Since the inception of gaming, there have been some truly fantastic psychological horror games. Some are even immensely popular today and stand up as some of the scariest games you could play.
If you want a game that invades your psyche and makes you uncomfortable, here are the best psychological horror games you can get stuck into.
Doki Doki Literature Club
When this game first came out, it took the world by storm. An unassuming, cute visual novel turns dark very quickly. Over time, it progressively gets even darker, with some of it invading your personal files on your PC.
It’s no wonder that Doki Doki Literature Club is one of the most frightening psychological horror games out there, and it has since been expanded to Doki Doki Literature Club Plus if you want an even more in-depth experience.
Platforms: PC
Layers of Fear
The first Layers of Fear is a trippy and haunting experience where a few of your choices can affect the ending. You learn more about the troubled painter as you traverse through the house and unlock more rooms.
There are plenty of jumpscares, but they fit perfectly with the story. The story is tragic and disturbing and makes for a great psychological horror.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Mental health issues are rarely portrayed well in a game, especially a horror game. However, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice handles it beautifully, creating a haunting but realistic experience.
Fighting off her psychosis, she has to work towards saving her lover from Helheim while fighting off otherworldly creatures and deities along the way. The game features great puzzle-solving, fun combat, and a brilliant story.
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows
Omori
Omori is another game that gained popularity quickly and was sensational for quite a while. While the hype has died down slightly, Omori is still a great psychological horror game to dive into.
Omori is another game that covers very sensitive topics, so be careful when diving into this game, as you may find that some of the content triggers you. The topics are handled carefully, and emphasis is provided where needed in the game.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox Series X|S
Detention
If you’re a fan of history and learning about Asia’s history in particular, Detention is a great game for that. Set in 1960s Taiwan, the game occurs during martial law, where certain books were banned. If found with the books, there were serious consequences.
This game combines popular folklore and myths from China and Taiwan, as well as some realistic but heavy-hitting topics about the repercussions of those who were found with contraband.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Android, PlayStation 4, PC
Visage
Visage may be the closest we will ever get to a game like Silent Hills P.T., A fleeting, beloved memory that could have been a fantastic game. However, Visage is brilliant and equally worth playing.
There are multiple stories within the game, each of them haunting and horrifying in their way. Be warned, there are plenty of jumpscares and puzzles to give you a false sense of security.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Windows
Devotion
Devotion is another hard-hitting game created by the same developers who brought you Detention. However, due to hidden insults about the Chinese leader scattered throughout the game, it was subsequently removed from Steam. However, you can still purchase it from their website.
Again set in Taiwan, this game takes place in the 1980s and blurs the line between faith and intense, damaging devotion.
Platforms: PC
Soma
If you have a fear of the ocean or being deep underwater, you may want to skip SOMA. However, if you want to test yourself, this may actually be the perfect game for you.
SOMA was created by the same team that made the Amnesia series, meaning you know this game is just going to be fantastic. The world below the ocean is hostile, and the game itself is incredibly trippy. You’re in for a wild ride with this one.
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Fran Bow
Fran Bow is a deeply unsettling point-and-click psychological horror game. It’s bound to make you uncomfortable and have your skin crawling. Please be warned this game covers some deeply triggering topics.
The art style compliments this game, and the atmospheric sound makes the game even more haunting. Fran Bow has a deeply tragic story and will take you on one trippy adventure.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S
Little Nightmares 2
Little Nightmares is equally good, but Little Nightmares 2 has something that just makes it even more haunting and desolate. This game feels much more involved, and the story of this one is even more shocking than the story of the first. You’ll be gobsmacked by the end once you put all of the puzzle pieces together.
Additionally, the enemies in this game feel much more terrifying than in the first game, and the swell of the music during chase scenes makes everything that much scarier.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
It can be debated that Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture isn’t a horror game. It depends on how far into the story you get and how you deconstruct it to analyze it. In my eyes, it’s very much a psychological horror.
This walking simulator gets into your head, makes you think, and makes you wonder about what you would do if you were in a similar situation. That being said, it’s a beautiful but heart-breaking game and a worthy experience.
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Windows
Slay the Princess
Slay the Princess is one of the newer games on this list, and it makes its case strongly as to why it’s a psychological horror. It has all of my favorite elements to make one. Choices matter, multiple endings, and a story that makes you question everything you do.
The game is quite trippy when it starts, but you soon get used to the neverending loop of the game and what it has in store for you. That said, no two endings are the same, and you never quite know what to expect from the Princess.
Platforms: PC
Crow Country
If you’re a fan of the PS1 aesthetic from survival horror games, Crow Country will be right up your alley. It combines all your favorite elements from games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill and makes a fantastically haunting psychological horror game.
