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A horror game is a video game genre centered on horror fiction and typically designed to scare the player. The term may also be used to describe tabletop games with horror fiction elements.
- Why It's Hard to Define Types of Horror Games
- Survival Horror Games
- Action Horror Games
- Stealth Horror Games
- Psychological Horror Games
- Reaction/Jump Scare Horror Games
- Enjoy Different Types of Horror Games
Just like what scares us, it's hard to define the different sub-genres you might find in horror video games objectively. Unlike popular genres of gaming such as adventure games or RPGs, you'll find a lack of consistency in the gaming community on different sub-genres of horror. For example, you'll likely have heard of 'survival horror', but what ab...
Ah, survival horror. The most popular kind of horror video game sub-genre, and yet there's no concrete definition for it. Because of this, it's very easy to inaccurately class horror games as 'survival horror'. Any game where something is trying to kill you is technically a 'survival' game, but you wouldn't call Call of Duty a 'survival FPS' or The...
It's very easy to lump action horror games into the survival horror sub-genre, especially as one category often contains aspects of the other. However, action horror games are a breed of their own. Here, you'll find games such as Dead Space 1 and 2, Resident Evil 4, and Dying Light. While there might be survival horror elements, these games mostly ...
Now here's a sub-genre you might not have heard before (mostly because people incorrectly class it as survival horror). Stealth horror games consist of titles such as the Outlast franchise and Amnesia franchise. There are the games where stealth is your primary mechanic—you can't fight back. Stealth horror games usually have a very simple gameplay ...
Psychological horror games are horror games whose dominant form of scaring the player is through incorporating—you guessed it—elements of psychological horror. Here, gameplay takes a back seat to the narrative which tries to deliver an engaging, unnerving experience. Games like Silent Hill 2, Doki Doki Literature Club, Layers of Fear, Soma, and Obs...
These kinds of horror games essentially rely on being scary through racking up tension and releasing it in the form of an in-your-face scare, usually a jump scare. There isn't really much in the way of characterization, exploration of horror themes, in-depth gameplay mechanics, creature design, or lingering fear. It's all about eliciting an outward...
And there you have it! While this isn't every sub-genre of horror game, these are arguably the most popular and recognizable horror sub-genres. You'll likely have your own opinions of each as well as on other types of horror games. Which is what makes horror games—and horror, in general—so appealing; how each gamer interprets them. Regardless of ho...
- Soham De
- Former Editor
Jul 6, 2015 · Our fearful instincts evolved to protect us from dangers in the real world, so why do horror video games use patently unrealistic stimuli such as zombies and other supernatural monsters? The researchers found that perceived realism in horror video games is important in producing fright responses.
Mar 15, 2017 · It has elements that make you feel dread; the looming moon, Skull Kid, or the Mask itself, and it has elements that are meant to make you feel helpless, like how Romani will be taken away by aliens if you don’t take action. These are what are called horror elements.
Oct 9, 2022 · Not sure what types of horror games are for you? We break down different horror subgenres and dissect what makes them scary.
- Jesse Lennox
Sep 26, 2016 · Everyone loves a good horror game. Even the biggest scaredy-cats can appreciate a game that terrifies them beyond belief but somehow keeps their eyes glued on the screen. But what exactly makes...
Dec 1, 2023 · We will discuss and summarize the different types of horror games in this article.
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