Best Short Horror Games

Highlights

• Short horror games provide a fresh and suspenseful experience, with scares that don’t overstay their welcome.
• Not all great games require a long playtime; shorter, well-executed games can be the best of the bunch.
• Many brilliant horror games are often overlooked in favor of larger titles, but they deserve to be seen by a wider audience.

These days, games are often pushed to be bigger and longer, and horror games are no exception. Bigger maps, more content, and plenty of other methods help keep players’ attention. This can distract the gaming community from the wealth of smaller games that lie just below the surface.

Some of the best games out there can be completed during a lunch break instead of over the course of a month. Horror games especially adhere well to this idea, as a short timeframe allows the scares to stay fresh and suspenseful without overstaying their welcome. Some have even been lauded by the greater horror community as fantastic examples of the genre. Many brilliant horror games are short, simple experiences that deserve to be seen by the public at large.

Updated November 22, 2023, by Alexandra O’Leary:



When it comes to

video games

, challenging form is part of the culture. The medium allows for boundary-breaking, expectation-shattering choices that culminate in a truly unique experience. Although most gamers want good value for money, not all games with a big play-time are the best of the best. Sometimes, a short, succinct, and well-executed game will prove to be the best of the bunch. Additionally, some games are supposed to provide a fun, quick hour or so of enjoyment that will leave gamers feeling satisfied – if not a little spooked. Often, it’s the short moments of terror that stay with players the longest.

17


The Closing Shift

The Terror Of A Night Shift

The Closing Shift


is a Japanese horror game that took the influencer world by storm, with many playthroughs emerging from popular content creators. It’s part barista-simulator and part stalker-horror, making for an unassuming and chilling experience.

It has VHS-style aesthetics, which create a jarring and unsettling environment, and the game doesn’t actually appear to be a horror until more sinister events begin to take place. Its creepy art and petrifying people are sure to spook any player as they discover the events unfolding. Overall, the game takes about an hour or slightly more to play, depending on the player and their barista skills.

16


Paratopic

Feverish Narratives Of Intertwined People

Paratopic


is a first-person, narrative-based video game that focuses heavily on narrative and atmosphere to frighten players. It follows three separate people with different goals, and players must discover why their stories intersect in this surreal world.

The low-poly game utilizes its art style and music to unsettle players and consistently keep them on edge. It skirts the territory of the uncanny and uses its dated appearance to make sure the experience is as uncomfortable and foreboding as possible. The game takes around an hour to complete, slightly under or over depending on the player.

15


Iron Lung

Exploring A Submarine In A Sea of Blood

Iron Lung


is a popular cult-hit indie game that places players in the role of a convict exploring a submarine that’s submerged in a sea of blood. It was developed by David Szymanski, who was already well-known thanks to his other indie title,


DUSK


.

Iron Lung

toys with the fear of the unknown and the abject horror of being alone at the bottom of the sea.

Submarines are already a terrifying concept, and

Iron Lung

does a phenomenal job of emphasizing the terror and dread of the scenario. Many gamers will associate

Iron Lung

with massive YouTuber Markiplier, who openly champions the game and is producing and starring in an upcoming movie adaptation.

14


Bonbon

Discovering The Truth From Bonbon

Bonbon


is easily one of the most unique horror games on this list. The game is intended to be finished in around half an hour, with the lack of checkpoints meaning that players need to complete it in one sitting.

Players assume the role of a child, which the gameplay heavily emulates. Throughout the experience, they’re visited by a particularly creepy rat named Bonbon, with the truth of the narrative coming out as players slowly go through this chilling experience.

13


Ao Oni

Escaping The Haunted Mansion

Ao Oni


is a legendary horror game that took off during the early years of YouTube Let’s-Plays. The game traps players in a huge house, where a blue monster hounds them while they try to solve puzzles and escape.

The game can be completed in less than an hour, but most players might be too scared out of their wits to do so. But if players can manage to remain calm and give some thought to solving puzzles, they should be able to get through

Ao Oni

pretty quickly.

12


Five Nights At Freddy’s

Surviving The Night With Killer Animatronics

A good playthrough of the first


Five Nights at Freddy’s


game will easily take players under an hour to complete. Unfortunately, the looming threat of the haunted animatronics makes this pretty challenging, and there’s no guarantee that all gamers will be able to survive each night on the first try.

These terrifying animatronics will come careening down hallways, clambering through the vents, and creeping towards the doors all to put an end to the player. Players will need to keep their ears open and their eyes on the cameras at all times to ensure that they can get through all five nights unscathed. This is easier said than done, with the list of tasks that players need to perform getting harder with each passing night.

11


Erie

Exploring An Abandoned Facility

The idea of exploring an abandoned

research

facility is enough to suggest trouble. This is the case with


Erie


, which is easily one of the most terrifying games on this list.

It’s a relatively short experience as long as the player isn’t caught by the monster over and over again. It’s worth noting that this monster is relentless and absolutely spine-chilling, so gamers may have a hard time finishing the game on the first try.

10


From The Darkness

Escaping With The Family Album

There is an inherent creepiness that emanates from places belonging to the old Soviet era. It’s that very association


From the Darkness


utilizes to keep players on edge throughout. The objective is simple: get the player’s family album out of their deceased grandfather’s decrepit apartment.

The hard part comes when leaving that apartment, as players find themselves being stalked by a malicious spirit that hides in the dark. The player will need to explore the small area and solve puzzles in order to make it out alive.

