In games, silence is often as important as sound. It’s a powerful tool that can create tension, build atmosphere, and make moments feel deeply intimate, personal, or utterly terrifying. In certain moments, silence takes center stage, proving that the quiet moments are the loudest of all.
In these games, silence isn’t just about an absence of sound, it’s a narrative device that shapes the experience in profound and unforgettable ways. Here are some games that effectively use silence to create impactful, haunting, and reflective moments.
FAR: Lone Sails
The Only Sound Is Your Ship
In Far: Lone Sails, you play as a lone survivor piloting a ship-like vehicle across a desolate landscape toward an unknown destination. What makes the game impactful is its lack of interface: no tutorials, no text, just you and the quiet.
This silence amplifies the feeling of solitude as you journey through an empty, vast world. It’s haunting yet beautiful, allowing room to reflect on humanity’s search for purpose, even when surrounded by nothingness.
In The Witness, silence is a fundamental aspect of both the gameplay and the environment, creating a contemplative atmosphere that invites deep reflection. Set on a mysterious island filled withintricate puzzles,the absence of dialogue and narrative prompts allows you to immerse yourself in the serene surroundings.
The quiet is punctuated only by the subtle sounds of nature: the rustling leaves, distant water flows, and the occasional echo of your footsteps. This minimalist sound encourages you to engage with the environment at your own pace, taking time to solve puzzles.
In SOMA, silence takes on a more unsettling role. Set in the depths of anunderwater facility, silence becomes almost comforting, a sign that you’re temporarily safe from the horrors lurking around every corner. Yet, this quiet isn’t entirely peaceful: it’s a calm before the storm, making every sound feel like a harbinger of danger.
It heightens the tension, offering brief moments of respite before you’re thrown back into the terrifying unknown. The absence of sound becomes a tool to amplify fear and create an oppressive atmosphere. You will never be safe in SOMA.
In Kentucky Route Zero, silence plays a crucial role in crafting the game’s surreal and dreamlike atmosphere. The dialogue is minimal, and the game’s sound design focuses on ambient noises rather than speech, allowing silence to take center stage. This focus allows you to sink into the strange, otherworldly environment.
The silence intensifies the game’s themes of disconnection and otherworldliness, making it feel more like a fever dream than a traditional narrative experience. Kentucky Route Zero invites you to reflect on the disorienting nature of its world, where silence says more than words.
In Gone Home, as you explore an empty house on a stormy night, the silence amplifies feelings of isolation, making you feel like an intruder in your own home. The absence of dialogue or explicit narrative forces you to investigate every corner of the house, switching lights on and keeping doors open to feel less alone.
The silence lets the house tell its own story through the objects and the secrets scattered around. In Gone Home, quietness becomes an integral part of the atmosphere, fostering a slow-burn sense of mystery and unease.
The world of Inside is terrifying on its own, set in a dystopian society where free will is erased, and soulless creatures are created. There is no context or explanation of who you are or your goal, a hallmark of developer Playdead, who loves leaving us in the dark (literally and figuratively).
Silence in Inside is not just a narrative tool, but a source of terror. It amplifies the ever-present danger of this world, isolating and intimidating you as you make your way through the dark and oppressive environment.
Journey is a masterclass in silent storytelling. There are no words spoken, no text to guide you, and yet the game manages to convey profound emotion through its stunning visuals and a delicate soundtrack. Silence becomes the language of this world, allowing you to interpret the story at your own pace.
The quiet moments, punctuated only by the subtle music and the desert winds, speak for themselves because there are no words to convey this beauty. Journey proves that silence can be more expressive than dialogue, creating a space for deep, personal reflection.
It’s right there in the name: Silent Hill. In this not-ordinary town, silence becomes its own character. As you walk through foggy streets or explore empty hallways, the silence becomes suffocating, like the town itself is holding its breath.
The game avoids overusing music, carefully choosing sounds to disorient you, which accentuates the dread of tension and the unknown. No music plays when a monster appears, making these encounters even more terrifying. The quietness keeps you in constant tension, amplifying the game’s psychological horror.
Shadow Of The Colossus is both beautiful and tragic, without saying a word. You play as a warrior willing to do anything to save the one he loves, but… at what cost? You’ll travel across vast, empty landscapes on horseback, with silence amplifying the feeling of being alone far away from any civilization.
The only sounds accompanying you are the wind and the rhythmic clop of your horse’s hooves. Music only emerges in key moments, giving the quiet time to sink in, and letting you reflect on the weight of your quest and the consequences of your actions.
