Demand for horror games sprang in the year of coronavirus, and in-line with the law of supply & demand, prices for retro horror rose in kind. Suddenly, gaming aficionados who were accustomed to affordable older second-hand games were left without their normal fix. Luckily, digital and indie distribution allows savvy consumers to bypass the trappings of limited supply.
As prices for older Resident Evil and Silent Hill titles return to normal, gamers are well-served by turning to digital platforms such as Itch.io and Steam. There, creators have been busy producing quality horror titles for years, often for prices that range from cheap to totally free! Most hide their limited budgets behind a retro style, but come with the benefits of unconventional presentation. What they lack in bombast, they more than make up for in atmosphere!
10 Yume Nikki
Yume Nikki (Japanese for "Dream Journal") is a 2004 indie freeware game that is equal parts charming, classic, and unnerving. On a literal level, Yume Nikki about exploring a world of dreams. On a metaphorical level, it is about isolation.
Gamers looking for clear story or easy-to-find set pieces might find Yume Nikki repellent, because after the game's three-page tutorial, players are on their own! Only someone with way too much time on their hands could hope to discover all of the game's obscure sequences. Still, Yume Nikki is worth hours of unguided play just for the exciting dream-logic escapades that players can stumble into. The fact that many of the game's twists and turns are unexpected (and unpredictable) is why they leave such an impression, such as the game's famous 'Uboa' scare.
Links to download both the original free version as well as a 3D remake are available on uboachan, a fan website.
9 Cry of Fear
Cry of Fear is a passion project from a Swedish team called Psykskallar. It originally began development as a mod for Half-Life, but now it's a fully standalone game. Whatever its history, it's free and a good way for gamers to scare their pants off.
What Cry of Fear lacks in polish, it makes up for in tension. The game centers on a teenager answering a call for help. Players explore a spooky apartment complex, where they take up a struggle against evil while managing deadly creatures and a small inventory. The limited inventory is one of the most interesting elements of the game, as it forces tense decisions about what to take and leave behind. The game also allows players to carry items in both hands, which encourages combinations of weapons and items.
8 C.H.A.I.N
The texture of Chronological Haunted Anomalous Interconnected Narrative (or C.H.A.I.N. for short) is best described as "stitched together." C.H.A.I.N. is a free collection of games released on Halloween 2020. As it's name implies, the titles are linked together, but made by different developers. NPCs in one game might be promoted to the protagonist of another, and it's never quite clear what the connective tissue between each entry is. Some games are scary, some are confusing, and some are even cute! The piecemeal borrowing between titles makes C.H.A.I.N. not just engrossing to play, but also fun to think about.
C.H.A.I.N. is available on itch.io
7 Doki Doki Literature Club
No, really, it's a horror game!
While it may not look like it, Doki Doki Literature Club (or DDLC for short) is a luminary of edgy 2017 internet culture. While it hides behind many of the trappings of a standard visual novel, DDLC forces players to think about the boundaries of software itself. It starts out cliché, but contorts slowly until the player believes that even their own computer is a weapon of the enemy! By its end, players will find that DDLC uses many unconventional elements to become memorable. It's unnerving and imaginative, and worth a visit from anyone who likes horror, but isn't big on combat or exploration.
6 Haunted Cities Vol. 4
Haunted Cities Vol. 4 is the latest anthology in an ever-growing list of spooky and engrossing games from Kitty Horrorshow. Kitty is as 'indie' as it gets. She is the sole developer of all her creepy and imaginative interactive spaces, which range from haunted forests to desolate cities. The titles on offer in her Haunted Cities anthology are raw, focused, and highly conceptual. And, thanks to their crowdfunded production, the prices of many of her games are as affordable as players want them to be.
5 FAITH
Of all the retro games in the world, FAITH is a strong contender for the most 'lo-fi.' While many horror titles lift the trappings of 80s film, FAITH really commits to the raw, pixelated glory of early gaming. It looks and plays like an authentic ATARI game that's been shoved in a box and forgotten about until making its way to a dusty second-hand shop.
FAITH is an exorcism adventure, a mix between The Exorcist, Blair Witch, and Resident Evil. It's a puzzle game where much of the shock value comes from its sudden shifts in fidelity. Most of the game is difficult to parse with its blocky graphics, but sometimes it will switch to more intense, fluidly-animated sequences to really enrapture the senses.
FAITH and its sequel are available on itch.io for as little as nothing.
4 Condemned: Criminal Origins
Condemned has retained a following ever since its release in 2005 on the Xbox 360. As its name suggests, the game is about fighting crime. Players take on the role of officer Ethan Thomas, a homicide detective who discovers that a serial killer has been murdering the very killers that he's been tracking.
What makes Condemned strange is its open-ended story. Many fans looked forward to its sequel to answer or deepen the questions from the original, but found it to be unsatisfying. That aside, the original Condemned remains a fine example of a game that blends tone and design, even deserving a port to Steam in 2006.
3 World of Horror
World of Horror is a particularly innovative adventure game that breaks-down the horror genre into archetypes that the game procedurally splices together for a playthrough. World of Horror is a puzzle adventure that is more scary for its subject matter than raw shock value. The game wears its inspirations proudly, citing artist Junji Ito and author H.P. Lovecraft as direct influences for the game's mind-bending adventures.
The game is currently available in Early Access, meaning it's not technically done, but purchasing it does help support its eventual completion.
2 The Glass Staircase
Another entry in the '80s-inspired' category of indie titles, The Glass Staircase is an Italian-cinema-themed adventure game. It is about exploring a dilapidated mansion while fulfilling orders barked over an announcement speaker. Players almost immediately gather that the boring, domicile tasks they're instructed to undertake have a more sinister undertone. As each character explores the abandoned mansion, players find themselves learning more about the dark deeds that have taken place within...
The Glass Staircase was developed by a team called Puppetcombo, who have made a brand out of games with a grungy, cryptid style. The game even includes options to filter the visuals like a variety of retro displays. That's dedication!
1 Murder House
Murder House comes from the same team as The Glass Staircase, but offers a more straight-forward romp. In it, players navigate the quiet dwellings of a Michigan suburb as they evade an insane killer. What Murder House does best is manage player expectations. It captures the unsettling sense of desolate architecture, where rooms and hallways that normally contain people are empty instead. Likewise, the absence of people just emphasizes how scary it is that someone, something, is out there lurking...
Murder House is available on Steam, for those who dare.