Horror comes in all shapes and sizes, but where it shines brightest is in the most unlikeliest place—the indie realm. Created by a solo dev or small team, there are so many impressive and impactful horror games that’ll surely get your heart pumping and in rare cases—tears flowing. Whether you’re a fan of the psychological, the palpable tension in the atmosphere, or just like the thrill of being scared because it makes you feel alive; then welcome to the world of indie horror.
The options are limitless on Steam and itch.io, with bite-sized free-to-play experiences or larger games with intricate narratives and disturbing imagery. You’ve probably played the iconic Cry of Fear, Slender, and FNaF, so where should you go next if you’re itching for more indie horror? We’ve got you, gamer.
Here are our top picks for the best indie horror games that have had the highest impact on our courage; sometimes making us fear our own safety, other times wonder how its story and scares can carry so much weight long after finishing the game.
Our favorite indie horror games of all time
Amnesia: The Bunker
From the masterminds behind survival horror without the means to fight back; The Bunker is the most horrifying entry Frictional Games has come up with. While Penumbra: Black Plague holds a special place in my heart, The Bunker truly captures the claustrophobic and uncomfortable feeling of confinement in the ultimate game of cat and mouse.
A macabre tale about brotherhood, madness, and the horrifying impact of war; The Bunker traps you in the darkness, with nothing but your wit and a hand crank flashlight. Managing resources comes down to your gas supply, but it’s not the darkness you need to be afraid of. It’s that crawling you hear inside the walls that should send chills up your spine—for escaping this bunker is on both your agendas—and every crank of that flashlight is one step closer to freedom or death.
FAITH: The Unholy Trinity
There’s something so unbelievably impressive about FAITH; being an 8-bit horror that delivers countless scares in its arcade-style aesthetic. I’m not sure how Airdorf Games does it, but I’ve never been so uncomfortable navigating a predominately black screen full of pixelated buildings and flat characters. There’s just so much character and passion put into FAITH, like you’ve picked up something truly cursed and have to see it through so that the evil inside manifest in the real world.
The animated scenes are absolute perfection, having so much excruciating depth and hatred in their erratic illustrations. Its sound design captures what I’d imagine true evil sounds like. Every step feels heavy, like you’re heading straight to your death yet you cannot stop playing. Tasked to exorcize demons with only your faith, The Unholy Trilogy traps you in a perpetual feeling of dread, and makes you question your strength to carry on.
IMSCARED
IMSCARED shows what horror is capable of when it’s installed as a PC game. Acting like a virus, IMSCARED is a standout game for its brilliant attempt to mess with you. Cryptic messages are hidden within your files, YouTube videos act as clues, all while IMSCARED laughs at you from afar. Much like FAITH, this game shows that simplicity can go a long way. You don’t need gorgeous or hyper-realistic graphics to portray an eerie atmosphere.
IMSCARED feels alive (similar to Buddy Simulator 1984), like malware that has become sentient, who’s desperate for a friend to play with. Even the menu music distorts when you try to play, telling you from the offset that something’s not quite right here. It’s not terrifying by any means, but its atmosphere is unique for the way the game communicates with you and what you must do to find a way out of the nightmare.
INSCRYPTION
There is an uneasiness as you play through INSCRYPTION, a gnawing feeling that there’s far more than what meets the eye. This is no ordinary video game. You’re tasked to defeat deities inside a deadly and unforgiving deck-building rogelike. Exposition is delivered through the boardgame, describing your inevitable path to Leshy’s domain. The creatures you met along the way and those who came before you, confined to Leshy’s shackles as playable cards, are lives you must sacrifice to move forward.
INSCRYPTION makes deck-building a truly immersive experience, mixing the darkness of the reality you’re in, with the live-action recordings of The Lucky Carder as backstory to how you came to find the cursed and very alive floppy disk of INSCRYPTION. The game engulfs you in darkness, keeping you curious enough to trudge through the three acts in a desperate attempt to escape, all while learning about how this cosmic world came to exist in game form.
