It doesn’t need to be October to enjoy some spooky games. Horror titles are plentiful each year as developers bring out new IPs and installments to beloved franchises. However, if you’re wanting to save some money and enjoy a good horror title then check out some of these games below. You may find something well worth downloading and enjoying today. However, you may want to note that these titles are not ranked in any particular order. With that said, enjoy the list down below and check back for future updates.
#13 Doki Doki Literature Club
There is a ton of different varieties of horror video games. Some rely on atmosphere while others go straight for the jump scares. However, it’s usually pretty telling right away what a game will be like before even having to start the game up. Doki Doki Literature Club is far from a game that looks anything remotely like a horror video gameplay experience. On the surface, Doki Doki Literature Club is a visual novel, one that likely follows a dating simulation, and honestly, those games have never really caught my attention.
But you would be amiss if you didn’t try this game out as, again, the surface is incredibly misleading. This is a psychological horror game that toys with the players. The deeper you get into the narrative, the more unsettling the game becomes. Unfortunately, this is a game that I really can’t dive into with the premise as it would spoil too much, and it’s a title that’s really best going into without really any knowledge other than knowing that it’s quite the unsettling horror gameplay experience.
#12 PT
It was during Gamescom 2014 that P.T. was announced. This was a demo being released on the PlayStation Network for PlayStation 4 that gamers could download. Everything regarding the demo was mysterious, and the demo itself was made to take players a long time to uncover all of the puzzle solutions before they would be completed. With that challenge in place, players worldwide took to the game and progressed through this survival horror title in order to find out more. After so long, gamers started to find out all the cryptic clues and completed the demo for it to play a cutscene that featured Norman Reedus and the official title, “Silent Hills,” a brand new installment to the love beloved survival horror franchise.
This game has since been pulled from being online for the PlayStation Network. It’s an unfortunate move because so many people out there who found this game afterward are no longer going to be able to enjoy it for free officially. With that said, there are all kinds of remakes available online that can give you a chance to try out this experience. Grant it, these are not official video games, but nothing you can do about that unless you purchase a PlayStation 4 that has an already installed P.T. demo. After all, this is a list of free horror games, so if you search the web a bit, you’ll come across some fan remakes rather easily.
#11 Propagation VR
Propagation VR looks like a straight-up great action game. Something along the lines of Left 4 Dead, where players are gunning down zombies and other creatures to stay alive. However, you throw in the same gameplay as a VR title, and you get yourself a terrifying survival horror experience. Propagation VR is a wave-based shooter set in the zombie apocalypse. With different creatures and undead zombies, you’re constantly struggling to ensure your gun is loaded and ready to fire.
The entire game is about thirty minutes long, but there’s a leveling system, so if you happen to get through the game, then it’s recommended to up the difficulty and see just how long you last. You might find that the weapons are a bit limited, but again being free, you can’t really complain. It’s still a deeply atmospheric title that you’ll end up blasting away undead zombies, spiders, and other mutated creatures in hopes of staying alive.
#10 September 1999
When it comes to horror games, you can’t just go for scares, you need to have a true “hook” that’ll bring in players and even keep them playing long after the game is over.
That is indeed what September 1999 does. Because in this “found footage game”, you’ll be playing at title that will end in exactly 5 minutes and 30 seconds. That may not sounds like a lot, but as you play through, you realize there’s a lot more depth and terror here than meets the eye, and you’ll be doing playthrough after playthrough to try and find all the nooks and crannies that this terror offers.
So if you’re looking for something both free and unique, give September 1999 a try.
#9 Ginkgo
Inspired by East Asian horror culture, Ginkgo is a 3D title where you will be literally sewing up the world around you via a magic needle, all the while trying to stop monsters who are coming through the rifts in the world.
You’ll have to solve puzzles alongside fixing the rifts, and obviously, the monsters aren’t just going to let you do everything without resisting…
The really cool thing about Ginkgo is that this was a title made by students! So go and see what it’s like and admire the hard work they put into it.
#8 Black Rose
Black Rose puts you in the role of Linda, an average girl (aren’t they always in horror movies?) who decides to go and investigate something very paranormal.
