Highlights

  • RPG Maker has allowed indie developers to create compelling horror games, despite its original purpose as an engine for RPGs.
  • GU-L, Fear & Hunger 2: Termina, and Mad Father are standout RPG Maker horror games that have captivated players with their unique narratives and gameplay mechanics.
  • The Witch's House and Pocket Mirror are other notable horror games made with RPG Maker, showcasing the versatility of the engine and the ability to create unsettling and atmospheric experiences.

When the time comes to make a game, there are many available tools. Unity, Source, Twine, and other engines allow designers to craft all manner of virtual worlds, from the most welcoming to the most inhospitable. Horror can mean blood and gore rendered with the highest fidelity or psychological thrills with barely anything graphic.

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Since the original's debut in 1992, RPG Maker has served as the catalyst for many games. Indie developers of all stripes have leveraged its user-friendly toolset to craft stories of terror and revulsion. Indeed, it is this very toolset that has made some of the horror genre's greatest and most intriguing achievements possible. This is even more impressive, given how this engine was originally made to help developers create RPGs with turn-based combat, only for developers to take some really wild turns with this engine over time.

Updated on February 1st, 2024, by Ritwik Mitra: RPG Maker games hold a soft spot in the hearts of many fans who love the creative titles made in this engine despite its many limitations. Despite the moniker making it clear that this title is used to make role-playing games with turn-based combat, aspiring developers have used this engine to create adventure games where interacting with items is more important. This has led to the rise of RPG Maker horror games that leave players defenseless as they solve puzzles in hostile environments and outrun enemies, with some of these games becoming legendary in their own right.

21 GU-L

Metacritic User Score: N/A

GU-L
  • Release Year: 2001
  • Developer: Yubu Yakushiro

The setup for GU-L is as classic as can be. A group of high schoolers are left stranded after a bus crash, leading to them seeking solace in an abandoned mansion. Suffice it to say, this place is way more sinister than any one of these characters could've assumed, leading to a gruesome chain of events that can lead to the deaths of the protagonist's friends if they don't perform certain cryptic actions.

Despite the game only being available in Japanese, the fact that most RPG Maker veterans even know about this game is a testament to how much GU-L managed to achieve. Its limited reach didn't stop players from using translation tools to understand the plot of this game, making it a hidden gem among RPG Maker horror game fans.

20 Fear & Hunger 2: Termina

Metacritic User Score: 8.7

A monstrous moon looms behind a mysterious figure in Fear & Hunger: Termina
Fear & Hunger 2: Termina

Platform(s)
PC
Released
December 9, 2022
Developer
Miro Haverinen
Genre(s)
Horror , RPG

Fear & Hunger is a game that has come out of nowhere and shows just how malleable the RPG Maker engine really is in the right hands. The first game was a test of the player's patience and zeal to explore a game that genuinely hated them, featuring pulse-pounding combat where every encounter could spell doom for the player if they ended up biting off more than they could chew. The second game ended up working on the strengths of its predecessor, expanding on everything from the combat to this series' tantalizing lore.

The end result is one of the best sequels of all time that also tones down the difficulty... albeit just a smidge. The game is still devilishly hard and will brutally test players to their very limits, with every save feeling like a breath of fresh air for players who have genuinely struggled for what feels like ages!

19 Lisa: The First

Metacritic User Score: N/A

Lisa The First
  • Release Year: 2012
  • Developer: Dingaling

Most people are well aware of Lisa: The Painful, which is easily one of the best RPGs that players can get their hands on. However, what most people aren't aware of is the fact that this game is actually a follow-up to a video game that was inspired by Yume Nikki in many ways. Lisa: The First is an RPG Maker horror game that focuses on the titular character and her strained relationship with an abusive father, manifesting itself in a string of disturbing nightmares that are pretty harrowing to discover firsthand.

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The wacky and unnerving nature of this title makes it one of the most underrated horror games around that fans should definitely check out for themselves. The dream sequences are bizarre, trippy... and extremely uncomfortable when Lisa's dad becomes a central figure, showing the true depths of his depravity.

