Best Horror RPG Maker Games

Highlights

• RPG Maker has been a catalyst for indie horror games, allowing developers to craft terrifying experiences with user-friendly tools.
• Games like Fear & Hunger, Lisa: The First, and Mad Father have showcased the versatility and potential of the RPG Maker engine for horror games.
• The horror games created with RPG Maker can range from intense difficulty to unsettling narratives, and often leave a lasting impression on players.

When the time comes to make a game, there are many available tools. Unity, Source, Twine, and other engines allow designers to craft all manner of virtual worlds, from the most welcoming to the most inhospitable. Horror can mean blood and gore rendered with the highest fidelity or psychological thrills with barely anything graphic.

Since the original’s debut in 1992,

RPG Maker

has served as the catalyst for many games. Indie developers of all stripes have leveraged its user-friendly toolset to craft stories of terror and revulsion. Indeed, it is this very toolset that has made some of the horror genre’s greatest and most intriguing achievements possible.

Updated on October 19, 2023, by Ritwik Mitra:



The

evolution

of the RPG Maker engine is something quite fascinating, initially conceptualized for the creation of classic turn-based RPGs before many indie developers got their hands on this engine to craft some of the greatest horror games that fans can think of. It’s odd how these games with such cute sprite work can become nightmarish in the blink of an eye, causing players to look over their shoulders long after they’re finished playing these high-concept

RPG Maker horror games

.

20


Fear & Hunger: Termina

Fear & Hunger

is a game that has come out of nowhere and shows just how malleable the RPG Maker engine really is in the right hands. The first game was a test of the player’s patience and zeal to explore a game that genuinely hated them, featuring pulse-pounding combat where every encounter could spell doom for the player if they ended up biting off more than they could chew. The second game ended up working on the strengths of its predecessor, expanding on everything from the combat to this series’ tantalizing lore.

The end result is one of the best sequels of all time that also tones down the difficulty… albeit just a smidge. The game is still devilishly hard and will brutally test players to their very limits, with every save feeling like a breath of fresh air for players who have genuinely struggled for what feels like ages!

19


Lisa: The First

Most people are well aware of

Lisa: The Painful

, which is easily one of the best RPGs that players can get their hands on. However, what most people aren’t aware of is the fact that this game is actually a follow-up to a video game that was inspired by

Yume Nikki

in many ways.

Lisa: The First

is an RPG Maker horror game that focuses on the titular character and her strained relationship with an abusive father, manifesting itself in a string of disturbing nightmares that are pretty harrowing to discover firsthand.

The wacky and unnerving nature of this title makes it one of the most underrated horror games around that fans should definitely check out for themselves. The dream sequences are bizarre, trippy… and extremely uncomfortable when Lisa’s dad becomes a central figure, showing the true depths of his depravity.

18


Mad Father

While this game was technically made in Wolf RPG Editor, the similarities this engine and its games share with RPG Maker certainly qualify it as a candidate. The fact that this title is the best horror game made on this game engine also makes it worth talking about, especially since so many people played through

Mad Father

back when this game became hugely popular among the many Let’s Players who were eagerly seeking out unique horror titles with incredible stories.

Mad Father

‘s title should make it clear what the game is all about, focusing on the story of Aya and how she discovers the true nature of her father and his twisted experiments. The entire game is quite disturbing from start to end, and it doesn’t help that the ending is far from a happy ending to Aya’s tale after surviving her father’s torment.

17


Ao Oni

Ao Oni


is a horror game that takes place in a haunted mansion. After being separated from his friends, the main character must navigate the mansion, solving puzzles and avoiding a monster known as the Ao Oni, or blue demon.

This monster hunts them throughout the game, appearing at random intervals and shocking players with its presence every single time. The game’s simple, pixelated graphics and eerie music contribute to its tense atmosphere, and players must use their wits and hiding skills to survive this harrowing experience.

16


The Witch’s House

The Witch’s House


features a young girl named Viola who finds herself trapped in a mysterious forest, hiding in a house that is filled to the brim with ghastly occurrences and scary moments. As she tries to escape, she encounters a variety of horrific creatures and must solve puzzles to progress through the game.

The game’s story is filled with twists and turns, and its eerie soundtrack adds to its unsettling atmosphere despite the visuals looking “cute,” for lack of a better term. However, the biggest gut punch delivered by this game comes at the ending, and players who have yet to check out

The Witch’s House

should make it a point to play through this masterpiece if they love how the horror genre shines through the medium of video games.

