Summary
Horror games deal with all sorts of terror. From the more psychologically-based to ones with an outright focus on jump scares and nothing else, there is no end to the variety in which horror games manage to induce terror in everyone who decides to take them on.
However, some horror games go for a much more unique approach. Focusing on particular fears, even for a single sequence, can cause often unexpected terror. Despite them not adding that extra level of fear for everyone, games that add these unique phobias can find an audience that will experience truly brutal levels of fear from these specific focuses.
Poppy Playtimeis a game that throws players into a toy factory and forces them to tackle various puzzles while dealing with moving toys that have minds, and hungers, of their own. This terrifying game prompts a fear that has been commonly used in horror movies as well as games: the fear of dolls.
Pediophobia is the fear of children or of dolls that look somewhat real. While some of the toys chasing players inPoppy Playtimedon’t look very real, others do much more so, and the childlike nature of the surroundings prompts horrible pediophobia in many players as they progress through the chapters that have been released so far.
There are not a lot of horror games that actually take place during a war. Most of these settings are reserved for FPS games, butAmnesia: The Bunkertakes a unique approach to horror by setting itself during World War 1 and putting the player in the boots of a French soldier whobecomes trapped in a terrifying bunkerwhere he is hunted by an unknown creature.
This prompts traumatophobia in many players due to the setting. This fear is an excessive one of war or injury, often given to people by having been in battle themselves. Even without that, the sheer fear of the setting and the added claustrophobia of the bunker make for a unique set of horrors for players to deal with.
6Iron Lung
Claustrophobia
There are a lot of horror games that deal with claustrophobia, but none manage to use it so singularly and in such a unique manner asIron Lung. This short horror game, now getting a film adaption from YouTube star Markiplier, sets players alone in a small submarineas alone as one can be.
The claustrophobic style, in addition to the complete isolation of being in a blood ocean on an isolated moon, makes for a completely terrifying atmosphere despite there being almost nothing to see.Iron Lunghas become infamous for creating the most constant sense of terror through claustrophobia, or fear of small spaces, ever seen in gaming.
5Last Year
Arachnophobia
One of the most well-known fears is that of spiders, and arachnophobia is a fear that has been surprisingly little used in the horror game genre. ButLast Yearis one of the very best at igniting complete terror in players that deal with this particular struggle.
Last Yearis an asymmetric survival horror where players must run from a fiend that can appear in one of four forms, one of them being the spider. This character is one of the most deadly, fast, and terrifying spider creatures seen in a video game, and it has turned many sufferers of arachnophobia away from trying to play.
Little Nightmaresis agreat and dark horror platform gameset in a world where a tiny child is surrounded by huge creatures and buildings. The entire world is giant compared to the tiny figure, and this makes it extremely difficult to get through for players who suffer from fear of large objects.
Megalophobia is the fear of huge things, which can include skyscrapers and statues, but also ships, like the oneLittle Nightmaresis set on. In a world where everything is huge, and the insignificant size of the player character makes them feel helpless, there is a lot of terror to be had for players who have this fear.
Of course, while other games have begun to copy the style sinceFive Nights At Freddy’swas released, this game was one of the very first to utilize the fear known as automatonophobia, which is the fear of life-like creatures like animatronics and robots.
This game used a lot of various fears, including claustrophobia, to scare players. But the real kicker was the idea of being hunted by these robotic creatures that wouldn’t stop in their attempts to get to the player and kill them brutally. In fact, the fear was so popularized that this game became a franchise,and now even has a film adaptation.
2The Mortuary Assistant
Necrophobia
The Mortuary Assistantputs players in a role that seems terrifying to many to begin with, even before the scares start happening. Namely, that of a worker at a mortuary who must deal constantly with dead bodies. This relatively common fear is known as necrophobia.
Many people suffer from the simple idea of seeing a dead body, which is a perfectly understandable fear. The idea of death, and seeing it in person, can be terrifying. That is the least of the fears to be trifled with duringThe Mortuary Assistant, but many players are too scared to even begin the game because of the nature of this fear, although there are afew easy tricks to help players get started.
Subnauticais an open-world survival game with a real element of terror hiding within it. Players are thrown onto a planet covered by water, withdeep oceans and a lot of beauty to it, as well as terror. Huge leviathan creatures are hiding in the depths of the water, and players with a fear of the ocean may not want to try this one out.
Thalassophobia is a relatively common fear, as many fear the idea of what could be in the hidden depths of the ocean.Subnauticaputs this fear to the test as it forces players to live in the ocean itself and face off with some truly enormous monstrosities hiding within.