18 Mad Father

Metacritic User Score: 8.8

Mad Father
Mad Father

Platform(s)
PC , Switch
Released
December 10, 2012
Developer
Sen
Genre(s)
Horror , RPG

While this game was technically made in Wolf RPG Editor, the similarities this engine and its games share with RPG Maker certainly qualify it as a candidate. The fact that this title is the best horror game made on this game engine also makes it worth talking about, especially since so many people played through Mad Father back when this game became hugely popular among the many Let's Players who were eagerly seeking out unique horror titles with incredible stories.

Mad Father's title should make it clear what the game is all about, focusing on the story of Aya and how she discovers the true nature of her father and his twisted experiments. The entire game is quite disturbing from start to end, and it doesn't help that the ending is far from a happy ending to Aya's tale after surviving her father's torment.

17 Ao Oni

Metacritic User Score: N/A

Ao Oni RPG Maker Horror Game prison bars jumpscare
  • Release Year: 2004
  • Developer: noprops, uuum

Ao Oni is a horror game that takes place in a haunted mansion. After being separated from his friends, the main character must navigate the mansion, solving puzzles and avoiding a monster known as the Ao Oni, or blue demon.

This monster hunts them throughout the game, appearing at random intervals and shocking players with its presence every single time. The game's simple, pixelated graphics and eerie music contribute to its tense atmosphere, and players must use their wits and hiding skills to survive this harrowing experience.

16 The Witch's House

Metacritic User Score: 8.7

The Witch's House
  • Release Year: 2012
  • Developer: Fummy

The Witch's House features a young girl named Viola who finds herself trapped in a mysterious forest, hiding in a house that is filled to the brim with ghastly occurrences and scary moments. As she tries to escape, she encounters a variety of horrific creatures and must solve puzzles to progress through the game.

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The game's story is filled with twists and turns, and its eerie soundtrack adds to its unsettling atmosphere despite the visuals looking "cute," for lack of a better term. However, the biggest gut punch delivered by this game comes at the ending, and players who have yet to check out The Witch's House should make it a point to play through this masterpiece if they love how the horror genre shines through the medium of video games.

15 Fear & Hunger

Metacritic User Score: 8.3

Fear & Hunger
Fear & Hunger

Platform(s)
PC
Released
December 11, 2018
Developer
Miro Haverinen
Genre(s)
Horror , RPG

Fear & Hunger is a horror-themed role-playing game that is easily one of the hardest and most unfair experiences anyone can put themselves through. The game makes no effort to hide the fact that it actively hates the player, with death present at every corner and hounding the player at every step of the way.

Fear & Hunger features a variety of enemies, including grotesque monsters and twisted versions of familiar creatures. Combat is turn-based and requires strategic thinking, with limb dismemberment being critical to render enemies ineffective. Of course, the player's limbs are also free real estate and can be hacked off at a moment's notice, severely inhibiting their effectiveness in battle. That being said, a content warning is required here — Fear & Hunger depicts graphic and sexual violence in a disturbing manner that can be hard to stomach, so player discretion is advised.

14 Space Funeral

Metacritic User Score: N/A

Some aliens from Space Funeral
  • Release Year: 2010
  • Developer: Stephen Gillmurphy

The vibe of Space Funeral is unnerving in a quiet, almost soothing way, like waiting out the end of the world on a pristine beach. Its laidback soundtrack is a huge factor, and its contrast with the surreal dialog is sublime. The aesthetic is ugly in a cartoony way, with bloody skulls and malformed creatures dotting the landscape.

Dracula, hypnosis, swamp knights, and muscle hedonists are only a few of the bizarre threats one faces within. Space Funeral is several steps quirkier than most horror titles, and that is strictly to its benefit. Here, the weirdness works.

13 Pocket Mirror

Metacritic User Score: N/A

The main character from Pocket Mirror falling backwards through the air
  • Release Year: 2023
  • Developer: VisuStella, AstralShiftPro LDA, AstralShift

Created using RPG MAKER VX ACE, Pocket Mirror is a horror game in which symbolism is paramount. Because of this, those looking for a straightforward game with a simple A-to-B plot should look elsewhere. For everyone else, Pocket Mirror is a nightmare in the best way.

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Almost everything within is subject to interpretation. In some games, ambiguity is the result of laziness, of game designers not knowing what end result they're trying to achieve, but in this game delving into symbols for their true meaning is half the point. With original artwork, an original soundtrack, and visual novel elements, Pocket Mirror goes above and beyond most RPG Maker titles.

