11 Video Games That Are Secretly Terrifying

Some of the best, most important, and most enjoyable video games of all time are horror games. Scary movies can show you something you don’t want to see, but fright-filled video games force you to interact with the terror. They offer spooky excitement across several genres, including indie games and sci-fi games. In fact, horror games pack so many thrills that they would make great horror movies.

Even the video games you least expect can keep you up at night, whether on purpose or by accident. When you pick up a Resident Evil or Silent Hill title, you expect the horrible. However, nightmares lurk in the shadows within otherwise innocuous and cheerful adventures. From dystopian backstories to unsettling implications to disturbing moments happening just off screen, secret scares are memorable scares. So if you’re desensitized to digital gore, or want something more intense than Costume Quest this Halloween season, consider discovering the bone-chilling truths in these secret horror games.

Blaseball

Following actual baseball, a sport featuring arcane rules and old-timey traditions, is already tricky enough. Blaseball(Opens in a new window) takes things one step further by injecting a healthy dose of surrealism into America’s pastime. What makes this unsettling is that Blaseball’s world is so untethered from the rules of reality, anything—and we mean anything—can happen. Random incinerations, menacing “rogue umpires,” and a Twin Peaks-esque refusal to clearly spell out what’s actually going on make the actual baseball games the least of your worries.

Civilization

Civilization is a legendary simulation game series for good reason. Leveraging the titles’ rich strategy mechanics, you act out the epic sweep of history on your PC. But what if Civ could predict our doomed future (and not just with the climate change expansion pack)? One infamous Civ game concluded with the remaining countries locked in an eternal war(Opens in a new window). It was a world where “nuclear bombardment and sabotage have melted the world’s ice caps over and over again, resulting in the flooding of all terrain other than mountains.”

Disney Epic Mickey

I considered putting Kingdom Hearts on this list, but everything I find scary about that franchise the fans actually love. Disney Epic Mickey, however, is intentionally disturbing in ways that are far more fascinating than the Tim Burton-like aesthetic. Set in an alternate wasteland full of forgotten Disney characters, Mickey contends with rusted animatronic versions of his usual friends, while avoiding deadly doses of paint thinner. To top things off, there’s a climactic battle on a nightmarish mountain of Mickey Mouse merchandise (make of that what you will). Concept art teased even more horrific imagery, thanks to Deus Ex mastermind Warren Spector, but even the finished product feels shockingly subversive. 

Frog Fractions

Nope, sorry. I couldn’t live with myself if I told you anything about why Frog Fractions(Opens in a new window), a parody of educational games for children, belongs on this list. The only responsible thing to do is to tell you to play this game as soon as possible to see for yourself.

Immortality

Ever since Her Story, devloper Sam Barlow has designed detective games about searching through FMV clips to unravel a mystery. Immortality(Opens in a new window) evolves this idea by tasking you with scrubbing through footage from “lost movies” in order to uncover the truth behind the missing lead actress. On the surface, that’s already a compelling enough pitch for an investigation game. But there’s a lot more under the surface. 

Katamari Damacy

With its colorful visuals and infectious quirky Japanese spirit, Katamari Damacy is a great time. In it, you roll up an increasingly big ball of whatever you can find to make new stars in the sky. But do all those people and animals want to be rolled up? What about all the destruction you’re causing on the local and universal levels? What about your abusive space father? Fire up the game, and see if you can find the answers.

Kirby

Even among Nintendo’s mascots, Kirby is adorable. He’s a pink puffball who eats cakes, and gently floats over obstacles. Kirby games are great for young gamers. However, the ending of nearly every Kirby game takes a turn towards something spooky as you battle a shapeless, nightmare entity born from a void of pure chaos. What happened to the cake? Kirby and the Forgotten Land only barely hides the true sinister nature of its post-apocalyptic setting.  

Pokémon 

When I say that Pokémon is scary, I’m not talking about the hacky “Pokémon is just dogfighting” joke that’s been tired for years. If you research the Pokémon creatures, their backstories are horrifying. Cubone wears its dead mom’s skull. Drifloon steals children. Arceus created the universe, and can now be captured by some snot-nosed twerp with a Master Ball. No one wants to go out like that.

Splatoon

Splatoon is a stylish team-based shooter that sees you control squid kids who ink the ground to control turf. It’s fun, it’s fresh, and it feels like a Nickelodeon cartoon. But why is the Earth now inhabited by humanoid sea creatures? It’s because the dumb mammals who used to live here (us) ruined the planet and its ecosystem. So, in short, Splatoon’s colorful, ink-filled maps mask the graveyard of the human race.

Stray

Stray racked up a lot of mainstream attention thanks to a hook literally no one can resist. In Stray, you play as a cat that jumps, meows, and gets into things it has no business getting into. That said, the game takes place in a cyberpunk city, with all of the moody visuals and dystopian technology and menacing class divide that setting implies. Seeing it through the innocent eyes of an animal just makes the contrast that much more striking. 

Undertale

It shouldn’t be that surprising that Undertale features some tonal shifts. After all, the indie RPG takes most of its influence from EarthBound, the cult hit Nintendo game that balances childhood innocence with many melancholy notes. Still, many people were surprised to see where Toby Fox’s journey ultimately led them, and made sure to check that their PCs still worked.

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