This game is so well made and has some truly disturbing gameplay. It’s glorious and so reminiscent of the PS1 horror game style.
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X|S
Stories Untold
Stories Untold is a great episodic horror game, and it’s just downright creepy. It compiles four experimental mini-horror experiences and a remaster of the original episode that brought it popularity.
It has a nostalgic 1980s aesthetic and combines point-and-click with text-based gameplay, making for a surprisingly unsettling experience.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
In Sound Mind
In Sound Mind is a first-person psychological horror game with mind-bending puzzles, boss fights, and a great soundtrack created by The Living Tombstone.
You have to explore your memories, getting trapped inside your own mind. While you’re there, you’ll encounter some rather unsavory enemies and tricky puzzles. I just hope you aren’t afraid of mannequins!
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Xbox Series X|S
Outlast 2
While Outlast is a great game, something about Outlast 2 is even scarier than the first game. Perhaps it’s the fact that it takes place in multiple locations, such as a cabin and a very creepy school.
This game revolves around a cult and the evangelicals, giving the game a dark and twisty story. There are scares around every corner, and you’ll never know what to expect with Outlast 2.
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Xbox One
Layers of Fear 2
While Layers of Fear is fantastic, Layers of Fear 2 never gives you a false sense of security, leaving you permanently on edge. This game is very jumpscare-heavy but is still a tremendous psychological horror nonetheless.
Set on an ocean liner; you play the role of a Hollywood actor who wants to take the lead role in a very famous director’s movie. However, everything is not what it seems and quickly goes haywire.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Fear & Hunger
Fear & Hunger has a striking art style, giving the game a gothic aesthetic. It combines elements of survival horror and dungeon crawlers to make one of the best psychological horror experiences out there.
There is some adult content in this game, so please be warned when going forward with this game, as well as some triggering topics that may be unsettling for some players.
Platforms: PC
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia is one of the best of the best. It’s also one of the notable horror games that came out in the 2010s and gained a tremendous amount of popularity due to YouTubers like Pewdiepie and Markiplier playing it.
Just when you think you’re safe, you’re dead wrong. Next thing you know, the music is swelling, and a monster with a gaping mouth is chasing you. Or are you just going insane?
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Android, PC
The Exit 8
If you’re a fan of Spot the Difference games, The Exit 8 is the perfect game for you. You may be wondering how a Spot the Difference game could possibly be a psychological horror, but once you play it, you’ll understand fully.
There’s a false sense of security, as it looks like a reasonably normal hallway. However, things start to change and change for the worse. Will you be able to spot all of the differences without facing repercussions?
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Windows
Little Misfortune
Little Misfortune will break your heart, but it’ll also make you laugh. This game is exactly what a psychological horror should be. It worms its way into your moral compass and has you questioning every little thing you do.
Are you doing the best you can for Little Misfortune, or are you making her already difficult life even harder for her? Be warned, the guilt is strong when you play this game.
Platforms: PC, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Mad Father
It’s one of the most classic RPGMaker horror games out there; you can’t play Mad Father if you want that pixel experience. The game is a bit of a slow burn, but once you notice things going wrong, it spirals out of control very quickly.
It’s hard to know who to trust, and you go through the game experiencing a multitude of betrayals. Using your puzzle-solving skills, you have to work to uncover the truth about your family.
Platforms: Windows, Nintendo Switch
Who’s Lila
When it comes to unique games, Who’s Lila? It is one of the best ones. While it is a point-and-click adventure game, you are in charge of controlling your character’s face. You have to manipulate their face according to emotion.
You can choose whether you’ll lie your way through and come across as innocent or let William’s true intentions and feelings come through. The choice is yours, but it is a difficult one.
Platforms: Windows
World of Horror
World of Horror is one of the best love letters to H.P. Lovecraft and Junji Ito. Combining the gory elements of Ito’s work with Lovecraft’s dark and gothic stories, World of Horror is a fantastic roguelike you can dive into.
Just when you think the game has ended, it takes you for another dive down the rabbit hole, and you find yourself making decisions you never thought you would.
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5
Silent Hill 2
It’s no surprise that Silent Hill 2 is this list’s top psychological horror game. Not only does it use survival horror elements, but it is constantly lulling you into a false sense of security. Despite the dark and dingy locations you explore, there are times when you’ll feel safe, only to be ambushed by enemies.
The Silent Hill franchise is truly iconic, but Silent Hill 2 (and Silent Hill 3) are some of the absolute best of the best that you can get.
Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC
That concludes our list of the best psychological horror games you can play. Some of these are a little harder to obtain due to their age, but most games are highly accessible.
What is your favorite psychological horror game?
