror and dark themes.

Bloober Team approached Layers of Fear with the latter method in mind, hoping to terrifying players with subtle hints of horror. While it’s so easy to miss the mark and fall short, Layers of Fear has no trouble making players tremble.

Playing as an artist setting out to create his masterpiece, you’ll come to find that the creative process is not without its potential for insanity. Uncover the truth behind the painter and their creations in a game that’s heavy on exploration and unraveling a deep, but dark, story. It won’t take long into your time with Layers of Fear before you’re turning on the lights and fearing the fragility of your own mind.

 

8. Little Nightmares

Developer: Tarsier Studios
Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment

In the depths of The Maw, you wake up a much smaller version of yourself. The world around you is intimidating, impossible to navigate, and filled with terrors hellbent on making a meal out of you. All you can do to survive is run. Run and seek out an exit that may not even exist.

Welcome to the life of Six, a small child trapped in a world of unspeakable horrors. Little Nightmares amplifies the fear of exploring The Maw in a few ways, but the most effective is with its vile and abnormal inhabitants. The Janitor, The Butchers, and The Lady are designed to terrify, and their inhuman, clay-like depictions are sure to haunt your dreams for many nights to come.

From our Little Nightmares review:

“Even if it is going to grab you by the throat for just a few hours, Little Nightmares is one game you won’t want to shake free from.”

 

7. SOMA

Developer: Frictional Games
Publisher: Frictional Games

In the deepest parts of the North Atlantic Ocean, Simon Jarret awakens to find himself trapped in the PATHOS-II underwater research facility. As if the unusual surroundings aren’t bad enough, he finds that he’s also awoken 89 years after a near-fatal car accident left him brain-damaged.

Finding out how he jumped 89 years into the future is one mystery to solve. The other is discovering the truth behind the inhuman creations and mutations stalking the PATHOS-II base.

Relentlessly pursued by deadly fiends, Jarret has no means of defending himself and must run and hide to survive this horrifying undersea adventure. SOMA takes many twists and turns and will surely leave players with jaws wide open. It’s a heart-pounding experience that makes use of the player’s helplessness to weave an unforgettable survival horror game where not everything is as it seems.

From our SOMA review:

“An effectively told, impressively presented, and immensely engrossing sci-fi mystery, SOMA proves that it’s very much worth your time on Xbox One.”

 

6. Phasmophobia

Developer: Kinetic Games
Publisher: Kinetic Games

It’s the game that started an entire craze on Steam, turning players into literal ghost hunters as they enter spooky locations to gather clues and uncover the type of specter roaming the halls. Phasmophobia isn’t actually the first of its kind, but Kinetic Games found the formula that really resonated with players. In a post-Ghost Adventures world, so many dream of running from the ethereal form of a vengeful spirit, and this indie co-op title is their best shot of experiencing that.

For how slow-paced and tame the game may seem, it has its shocking moments that leave players running and screaming. The problem with that tactic? The only way to determine the type of haunting is to utilize the plethora of real ghost-hunting tools. And sometimes that means facing off against the croaking apparition.

Phasmophobia is clever and downright fun, especially if you find the right lobby of players. Kinetic Games has even been supporting the title well, adding new ghosts, locations, mechanics, and more to keep the experience frightening and fresh.

 

5. Omori

Developer: Omocat, LLC
Publisher: Omocat, LLC

A really good horror video game is going to mess you up without you even really knowing it. The thing is, it’s tough to do good psychological horror, especially if you’re going to frame it in a vibrant and colorful RPG. Omocat found the perfect balance of mind-bending twists and engaging gameplay to both delight and emotionally destroy players.

Developed in RPG Maker, Omori features a group of friends trying to enjoy their summer break. Things get a off kilter when they uncover a dreamworld and the boy responsible for it, Omori. The horrors of this indie title aren’t so much in the many enemies the friends must battle but instead tucked within the characters themselves.

