Dark, Scary and Disturbing Videogames
A list of dark, frightening and disturbing videogames, the kind which give you nightmares.
I'm trying to compile a complete list, so if you see a game missing, leave a comment and I'll add it.
Missing
Divi-Dead
Thrill Kill
Murasaki Baby
Ecstatica
Deep Fear
I'm trying to compile a complete list, so if you see a game missing, leave a comment and I'll add it.
Missing
Divi-Dead
Thrill Kill
Murasaki Baby
Ecstatica
Deep Fear
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92 titles
- You control leatherface as you murder women with your chainsaw while trying to avoid obstacles.One of the early video game nasties.
- DirectorShigeru YokoyamaA side-scrolling beat-em-up based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft.Play a Jason look-a-like and murder mutants, good gory fun.
- An early PC DOS adventure game. It's dated, now, but may have scared gamers back in the day.
- DirectorAlan BridgmanMike WoodroffeSimon WoodroffeAn unnamed protagonist gains possession of a wax museum owned by his deceased uncle. The guard gives him a crystal ball, which contains his uncle's soul, who tells about a curse the protagonist must break.This weird dungeon crawler adventure game was notable for its gory death scenes and unusual gameplay. From Horrorsoft.
- DirectorFrédérick RaynalFranck de GirolamiKiyoshi OhkawaJeremy Hartwood, owner of Derceto has died recently. As either Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood, explore the now abandoned mansion to discover why Jeremy committed suicide and what terrible secret lies within the walls.Before there was Resident Evil, there was this game.
- StarsDaniel PesinaRichard DivizioCarlos PesinaSeven martial artists from Earth must battle in sorcerer Shang Tsung's super secret tournament.In the Mortal Kombat series some of the fatalitys are quite disturbing, albeit slightly silly.
- StarsMike DawsonJohn KrausePaul DrzeweickiPoint and click adventure about a phlegmatic small town horror novelist Mike Dawson who learns that his mind has been impregnated with the embryo of a monstrous alien invader from an evil alien parallel dimension.This videogame featured artwork by HR Giger and was very disturbing in its day.
- DirectorJames W. RileyRandy FieldStarsDana PlatoTracy MathesonDebra ParksStrange things have been occurring at the Martins' residence. Five teenagers have already disappeared while staying there.One of the most controversial games of all times. Despite the supposedly "shocking" content, most gamers found the game amusing and a bit camp.
- DirectorJohn BottiStarsRobert John BurkeJose VilletaSide-scrolling shoot 'em up platform game based on Frank Miller's Dark Horse comic book in which John Connor's resistance from the future meets cyborg police officer RoboCop. Together, they team up against SkyNet.The Megadrive\Genesis version featured what could be classed as gory violence at the time. The SNES version removed some of the blood.
- DirectorJoe McDermottStarsRobert HirschboeckDouglas KnappMichael PocaroAn unidentified man finds himself in the foyer of an old mansion that was once the property of a well known toy maker, a Mr. Stauf. As the man explores the mansion, he discovers that the mansion is haunted by six ghosts.This point and click horror game was forerunner to Phantasmagoria and others of its type.
- DirectorJohn CarmackTomohiko SatoStarsKevin CloudDavid KoserubaChristopher MurveyIn the future, an unnamed marine fights for survival on a space station on Mars where the Union Aerospace Corporation accidentally opened up a physical portal to Hell.This classic FPS, had gamers hungering for faster, more violent shooting games. This is included because some of the monsters are scary (or at least were at the time) and it's set in hell.
- StarsAndrew S. GavinLynn LowtonGene SovoStop the Evil Ninja Lord Gyaku from opening the Dragon Cloud temple's portal to Hell and unleashing his demon minions upon Kasumi Island and the world.This Mortal Kombat copycat, for the Atari Jaguar was panned for it's bad controls and derrivative nature, but like Mortal Kombat it features some disturbing, gory violence and fatalities.
- DirectorJohn SanbornStarsBeata PozniakKevin BreznahanMarcia PizzoSmalltime nightclub entertainer Eric Fox is a telepath hired by odd Laina Pozok to find out if one of her weird relatives had killed her father. Eric uncovers a bizarre conspiracy centered around a missing collection of mystical objects.Early FMV game. Some disturbing video scenes earned it an 18 rating in the UK.