15


Fear & Hunger

Fear & Hunger


is a horror-themed role-playing game that is easily one of the hardest and most unfair experiences anyone can put themselves through. The game makes no effort to hide the fact that it actively hates the player, with

death

present at every corner and hounding the player at every step of the way.

Fear & Hunger

features a variety of enemies, including grotesque monsters and twisted versions of familiar creatures. Combat is turn-based and requires strategic thinking, with limb dismemberment being critical to render enemies ineffective. Of course, the player’s limbs are also free real estate and can be hacked off at a moment’s notice, severely inhibiting their effectiveness in battle. That being said, a content warning is required here —

Fear & Hunger

depicts graphic and sexual violence in a disturbing manner that can be hard to stomach, so player discretion is advised.

14


Space Funeral

The vibe of


Space Funeral


is unnerving in a quiet, almost soothing way, like waiting out the end of the world on a pristine beach. Its laidback soundtrack is a huge factor, and its contrast with the surreal dialog is sublime. The aesthetic is ugly in a cartoony way, with bloody skulls and malformed creatures dotting the landscape.

Dracula, hypnosis, swamp knights, and muscle hedonists are only a few of the bizarre threats one faces within.

Space Funeral

is several steps quirkier than most horror titles, and that is strictly to its benefit. Here, the weirdness works.

13


Pocket Mirror

Created using

RPG MAKER VX ACE,

Pocket Mirror


is a horror game in which symbolism is paramount. Because of this, those looking for a straightforward game with a simple A-to-B plot should look elsewhere. For everyone else,

Pocket Mirror

is a nightmare in the best way.

Almost everything within is subject to interpretation. In some games, ambiguity is the result of laziness, of game designers not knowing what end result they’re trying to achieve, but in this game delving into symbols for their true meaning is half the point. With original artwork, an original soundtrack, and visual novel elements,

Pocket Mirror

goes above and beyond most RPG Maker


titles.

12


Ouija Sleepover

Aiden is a 19-year-old college student. His crush, Dan, is coming over for movie night. That’s when Aiden finds the Ouija board someone left in the garbage. Anyone who has ever seen a horror movie knows that this discovery does not bode well for Aiden and Dan. Like the best horror games,


Ouija Sleepover


takes its premise and dials it up a notch at every turn.

Its world looks soft as if viewed through stained cotton, but that doesn’t make the horrors that transpire within any easier to bear. With multiple endings and interesting characters,

Ouija Sleepover

gives players a few good reasons to stay up into the early hours.

11


Why Do You Do This To Me?

How good can a game made in five hours be? The answer is: fantastic. The creators of


Why Do You Do This To Me?


made the game for the 2nd RPG Maker Game of the Month Jam


using

RPG Maker MV

and have been expanding on it since then.

The

design

, programming, charming pixel art, and solid music are all the products of a single creator, leading to a consistent and powerful vision. Without spoiling anything, the game is thematically dark in ways that many aren’t. It also happens to be cleverer than most.

10


Yume Nikki

The imagination can be a terrible thing, and when the imagination is that of a child, it can be as confusing as it is sinister.


Yume Nikki


is a surreal exploration into the titular character’s head, beginning when the player goes to

sleep

and snapping back to reality whenever they pinch themselves awake.

The excellent sound design beautifully complements the game’s avant-garde style, and this is certainly not an indie game that takes a long time to beat. Rather than compromise itself by leaning upon a convoluted plot,

Yume Nikki

leaves much to the player’s interpretation. Just as it should be with dreams and nightmares, sometimes it is better not to analyze.

9


Blank Dream

Kanawo’s


Blank Dream


has multiple endings, so despite it being an RPG with a short playthrough time, players may wish to linger in its world. The game deals with heavy subject matter, including suicide, so it isn’t for everyone, but creative puzzles, justified scares, and a twisty plot earn this game its place amongst the genre’s greats.

Mishiro Usui’s quest to recover her memories of the

events

leading to her death is well-paced, and

Blank Dream

is one of the rare games that can explore difficult emotional issues without condescending to or manipulating its audience. In

Blank Dream,

heartbreak and horror make the best bedfellows.

8


The Crooked Man

Moving into a new home is a beloved horror trope, and


The Crooked Man


wields it to beautiful effect. David Hoover moves into his new apartment only to discover that the building may be haunted. Not the type to let an apparition go uninvestigated, David sets out to solve the mystery, setting himself up for a series of escalating scares.

His repeated encounters with the Crooked Man himself do not dissuade him, even as the situation grows bleaker.