There’s a dark secret that ties them all together, and when the emotional effects of this event present themselves, Omori’s dreamscape gets a little unusual. The horror aspect really winds up being a real glimpse into how we all deal with the traumatic and scarring events in our lives.

Omori isn’t just a worthwhile psychological horror experience. It’s a game that everyone should play, even if just to experience the quirky combat cleverly put together in RPG Maker.

 

4. Devotion

Developer: Red Candle Games
Publisher: Red Candle Games

If you played Detention, then you already know what Red Candle Games is capable of in the horror landscape. Well, at least you thought you knew, because Devotion takes things a little further than Detention, working in a religious angle that only amplifies the unsettling feeling of this atmospheric horror title.

Devotion plays out in first-person, allowing players to really immerse themselves in 1980s Taiwan as they uncover the dark secrets of the Du family. Playing primarily as troubled screenwriter Du Feng Yu, players maneuver through dimly lit halls infested with family secrets and grim memories. They manifest as real horrors that threaten Du Feng Yu’s sanity and life the deeper he digs into the Du family’s fanaticism.

Taking cues from P.T. and Layers of Fear, Devotion is dedicated to creeping players out more so than throw jumpscare after jumpscare at them. It’s the type of game you’ll think about after, and then wish you could forget to experience it all over again for the first time.

 

3. Outlast

Developer: Red Barrels
Publisher: Red Barrels

Psychiatric hospitals are a staple in horror movies, used less so in video games as there are only so many ways to demonize the mentally unstable and make it more scary than depressing.

Red Barrels takes the risk with Outlast and sends players into the belly of Mount Massive Asylum in the wake of an inmate outbreak. Investigative journalist Miles Upshur inadvertently puts himself in harm’s way after responding to an anonymous email about inhumane experiments at the desolate facility.

Rather than gather the story he intended to find, Miles is trapped in a world of horrors where the deranged and sadistic have gruesome plans for him. Outlast enjoys the occasional jump scare, but Miles’ defenselessness and limited night vision build up the tension every step of the way in Red Barrels’ first foray into survival horror.

 

2. The Forest

Developer: Endnight Games
Publisher: Endnight Games

After their plane crashes on a mysterious, forested peninsula, Eric LeBlanc and his son, Timmy, find themselves in a real horror story. Timmy is dragged off, leaving Eric to navigate the depths of the forest and scour nearby beaches for supplies to help on the hunt for his son.

The Forest came at a time when survival games were abundant and growing stale. However, Endnight Games knew what the genre needed, and the result is a thoroughly scary survival experience that also goes down as one of the best indie horror games.

Eric’s survival in The Forest is about more than eating, drinking, sleeping, and keeping warm. A tribe of cannibalistic mutants inhabit the peninsula and stalk Eric as he constructs shelters, crafts makeshift weapons, and hunts for food. At night, the mutant tribe bands together and comes down on the survivor.

To survive, players must strategize their daily activities. Is it more important to build defenses or hunt for a healthy supply of food? You only know you made the right choice if you survived the late-night horrors that come to feast on your flesh.

From our The Forest review:

“A smart port of a PC cult favourite, The Forest on PS4 is simply one of the best survival experiences you will find on a console.”

 

1. Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Developer: Frictional Games
Publisher: Frictional Games

Before terrifying players in the underwater facility of PATHOS-II, Frictional Games sent them running through the dim and gloomy halls of Brennenburg Castle. As Daniel, an amnesiac protagonist with a fear of the dark, players have to stick to the light and uncover his forgotten past. Of course, that doesn’t come easy when the Shadow starts its pursuit for the hapless hero.

Along with running from the deadly Shadow, players must also watch Daniel’s sanity. The longer he stays in the dark, the more unhinged he becomes before passing out, leaving him vulnerable to his foe. The darkest corners of the castle are his only safety, but he can only stand them for so long before succumbing to his fears.

There’s only one way to survive the depths of Brennenburg Castle – to flee and leave the grotesque horrors behind.

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