Sometimes being bad feels kind of really good, especially in a sea of horror games where the players are usually victims or underdogs. Of course, being the villain of the story somewhat defeats the purpose of horror video games. There's no lingering sense of dread or vulnerability that way, which is why horror games that allow players to be the villains are few and far between.
Developers that manage to pull it off, however, usually bring out some of the most special or freshest experiences in gaming. Not only did they make the narrative work despite the inherently predictable setup, but they also opened plenty of doors for other game mechanics. So if horror game fans want to be on the other side of the coin, then these titles ought to provide a unique perspective.
Updated June 21th, 2022, by Sid Natividad: Turns out there are even more horror games that reverse the roles. They allow players the power of the monsters who are usually the villains in most other horror games. The beauty in such role reversals is that it allows developers to come up with some unique mechanics or gameplay dynamics.
Some of these games are also from indie developers who yearn for nothing more than to produce art in video game form. It would be a disservice to some of these games to not be included in this roster. So, five more horror games have been added, in case the players want more of being the monsters.
15 Ravenous Devils
- Release year: 2022
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5
Ever wanted to be Sweeney Todd, making pies out of human meat? Then Ravenous Devils is the closest digital experience to that kind of endeavor. It's a management simulator where players run a tailor shop and pub except the clothes are looted off dead bodies and the food is from their corpses. That's some savvy business acumen.
Players will lure in some posh customers, murder them, take off their clothes, and then feed their corpses to the mincer. Nature provides! It's a refreshing take on horror where players make themselves rich by exploiting and killing others— in a more direct way.
14 Hatred
- Release year: 2015
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Linux
Imagine the Punisher except instead of blaming organized crime for his family's death, he blames humanity. That's Hatred's premise in a nutshell. Players control a long-haired angsty metalhead monster of a man who hates his own kind and wages war against everyone.
The gameplay is simple; run around the streets and murder everyone, mostly those who fight back. It can also double as an apocalypse simulator where players are walking and shooting apocalypses themselves as they leave mountains of corpses in their wake. Imagine the healing nature will perform afterward.
13 The Shrouded Isle
- Release year: 2017
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Macintosh operating systems, Classic Mac OS
The Shrouded Isle is another simulator or management sim where players pick innocent people to sacrifice. For what? Well, for the satisfaction of the Great Old Ones themselves! Awaken all manner of Lovecraftian gods and monsters by pledging souls and blood to them!
It's alright, those wretches were unpure and directionless anyway. It also helps that these hapless wanderers and provincial villagers inhabit a small and grimy coastal town away from the judgmental eyes of city folk. Do show them the hospitality of the Shrouded Isle.
12 Zombie Night Terror
- Release year: 2016
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, Android, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Linux
Now, for something a little more casual and doesn't necessarily involve giant evil gods or unbridled angst, Zombie Night Terror should more than suffice. It's a simple game where players unleash their hordes of living dead against the pathetic remnants of humanity.
To that end, it's quite similar to Hatred, though it can be funkier as players can pretend they're Michael Jackson in a "Thriller" music video. To spice things up, other zombie types are also presented to the player's arsenal. There are big ones, fast ones, and stinky ones that puke. All of them are effective against those frail humans.
11 Postal
- Release year: 1997
- Platform: Android, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, OS X, Linux, Sega Dreamcast
The original Postal video game from developer Running with Scissors is the video game equivalent of a deranged snuff film filled with desensitizing gore and wanton violence. The difference here is that it's the players that get to dish out this kind of monstrosity against hapless victims.
To that end, Postal is one of the most disturbing games in existence. It's even bolder and more unapologetic than something like Grand Theft Auto. The game is obviously not for the faint of heart as it truly encapsulates the feeling of being a monster and predator to society.
10 The Darkness
- Release year: 2007
- Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
The Darkness follows a rather cliched crime syndicate tale where Jackie Estacado, the hero (or the villain) gets betrayed by his mob boss for fear of his growing influence. Luckily for Jackie boy, his bloodline has a hidden demonic entity called the Darkness, which grants the host some nifty occult superpowers.
Hence, The Darkness is more of a revenge story where Jackie dismantles his ex-boss's operation out of spite. Players are allowed to massacre tons of mob soldiers and often in the most gruesome way possible. Sure, everyone's bad in The Darkness, but Jackie is literally an unstoppable evil.
9 Left 4 Dead
- Release year: 2008
- Platform: Android, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, macOS, iOS, Classic Mac OS
It's an old game so the graphics are outdated, but on the plus side, it's made available for weaker gaming platforms. In any case, Left 4 Dead introduces one of the most fun multiplayer formats in gaming that other titles have aped: a four-player co-op. It pits players against hordes of zombies.
