Top 20 best horror games on PC

Fear is one of the strongest emotions a person can experience. It pulls you out of your comfort zone and exposes your weaknesses, thereby revealing who you truly are and what your strengths are. Of course, we don't recommend testing your mettle in real life, but getting a thrill from the latest interactive horror game is always welcome.Image: YouTube

We present you top-20 scariest games available on PC. Note that this list does not include the iconic franchises Silent Hill and Resident Evil — precisely because of their super-popularity and significant contribution to the industry. Therefore, we will talk about less obvious projects, still capable of eliciting a couple of frightened screams from gamers. 

Five Nights at Freddy's

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Players take on the role of a night security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Unlike most horrors where the player character has freedom of movement, here they are confined to their workplace — the security desk. Monitoring the pizzeria through cameras, which transmit images to the console, requires keen attention: at night, the creepy animatronic dolls decorating the place come to life and seek to deal with the living human who disturbed their peace. 

The scary game is commendable for its inventive mechanics: players must remotely control doors to block the dolls' path. The camera footage is not of high quality or resolution, there are plenty of blind spots in the building, and one camera doesn’t work at all. To scare players, the game uses the cheapest trick — jump scares. It sounds simple, but with such elementary means, FNAF easily pushed the best horror games and took its rightful place in their ranks. 

Layers of Fear

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Layers of Fear tells the scary story of a talented artist living in 1920s America. The protagonist returns home to finish his life's work, only to realize that everything around him... isn't quite what it seems. Thus begins his and the player's joint journey through the corridors of a damaged memory and the rooms of a frightening house. 

Developed by the Polish studio Bloober Team, the game is unlike the typical horror games and more resembles a work of art — ironically, the very theme embedded in the project's plot. Players find themselves in the endless hallucinations of a mad artist, suffering from the terrifying images that come to his mind. Layers of Fear has few gameplay elements but brilliantly conveys its story and reveals the protagonist's personality through horror, paranoia, and hidden memories.

Cry of Fear

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The game's main character is a young man named Simon, who becomes disabled after being hit by a car. He falls into depression, turns to drugs, and soon loses interest in life. His psychologist, Dr. Purnell, devises an original treatment method: the patient must write a book about his experiences and emotions. Simon's book lacks a wheelchair but includes monsters that are out to kill him...

Although the game starts as a typical shooter with horrific monsters, it soon begins to surprise. Cry of Fear has an excellent script based on depth psychology. And once you start to understand how Simon’s imaginary world is connected to his real life, the story won't let you go until the very end. The game has several possible endings, depending on your actions throughout the plot.

Alan Wake 2

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13 years after the disappearance of bestselling author Alan Wake in Bright Falls, Washington, a series of ritualistic murders occur there, suspected to be the work of a group calling themselves "The Cult of the Tree". FBI agent Saga Anderson and detective Alex Casey arrive in the town to investigate. Meanwhile, Wake himself continues his efforts to escape from the Dark Place, resembling New York.

Alan Wake 2 is a third-person survival horror game. Players get to play as Alan Wake and Saga Anderson in two parallel single-player stories. Wake and Anderson can fight enemies using firearms and flashlights, explore various locations such as the rundown provincial town of Bright Falls in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, and an alternative New York, known as the Dark Place.

Compared to the original, there's less fights with shadows and more of an interesting and intriguing plot.

Amnesia

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The scariest game begins with the main character waking up in an old castle, remembering nothing about his past, and finding only a note written by himself. The note states that Daniel (the protagonist's name) has drunk a potion of amnesia to rid himself of mental traumas and now must kill a certain Alexander of Brennenburg. But he must act quickly, as a living nightmare is pursuing Daniel...

The first part of the game, with its numerous puzzles and invincible monsters, deeply impressed players, leading to a demand for more. The developers did not disappoint their audience, and Amnesia turned into a series of quality horror games. The latest as of now is Amnesia: Rebirth from 2020. Each game is self-contained, however, to fully appreciate the author's intent, it is best to play the games in the order they were released.

