A countless number of other games have tasked us with surviving the zombie-fuelled end of the world, but 7 Days to Die is just a little bit different from everything else out there. By emphasizing resource management, base building, and select RPG mechanics, this game asks you to do so much more than kill a few zombies in order to see the next day. It’s also a fantastic multiplayer horror experience.
A Plague Tale: Innocence
A Plague Tale: Innocence is one of a few games on this list that kind of challenge the limits of the horror genre label. Ultimately, I think you’ll have a hard time arguing against the game’s credentials once you actually play this absolute gem. After all, few things are scarier than having to survive a small army of plague-filled rats with little more than a torch by your side.
A Plague Tale features one of the best horror atmospheres I’ve ever seen in a game. Death, decay, and hopelessness can be found in every corner of this game’s world. If the terrifying swarms of rats don’t get you, the feeling that there isn’t much hope in fighting them off anymore certainly will.
Alice: Madness Returns
2011’s Alice: Madness Returns really is one of the most overlooked horror games ever made. Granted, this title’s somewhat bizarre license and almost Zelda-like adventure gameplay make it surprisingly easy to dismiss it as a curiosity. There are few games out there that offer quite what this one does, so there isn’t a lot you can easily compare it to when you’re trying to recommend it.
While this title will rarely “scare” you, Alice is the kind of horror game that will appeal to anyone who prefers their horror experiences to dive deeply into the surreal. It’s a dark fantasy adventure that boasts some of the most incredible environmental design concepts you’ll ever see in such a title. Even when this game gets dark (and it can get very dark), it remains stunningly beautiful in a truly weird way.
Alan Wake: American Nightmare
It must be said that this Alan Wake DLC was not exactly what fans of the original game were looking for. Rather than directly continuing the main game’s story in a more straightforward way, American Nightmare offers a strange kind of spin-off adventure that utilizes time loop mechanics. That last aspect of the game (as well as the DLC’s emphasis on familiar mechanics) led some to label it as “repetitive.”