There is a versus mode where four other players can try to kill the survivors by controlling specialized and more powerful zombies. Therein lies the variety in the game. Because playing as the monsters can often be more challenging and amusing than the typical gunman.
8 Manhunt
- Release year: 2003
- Platform: PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Xbox, PlayStation 4
Another old and lesser-known title, Manhunt is Rockstar Games at their most violent. It puts players into the shoes of a criminal named James Earl Cash, who is forced to participate in providing material for snuff films that fetishize brutal executions and cold-blooded murder.
Like The Darkness, everyone is a terrible human being in Manhunt except for Cash, and his vivid executions can be downright vomit-inducing and traumatizing most of the time. It's so graphic that Manhunt has been banned in several countries, making it one of Rockstar's least popular games.
7 Dead By Daylight
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- Release year: 2016
- Platform: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, Stadia, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Dead by Daylight cruises by the road paved by Left 4 Dead and puts a twist on the four-player formula. Four of the players assume the role of human victims, while one other player will be the monster. It's essentially a four-versus-one, but by no means is the match lopsided as the monsters get supernatural powers.
More than that, the monsters can be pop culture staples such as Pinhead (Hellraiser), Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare On Elm Street), Pyramid Head (Silent Hill), etc. For the monsters, it's mostly a buffet as they try to scarf down or hack all the helpless survivors into bits.
6 Friday The 13th: The Game
- Release year: 2017
- Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
Ever wondered why Jason Voorhees seems to be missing from the killer roster of Dead by Daylight? The answer is that he decided to go solo in his own co-op multiplayer horror game. The setup is also similar but allows for more victims.
Seven humans will have to assume the roles of sitting ducks as they try to waddle their way into safety. Meanwhile, one player will happily swagger along as a machete-wielding brute with that iconic hockey mask.
5 Vampyr
- Release year: 2018
- Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
Vampyr sets up its tone really quickly. During the game's opening sequence, the main character, Dr. Jonathan Reid becomes a vampire and immediately accidentally kills his own sister for her blood. After that, there's no turning back for him.
As Reid, players can elect to give in to their vampire tendencies with little disregard for who they kill. They can choose to be a walking bloodsucker and even kill some of the most important NPCs in the game. Not many games allow that kind of predatory and villainous behavior.
4 Lucius
- Release year: 2012
- Platform: Microsoft Windows
Lucius is somewhat similar to Vampyr, except the players are railroaded to an evil path. It revolves around the titular kid character, who is actually the son of Satan himself. As such, Lucius aims to harm and kill anyone who gets close to him, even if it's his human family.
Thus, the game tasks players as Lucius devising and executing ways to murder his family members. It's a puzzle horror game in that regard where careful planning is needed in order to let Lucius perform some dramatic and clean kills.
3 Carrion
- Release year: 2020
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, Macintosh operating systems, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
Carrion is a unique one as far as horror titles go. It's a fully-fledged Metroidvania sidescroller where players can control a tentacled monster hellbent on killing everyone in a research facility. The developers themselves describe the game as a reverse horror where they play the monster in a typical sci-fi monster horror flick.
It's like playing as the Alien in Alien, but the monster is a more grotesque amalgam of the people it kills. The monster's powers are interesting too, as it can shapeshift to a certain extent and use its appendages to move stealthily, cling to railings, and traverse ceilings and walls.
2 Sea Salt
- Release year: 2019
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Macintosh operating systems, Xbox One
Much like Carrion, Sea Salt also prefers the old 16-bit-style visuals, but this doesn't diminish its horror aspect one bit. In Sea Salt, players control a horde of Dagon's minions so that they can complete the ritual and summon Lovecraftian horrors in a bid to end the world.
Too bad the ritual is under constant interruption thanks to nosey citizens, so it's up to the players to direct Dagon's swarms and collect sacrifices so that the summoning will proceed. There are 16 minions in total, each with varying stats and roles in the grand and unfathomable scheme of their lord and savior.
1 Silent Hill 2
- Release year: 2001
- Platform: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
A monster can have many forms, and in Silent Hill 2's case, it's figurative. James Sunderland, what with his fair appearance, has the makings of a typical leading man protagonist. But as the story goes, it's revealed that his deplorable deeds and subconscious guilt about murdering his own wife manifested in the delirious monstrosities of Silent Hill.
So it is within reason that James himself is the biggest monster in all of Silent Hill 2. His normal human shell merely hides the guilt-ridden fiend within, who simultaneously wants to run from his sins and also get punished for it while yearning to see the wife he smothered with a pillow. That's the kind of abstract monster one can't easily kill.