Movement is an integral part of the large majority of video games, regardless of whether it's an intense survival horror game or a cozy farming simulator. But that doesn't mean to say that it is a requirement, as there are many examples of great games where the player is unable to move at all.
Horror Games That Use Players' Microphones
Using the player's microphone in gameplay is an excellent way to increase immersion and tension in horror games. Here's which titles did it the best.
This concept comes in many forms, from text-based games to immersive horrors, or emotional roller coasters where movement just isn't necessary. The key is to make the player forget about the lack of control and to pull them into the story and setting without ever needing them to take a step.
Before Your Eyes
Watching The Story Unfold With Every Blink
Before Your Eyes
- Released
- April 8, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
Before Your Eyes is a fascinating and unique story game that uses the player's actual eyes to control the flow of the narrative and dialogue. Each blink the player does either reveals more of the scene or jumps time forward, and although they cannot physically move, seeing the world unfold this way is a truly remarkable experience.
8 Best Open-World Games That Will Leave You an Emotional Wreck, Ranked
These excellent open-world games deliver heartfelt, dramatic storylines that will leave you an emotional wreck by the end.
The real the game is so well-loved and admired is due to the level of emotion and sadness it is able to evoke in just a short play time. By the end of the brief story, players will be left an emotional wreck, wanting to stay in each moment just a bit longer but always needing to move on.
DON'T MOVE
Testing Nerves And Fears To Their Limit
- Release Date: August 14, 2025
Don't Move is a super-cool VR game where the whole concept is in the title. Because of the power of VR, the game can make use of the player's entire body, meaning that even subtle flinches and ducks can cause them to fail the various challenges the game throws their way.
From giant arachnids to underwater attacks, every phobia and fear is exposed and the player's entire job is to remain as still as possible, which for some people, will be a near impossible challenge.
While Sleeping
Perfectly Simulating The Feeling Of Paralysis
- Release Date: 12 Dec, 2024
While Sleeping takes the concept of sleep paralysis and dials the fear factor up to 11, having the player lie still with nothing to defend themselves but the ability to shut their eyes and look away.
Every moment that passes feels like an eternity and just when the horrors seem to be dying down, the game throws a whole new set of scares at the player, constantly keeping them on their toes and likely causing them to keep the lights on when they finally go to sleep.
Buckshot Roulette
Any Bullet Could Be Your Last
Buckshot Roulette
- Released
- December 28, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Buckshot Roulette transforms the party game of Russian roulette into a tense, calculated duel against AI opponents in a smoky underground club. Players take turns pulling the trigger and with each round that passes, their odds of survival grow slimmer and slimmer.
Best Items In Buckshot Roulette
Making judicious use of the best items in Buckshot Roulette often means the difference between victory and defeat.
What sets it apart is its card-based modifier system. Items like magnifying glasses, handcuffs, and beer alter the odds, turning a simple pull into a layered battle of deduction and bluffs. The lack of physical movement makes each click of the hammer even more intense and having to stare the dealer in the face at all times, adds a level of fear that few other games can replicate.
Hypnospace Outlaw
Exploring A Strange Online World
Hypnospace Outlaw
- Released
- March 12, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Simulation, Adventure
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Linux, PC, macOS
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Hypnospace Outlaw drops players into a fictional 1990s internet, full of spam, ads and all manner of strange and mysterious individuals. As an Enforcer, the task is to patrol Hypnospace for rule violations, malware, and suspicious activity, combing through user pages filled with quirky personal flair and hidden clues.
The static interface hides an evolving world, as pages change over time, users react to interventions, and deeper mysteries unfold in the chaotic corners of the net. Crafting the perfect search term or piecing together a user’s digital breadcrumbs is as satisfying as solving a physical puzzle, proving that curiosity can be just as powerful as physical movement in driving a narrative.
Emily Is Away
Branching Paths All Within A Chat Box
- Release Date: 20 November 2015
Emily Is Away plays out entirely through an early-2000s instant messaging client, where conversations with friends unfold in real time. Players choose responses, see relationships shift, and watch as the narrative branches with every decision made.
Its power lies in the authenticity of its presentation. The AOL-era interface, the typing pauses, the changing away messages, and the lack of traditional movement, focuses attention on the emotional push and pull of the conversations, making each interaction intimate and personal.
Papers, Please
Controlling The Borders One Person At A Time
Papers, Please
- Released
- August 8, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
In Papers, Please, players sit in a cramped border checkpoint booth, inspecting passports, visas, and permits for accuracy, accepting law-abiding citizens and rejecting everyone else. The work seems mechanical at first, with matching names, verifying seals, checking dates, etc, but each shift introduces new rules and human stories that challenge the player’s ethics.
Confined to the desk, the tension builds through time pressures and the rising moral weight. Allowing the wrong person through could cost the player's job and turning someone away could doom them. The static setting becomes a stage for increasingly complex choices, proving that drama and urgency can thrive without ever leaving a single spot.
Five Nights At Freddy's
Revolutionizing The Horror Genre
Five Nights at Freddy's
- Released
- August 8, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
FNAF took the gaming world by storm when it first released, and a decade on with countless sequels, books, and spin-offs, the franchise shows no sign of slowing down. The first three main games had the player remaining stationary, watching various entry points for animatronic horrors and anything else lurking in the shadows.
The core concept of checking cameras and managing resources like power, quickly rubbed off on many other titles in the genre, ushering in a wave of this new style of horror that traded intense action and chase sequences for a more tension-oriented experience where there truly was no escape.
7 Games Where Movement is the Primary Obstacle
These games treat movement as a mechanic, where controlling the playable character can be hilarious, quirky, frustrating, and a lot of fun.