Horror Games That Make You Feel Defenseless

The horror genre immerses players like no other. When done correctly, horror games can create heart-pounding tension, a deeply unsettling atmosphere, and genuine fear. This has led to horror being one of the most popular and replayed game genres, with long-running series still going strong. While many survival horror games incorporate a robust combat system, this can ultimately detract from the game's tension.

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Once players are proficient at shooting or fighting in the game, they are no longer afraid of the monsters. While these games are undoubtedly still fun experiences, they often fail to maintain the scares to the very end. Thankfully, some horror developers have gone for a different approach. Many games offer players only temporary weapons or no weapons at all. These immersive horror games plunge players into dark and dangerous worlds, offering little protection from the creatures hunting them.

1 Dredge

Delving Into the Lovecraftian Depths

Dredge is a horror game unlike any other. It blends the relaxing gameplay of a fishing simulator with the intense atmosphere of cosmic horror. Players control a local fisherman whose job is to supply the local community with fresh fish.

Time only moves forward when the player is moving or fishing, and the day quickly disappears. At night, the game takes on a different tone. Strange illusions appear from nowhere and phantom fishing boats stalk the darkness. What was a relaxing fishing game quickly changes to a tense survival experience as the player rushes to return to the safety of the dock before the madness kicks in. The once relaxing fish boat suddenly becomes very small compared to the vastness of the ocean and its mysteries.

2 Little Nightmares

A Disturbing Adventure In A Dystopian World

Little Nightmares is an immersive side-scrolling puzzle game, where players control a yellow-coated child named Six. The goal is to escape the large iron vessel, The Maw, and its creepy adult inhabitants.

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The game has a unique art style that borders on the disturbing. Players must use a mixture of stealth and puzzle-solving to complete the game. The Maw contains many strange characters, who can instantly kill the player if caught. Little Nightmares perfectly encapsulates the vulnerability of childhood against a large, uncaring world. The game became a cult hit for its simple gameplay, atmospheric setting, and mysterious story, with a successful sequel following in 2021.

3 Phasmophobia

An Addictive Online Multiplayer Experience

Phasmophobia is a co-op ghost-hunting game, where teams of players seek to uncover the ghost’s identity before it kills them. There are no weapons in the game, only a few tools that help to unlock clues. The ghosts can attack at any time, picking off any unlucky players.

Phasmophobia became a cult hit and was a popular choice for Twitch streamers. Its tense atmosphere, simple gameplay loop, and addictive multiplayer create endless fun interactions. The game manages to maintain its tense atmosphere throughout, making players feel vulnerable to any sudden spectral attack.

4 Five Nights At Freddy’s

A Unique Point-And-Click Horror Experience

What started as a cult indie horror game has grown to become one of the most prominent mainstream horror franchises today. Five Nights at Freddy’s follows Mike Schmidt, a night guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Restaurant. During the late shift, the animatronic characters come to life and attempt to kill the player.

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The game is played entirely in the control room of the restaurant. Here the player tracks the movement of the animatronics, using security cameras, sensors, and steel doors to block entry. This simple idea creates deep tension and makes the player feel trapped. The player is completely defenseless against the enemies and will die if they successfully enter the room.

5 Layers Of Fear

A Journey Into the Mind Of A Struggling Artist

This story-driven first-person horror game follows The Painter as he attempts to complete his grand masterpiece. Set around a large Victorian house, sometime after WW1, the game revolves around the player exploring and solving various puzzles that delve into his past trauma.

Layers of Fear perfectly blends psychological horror, strong narrative storytelling, and a tense atmosphere into a memorable horror experience. The player has no weapons in the game and must solve puzzles through exploration. As the house changes with the player’s deteriorating mental state, the horror ramps up with plenty of jump scares. Layers of Fear is an exceptional horror game that will appeal to all genre fans.

6 Visage

A Chilling Haunted House Story

Following in the footsteps of the cult classic P.T., Visage is a chilling, haunted house game that creates a suffocating and tense atmosphere throughout. The game presents three disturbing stories, set around former tenants of the house. Each chapter offers new puzzles and a new enemy.

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Like in all good haunted house stories, the setting is the main character, with strange thumps, creeks, and flickering lights keeping players on edge. Players are completely defenseless against the spectral entities, and must constantly monitor their sanity. Visage is a scary, tense, and sometimes surreal addition to the genre and is a must-play horror gem.

7 Outlast

A Heart-Pounding Classic

Outlast is undoubtedly one of the scariest horror games available. Players control an investigative journalist who enters a remote psychiatric hospital for his story. He soon discovers a horrific scene, where the patients have taken control and massacred the doctors.

Players have no weapons in the game and must rely on their camera’s night vision mode to navigate the pitch-black areas of the hospital. Hunted by dangerous, deformed enemies, Outlast is not for the timid, with jump scares coming regularly. The game has become a survival horror classic and, ten years on, remains a must-play for fans of the genre.

8 SOMA

A Psychological Dive Into The Depths

From the developers who created the classic Amnesia series, SOMA is a terrifying and thought-provoking survival horror game. It takes players into a crumbling facility deep beneath the ocean, as the character discovers why he is there.

SOMA blends deep philosophical elements with tense stealth mechanics, as players must journey through the facility completely unarmed, avoiding the many enemies haunting the corridors. SOMA is best played with as little information as possible going in. Its emotional narrative is both figuratively and literally deep and will stay with players long after completion.

9 Amnesia: The Dark Descent

A Groundbreaking Cult Classic

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is one of the best horror games ever released. It gained a cult following through online content creators, whose reactions to the game became viral hits. The game is a masterclass in atmosphere. From its empty foreboding corridors, subtle sound design, and sanity mechanics, each element adds to the overall feel.

Amnesia gives players only a lamp to light their way, which gradually runs out of oil. Resources are rare and monsters will quickly kill the player if caught. The game is about stealth movement and resource management, creating a constant sense of tension. Once the lights go out, the character’s mind starts to fail and the monsters close in. Amnesia was a big step forward for survival horror games and became a genre classic that still holds up today.

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