Dead by Daylight

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An extremely popular cooperative horror game that pits two sides of a conflict in a single match: a powerful maniac killer and a team of people trying to save their lives. The gameplay for both is fundamentally different and rich with a variety of mechanics and available options. The killer needs to hang all the survivors on hooks for sacrifice and prevent them from escaping the map. The survivors need to start five generators to open the gates and leave the killer with nothing.

This is complemented by a vast array of available passive and active skills, special items on the map, and various tactics to achieve victory. Yes, after a hundred hours Dead by Daylight may no longer scare you, but the first few runs in it are always tense and very unpredictable. 

The Forest

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Canadian developers spent several years trying to create a survival game unlike any others. Your character miraculously survives a plane crash, but that's just the beginning of the nightmare. Initially, it seems you're on a deserted island, facing typical survival in the wild. However, it soon becomes clear that the island is inhabited by bloodthirsty mutant cannibals.

It turns out, drawing inspiration from naturalistic horrors like Cannibal Holocaust and The Descent, along with survival games like Minecraft, can result in a pretty decent horror game. The Forest is no easy adventure, and it's filled with frightening moments. Those of a nervous disposition definitely won't make it to the end.

Poppy Playtime

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If you've ever seen the toothy smile of Huggy Wuggy, know that he's not just an internet character, but the main star of the indie horror game Poppy Playtime. The game tells the story of a mysterious toy factory where all the employees have mysteriously vanished. The project's main character needs to find out what really happened here…

You'll need to solve puzzles, explore the dark rooms of the abandoned factory, and run for your life from the animated toy monsters, including the aforementioned Huggy Wuggy, who are out to kill you.

Alien: Isolation

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The scariest game is set in the year 2137. The main character is Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley from the movie "Alien". Despite her mother having disappeared fifteen years ago with the ship Nostromo, Amanda continues her search. Her quest leads her to the half-forgotten trading station "Sevastopol". Its inhabitants are yet unaware of the nightmare they will soon face.

Many game critics have named Alien: Isolation the best first-person survival horror game out there. We won’t make such bold claims or compare it to the other games in our top list, as they all deserve your attention. However, if you were dissatisfied with the direction Ridley Scott took the Alien franchise, then Alien: Isolation will be that "sensible Alien" for you, the one that this universe undoubtedly deserves.

Limbo

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The black-and-white game Limbo tells the haunting adventure of a little boy in a vast and dangerous world. The protagonist wakes up in Limbo, the boundary between life and death, and tries to find his lost sister. His journey is hindered by other children, giant spiders, and mysterious mechanisms.

Limbo may not be truly terrifying, but it is definitely eerie and very atmospheric. It can be completed in just six hours and easily draws players into its monochromatic world, filled with loneliness and deadly traps.

Dead Space

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The main character of Dead Space is engineer Isaac Clarke, who finds himself aboard the planetary mining ship "Ishimura". The crew of this ship, tasked with mining minerals, had carried out a secret mission, resulting in their transformation into monstrous creatures by a mysterious cosmic signal. As we know, in space, no one can hear you scream, so there's no help coming and escaping the "Ishimura", while figuring out what happened, is up to Isaac alone.

The first part of Dead Space is a cult classic of space horror. The developers openly acknowledged that their inspirations included Ridley Scott's "Alien" and John Carpenter's "The Thing". We strongly recommend the first game of the series as a must-play. The subsequent games are good third-person actions, but they significantly lost their horror element. 

The Quarry

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An outstanding interactive horror from the team that developed Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology. The game tells the story of a group of counselors who have to spend one more night in a child camp after the season ends. As the moon rises, the characters find themselves in mortal danger: they are hunted by frightening quadruped monsters on one side and mysterious strangers with rifles on the other. 

The Quarry can be confidently regarded as a full-fledged interactive movie. It features well-known actors, brilliantly directed scenes, and every player choice opens dozens of plot development variations. Additionally, it can be played with friends, taking turns influencing the unfolding events.

SOMA

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SOMA is a science-fiction survival horror game set in the underwater research station PATHOS-2. The main character, a young man named Simon Jarrett, cannot remember how he got there, as he had just recovered from a car accident in Toronto. In his quest for answers, Simon encounters the unexplainable...