12 Reouija Sleepover

Metacritic User Score: N/A

The main character of Ouija Sleepover looking at the ouija board
  • Release Year: 2022
  • Developer: Hatoge

Aiden is a 19-year-old college student. His crush, Dan, is coming over for movie night. That's when Aiden finds the Ouija board someone left in the garbage. Anyone who has ever seen a horror movie knows that this discovery does not bode well for Aiden and Dan. Like the best horror games, Ouija Sleepover takes its premise and dials it up a notch at every turn.

Its world looks soft as if viewed through stained cotton, but that doesn't make the horrors that transpire within any easier to bear. With multiple endings and interesting characters, Ouija Sleepover gives players a few good reasons to stay up into the early hours. Players should check out the remake of this game, Reouija Sleepover, which features extra content that fleshes out the game even more.

11 Why Do You Do This To Me?

Metacritic User Score: N/A

A distorted image of a character's face from Why Do You Do This To Me?
  • Release Year: 2019
  • Developer: Adnan Yousuf

How good can a game made in five hours be? The answer is: fantastic. The creators of Why Do You Do This To Me? made the game for the 2nd RPG Maker Game of the Month Jam using RPG Maker MV and have been expanding on it since then.

The design, programming, charming pixel art, and solid music are all the products of a single creator, leading to a consistent and powerful vision. Without spoiling anything, the game is thematically dark in ways that many aren't. It also happens to be cleverer than most.

10 Yume Nikki

Metacritic User Score: 6.2 (for the Dream Diary remake)

Girl standing on her balcony at night in Yume Nikki
Yume Nikki

Platform(s)
PC
Released
June 26, 2004
Developer
Kikiyama
Genre(s)
Adventure

The imagination can be a terrible thing, and when the imagination is that of a child, it can be as confusing as it is sinister. Yume Nikki is a surreal exploration into the titular character's head, beginning when the player goes to sleep and snapping back to reality whenever they pinch themselves awake.

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The excellent sound design beautifully complements the game's avant-garde style, and this is certainly not an indie game that takes a long time to beat. Rather than compromise itself by leaning upon a convoluted plot, Yume Nikki leaves much to the player's interpretation. Just as it should be with dreams and nightmares, sometimes it is better not to analyze.

9 Blank Dream

Metacritic User Score: N/A

Blank Dream
  • Release Year: 2015
  • Developer: Kanawo

Kanawo's Blank Dream has multiple endings, so despite it being an RPG with a short playthrough time, players may wish to linger in its world. The game deals with heavy subject matter, including suicide, so it isn't for everyone, but creative puzzles, justified scares, and a twisty plot earn this game its place amongst the genre's greats.

Mishiro Usui's quest to recover her memories of the events leading to her death is well-paced, and Blank Dream is one of the rare games that can explore difficult emotional issues without condescending to or manipulating its audience. In Blank Dream, heartbreak and horror make the best bedfellows.

8 The Crooked Man

Metacritic User Score: N/A

Man standing alone in a lavish room with a piano, seats, and fireplace in The Crooked Man
The Crooked Man

Platform(s)
PC
Released
January 16, 2018
Developer
Uri
Genre(s)
Horror

Moving into a new home is a beloved horror trope, and The Crooked Man wields it to beautiful effect. David Hoover moves into his new apartment only to discover that the building may be haunted. Not the type to let an apparition go uninvestigated, David sets out to solve the mystery, setting himself up for a series of escalating scares.

His repeated encounters with the Crooked Man himself do not dissuade him, even as the situation grows bleaker. The Crooked Man is the first installment of The Strange Men Anthology, a four-game collection, and is arguably the best of the lot, though The Sandman, The Boogie Man, and The Hanged Man are all worth a play, even if they are not major indie success stories.

7 Dreaming Mary

Metacritic User Score: N/A

Mary and four animals arranged around the title logo in Dreaming Mary
  • Release Year: 2014
  • Developer: Accha

If horror games have an aesthetic opposite, it's Dreaming Mary. Everything about its pink, kawaii look says everything is fine, but nothing is. An excellent casual RPG, Dreaming Mary is angsty and riddled with secrets without being too antagonistic. Unraveling its mysteries requires a fair bit of exploration and deduction, and its puzzles are more inventive than most.