IT STEALS
From the mind that created the fantastic Lethal Company, previously made IT STEALS; an amazing, unforgiving, and terrifying single-player indie horror. Taking the innocent concept of PAC-MAN and ruining it for good, IT STEALS throws different modes at you and hopes you won’t make it out alive.
IT STEALS is full of twisted games, both mentally and physically. The setting is hopeless, trapped in a labyrinth with monstrous entities that work in mysterious ways, but all have one thing in common—to see your end. Testing your flight or fight responses, IT STEALS wants to see you squirm, panic, and make mistakes because it’s oh so much more delicious when they’ve got you scared.
Little Nightmares
Where cuteness meets terror, you get Little Nightmares. What makes this game so special is its excellent worldbuilding with miniscule exposition. There’s no dialogue, note-collecting, or cutscenes. Yet the entire world feels alive (albeit undead), with a ridiculously creepy post-apocalyptic setting that houses unsightly, bloodthirsty creatures, whose minds are set on consuming what appears to be the last child alive in this truly messed up world.
Resembling the art direction and platforming elements of INSIDE and LIMBO, Little Nightmares carries equal weight in its awe and mystery. I have no idea what’s going on but I’m fully invested on saving this yellow-coat wearer if it’s the last thing I’ll do. The monster designs are awesome, having more depth and character than most generic creatures we see in AAA games. Little Nightmares is a side-scrolling horror with a strong, believable environment that has been crafted so perfectly, you might just want to stay in this dystopian world for good.
Murder House
While Stay Out of the House made me so nervous that I often hid in the vents to recompose myself, Murder House has a fantastic mix of comedy and frightening scenes that make it the most unique entry on this list. I adore Puppet Combo games for their art style, comedic timing, and overly aggressive jumpscares. These games want to give you a heart attack.
Murder House has a basic plot, but it works because of its quirky cast of characters that alleviate stress while simultaneously create anxiety for this is a slasher—and someone has to die first. There’s a great build that doesn’t overstay its welcome. You’re thrown into the deep end when the true survival horror truly begins, where thinking fast is essential if you want to outsmart the bunny costume serial killer.
SCP: Containment Breach
You’re D-Class, a nobody. That is until the alarm sounds inside the Foundation, a place that holds the worst evil imaginable. Escaping out of this prison alive won’t be easy. Containment Breach remains one of the best horror games ever made for the full autonomy you have. There is no right or wrong way to play this game.
The Foundation is full of SCPs, ranging from harmless entities to lethal monsters, where some can lend a helping hand as you navigate across the Foundation, hunting down keycards to reach sectors D-Class isn’t allowed. There’s a neck-breaking monster that cannot move when you look at it. A spindly-legged humanoid that hunts you down if you take a peek at its face. The humanoid mass that will move you to a nightmare pocket dimension. And the culprit: A super-intelligent microcomputer that wants freedom, and will stop at nothing to achieve it (I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream anyone?).
Signalis
The perfect mix of Silent Hill and Resident Evil brings Signalis, a dystopian nightmare unfolding before your eyes. Signalis has impressive art and level design, with excellent replayability value. There’s so much to dissect in this world that it may actually put the iconic retro horrors to shame. Your fate is entirely in your hands, but how do you make sense of what’s happening around you?
It’s only by repeatedly playing the game that the tightly wound threads begins to untangle. You’re thrown into this distorted land where grotesque monsters roam and women that look like you are either infected, dead, or petrified that their end is nearer closer and closer. The level and sound design, soundtrack, and mystery will keep you transfixed to see this journey through.
SOMA
SOMA demonstrates the power of storytelling. Showing the worst fate a human mind can suffer, SOMA is a dystopian tale told underwater. Thalassophobia is the least of your concerns when you begin to question your humanity as reality around you ventures into the mechanical. Dealing with a strong theme of identity, SOMA is a haunting story that’s captured through dialogue, action, and consequences.
The horror isn’t the monsters, but the implications of what the world has become, and what it means about those left behind. This is Frictional Games’ best narrative and is a game that should stick with you for its mind-bending, soul-crushing narrative that has me pray everyday that this won’t be our future (unless it already is our present?).
Published: May 23, 2025 04:02 pm