At the time of this writing, it’s nearing Halloween, and that means people are going to be looking for scary titles to play. How about some of the point-and-click variety?
#13 Who’s Lila?
“Who’s Lila?” is a game that won’t be typical, even by the standards of this list. You play William, a young man who is the last person to have seen a girl named Tanya. As a result, he’s the focus of an investigation to try and find out the truth, whatever that may be.
The twist here is that you’ll need to point-and-click to alter William’s face to express what you think he should feel during a certain moment. The expressions you make will affect the plot and where it leads.
Add that to surreal landscapes and mysterious twists, and it’ll be up to you to figure out what’s really going on here.
#12 Rusty Lake Series
Rusty Lake isn’t a game. Instead, it’s a company that has made all sorts of unique point-and-click adventures over the years. Their series of titles are subversive yet profound, so if you’ve never tried them out, you’ll definitely want to.
The Past Within, Cube Escape: Paradox, The White Room, and more are just some of the games the team has made. Each has its own mystery, twists in the gameplay, etc.
They’re not meant to be the longest of titles, but they will get you invested in their world, and once you play one, you’ll want to play the others in short order.
#11 Lydia
In many ways, Lydia is a representation of something that happens in life every day. You’ll play as a young girl watching adults deal with substance abuse problems. In her perspective, though, they’re not being hurt by drugs. Instead, they’re being hurt by a monster, one she needs to find and stop.
The title is short, but the seven-part structure and atmospheric world will be enough to keep you entranced throughout the experience. The creators’ own experiences influenced the story.
Sometimes the real horror is what is happening with the adults downstairs. So will you help Lydia find out the truth?
#10 The Last Door
At first, The Last Door might not want to be a game you play for a fundamental reason: it’s really low-res. Just look at the picture above for proof of that. The graphics are not going to win you over in this game.
But, if you can look past that, you might find a deeply engrossing horror game about a man trying to learn the truth about an event and getting more than he ever bargained for.
In England during the Victorian Era, a man named Jeremiah gets a message from a former classmate. The problem is that there’s a hidden message inside, and now Jeremiah must examine a manor to learn his friend’s fate and the truth about his nation.
9 Little Misfortune
You are Misfortune Ramirez Hernandez, an 8-year-old girl who wants to go on an extraordinary adventure to get a very special gift for her mother. What’s the gift she wants? Eternal happiness.
Oh, if only it were that easy.
Alongside her friend, Mr. Voice, she’ll venture into the nearby woods in search of it. As they do, all manner of mysteries and misfortunes follow, and it’s up to you to get the girl to where she needs to be, if that is possible.
Like other games on this list, your choices and actions will affect the title’s ending. So choose what she does wisely.
#8 Fran Bow
The last game we talked about is set within the universe of Fran Bow, so if you feel that the previous entry was for you, you’ll likely enjoy this one too.
Fran is a young girl trying to cope with the terrible life she’s been given. So what’s wrong with her life? She has a mental disorder and a destiny that she deems very unfair.
Things only get worse when after the death of her parents, she winds up in a mental institution, and her pet cat is missing. Now, she must work through her terror and shock to get out of the place. All so she can find her cat and live with her Aunt Grace.
7 Year Walk
How about a point-and-click adventure inspired by folklore? Specifically, Swedish folklore. Back in the “olden days,” the people of Sweden would attempt to see the future through something they called the “year walk.” The game replicates that with a point-and-click twist and a supernatural feel.
You’ll go into the nearby woods where creatures roam and mysteries away. As you wander through the plane of existence, the game will toy with you by subverting the perspective between 2D and 3D. Plus, you’ll wonder what is real and what is supernatural.
What are the truths you are meant to discover? What will you find at the end of your walk? Dive in and find out!
#6 Stasis
In Stasis, John Maverick is a man on a spaceship who, alongside his family and others, was put into a cryo-like sleep.
However, he’s suddenly woken up as the ship starts to descend into the clouds of Neptune. As he wanders around, nothing is what it seems, and nothing makes sense. His family is missing, John is in pain, and the ship is in disarray.
Now, you must wander the ship, solve puzzles, and look for clues that’ll lead you to understand the truth, and horror, of all that’s happened on the ship.
You’ll find yourself drawn into the title with an isometric perspective, fully-rendered cutscenes, voice acting, and a compelling score.
#5 Detention
Some of you might think your school is cursed because you have to go to it or have endured it for years. But in Detention, you’ll get a different kind of “haunting experience” as you go inside the school’s walls.
The game is based on a fictitious form of Taiwan back in the 1960s. With the country under martial law, two students return to school only to find it isn’t what they remembered. Instead, it’s crawling with monsters and is connected to other dimensions.
They must roam the school, survive the monsters, and learn the truth about the campus’ past. But what will they find as they dive deeper?
#4 The Cat Lady
Susan Ashworth is at the end of her life. Not because she’s elderly but because she wishes to end her life. In her mind, nothing is worth what she’s enduring, and she’s readying herself to end it all.
But, just when things are about to enter their final moments, a set of people will come to her and change her life forever.
The Cat Lady is a psychological horror game that is very visceral and unrelenting at times. You’ll find this is a very mature game, so don’t go into it if you’re unprepared for some of the themes and darkness that reside within it.
#3 Oxenfree
Alex was looking for nothing more than a simple, fun night with friends and her new stepbrother. So they go to an abandoned military island to have fun, but things change quickly. They accidentally open a portal to another dimension, and now they have to figure out what to do before everything gets worse.
Oxenfree gives you complete freedom in handling the story and how Alex reacts to everything and everyone. The conversation system will augment relationships and where the plot goes. Add to that, the island’s history is one of the biggest mysteries out there. Figure out what’s really going on, and see if you can seal the portal before it seals your fate.
#2 Five Night At Freddy’s
Five Night At Freddy’s has become a cult phenomenon that has inspired many spinoffs, ripoffs, and a Nicolas Cage movie. No, really.
The game puts you as a worker at a pizza restaurant known for its animatronic characters that entertain the customers during the daytime. But at night? Well, things aren’t quite as simple as they’re portrayed.
After being told to run security at night, you learn that the animatronics have a mind of their own! Now, you must survive the night and use the limited resources to keep an eye on the animatronics and ensure they don’t get to you!
Think you can survive the night?
#1 The Walking Dead Telltale Series
You likely know about the hit comics and TV series, but what about Telltale’s hit point-and-click narrative title?
The Walking Dead Telltale Series was their most outstanding achievement when it first came out. It put players in the role of Clementine and other characters as they tried to survive a world gone mad. Your choices in dialogue and QTE scenes determined what happened next.
As a result, the story could have massive changes affecting you and the characters deeply. With the whole story complete, it is the perfect time to play it. So dive in and see where the world and characters take you.