In this case, there’s an abandoned funeral home that has all sorts of mysteries tied to it, including what happened to those that originally worked there. Linda wants to go and find out, and enters the place…and that’s where things start get horrifying.
In this first-person survival game, you aren’t just trying to live, you’re trying to get a “high score” by getting close to the entities within the place without them noticing you’re nearby. So survive, and see how high you can get your score to be.
#7 Flicker of Hope
Want to point out that this game was made in 2020 and its main character’s name is “Jean Wick”…yep, they did that…we’re sure Keanu would appreciate the pun here.
Because as Jean Wick…still can’t get over that, you are tasked by a monk who has passed on to “fill the world with light” by igniting every single candle in a cathedral. Sounds easy, right? Except, there’s a ghostly nun who’s trying to stop you, as well as a race of insects who feast on dead bodies and don’t really like you.
So, will you be able to get the lights on? Jump in and find out!
#6 We Went Back
We Went Back is another title that gives you a “short but robust” experience. In this case, you play as an astronaut that wakes up on a space station in a time loop, and must solve a puzzle, and face the terror of the place, in order to try and break out of it.
As the dev team states, the “devil is in the details” as you try and learn more about what is going on, and what is REALLY going on. It also has an escape room feel to it that many of you would enjoy. And with things and rooms changing with every single loop through…you must just want to see if you can find out even more as you go back…and go back…and go back…
#5 Deceit
Deceit is a horror game for those who want to take their “Among Us” love to the next level. For in this game, you and a group of players are dropped into a room where the only goal is to either get out alive…or kill everyone in sight.
Because one of you is infected, and it’s your job as the infected to stop the others from escaping the place they’re in, and when the lights go out, kill all of them.
If you’re the innocent, you must use various techniques to try and find out whose infected, as well as get the lights back on when all goes dark.
Will you be able to outlast the infected? Will you be able to wipe the innocent all out? Play Deceit and see for yourself!
#4 Dark Deception
Dark Deception puts you in a maze with monsters and expects you to survive, or at least, they expect you to try and survive for as long as possible.
Because here, the monsters are very much likely to find you, and with arcade-style action, if you get caught, you’re done. But, you can fight back and stun them, but you can never kill them. So your goal is to go as fast as possible to get away, all the while making sure the environment doesn’t get you first.
You might even get a FNAF feeling by playing this game, but you could argue that this is a bit scarier than that.
#3 Cry of Fear
An interesting thing about Cry of Fear is that it started out as a mod for Half-Life, and then became something much darker and scarier.
For in this game, you play as a man looking for answers…all the while descending into madness. You’ll search a town that is full of monsters, as well as making you experience all sorts of intense delusions. You’ll need to go through it all and see all the terrors and monsters in order to get free…if that’s even possible.
The game wants you to have a truly immersive experience, and with 8 hours of gameplay, you’ll definitely feel the fear the longer this goes on.
Think you can handle the trip?
#2 Ultimate Custom Night
The Five Nights’ At Freddy’s franchise has done a lot in a short period of time (for better or for worse…) and now, Ultimate Custom Night is the literal culmination of all of that.
Because in this game, you’ll be able to fight off a number of creatures from FNAF, and actually get to pick and choose which ones you face from a group of 50 selections.
Then, once you pick the ones you want to face, you’ll choose the difficulty level, be put into an office, and have to be aware of your surroundings at all times in order to figure out who is coming where and how to fight them off.
Take it slow at first, or go straight for the monster mash, it’s up to you. So see how long you can last in this Freddy ultimate mash-up!
#1 SCP Secret Lab
Now here is a multiplayer horror game that truly will play different every single time. Set within the universe of SCP, SCP Secret Lab features you and a group of players going against one another to try and achieve a set of goals.
The twist? You get to pick between one of six different groups/classes, and each one of them has a specific task that they need to complete amidst a containment breach in the facility you’re in. Some of them are trying to kill certain people, others are trying to capture prisoners who have broken out. A few are just trying to use their access to the facility to stay alive, while others are trying to steal data.
Choose which group you want to be, and then carry out your mission…if you can that is…