- DirectorEitan ArrusiStarsAaron SwartzLavinia ForrestAbigail CantonData thief Sol Cutter has been infected with the Burn Cycle virus that will kill him in two hours. He must find out why the data he stole from Softech are worth killing over. The player must beat the game in two hours to win.This largely FMV game featured some literally eye-popping scenes.
- DirectorDavid WheelerStarsRobert HirschboeckDouglas O'KeeffeSaraphina JoachimIt has been 62 years ever since the murders of the six guests in Henry Stauf's abandoned mansion of puzzles. The year is 1995, and you are reporter Carl Denning, for a TV forensic program, "Case Unsolved." Your producer, Robin Morales, has mysteriously disappeared while investigating Stauf's mansion. A laptop called the GameBook has been delivered to you from an unknown source, and you drive over to Stauf's mansion to rescue her. You're the only one who can save her. But in order to save her, you need to figure out all of Stauf's brainteaser puzzles and mostly anagram riddles.Sequel to 7th guest, features more violence and complex adult themes.
- DirectorDavid MullichStarsHarlan EllisonTom MyersJulio JeinsonCD-ROM adventure starring an omnipotent supercomputer calling itself AM (as in "I think, therefore I am."). Built by the Americans as the ultimate defense system, AM accidentally became self-aware and eventually goes insane.This PC adventure game, often features in disturbing games lists.
- DirectorPeter MarisStarsVictoria MorsellDavid HombRobert MianoA young successful author and her photographer husband buy a stunning and mysterious mansion on the outskirts of a small town in New England, but soon enough start to experience maddening horrors of its previous owner.Arguably one of the first truly "grown up" video games. This is an interactive horror movie, as a video game.
- DirectorAndy HoyosStarsPaul Morgan StetlerMonique ParentRagna SigrunCurtis Craig, a totally normal man begins to hear strange voices. Could it be that he is an insane killer..?Big budget sequel, to the first one. Quite controversial in its day for its violent imagery.
- DirectorKenji EnoStarsYui KomazukaNaoko KodaAkio ÔtsukaThe crew of a research vessel on its way back to Earth are suddenly set upon by a silent predator who cannot be seen.Released on the Saturn and PC this is a survival horror game worth playing.
- DirectorHifumi KônoStarsRumiko VarnesRisa ShiraishiPeter StoneGet ready for terror as Scissorman is back to cause a bloody massacre that spread from Romsdaleen to Oslo.I couldn't find the first game, but this point-and-click survival horror features a murderer with giant shearers and some disturbing murder scenes.
- DirectorShinji MikamiMitsuhisa HosokiStarsCharlie KraslavskyInezhGreg SmithThe RPD are investigating strange cannibalized corpses on the outskirts of the city. The Alpha squad, Jill and Chris, are sent to locate missing team members. While there, mutated dogs cause them to flee into a supposedly abandoned mansion.A classic. Scary and disturbing.
- DirectorGreg MaloneStarsLani MinellaJon St. JohnLee JacksonBlonde action hero Duke Nukem takes on murderous aliens and mutated Los Angeles police officers that have taken over Los Angeles.This game was funny in places, but the Octobrains for me are one of the scariest video game monsters of all time. Some other disturbing bits such as dead bodies and women captured by aliens.
- DirectorGilbert P. AustinStarsMichael Napadano Jr.Pieter Van Der VlietM.R. EudyAmnesiac named Steve wakes up in a strange little town called Harvest, a place seemingly straight out of 1950s Americana but with a noticeably eerie and twisted pitch black dark side, that's preparing for the annual festival of blood.This point-and-click adventure featured some offensive and disturbing scenes and was actually banned in some countries.
- DirectorMike RiedelStarsTony AgeeAndrea BarrettJ. BarrowControversial top-down shooter video game where you play the Postal Dude who's goal in life is to cause as much murder and mayhem as humanly possible!This controversial video game offended many people, it has a very dark sense of humor running through it and plenty of disturbing and violent scenes.
- DirectorDenis DyackStarsSimon TemplemanTony JayPaul LukatherAriel, the Guardian of Balance, has given a young vampire, Kain, the opportunity to save his own soul and free Nosgoth from its fate. Kain alone must face the other Guardians in order to heal the land and remove his vampiric curse.Play a vampire, drink blood, murder etc - this Gothic adventure was surprisingly spooky and very immersive.