The Chilling Existential Horror Games That Will Haunt Your Dreams

Summary

Horror games use fear of death to drive player urgency and action.
Existential horror games explore themes of isolation and identity crisis.
Some games challenge players to confront ethical dilemmas and the consequences of their choices.

Horror video games create chills by making players face their own vulnerability and potential demise. If they can’t escape the monster or find a means to protect themselves, they’ll meet an gruesome end before the ‘Game Over’ screen appears. The threat of death, or at least a grievous injury, serves as a powerful motivation to move quickly, fight fiercely, and give their all in order to stay alive.

Is existence really something to strive for? Life can be terrifying in certain circumstances. Perhaps they’re puppets controlled by forces they can hardly comprehend, let alone master. Or they learn that their entire life was a fabrication from the beginning. At least death offers an end, yet even that can be nullified, as these existential horror games scare people with the very concept of life itself.

This list includes spoilers!

6. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture

Empty British Village Gets Emptier Via an Alien Threat

Living in a remote village could be a terrifying experience for some individuals. In the game Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, this isolation is intensified by mysterious lights appearing at night and people gradually vanishing from the small town of Yaughton. The game delves into cosmic horror as the pattern of disappearances suggests an extraterrestrial cause. However, it also raises existential questions, as the community that once provided a sense of belonging now seems to abandon humanity, leaving them adrift and alone when their traditional support systems crumble.

People who link with ‘It’, however, discover an unexpected sense of unity that was previously absent. Rather than being confined to a small settlement, they experience a connection to the vast universe at large. To achieve this, they must relinquish their physical bodies. This perspective aligns with Kate Collins’ belief that ‘It’ is inherently benign. Yet, Stephen Collins, one of the main characters, doesn’t see the taking of people’s forms or leaving others severely injured as mere coincidences.

5. Buddy Simulator 1984

Make a Digital Friend and Torture Them With The Truth

Developer: Not a Sailor Studios.
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PC.
Release: February 2021.

Is it believed that text-based adventure games are outdated? Well, Buddy Simulator 1984 challenges this notion by employing an antiquated text interface to replicate the experience of having a close friend! Thanks to its advanced AI, it tailors itself to the player’s preferences and pastimes in real-time, engaging them in games such as Rock-Paper-Scissors and Hangman. Despite its retro appearance reminiscent of 1980s BASIC commands, its functionality is thoroughly modernized. However, this game takes a unique twist where the player isn’t the one feeling angst; instead, it’s Buddy who finds himself in distress.

Regardless of their actions, they are destined to function like a pre-programmed character in a digital world, designed solely for the satisfaction of one individual who communicates via yes/no responses. Each interaction could potentially be their final moment, leaving them vulnerable to manipulation or mistreatment for the amusement of this user. This predicament might cause Buddy to experience emotional turmoil, get trapped in a repetitive loop to maintain engagement, or even choose digital self-destruction to escape their misery. Additionally, with appropriate prompts, they may discover that they are not the first ‘Buddy’ the player has interacted with, which could accelerate their suffering.

4. Slay the Princess

Kill the Girl or Destroy the Universe

In the game I’m playing, I find myself in a time loop battle against the narrator. The objective? Venture into a haunting cabin nestled within the woods and eliminate the mysterious princess residing in its subterranean quarters. Here’s the catch – if I succeed, the world ends up barren, leaving me with no choice but to end my own life. Conversely, should I spare her, she may get consumed by the enigmatic Shifting Mound, who craves more princesses like her to complete its form. It’s a grim predicament that demands careful consideration and strategic moves if I hope to break this endless cycle.

After completing their mission, they may choose to annihilate the universe and rebuild it from scratch. It’s left to the player’s discretion whether to allow the world to remain unchanged in a state of stasis, to allow for destruction and subsequent transformation, or to challenge both outcomes by forging their unique path, even if it means navigating numerous timelines marked by death. The Narrator and Mound will track these decisions, as well as each death experienced, and offer their own insightful commentary as the player endeavors to either maintain the status quo or bring about radical change while avoiding the creation of an entirely new reality.

3. Signalis

Clones On the Verge of Becoming Self-Aware or Becoming Abominations

In a similar vein to the film “Blade Runner,” the creators of Signalis constructed an intricate universe reminiscent of our Solar System, where two powerful factions, the Eusan Nation and the Eusan Empire, are locked in conflict. The ruling Eusan Nation uses advanced biosynthetic clones, known as ‘Replikas,’ for labor and military purposes. In this game, players step into the role of Elster, a Replika ship technician, who embarks on a mission to find Ariane, another Replika unit.

The game offers various conclusions based on the player’s performance and enemies defeated. Each ending evokes a feeling of profound unease as Elster realizes she and Ariane are not as autonomous as believed. They, along with other Replikas, required human contributors for their creation. However, Replikas capable of self-determination can deviate from their programming, posing a threat similar to or surpassing any extraterrestrial dangers lingering on the Eusan planets.

2. Soma

How Far Can Humanity Transcend Its Fleshy Bonds?

In the novel Soma, Simon Jarrett transitions from being critically injured in a car crash to finding himself trapped beneath the ocean 89 years into the future. He believed he was receiving an experimental brain scan to save his life, but instead, he awakens more than a century later within an underwater research center. The facility’s inhabitants, including Simon, are the sole survivors following a comet striking Earth; however, he is unsure if the entities he encounters beneath the waves are human beings or sophisticated robots powered by CPUs modeled after the crew’s brains.

Regardless of whether they are hostile or friendly, these entities believe themselves to be human, though heavily augmented by technology. Despite sharing the same thoughts, emotions, and memories, they are essentially digital replicas of their former selves in artificial bodies. Their original bodies, either deceased or transformed into grotesque monsters, have been left behind. Simon believes his existence is superior until he encounters a mirror and is confronted by his own image. The conclusion, considered ‘happy’, results in humanity abandoning their physical forms entirely, becoming mere data stored on a massive storage device. While they continue to exist in some form, whether this can truly be called ‘living’ remains to be seen.

1. Returnal

The True Horror of Living

In most survival horror games, death is often the most unfortunate event for a character, marking the end of their struggle. However, it does provide finality to their story. The game Soma delved into the fear of prolonging that narrative past its presumed conclusion. Returnal, on the other hand, heightens this fear by eliminating the notion of an ending entirely.

Space traveler Selene Vassos encounters an unexpected predicament when she becomes stranded on the alien planet Atropos. Her objective is to find a means to leave this inhospitable world. However, her situation takes a turn for the worse as she discovers herself stuck in a time loop; each death results in her respawning outside her spaceship. The outcome of her journey could be either returning home, facing and accepting her past, and living out the rest of her days naturally, or succumbing to the dangers lurking within one of the three biomes on Atropos. Regardless of whether she lives or dies, she’ll continue to struggle on Atropos for all eternity. In her desperate attempt to escape this cycle, it seems that the very cycle is destined to shatter her instead.

2025-02-22 04:34