The game’s masterstroke is a mechanic that makes Slender Man himself is more likely to attack if he’s being looked at directly, meaning that you’re never sure exactly where he is – unless that place is right behind you.

The treasure-hunt gameplay works perfectly with the horror atmosphere, building tension and danger with every precious page located. Slender: The Eight Pages is certainly spooky in its own right, borrowing from and contributing to the popular Slender Man mythos. While having the company of friends or allies might undermine an indie horror title’s unnerving atmosphere, Phasmophobia has a trick up its sleeve – listening to players’ microphones and responding to their communications.Īnother indie title that achieved widespread recognition thanks largely to streamers and YouTubers. This VR-compatible game invites you to assemble a crew to go ghost-hunting in a range of spooky locations. The narrative is intentionally fragmented and disjointed, inviting the player to progress through its brief story multiple times in order to better grasp its meaning.Ģ020 seems to be the year for a chain of social games to become the latest big trend, with Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, Among Us, and now Phasmophobia, brought to us by Kinetic Games. The extremely short view distance gives the game a natural horror ambience, making the player hesitant to charge ahead for fear of running head-first into whatever might be lurking in the blackness.Īrbitrary Metric’s Paratopic leans hard on the weird to achieve its horror, accurately described on its Steam store page as “a journey through a cruel fever dream world”. If you like indie horror games with the power to disturb, this one is for you.Įverything in Paratopic is crafted to convey a sense of wrongness, from the off-key soundtrack to textures that don’t properly stick to characters’ faces. In fact, IMSCARED being a game is part of its own story, and even invites the player to manipulate its files to proceed. IMSCARED, created by Ivan Zanotti’s MyMadnessWorks, is another indie horror game that loves to play with the video game medium to create its effect. As soon as you meet Gretchen you’ll thank me.

Oh, and before I forget: be sure to pick the ‘Talks to Animals’ perk at the start of the game. It doesn’t, however, and the indie horror game’s narrative really starts to gather momentum as you near the end of the first episode. It has an unmistakable hipster energy to the whole thing that, if it weren’t for the substantial talent of creator Abby Howard, would probably feel a tad cloying. Scarlet Hollow is a choose-your-own-adventure style game that takes its creative inspiration from modern indie comic books. Audiences of millions tuned in to watch the likes of PewDiePie and Markiplier get the pants jump-scared off them, transforming Five Nights at Freddy’s into a gaming phenomenon.Īs security guard covering the night shift at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, it’s your job to monitor the cameras and control the doors to protect yourself from a cast of animatronic horrors, all of whom have become just a bit murder-y now that business hours are over. FAITH sells its atmosphere with off-putting synthesised dialogue, and it scares with its marvellous rotoscoped animations.Īs Amnesia: The Dark Descent benefited from viral marketing created by reaction videos, Five Nights at Freddy’s revealed the extraordinary influence wielded by popular streamers.

The player takes the role of a priest who must revisit a derelict house in the woods to correct an exorcism gone awry. It borrows its look from early Atari or Apple II games, using a limited colour palette and low-resolution sprites to great effect. While retro aesthetics are common amongst some of the best indie horror games, adding eerie distortion effects while also helping with limited budgetary constraints, Airdorf Games’ FAITH is truly unique. Developer Team Salvato goes out of their way to make the game appear as innocent as possible, warning only that “this game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed”.ĭoki Doki Literature Club plays with its medium masterfully, twisting the well-trodden genre of the dating sim (complete with cute anime girls) to create a product that seeks to unsettle the player on a surprisingly personal level.

Doki Doki Literature Club is best played unspoiled, and even the knowledge that it’s a horror game is spoiler enough. If you’re a fan of indie horror games, skip ahead. The result of this combination is a third-wall breaking experience that forces you into playing a high-stakes game of cards with a demonic entity…while being held against your will in a ghastly cabin in the woods.

Best indie games of 2020