Office Nightmares: The Scariest Games About Workplace Horror

Summary

Office work-inspired horror games show the horrors lurking in everyday mundane settings.
Games like One Late Night and Papers, Please bring surreal visions and realistic horror to the office environment.
From autonomous animatronics to corrupt companies, office-themed games offer unique and terrifying experiences.

Monday mornings can truly be hell to everyone, saying a sorrowful goodbye to the weekend and shuffling back into the office to pass yet another week hunched over their computer, making spreadsheets, sending emails, typing out reports, and all the other wonderfully mundane responsibilities that come with such a job.

One might think their work is safe from any horror, but there are these games that bring horror right to someone’s desk, be it a person or a more supernatural threat, such as ghosts. These games show that even the most mundane places can fall into the eerie grip of unbridled terror.

9. One Late Night

Overtime Pay Is Not Worth Braving The Horrors

Platforms: PC
Developers: Black Curtain Studio
Release Date: January 29th, 2013

A tale of caution about working past scheduled hours, One Late Night is all about one employee at a company called Webcom staying late to finish up some work, only to fall asleep at his desk and wake up past midnight, with work still left to do before the AM. The nameless protagonist decides to get some coffee to power through their last few hours at the office, but soon realize all is not quite what it seems…

While looking around the office — completing mundane tasks such as making coffee and logging into a colleague’s computer — players witness surreal visions or even just straight-up horror, as a terrifying specter haunts the hallways. The player must avoid this entity at all costs and eventually put an end to her so they can make their escape and leave home. It’s a short and sweet experience that makes good use of the office environment.

8. Papers, Please

A Dystopian Game Showing The Horror Of Reality

Papers, Please is not only the title of the game but a phrase the player character utters to each newcomer wishing to pass over the border of the Arstotzka, a fictional dystopian city currently embroiled in political difficulties with some neighboring countries. Each immigrant must have the appropriate paperwork in order to be granted access, and it is up to the player to check thoroughly, as they can be penalized for incorrect decisions.

Though not in the typical vein of horror, Papers, Please is a far more grounded and realistic horror experience. Some of the characters have rather depressing stories as their reason for crossing, and denying those that don’t have paperwork can lead to rather unpleasant situations. It touches on some of the difficulties in society that have prevailed for decades, which is a far more terrifying experience than any monster.

7. Night At The Office

Uncover The Truth Behind A Colleague’s Recent Death

Platforms: PC
Developers: Stanislaw Truchowski
Release Date: December 13th, 2024

Office buildings never really offer much in the way of horror, with their bright fluorescent lighting, and are normally populated by many other employees. But when burning the midnight oil at their desk, and every other member of staff taking their leave for the day, it quickly becomes apparent that an empty office can be a location ripe for scares.

Night at the Office, as the title suggests, follows one man’s story as he works late at his job, shortly after the recent passing of a colleague named Joseph Anadam. As the players walk through the environments, they become increasingly more warped, as though the very threads of reality are unraveling, but it does bring the player closer to the truth behind what happened. Dark hallways, bucket loads of blood, and even a few corpses await players as they continue their way through, resulting in a frightening affair — and a startling revelation.

6. Five Nights At Freddy’s

Watch Out For Danger Through The Terminal

Imagine finding yourself in a restaurant like Chuck E. Cheese, where animatronic characters were once the highlight. But here’s an unsettling twist: as the clock strikes closing time, these animatronics suddenly gain sentience, potentially posing a threat to anyone still within the premises.

This is what Five Nights at Freddy’s answers, as players control the latest nightshift security guard who must monitor the animatronics via the terminal in the office and effectively manage their energy so they can keep the doors closed when danger draws too close. Though the premise is simple, it’s incredibly effective — enough for FNaF to find fame and fortune, resulting in endless sequels, spin-offs, and even movie adaptations.

5. Scrutinized

Remote Work Has Never Been So Frightening

Platforms: PC
Developers: Reflect Studios
Release Date: August 5th, 2020

Police work is half on the field arresting bad guys and half dealing with bureaucracy and paperwork. As a member of the CIA, Luna Youngman is no stranger to the latter, which makes up her night-to-night work while on the hunt for the Blueblood Killer, the suspected culprit behind the murder of her beloved cousin Sarah — though she might have just unwittingly placed herself in the crosshairs of the killer as she continues to chase any lead she can.

In Scrutinized, the player will mostly be sitting at the computer, sorting through filed reports to shred false reports, and submitting genuine ones for further investigation. This is done by reading through a report and combing through the phone messages, search history, and even police reports to determine if it’s genuine or not. But, players need to watch out, as they could fall victim to several antagonists, such as Tanner or the Kidnapper.

4. Night Security

Another Night At The Job Descends Into Insanity

Chilla’s Art has made a very successful career of warping everyday mundane settings, such as bathhouses, karaoke studios, coffee shops, and office buildings. The latter is put to great use in Night Security, which is all about a security guard on the graveyard shift, sending employees still on the premises home, and locking up the building for the night before they return home.

In typical Chilla’s Art style, the player must do some of the chores before the horror kicks in. The environment, which was already ominous enough with its overbearingly dark setting and large empty hallways and rooms, begins to warp as the game descends into a maddening nightmare, favoring the color red as blood becomes a very unwelcome accouterment.

3. Yuppie Psycho

Put An End To The Corruption At Sintracorp

Corporate work really feels like selling one’s soul to the devil at times, and this might not be too far from the story behind Sintracorp’s success. One of the biggest and most successful companies in the world, Sintracorp owes it all to a witch they have brought onboard, bringing success — but it isn’t without cost. Now, the company is being corrupted from within, and they want to put an end to her machinations.

This is where Brian, the protagonist, comes in. Massively underqualified for his job, he soon finds his true purpose at Sintracorp: kill the witch. It’s a far cry from most office games, even those that verge on horror, as Yuppie Psycho takes its players on one hell of a trip, presenting all sorts of scary sights and encounters. The pixel graphics do little to dispel the horror at the heart of this game, instead making it all the more uneasy.

2. Home Safety Hotline

Identify The Fantastical Threats To Save The Callers

Everybody knows emergency call responders, those who operate the phones to essential services such as the police, fire department, or ambulances. Now what if there was a similar line, but for beasts and other such creatures that threaten callers? This is what Home Safety Hotline answers, as the player must correctly identify the entity from the information the caller provides, then send the corresponding information package in order for them to handle it.

Though the game can be a little playful at times, there are some entries in the player’s database that are straight-up frightening and do more harm than simple mischief, such as the False Artifact, Reanimations, or the Ogress. Should players fail to correctly identify the threat, then they receive a call that might just be someone’s death rattle, as they fall to whatever has infiltrated their home. It is certainly not a job for those without a strong disposition.

1. Dead Letter Dept.

Data Entry Takes A Sinister Turn

Starting over somewhere is near easy, and the nameless protagonist of indie horror Dead Letter Dept. knows this all too well. In their new data entry job, the player must type up highlighted text from letters, postcards, and other such mail on their old computer with decrepit software that sometimes glitches — or maybe there is something more sinister at work. The office in question just seems like one empty room where there are no chatty colleagues or helicoptering supervisors.

Dead Letter Dept. doesn’t immediately show its hand, instead valuing a slow burn as players plod their way through their shifts before they walk back through their rather unwelcoming apartment building, the horror slowly settling in as the days roll by. Letters sometimes become unhinged or threatening, and the surroundings themselves slip into something out of a nightmare, and the ending is almost cosmic with how maddening it is.

2025-03-18 20:48