Successful horror games almost always make use of their atmosphere to generate terror, and these particular games use the uncanny to great effect.
The best horror games are those that draw fear from within, rather than relying on typical “horror” tropes. Unlike horror movies or other scary content where the audience is more of an observer, horror games throw players directly into the experience. They’re immersive, and they place players right in the shoes of someone who’s being hunted or haunted. This level of immersion makes horror games uniquely impactful and leaves a stronger psychological mark on their players than any other type of horror media.
What’s even better is that horror games, by their nature, have the flexibility to push fear to terrifying new heights. While relying on jump scares and cliches might be tempting, the most effective horror games take a different path by embracing subtle, immersive methods to unsettle their players. This is why the most impressionable, and in turn the most notoriously famous, horror games are those that utilize their environments to create an uncanny atmosphere that’s hard to ignore.8 Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation is a dark sci-fi survival horror game that’s recognized for having one of the most intense gameplay experiences in the horror genre. Despite being a 2014 release, the game features some of the best graphics, storyline, and horror build-ups ever. It’s also particularly known for having one of the smartest and most revolutionary AI antagonistic mobs in the horror genre, the Xenomorph.
That’s precisely what elevates the entire “horror” aspect of the game and thrusts the player into a constant flight-or-fight state where they have to consistently think about surviving. The game is set in outer space with limited resources, no place to escape, and a very keen awareness of the main character’s humanness in the face of an increasingly smart alien being that grows smarter by the minute.7 Inside
Playdead’s second critically acclaimed game after Limbo is another puzzle game released in 2016 called Inside. It is technically a spiritual successor to Limbo and uses a lot of the same mechanics as the previous game, but ultimately does give off an even more desolate and empty feel.
That “lonely” state of the world and the absolute barrenness of the gameplay is exactly what Inside thrives around. Despite being a 2.5D puzzle platformer, the game has a very cold atmosphere that makes it just as creepy and uncanny as some of the bigger games in the same genre. In addition to that, the absence of any established soundtrack, apart from occasional gameplay sounds, and the very greyscale-forward graphics turn it into a deeply unnerving experience. It’s almost like there’s a constant feeling of being watched and a constant paranoia of impending doom. When players factor in the backstory of the boy—or rather, the lack of it—Inside becomes one of the best uncanny games ever made.