From the Darkness

can be completed with approximately one hour of playtime or slightly more.

9


SCP-087

Creeping Down Endless Stairs Into The Darkness

A dark pathway can be one of the most subtly unnerving things a person can encounter, especially if they find themselves having to go down it. That is the fear that


SCP-087


draws from. The player must descend a seemingly bottomless, dark-infested stairwell as stranger and stranger things start to happen. No one knows what force inhabits the area or why it manifests in the way that it does. All they know is that no one comes back out.

The PS1-style graphics blend wonderfully with the player’s low vision and almost nonexistent lighting. Gamers will find themselves struggling to descend further, especially when they hear the cries of an infant down below. This indie title can be completed within fifteen minutes of gameplay.

8


P.T.

Never-Ending Hallway Of Horror

That which tries to mimic the familiar but just barely fails to do so falls into the uncanny valley and deeply unsettles audiences. In this playable teaser,


P.T.


, that familiar environment is a hallway in a suburban home. By all means, the hallway is completely normal, at first. The player must traverse it over and over again, while the environment becomes more and more unsettling each time.

The world descends further into chaos until the player is racing through an endless iteration of the hallway, frantically running from a force they don’t understand. The only downside is that this game was canceled and taken off stores before it could become the next game in the

Silent Hill

franchise.

P.T.

can take an hour to complete, but those who wish to enjoy the experience at their own pace are likely to spend slightly longer in-game.

7


Sacrifices Must Be Made

A Dangerous Card Game

Dread may come from words not spoken. In this game, players find themselves in the company of a shadowy figure in a dark room, learning to play a seemingly harmless card game. There are no guns, no action, and no secret weapons like in a lot of horror games.

Players will place creatures down and sacrifice them in order to play stronger creatures. It is easy enough to get lost in the card game aspect of this experience. However, the slow realization as the player comes to truly understand their situation gives this game a horrific edge.


Sacrifices Must Be Made


should take approximately fifteen minutes to beat.

6


Water Womb World

Religious Terror And Incomprehensible Discoveries

This title is a psychedelic mix of Lovecraftian cosmic horror and religious fanaticism on par with


House Of Ashes


.


Water Womb World


is about a marine scientist’s journey to the bottom of the ocean in the hopes of finding the Garden of Eden and potentially God itself.

The game has the player journey out into the water to collect specimens by sifting through the silt and catching the local aquatic life. Its retro-style 2D graphics help place the game just under realism, making the player question just what it is they are seeing. Some things were just not meant for the human mind to witness.

Water Womb World

can be completed in just fifteen minutes.

5


Anatomy

Discovering A Nightmarish Scenario Through Tapes

In a style reminiscent of classic PS1 games,


Anatomy


doesn’t scare the player with any real threat of violence. Instead, the threat comes from what may be perceived as violence. The player explores a seemingly abandoned house for audio tapes, which they can play on an old tape player.

The tapes show what at first seems to be a researcher’s philosophical quandaries about the role of the home. However, it soon turns into a nightmare that will leave the player wondering if their own home is just biding its time before swallowing them whole.

Anatomy

takes approximately forty-five minutes to finish.

4


Faith: Chapter 1

8-Bit Exorcism

Each chapter in


Faith


will clock in at under an hour, so players might as well start somewhere. The player will take on the role of a priest, returning to the site of a failed exorcism to complete the ritual and lay the spirits there to rest.

The game takes place entirely within an 8-bit setting similar to old, rare Atari games. Players will need to use all at their disposal to deal with every evil spirit that comes their way. Its more unsettling moments come from scenes where the authentically janky animations are replaced with realistic footage rotoscoped into the 8-bit art style, leaving a truly unexpected impression.

3


Murder House

Surviving The Atmospheric House Of A Killer

This game recreates the style of 80s slasher movies and puts it into the body of a PS1 survival horror game a la the oldest versions of


Resident Evil


. The player will assume the role of a timid intern at a news station. They, and a small group, enter the vacant home of a long-dead serial killer who is dressed as an Easter Bunny.

Soon enough, players will find themselves on the run from the killer, doing their best to avoid his wrath while collecting Easter eggs so that they may leave.


Murder House


weaves an impeccable atmosphere that will have players on edge throughout. It can be complete with an hour of gameplay, but new players may need two hours to get the full experience.

2


We Went Back

Solving Puzzles In Outer Space

We Went Back


is a

sci-fi

horror set in an abandoned research facility on the Moon. The player must try their best to find their way out of a time loop that has them trapped on the station with a skinless abomination.

Much like an escape room, the player will have to explore their environment in order to find clues to riddles and puzzles. While it is lighter on the horror elements and focuses more heavily on problem-solving, the game more than delivers on scares when they do occur. Those brave enough can complete this game in about forty minutes.

1


The Caregiver

Stalked By A Psychological Terror

Japanese horror games have their own distinct style of terror that does well to frighten anyone who dares face the horror they provide.


The Caregiver


boasts a beautifully detailed environment under an off-putting VHS filter that adds to its mystery.

Gamers will play as the aforementioned caregiver of an enfeebled old man. It is not long before the presence of a malicious entity makes itself known and starts stalking the player. This game has a self-professed focus on psychological horror, which is sure to give players nightmares. Though it will take most players approximately two hours to complete

The Caregiver

, some may be able to finish it in just one.

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