The Crooked Man

is the first installment of

The Strange Men Anthology,

a four-game collection, and is arguably the best of the lot, though

The Sandman, The Boogie Man,

and

The Hanged Man

are all worth a play, even if they are not major indie success stories.

7


Dreaming Mary

If horror games have an aesthetic opposite, it’s


Dreaming Mary


.




Everything about its pink,

kawaii

look says everything is fine, but nothing is. An excellent casual RPG,

Dreaming Mary

is angsty and riddled with secrets without being too antagonistic. Unraveling its mysteries requires a fair bit of exploration and deduction, and its puzzles are more inventive than most.

Mary loves to dream, but one night enters a dream unlike any before it: everyone is nice to her. When her dream friends invite her deeper into slumber, Mary is faced with a choice: explore the depths of this strange new world or wake up and go back to her ordinary life. One can’t say much about the twists without spoiling the story but suffice it to say that it is absolutely

not

a game for children, and even some adults should be wary of its distressing subject matter.

6


Corpse Party

Whether horror requires graphic violence, and if so how much, has always been a point of contention within the genre. As


Corpse Party


proves, 16-bit graphics can do just as well as a

Resident Evil

Chainsaw Man decapitation to put players off their lunch.

Strong music supports a story in which, like

Game of Thrones

, the narrative seems to foster affection for characters for the sake of breaking the player’s heart when those characters are viciously murdered later. Satoshi, Naomi, Yoshiki, Ayumi, and Yuka are all entertaining on their own but come alive as a group, and seeing how their journey will end is one of

Corpse Party’s

greatest pleasures.

5


Ib

Art galleries don’t scream “danger,” but in


Ib


danger is just what they contain. Kouri’s 2012 title tells the story of nine-year-old Ib who is trapped in a painting during a visit to one such gallery and must find a way to escape.

Like

Silent Hill

and others before it,

Ib

excels in jumpscares, puzzle-solving, and exploration. Where

Ib

triumphs over other great indie horror games is in its fine-tuning. Kouri’s meticulous development pays off at every step. The scares are not cheap. The characters are not tropes. Everything the game accomplishes it earns. The enigmatic Garry is a particular highlight, keeping players guessing for their entire journey through the dark.

4


Misao

Friendship is hard. Friendship is even harder when the person you want to be friends with vanishes. When


Misao


disappears and rumors start circulating around school about what might have befallen her, the protagonist sets out to discover the truth. The game takes the time to craft unique backstories for its characters, giving players every reason to learn more about them, and keeping characters from being cardboard cutouts with dialog.

Is

Misao

one of the best offline PC RPGs? At least when it comes to horror

RPG Maker

titles, yes. The game is not without flaws, but

Misao

is more successful at sustaining a disconcerting atmosphere than most titles in the genre. Players are encouraged not to spoil the story for themselves. The blind jump is the better one.

3


Stray Cat Crossing

Stray Cat Crossing


wears its inspirations with pride. One cannot play it without feeling echoes of

Alice in Wonderland

and Studio Ghibli. With playthroughs lasting between 2-4 hours,

Stray Cat Crossing

is the perfect length to luxuriate in its offkey ambiance and mingle with its kooky cast.

Stray Cat Crossing

is the story of a young woman who lends a little girl her favorite scarf and must enter a forboding house when the girl fails to return it, only to be confronted by its strange and monstrous inhabitants. Its 16-bit art harkens back to the first two

Persona

games, and its story makes it a must-play for fans of the genre.

2


Off

In


Off,


everything is a little off. Epic hero? No, players are treated as a supernatural entity in possession of a figure called the Batter. Conventional combat? No, players do battle with real-time mechanics instead of the turn-based ones favored by most

RPG Maker

titles.

The character designs and general art style would be at home in any Tim Burton sketchbook: endearing and creepy in equal measure.

Off

may not be counted among the best RPG Maker games ever, but it ranks amongst the most delightfully weird, and for anyone looking for a great horror adventure,

Off

is a top contender.

1


Omori

By now something of a legend within the indie horror community, 2020’s


Omori


is one of

RPG Maker’s

greatest success stories. It pulls no punches with its themes, tackling anxiety and depression respectfully but head-on through the character of Sunny, a boy with severe social anxiety.

Yet Sunny has another self, Omori, who exists in his dreams.


Its painterly graphics set it apart from superficially similar titles, and its aesthetic is without question

Omori’s

greatest strength, together with its nuanced characterization. Here one finds characters given all the room they need to breathe and develop, and the game is undoubtedly stronger for it.

MORE: PT: Everything We Know About the Ghost Lisa