Summary
In most horror games, the player is cast into the role of the unlucky survivor who finds themselves thrust into a truly horrific situation, relying on their wits and whatever they can get their hands on to fend off the killer, rather than being the killer themselves.
But this is not the case for all horror games, as there are a select few titles that flip the script on its head, allowing the player to inhabit the body of the killer, whether that is a fact they are aware of from the start, or a shocking twist that arrives at the end.
Spoiler Warning: Some entries on this list contain major story spoilers, even just by being present on this list. Proceed with caution.
A CIA cryptanalyst by the name of Adam leaves the hustle and bustle of the city with his wife Emma, moving them both to a remote, rural house, where he believes he will have the peace and quiet needed to crack a tough military code that could prove vital for the outcome of the Cold War. But this new place isn’t quite as tranquil as he hoped after discovering the diary of a man named Nicholas Hyde in the attic who lived in this house years ago, changing the course of Adam and Emma’s loves irrevocably.
The game ends as it begins, with Emma tied up and being interrogated. It turns out that Adam was the one questioning her, and many of the game’s endings lead to him killing her, as was shown at the beginning of the game. As someone who was quite adevoted husbandfor most of the game, it came as quite a shock to players, who were sure the killer at the start must be someone the player was supposed to stop, not the player character themselves.
In the firstBioShockgame, Big Daddies were the most imposing threat in the game, as they were far more dangerous and far more frightening than the splicers. Players always had a tough time on their hands facing one of these dive-suit-wearing goliaths that could kill unprepared players with ease. Even players that were sure they were ready would most likely have found themselves burning through all their resources, including their courage.
And then the sequel arrived, which placed players in the shoes of one of these fearsome killers to tear apart any who got too close to their Little Sister. It was a breath of fresh air to play one of these creatures rather than a hapless and unfortunate human who found themselves stuck in Rapture.
This hand-drawnhorror visual novel starts with a rather simple premise: enter the cabin in the forest, find the Princess locked in the basement, and kill her, as the world might come to its premature end should she escape alive. Though the player is free to make choices that will lead to different endings, the clue is the name —Slay the Princess.
Through certain loops of the game, players might unearth more truths surrounding the situation as to why the Princess is so feared that she has been locked away, and why the player must kill her. As it turns out, the Princess may in fact be more dangerous than her appearance suggests, and the player, while a killer, might be one who is sacrificing one life for the good of all.
In a game where a horrific,The Thing-like creature has breached containment, most horror games would have the player as a scientist or armed guard, tasking them with the mission of killing or capturing the beast. ButCarriontakes things in a whole different direction, as the player is the amorphous creature in question as they make their escape from the facility.
Many humans will be in their path, and so the player must kill all those in their path, developing new skills such as dash (which allows them to break through barricades) and becoming larger and larger until there is no hope of stopping them. A novel"reverse-horror" game, Carrion is certainly for those tired of playing the survivor in these situations — those who want a breath of fresh air in horror gaming.
The asymmetrical multiplayer horror game that has not only survived but thrived over the years,Dead by Daylightpits four survivors against one killer in a trial. The survivors must evade the killer and complete the objectives to escape with their lives. The killer’s job is to hook the survivors enough to sacrifice them to the entity, or they can use a mori to kill them in a creative way.
Both sides of this game obviously have very different styles of play, and the variety of killers (each with their own unique powers) makes killers even more diverse, but this is also one of the main draws of playing them. That, and players have the opportunity toplay famous horror iconssuch as Michael Myers from theHalloweenfranchise,Scream’sown Ghostface, and even Springtrap fromFive Nights at Freddy’s.
One of the many indie horror games inspired by the highly successful butultimately doomedPT,Visageis a rather dark and somber game that places players in the shoes of Dwayne Anderson, who committed familicide before the events of the game begin. He awakens in his house, the room covered in bloody evidence of his wrong-doing, and immediately searches for a way out of the house.
It is not so simple as just walking up to the front door and opening it, as strange events begin occurring, with players witnessing the gruesome fates that befell those that lived in this house before him, each having their own horrifying chapter dedicated to them. Whether all of this is his transportation to the afterlife or his own personal hell is up for interpretation.
In a fictional location known as Carcer City, death row inmate James Earl Cash is set to be executed via lethal injection, but it turns out the needle was actually filled with a sedative, as someone known as the Director has other plans for Cash — his freedom, in exchange for his services.
His services are killing those the Director tells him to, and the player has no choice but to play along, hunting down the gangs and killing them in such a brutal fashion that many countriesoutright banned the game. But those who did manage to get their hands on the game had the chance to play a shocking horror title that pulled no punches. Players could at least take some comfort in the fact they weren’t taking the lives of innocents, at least.
James Sunderland is summoned back to his and Mary’s once favorite vacation destination: Silent Hill. Despite Mary having supposedly died of a disease three years ago, he receives a letter from her calling him back to their special place. Although he knows it is impossible, he comes back regardless, and sets about searching this town for her, only to see it is devoid of people, now a town full of monsters.
For the entire game, players believe what James has told them about Mary’s passing, but a videotape found toward theend of the game reveals the actual truthbehind her death, which is that James killed her with his own hands. He buried the truth all along, suppressing his guilt and grief until players see the truth in what was one of the most shocking twists in horror gaming history.
