Summary
Death can be scary, so it makes sense that the concept features in mosthorrorgames. In fact, the threat of death is the thing that makes many of those games scary. That said, it’s called the horror genre, not the dying genre. Death doesn’t have to feature in every horror title.
Some games are able to spook you through the atmosphere and environment alone. In these titles, you’re typically exploring unsettling areas, completing puzzles, or doing a combination of those things. The following titles are some of the most notable death-less horror games.
Soma is ahorror game that takes place underwater. Well, it takes place in an underwater facility anyway. You play as a protagonist who mysteriously ends up there, and he’s not sure how. It’s a strange facility containing plenty of machinery, and there’s a human element to some of it.
The game is mainly about wandering around, talking to machines, finding notes, and listening to audio files. If you’re playing in safe mode, you won’t be hunted by the monsters in the game, meaning there is no threat of dying. You can just enjoy the scary atmosphere and the compelling narrative in peace.
The entirety of Iron Lung takes place within a small submarine. Your job is to pilot the thing around an ocean of blood on an alien moon. The game uses the fear of the unknown to spook you, as you can’t really see where you’re going.
All you have is an incomplete satellite map, an old camera, and some proximity sensors to figure out what direction to go. If the unknown doesn’t scare you, perhaps you’ll be creeped out by the claustrophobic feeling of being stuck in that little submarine or the general sense of dread that’s present throughout the game.
Not everyone considers The Vanishing of Ethan Carter a horror game. However, it certainly contains some horror vibes. It also includes a mystery, as you play as a detective who attempts to find out what happened to Ethan Carter.
You do this through first-person exploration. While exploring, you can inspect things and find clues. The goal is to piece everything together. There is no danger for you to worry about, but there is still a dark and unsettling atmosphere.
A Year Walk is an old Swedish phenomenon where someone walks deep into a forest without food or drink in the hopes of seeing the future. This is the inspiration behind this first-person horror adventure title.
In the game version, you go into the forest and begin to see all sorts of strange things, complete some puzzles, and learn about mysterious folklore creatures. The whole experience is quite surreal and unnerving. Yet, at least you aren’t in any danger of being killed.
As you may expect, The Mortuary Assistant puts you in the shoes of a mortuary assistant. So, you spend much of the game checking over and embalming corpses. It’s honest work, even if it is pretty unsettling to do.
Things get much more unsettling, though, when strange things start occurring, and you have to start dealing with demons while doing your usual duties. They aren’t attacking you, but they are scaring you and attempting to possess your body. You need to keep them at bay in various ways and continue doing your job.
3Summer Of ‘58
An old abandoned Soviet camp that once served as the setting of an incident that killed both residents and counselors sounds like it has all the makings ofan iconic horror game location. So, it’s the perfect setting for the psychological horror game known as Summer of ‘58.
You control a blogger who visits the place to investigate rumors of restless souls inhabiting the camp. While the place is very creepy, you aren’t in danger. You just have to explore the camp and piece together what happened there.
In Amnesia Rebirth’s regular mode, you’re hunted by terrifying creatures looking to eliminate you. However, in the Adventure Mode, that aspect of the game is removed. You still see some monsters, but they aren’t out to get you. So, you aren’t under threat of death.
As such, it turns into more of an adventure game about exploring places and completing puzzles. There’s still a spooky atmosphere, and the environment is still fairly unsettling. Yet, the first-person horror game isn’t as horrifying in this mode.
At the start of the original Layers of Fear, an Oscar Wilde quote appears on screen, and your protagonist returns home to do a painting. Those things alone should tell you that this isn’t a traditional survival horror game. Therefore, it’s no surprise thatthere is no combator enemies trying to kill you in this one. What you actually battle in the game is your own mind.
As you walk around the house completing puzzles, the building shifts and changes. On many occasions, this leads to some clever jump scares. At the very least, it’s enough to confuse you, which can be equally scary.
