Horror games are pretty much a dime a dozen with the genre being filled from massive franchise to obscure indie titles. With so many horror video games pumping into the market both from big name video game developers to small indie groups, gamers can easily miss out on some incredible horrifying titles that fell into obscurity.
After digging around, we found some awesome unknown hidden horror video game gems. With that said, it’s time to look at ten of the best unknown horror games available right now. Do you know of a hidden horror gem that should be included in this list? Let us and other gamers know with a comment down below.
Scratches
Scratches is a point-and-click style adventure title from the now-defunct developers Nucleosys Digital Studio. The game takes place within the year 1976 in a small rural town in Northumberland, England. Overall, the story of Scratches is surrounded by a mysterious home in which the previous hosts have all been murdered or simply vanished. Players resume the role of Michael Arthate who happens to be the house’s next inhabitant.
Seeking refugee to write his next novel, Michael learns that the home still echoes from a frightening past. As mentioned, Scratches contains a point-and-click style gameplay where players will roam around the home in a first person perspective. Scratches released in 2006 and is currently available on PC.
Forbidden Siren 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWp_n-IEClk
Forbidden Siren 2 is the sequel to Siren, a video game franchise that was first started up by Keiichiro Toyama, director of Silent Hill after Konami had disbanded the development group Team Silent. The story originally starts on August 3, 1976, when the Yamijima Island, located off the coast of Japan’s mainland, experienced a blackout and suddenly disappears with its population.
Years later in 2005, a journalist by the name of Mamoru Itsuki has decided to venture off to the island’s location to cover an article when suddenly a red tidal wave hits the ferry he is on board causing to capsize with its members on board suddenly finding themselves on the long lost island. Players will be experiencing the game from the perspective of several of these members in order to solve the island’s mysteries.
Much like its predecessor Siren, Forbidden Siren 2 follows the same gameplay mechanics. The game is played out in a third-person mode where the player must complete an objective to progress. However, Forbidden Siren 2 follows a butterfly effect in which that an action could trigger a secondary objective for another character. Unfortunately, Forbidden Siren 2 is only available on the PlayStation 2 and is currently not available on the PlayStation Network.
Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi
Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi was a video game that released in 2003 for the PC and because the game uses a randomly generated map, there’s plenty of replay value. This video game follows James Patterson who is traveling to Transylvania to attend his sister’s wedding. However, James quickly learns something is wrong once he reaches the wedding ceremony destination, Castle Malachi. Once entered, players learn that groom is, in fact, a vampire who is seeking to resurrect Lord Malachi, but to do so, he will have to sacrifice members of James Peterson’s family.
Players must rush through the randomly generated castle to locate each and every member of the Peterson family before time runs out. If a player is unable to track down a certain family member then they will become sacrificed allowing Lord Malachi to become even stronger. Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi is played out as a first-person shooter where gamers can using their fists to an assortment of guns to kill the various vampires and demons that freely roams the castle walls.
The Path
The Path is a bit of a psychological horror art game that is based on the old folklore of Little Red Riding Hood. Players start the game with the choice of playing one of six girls though no information is given other than their name. Upon selecting a girl, players are simply instructed to visit their grandmother and to stay on the secure pathway although it’s completely up to the player if they wish to wander off the pathway to locate various scattered objects.
These objects will affect the appearance and possibly open rooms once they reach the grandmother’s house, however, there is a chance you’ll spot a wolf which will alter your arrival and experience at the grandmother’s home. Overall, the goal is to get each girl to the home though depending on how many wolves are encountered, the ending of The Path may differ although developers of the game, Tale of Tales, have stated that there is no winning strategy. Originally released in 2009, The Path can be obtained on PC.
ObsCure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5IpW1WSMoY
ObsCure is a survival horror video game that released in 2004 for the PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. The story of ObsCure takes place within Leafmore High where three teenagers decide to stick around after class to find their missing friend though while searching, the three find themselves locked inside of the school overnight allowing them to witness a number of strange occurrences. Instead of being disturbed, these classmates decide to solve the mystery behind the school, but as they dive deeper into the mystery they uncover disturbing experimentation’s along with infected hostile students and creatures.
