Summary
- Linear horror games can offer more immersive experiences due to limited exploration options.
- Games like Layers of Fear and Little Nightmares focus on story-driven narratives over open-world exploration.
- The constrained paths and gameplay mechanics of linear horror games enhance the overall thematic experience.
The market is saturated with open-world games, as technology has advanced enough to provide players with large, sprawling maps that are just begging to be explored, but all this can be a little overwhelming and not suited to every game. This is especially the case since there are still gamers who want back the good old days of more linear experiences.
The Best Open-World Horror Games
Open-world games are often thought of in terms of RPGs, but these horror games make excellent use of the open-world format.
Thankfully, there are developers who are happy to deliver these games, where the player simply goes from point A to point B, and encounters frightening scares along the way. With little to no exploration to run off and hide, players are forced to face their fears in these strictly linear horror games.
8 Layers Of Fear
A Walking Simulator With A Haunting Tale
Layers of Fear
- Released
- February 16, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- m
- Developer(s)
- Bloober Team
- Genre(s)
- Horror
- Platform(s)
- Switch, PlayStation (Original), Xbox One, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
From the era of walking simulators, Layers of Fear brought in a unique angle of horror, with players controlling a tormented artist walking through hallways and rooms of his estate, the appearance of which is twisted and distorted. The story falls slowly into place as the player pushes the protagonist forward from objective to objective, with there being little gameplay to get in the way of enjoying the atmosphere and the slowly unraveling narrative.
Though it seems to be lacking in the gameplay mechanics arena, Layers of Fear is one of the most stylish horror games in the entire genre, and despite there not being as many threats as there are in other horror games, it still manages to drum up a little fear in the player. This distinctly linear experience helps the player become more immersed in the story and the world around them, right until the grand finale when his magnum opus is finally completed.
7 Limbo
A Platforming Nightmare
Limbo
- Released
- July 21, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
One would think that platforming and horror aren't genres that would typically go together, as the former generally brings games like Super Mario to mind, but the developers over at Playdead decided to wed together the two, resulting in the fantastic game Limbo.
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In this game, a nameless boy awakens in a dark forest and sets off in search of his sister, having to dodge many dangerous enemies such as a giant spider and maneuvering his way across hazardous environments to try and find her. As a platformer, the player can't really venture off the beaten path, as they are relegated to the platforms they can reach, which shepherd him further through the game until its bitter end. It's a fully linear but excellent experience.
6 Bramble: The Mountain King
Set Off On A Folkloric Adventure
Bramble: The Mountain King
- Released
- April 27, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
- Dimfrost
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Whimsical, wonderful, and weird, Bramble: The Mountain King takes heavy inspiration from Nordic folklore to furnish its setting and story, in which Olle sets off on a grand adventure to rescue his sister Lillemor, who has been captured by trolls and taken to a mysterious kingdom in the mountains. Armed with little more than bravery, Olle traverses out into the world, encountering all sorts of dangerous monsters from myth and legend.
It may sound like the perfect premise for an open-world experience, but Bramble prefers to keep itself more contained, confining the player to a linear path, even when escaping the clutches of dangerous creatures. This helps keep the player immersed in the story and prevents the world from feeling too big for little Olle.
5 Little Nightmares
A Little Person On A Big Ship
Little Nightmares
- Released
- April 28, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
Little Nightmares is one of the few horror games to verge on the side of whimsical, where players control the yellow-raincoat-wearing young girl simply called Six, who awakens in the Maw, a mysterious place full of hunger and not much else. Traversing through room after room, each of which is infinitely bigger than the tiny protagonist, they soon discover that the place is not so abandoned as it seems.
The enemies they encounter look more or less human with grossly out-of-proportion bodies. One example boasts extremely long arms that can stretch to chase the protagonist through vents. Six can also encounter humans whose limitless greed has bloated their bodies into spherical shapes. The side-scrolling view of this game means that all players can do is run and climb in hopes they can escape their reach, as there is no leaving the linear path they are confined to.
4 Resident Evil 7
Escape The Bakers Or Die Trying
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Released
- January 24, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror, Psychological Horror, First-Person
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Resident Evil has never been much of a sandbox series, and that is no more apparent than with Resident Evil 7. Traveling out to the backwaters of Louisiana in search of his wife Mia, who went missing three years ago, Ethan finds himself at the Baker estate, where he meets the family she has been held captive by for all this time. It quickly becomes clear that these people aren't ordinary humans; they are highly dangerous. Now, Ethan must not only try to rescue Mia but also himself, before they either die at the Baker's hands or join Eveline's cursed family.
It is a fairly linear experience, more so than previous installments, as players are confined to whichever area of the Baker estate they are currently in, usually trying to avoid a member of this deranged family while fighting their way through molded and giant insects. There are very few places they can wander off to, which helps to hammer home the oppressive feeling of being trapped.
3 Silent Hill 2
Plenty Of Locked Doors Keep The Player On Track
Silent Hill 2
- Released
- September 25, 2001
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Team Silent
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 2, Xbox (Original), PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
The town of Silent Hill, as gamers know, is a place of pure horror, where little more than monsters are to be found. But for James and Mary Sunderland, it was once apparently their favorite place to vacation in, thanks to its peaceful nature and beautiful scenery. Upon James's return three years following his wife's passing, brought back by a letter she supposedly penned from beyond the grave, he quickly finds out that it's not such a tranquil location anymore.
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Mist obscures the streets, partially hiding the monsters roaming through the fog, each of whom is ready to kill James unless he can kill or outrun them as he goes from place to place following after Mary, with obstacles constantly getting in his way to keep him on track. Though there is some limited exploration that players can do to find optional items or experience some environmental story-telling, it is more like the leash is just given a bit of slack rather than getting unclipped. Players still inevitably have to go to predetermined locations in order if they wish to continue the game and find out what really happened to Mary.
2 Out Of Sight
Escape The Terrors Through The Eyes Of Teddy
Out of Sight
- Released
- May 22, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
As a young blind girl, Sophie thought there would be no escape from the dastardly captors who held her in their home. That is until one night when she discovers she can see through the eyes of her trusty stuffed bear called Teddy, which she uses to navigate through the large house to find her escape, dodging her kidnappers, Clayton and Mother Janna.
The house is very atmospheric thanks to the dark surroundings, and the switch between first and third-person by placing Teddy down in spots is genius, especially when one of her captors picks up Teddy and chases her through the hallways with him. Though Sophie can leave Teddy's field of view to occasionally fetch the odd secret, there isn't much exploration to be done, as the only thing on Sophie's mind is to escape this house of horrors.
1 P.T.
A Never-Ending Loop
P.T.
- Released
- August 12, 2014
- ESRB
- m
- Developer(s)
- Kojima Productions
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- PS4
After a prolonged absence, Silent Hill was revived with the announcement of a new and exciting entry, titled Silent Hills. The game was marketed with a playable teaser simply called P.T., in which players nudged a nameless protagonist through the same corridor of a family home, where stepping through the door on the other side of the hall placed the player right back at the start. Each subsequent loop grew a little bit scarier, occasionally featuring a tall, gurgling ghost by the name of Lisa.
As one might expect from a giant looping game, there is pretty much nowhere else for the player to go. They need to get through each loop, avoid death, complete the right steps, and then they'll be treated to a closing cutscene revealing the actor who stars as their protagonist. The looping gameplay worked so well that many other developers created games of a similar nature, with many considering themselves the 'spiritual successor,' particularly after Silent Hills was canceled and P.T. Was pulled from the PlayStation store.
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