The plot of SOMA is full of surprises, which we, of course, won't spoil. This story is best experienced firsthand, if, of course, the game doesn’t trigger claustrophobia, nyctophobia, or paranoia in you. Consider yourself warned!

Phasmophobia

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A cooperative hit that allows you and your friends to hunt ghosts together. The scenario for each mission is simple: you arrive at the location, set up specialized research equipment, and try to determine what kind of entity inhabits the area. However, there’s a catch...

The cruel spirits won’t just sit around while you study them. They will start slowly driving the characters insane, and once they sense their own power, they will openly attack. Only the most resilient, quick, and experienced researchers will survive such a night. Each outing in the game turns out to be incredibly frightening, and even after dozens of hours, you will still jump at random noises.

Outlast

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Outlast tells us an alternative story: journalist Miles Upshur investigates illegal experiments on living people and infiltrates Mount Massive Asylum, where disfigured, insane patients roam the corridors. Now, Miles must figure out what happened here, record everything on camera, and of course, escape alive from the ominous hospital.

It’s quite unsettling when you face another towering brute, and instead of a shotgun, you can only aim a camera lens at him. The game turned out to be unusual, terrifying, atmospheric, and engaging.

If you want to share your experince with friends, try The Outlast Trials — escape the therapy from Murkoff Corporation.

DEVOUR

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Another scariest cooperative game in our top list. In DEVOUR, gamers play as occultists trying to stop their cult leaders from conducting a terrible ritual. On each map, you will encounter a monster with a unique behavior model and characteristics, becoming stronger with every passing minute.

Despite its simple graphics and modest budget, DEVOUR skillfully terrifies even the most steadfast players. Dying here is easy, as the creature quickly predicts your next moves, and the frantic pace ensures there’s never a dull moment.

The Evil Within

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Once again, a terrifying adventure unfolds in an old sanatorium. Detective Sebastian Castellanos, along with colleagues, arrives at a call from the psychiatric clinic "Beacon", where they discover the aftermath of a brutal mass murder. The only survivor appears to be Dr. Jimenez, who seems to have lost his mind after witnessing the horrors. However, soon Sebastian begins to question the reality of what's happening...

Nobody can dispute that the Japanese understand horror. The Evil Within has everything we love about Japanese horror: phantasmagoric monsters, subconscious fears, high technology, and a twisted plot that repeatedly turns everything upside down.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

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A game inspired by the works of the renowned master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft. The local protagonist — a detective investigating a crime in the port town, Innsmouth, soon discovers that the town harbors a terrible secret, and ancient underwater gods are about to awaken from their eternal slumber…

Dark Corners of the Earth still plays exceptionally well, even 17 years after its release. It features a menacing atmosphere, grotesque monsters, and an interesting madness mechanic. An absolute must-have for any Lovecraft aficionado.

Little Nightmares

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Next up is a creation by Swedish company Tarsier Studios. These talented developers fearlessly experimented by blending quest, platformer, and horror genres, with the latter being predominant. A little girl in a yellow raincoat, armed only with a lighter, wakes up in the hold of a gigantic underwater ship. The ship's passengers are grotesque monsters, but the brave heroine seems undeterred, unlike the player.

Wrapped in a package of childhood nightmares, the creators have crafted a touching story, the Aesopian language of which critics are still deciphering. The second part of the game, released in February 2021, does not fall short of the first. If you've played Little Nightmares, share your interpretation of the story in the comments. We prefer to leave it without commentary.

Knock-knock

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An inventive indie horror from Russian developers. You play as a nervous inhabitant of a certain house, simply trying to survive until dawn. To do this, he needs to wander through rooms, turn on lights, solve simple puzzles, and hide from danger.

Don't be fooled by the cute and slightly cartoonish visual style — Knock-knock will make you seriously nervous with its constant rustling, scraping, and unexpected nocturnal visitors. It's rightfully considered one of the best horror games ever released on PC.

We hope this list of scary games provides you with a couple of sleepless nights alone with your fears! Meanwhile, tell us in the comments which game scares you more than others.

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