While the game starts out with three teenagers, a total of five playable characters is available for players to switch through freely. All of the characters come equipped with their own special abilities though if any of the characters die within the game then players will have to continue through the story with whoever is left. Additionally, developers, Hydravision Entertainment have added the ability for cooperative gameplay with ObsCure supporting up to two players throughout the campaign.
Kuon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wx9TsiKx4k
Kuon is a PlayStation 2 survival horror title from developers FromSoftware, who have since brought out the popular Dark Souls franchise. Taking place within Kyoto, Japan during the Heian period, players follow three protagonists that appear throughout the game. Each of the three is in search for Doman Ashiya who happens to be an exorcist however, it’s quickly learned that Doman has been keeping a dark secret from his disciples and children.
Doman has begun to perform the highly forbidden ritual of Kuon, which requires fusing people with corpses to create a massive silkworm cocoon that would grant a person to be reborn. Using his disciples and children as part of the Kuon ritual, players must stop Doman before he is able to complete the ritual though it will be a challenge as players will be up against some grueling and horrifying mad creatures. This is a perfect example of an incredible survival horror title that is unknown. Because Kuon had a limited run of the game outside of Japan, the title has become quite rare.
Master Reboot
Master Reboot released in 2013 on the PC from developers Wales Interactive. This sci-fi horror title takes place in the future where a new technology allows families to extract souls from their deceased loved ones and place them into a giant virtual reality system called Soul Cloud. This cloud will grant the families and close friends to visit all of their loved ones memories while also being able to talk with the deceased soul.
Within the game, players take the role of Madison who decides to travel into the Soul Cloud to visit her close friend’s memory, Kali. However, when the Soul Cloud crashes and traps Madison within it, players begin to learn some very dark truths behind Kali that Madison has been oblivious to. It becomes apparent that Madison is in danger and must find a way to escape the Soul Cloud and its horrifying memories that begin to flood the virtual world.
Lone Survivor
Indie survival horror title Lone Survivor by developers Superflat games first launched on PC in 2012 though it has since launched on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and the Wii U. This is a very odd and unusual horror title as players control a nameless man stuck within a building after the post-apocalypse has turned most of the world into mindless mutants.
Players embark on the adventure within the 2D world attempting to gather supplies and complete puzzles. However, it becomes clear within the game that the protagonist is having a mental breakdown where the real and hallucinate worlds become a blur. Lone Survivor has a total of five different endings through the Director’s Cut giving players an incentive to go back to replay the game.
Serena
Serena is a freeware horror title that came out in 2014 for the PC. Interestingly enough, the game was developed by several companies including Senscape, CBE Software, Infamous Quests, Digital Media Workshop, and Guys from Andromeda. Within the game, players take the role of a man waiting for his wife within a cabin. Although, while waiting, players begin to learn more about the woman as they investigate the room but we won’t spoil what you’ll unfold within Serena. Overall Serena is about a very atmospheric horror story filled with monologues but also a short title that is completed through one sitting. Also with the added bonus of being a free horror title on PC, you should give this game a download.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Okay we know, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem is relatively known being a Nintendo GameCube title from the now-defunct development studio Silicon Knights. However, since the game was only available on the Nintendo GameCube, it’s still an easily missed horror gem. In Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, players control a girl named Alexandra Rovias as she investigates the murder of her grandfather. Through exploring his mansion, Alexandra discovers a book bound with human skin and bone which tells of a horrible past filled with godlike beings that attempted to destroy the human world.
Quickly within the game, players learn that they must stop these creatures before they extract their plot on the world by means of solving several puzzles. However, one aspect that keeps Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem on the top of our list is the Nintendo patented sanity meter which allowed the developers to play with the gamers mind. This included small little effects within the game such as hearing sounds such as children screaming, rattling chains, and doors slamming. However, developers also tossed in effects that broke the fourth wall such as a fake television volume indicator on the screen to technical failures making players believe something is wrong with their console. Unfortunately, the game has only released on the Nintendo GameCube meaning if you want to enjoy this game you’ll either be forced to find an original copy or result to playing it through the Dolphin emulator if you have a decent PC.
