If you enjoy the eerie atmosphere of horror games but hate the jump scares and can’t stomach overly gory scenes, then you’ve come to the right place. This list features a wide array of 15 spine-tingling but not too scary stories, so you can enjoy the experience of horror games without all the jump scares.
15) Prey
Set in the year 2032, you awake to destruction and death aboard the Talos I, a space station orbiting the moon. With strange, non-human powers, you have to uncover the mysteries that led to you participating in these genetic altering experiments while struggling to survive from the aliens on the station that are keen on hunting you down.
Prey is a highly rated game, and although horror, it focuses more on the survival aspect of the game as you gain new abilities in your fight for survival. Throw in a dash of psychological horror, and you have a great game that’s not too scary.
14) Majora’s Mask
Now, I know you’re thinking, a Legend of Zelda game can’t be horror, but hear me out. While Majora’s Mask isn’t technically considered horror by Nintendo, the story is steeped in horror elements and has an overall spooky atmosphere. With the power to reverse time and 20 eerie masks, Link has three days to save the doomed world of Termina before the moon falls upon the land, destroying everything.
For a series that isn’t known to be scary, Majora’s Mask really knocks it out of the park and delivers an excellent story within the Zelda universe with some spine-tingling elements.
13) The Room Series
With 4 separate games and a VR based game, The Room series is a horror experience you definitely don’t want to miss. In the first game, you receive an invitation to a strange house in order to solve a series of puzzles to unlock a room with an ancient mystery and untold riches.
The Room series is heavily puzzle based and relies on a mysterious but creepy atmosphere to give you a brilliant horror experience.
12) Soma
While not as scary as the Amnesia games but just as rich in story-telling, Soma is a sci-fi horror game set in a futuristic underwater station on earth. As a lone survivor on this station, you will struggle to piece together what tragic events led to such destruction and begin to question your very own existence.
Soma relies less on classic jump scares and more on survival and the psychological aspects of horror, making it a great but still palatable horror game.
11) Carrion
Carrion is a slightly different take on horror. You play as an amorphous creature bent on destruction and terrorizing the scientists who locked you up.
With interesting mechanics, Carrion flips the classic horror story on its head, allowing the player to experience what a horror game is like from the eyes of the monster.
10) Alan Wake
Set in the small town of Bright Falls, the game follows our protagonist Alan Wake as he uncovers the mysteries of the dark and evil presence in the town and tries to rescue the woman he loves.
With a dash of psychological horror, Alan Wake hits hard on the supernatural and mysterious elements of the game, giving it an intriguing story that you won’t want to put down.
9) Vampyr
The year is 1918 and London is struggling to cope with a flu epidemic as well as a string of mysterious and not so human murders. You play as Jonathan Reid, a doctor and a vampire, faced with the moral dilemma of helping patients or feeding off them.
Vampyr is an interesting horror game because of its power of choice. Decisions you make in the game and even small interactions will shape Jonathan’s story, giving you various endings, both good and bad.
8) Darkest Dungeon
Darkest Dungeon is a take on the classic RPG but this time as a horror game. You’ll lead your group of makeshift heroes through horrors untold and experience the psychological toll of adventuring first-hand.
Turn-based mechanics and gothic elements, Darkest Dungeon is a unique gem in the horror genre, picking apart the shadows of the beloved RPG adventure story.
7) Little Misfortune
Misfortune, a young girl doomed to meet a, well, misfortunate fate, is one day led out into the woods by the mysterious Mr. Voice and encounters all kinds of secrets and bad luck.
Highly rated, Little Misfortune is a horror game that focuses on the macabre and existential questions of life through the lens of its young protagonist all the while maintaining an eerie world.
6) Limbo
With its platform mechanics, Limbo features an eerie shadowy world in which a young boy enters limbo in search of his sister.
Limbo is one of those horror games that while nothing explicitly scary is happening on screen, there is always a constant sense of unease, and while it might not give you nightmares, it’ll certainly have you looking over your shoulder.
5) Subnautica
Subnautica is a classic among sci-fi horror that pits you against the alien ocean life of the strange planet you suddenly find yourself stranded on. You’ll craft items to build your own weapons and even living stations as you uncover the mysteries of the planet and try to find a way to escape.
Subnautica is both an open world game and a crafting based survival, making it not too scary but just eerie enough with strange, alien life all around you.
4) Year Walk
Year Walk is a surreal and beautiful game that tells of the ancient Swedish practice of year walking, a ritual meant to gift the participant with visions of the future. However, in this case, the visions have gone array, guiding you through many dimensions and the supernatural.
Definitely eerie but not scary, Year Walk is part psychological and part surreal and a great game to add to your horror list.
3) Night in the Woods
You’ll follow Mae Borowski as she returns home a college drop out to the sleepy town of Possum Springs. Enter her group of ragtag childhood friends, a missing boy, and a possible cult, and Mae finds out that she might just be in over her head.
Night in the Woods is a great game because it mixes creepy horror elements into a character driven story without being too scary. With a heavy emphasis on exploration alongside the mysterious past of Possum Springs, players will remain glued to the story.
2) Layers of Fear
Layers of Fear takes the tortured artist trope to a whole new level. You’ll play an artist who is determined to finish his greatest painting, but the horrific visions of the supernatural and the strange Victorian mansion around you may have other plans.
Layers of Fear hits hard on the psychological horror, relying more on the surreal and disturbances of the human psyche for an eerie but excellent horror experience.
1) Little Nightmares
In Little Nightmares, you’ll help Six escape The Maw, where eerie and frightening creatures wouldn’t mind having Six as their next meal.
This puzzle platform relies heavily on an amazingly spooky atmosphere and some spine-tingling moments. Little Nightmares takes your childhood fears to the max with its surreal gameplay.
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