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Mary loves to dream, but one night enters a dream unlike any before it: everyone is nice to her. When her dream friends invite her deeper into slumber, Mary is faced with a choice: explore the depths of this strange new world or wake up and go back to her ordinary life. One can't say much about the twists without spoiling the story but suffice it to say that it is absolutely not a game for children, and even some adults should be wary of its distressing subject matter.

6 Corpse Party

Metacritic User Score: N/A

Someone reaching out with a bloody arm to grab a girl's shoulder in Corpse Party
Corpse Party

Platform(s)
PC , PlayStation Portable , PlayStation Vita , PlayStation 4 , iOS , Nintendo 3DS , Android , Nintendo Switch , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
Released
April 22, 1996
Developer(s)
MAGES. Inc.
Genre(s)
Survival Horror

Whether horror requires graphic violence, and if so, how much, has always been a point of contention within the genre. As Corpse Party proves, 16-bit graphics can do just as well as a Resident Evil Chainsaw Man decapitation to put players off their lunch.

Strong music supports a story in which, like Game of Thrones, the narrative seems to foster affection for characters for the sake of breaking the player's heart when those characters are viciously murdered later. Satoshi, Naomi, Yoshiki, Ayumi, and Yuka are all entertaining on their own but come alive as a group, and seeing how their journey will end is one of Corpse Party's greatest pleasures.

5 Ib

Metacritic User Score: 8.0

Close-up of Ib holding a rose in Ib
  • Release Year: 2012
  • Developer: kouri

Art galleries don't scream "danger," but in Ib, danger is just what they contain. Kouri's 2012 title tells the story of nine-year-old Ib, who is trapped in a painting during a visit to one such gallery and must find a way to escape.

Like Silent Hill and others before it, Ib excels in jumpscares, puzzle-solving, and exploration. Where Ib triumphs over other great indie horror games is in its fine-tuning. Kouri's meticulous development pays off at every step. The scares are not cheap. The characters are not tropes. Everything the game accomplishes, it earns. The enigmatic Garry is a particular highlight, keeping players guessing for their entire journey through the dark.

4 Misao

Metacritic User Score: N/A

Yoshino talking to other students in the classroom in Misao
Misao

Platform(s)
PC
Released
January 22, 2013
Developer
Sen & Vgperson
Genre(s)
RPG , Visual Novel

Friendship is hard. Friendship is even harder when the person you want to be friends with vanishes. When Misao disappears, and rumors start circulating in school about what might have befallen her, the protagonist sets out to discover the truth. The game takes the time to craft unique backstories for its characters, giving players every reason to learn more about them and keeping characters from being cardboard cutouts with dialog.

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Is Misao one of the best offline PC RPGs? At least when it comes to horror RPG Maker titles, yes. The game is not without flaws, but Misao is more successful at sustaining a disconcerting atmosphere than most titles in the genre. Players are encouraged not to spoil the story for themselves. The blind jump is the better one.

3 Stray Cat Crossing

Metacritic User Score: 7.0

Gentleman with his face painted standing in filthy bathroom in Stray Cat Crossing
  • Release Year: 2015
  • Developer: Jurlo, jetpackgone

Stray Cat Crossing wears its inspirations with pride. One cannot play it without feeling echoes of Alice in Wonderland and Studio Ghibli. With playthroughs lasting between 2-4 hours, Stray Cat Crossing is the perfect length to luxuriate in its offkey ambiance and mingle with its kooky cast.

Stray Cat Crossing is the story of a young woman who lends a little girl her favorite scarf and must enter a forboding house when the girl fails to return it, only to be confronted by its strange and monstrous inhabitants. Its 16-bit art harkens back to the first two Persona games, and its story makes it a must-play for fans of the genre.

2 Off

Metacritic User Score: N/A

Toothy monster talking in an almost empty room in Off
  • Release Year: 2008
  • Developer: Unproductive Fun Time

In Off, everything is a little off. Epic hero? No, players are treated as a supernatural entity in possession of a figure called the Batter. Conventional combat? No, players do battle with real-time mechanics instead of the turn-based ones favored by most RPG Maker titles.

The character designs and general art style would be at home in any Tim Burton sketchbook: endearing and creepy in equal measure. Off may not be counted among the best RPG Maker games ever, but it ranks amongst the most delightfully weird, and for anyone looking for a great horror adventure, Off is a top contender.