There are plenty of people who love a good scare. Whether it’s Halloween and you want to get into the mood of the holiday or just want to get that adrenaline flowing a little,horror gamesare great for both.
The horror genre of games has been consistently growing since its conception. Since then, some amazing games have scared people all across the globe. But, which of these are the best titles to experience, the creme-de-la-creme of horror, if you will, the games that will leave you scared long after the end credits roll.
Updated on July 12, 2025, by Zackary Wiggs:The horror genre isn’t going anywhere, at least not for the time being. Instead, more and more horror games are coming out seemingly every month now. While each of them brings something to the table, some are destined to become a go-to name in the genre. Whether you’re a longtime fan, or just now dipping your toes into the dark waters of horror, these are some of the games in the genre you can’t pass up on.
The Condemned series has been a talking point for horror for some time now. While it is a bit of a deep-cut in current years, it’s still not a bad idea to dive into the original to see where the genre has taken notes from.
It’s a fun but eerie mix of crime scene investigation, brutal combat with gruesome individuals, and bits of the paranormal sprinkled in there from time to time. It’s an interesting combo, but one that sets up the genre, and the rest of the series well.
Condemned touches on quite a few of the subgenres of horror, if you aren’t sure which of them you’re inclined to play next.
Although made foryoung adult audiences, Five Nights At Freddy’s has reached cult classic status for multiple generations of gamers. The story of a normal security guard at a pizza place may not seem like the most exciting story.
However, anyone who has experienced the game can tell you just how misleading that seems. It’s become popular enough to surpass its initial media form, and now it’s not hard to experience FNAF as a book, board game, or even a movie. You’ll never be able to look at animatronics the same way.
As a member of the First Encounter Assault Recon team, you’re used to odd engagements with things that go bump in the night. However, the enemy you face in the story of F.E.A.R. is far beyond anything you could prepare for.
You haven’t seen these FPS mechanics in a horror experience like this before. Not many games can give you an arsenal like fear does and still make you jump. It’s honestly impressive how fast you’ll go from feeling like a super soldier to a scared kid again. If you want to ease into the horror genre slowly, this is a great start.
A good horror game doesn’t have to be a survival. In fact, Left 4 Dead is one of the best horror games to be released in modern years and it’s basically a squad-based FPS.
L4D puts you in the role of one of four desperate survivors of a zombie apocalypse who are trying to escape to any safe haven they can find. The result is an adrenaline-fueled nightmare through waves of zombies, normal and otherwise.
Left 4 Dead is a great choice to get your friends, especially the ones that are FPS fans, into horror.
hobia may be one of the more recent additions to this list, but it holds up against the classics for its new look at horror games in online spaces. You and up to three of your friends are tasked with investigating a paranormal disturbance at one of a handful of locations.
It takes all of your willpower, knowledge, and various tools at your disposal to survive the encounter, but each match is one to remember for the sheer terror you’ll encounter. You’d think playing with your friends would make it less scary, but Phasmophobia knows how to get all of you feeling scared and alone.
A horror title from the turn of the century, Fatal Frame (or Project Zero, depending on where you are) is a game from Tecmo that didn’t hold back. Fans of The Ring and The Grudge will instantly be aware of the similarities they have with this game, and that only speaks to just how creepy it is.
Wielding a camera against ghost after ghost that all want you dead never seems to lose the scare factor, and now you can see how the facets of this game were built off of in the last couple of decades to make more recent titles.
There are few horror games out there that have such an eerie setting as SOMA. Deep under the ocean in a not-so-friendly research station, it is a binary of complete isolation and thrilling interaction with one of the many monsters that call the station home.
It combines simple gameplay mechanics with a great storyline that will have you on the edge of your seat for the entirety of the journey. It’s a newer game compared to some on this list, but one that will surely change the genre for the better.
The Alien series of films has always been good at mixing science fiction and horror genres to great success. Whether you grew up on the movies or are still new to the series, Alien: Isolation has plenty to earn it a spot on the list.
Solid story, classic horror monster, and gameplay mechanics all blend into a game that’s hard to forget about. One thing that stands out about this game is the sound design. The utter silence is disheartening, and it only gets worse when it’s interrupted by a random noise or the sound of your radar beeping that something is closing in on you.
A night at a rural insane asylum where something odd is happening sounds like a bad idea to most of us, but it didn’t to Miles in Outlast. The series has grown since that first game, but each installment has pushed the boundaries of horror games for the better.
The defenseless and overwhelmed feeling the game puts on the player is impressive, and it doesn’t take long before you feel like you’re the one holding Miles' camera. This is one of those games that has elevated the horror game genre altogether.
The Amnesia series has been at the forefront of conversations about horror games for some years now. While the series has taken place in a handful of settings, there’s a sense of fear that pervades the entirety of it.
From horrible monsters to insanity and isolation, there are a lot of themes that you’ll come across in the Amnesia games, but they all work well in unison with one another. That’s what makes them such a big name throughout the genre.
