When it comes to horror, H.P. Lovecraft could be called the father of cosmic horrors worldwide and the maker of the stuff of nightmares and madness. His stories are still told, spin-offs are still made, and people are still terrified by what is in the darkness. Games have been a great way for these stories to be brought to life, and what better time for players to seek them out than around Halloween when spooky is the name of the game?
Many of these games are older and still just as terrifying as the newer ones on this list; however, they’re all great additions to the Lovecraftian world. Players will find that not only that they are needing to leave the lights on while playing, but make sure that nothing lurks in the darkness after they’re done and have stopped playing for a while.
Updated March 12, 2022 by Tom Bowen: Despite the author having lived and died almost a century ago, the work of Howard Phillips Lovecraft remains just as relevant today as it’s ever been. It’s provided inspiration for countless movies since the author’s death, and, in recent years, has even started to have a noticeable impact on the video game industry. Many indie developers have been inspired by the writer’s work, as too have one or two big-name AAA developers. They might not be quite as terrifying as the books on which some of them are based, but these 18 games are pretty scary nonetheless.
18 Forgive Me Father
Forgive Me Father’s is not too dissimilar to XIII (the 2003 original, not the 2020 remake), both in terms of its cartoonish art style and its combat mechanics. Where the two games differ, however, is that Forgive Me Father is considerably darker, thanks in large to the seemingly endless waves of Lovecraft-inspired monsters.
The game came to Steam’s Early Access program in late 2021 and, so far, is shaping up pretty nicely. There’s still no word on when exactly the full release will be ready, though its reasonable pricing and inclusion in several bundles should be enough to temp curious players into biting now.
17 Remnant: From the Ashes
Perhaps one of the most notable Lovecraftian-style games of the past few years, Remnant: From the Ashes features fantastic co-op gameplay, a wide variety of fun to use weapons, and an interesting character customization system that allows for players to tweak and tailor their characters to better suit their preferred play style.
The wonderfully-designed bosses are arguably one of the game’s biggest selling points though, with each one providing a healthy amount of nightmare fuel. Sadly, the story can be a little generic in places and melee combat is pretty bad too, but those who enjoy taking down terrifying monsters should be able to overlook these flaws.
16 Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation
Lobotomy Corporation is one of those games that nobody realized they wanted until they actually played it. Granted, there’s perhaps not quite as much depth to the game as there is to some of the genre’s more popular titles, but players can still expect to sink 30 hours or more into this addictive monsterpiece.
Though the developers don’t cite Lovecraft as a direct inspiration, the games that they do list are all Lovecraftian in nature. Unlike some of those other titles though, this isn’t really a scary game, with the game’s focus very much on monster management rather than attempting to freak players out.
15 Sunless Sea
Sunless Sea isn’t a game that’s built around revolutionary new ideas, but instead takes old concepts and mechanics and implements them into its gameplay loop with near-flawless precision. It’s packing a really well-written story, plenty of interesting characters, and more than its fair share of death and despair.
Innovation is a wonderful thing, but there’s nothing wrong with a game drawing much of its inspiration from those which came before it. Sunless Sea does this to great effect and still manages to feel unique without really treading too much new ground. The giant angler crabs and sentient icebergs are pretty scary, but it’s the sense of uncertainty that the game is able to evoke that is truly terrifying.
14 Curse Of The Old Gods
Curse of the Old Gods plays a lot like some of the classic point-and-click titles from the nineties and doesn’t look too dissimilar either. It features some well-thought-out puzzles and a story that, while by no means spectacular, manages to create moments of real suspense while also keeping players engaged.
The writing is solid for the most part and the color palette - although perhaps not to everybody’s tastes - contributes a lot to the overall visual aesthetic and the game’s often jarring tone. It’s a little on the short side at just over two hours long, although given that the game is free to play, it seems a little unfair to hold that against it.
13 The Consuming Shadow
Developed and published by Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Croshaw of Zero Punctuation fame, The Consuming Shadow combines rogue-like mechanics with survival horror themes in a minimalistic yet surprisingly effective way. It might not look like much, but the use of silhouettes contributes a lot to the game’s atmosphere and this, in turn, makes the game far more immersive than might first appear possible.
Plenty of interesting ideas went into the game, and although they don’t all land flawlessly, most of them do lead to a better experience for the player. Some of the game’s many abilities do seem a little pointless, however, and the procedurally generated exploration areas can start to feel very repetitive after just a few hours of playing. Ultimately though, it’s a solid indie title that’s definitely worth checking out at the very least.
12 Darkwood
It may have taken a while to get out of early access, but, when it finally did, Darkwood definitely didn’t disappoint. This top-down survival horror game is truly terrifying at times and provides far more content than one might expect from a crowdfunded title. It looks great and uses lighting and color fantastically to create some incredibly intimidating atmospheres and plenty of chilling moments.
While the developers have gone on record to say that none of them had read any Lovecraft prior to working on the game, the similarities between Lovecraft and Darkwood are clear for all to see. Although not directly, it seems likely that some of the people and games that did inspire the devs had themselves taken some of their inspiration from the horror writer’s work.
11 Conarium
When it comes to creating a dark and foreboding atmosphere, Conarium is up there with the very best. The tight narrow spaces that players are forced to navigate can at times be absolutely terrifying whilst the dull, muted colors and encroaching darkness that surrounds them help to build suspense through the uncertainty that they evoke.
Had more time been spent working on the game’s script and a bit more money on hiring voice actors, this could easily have been a fantastic game. Instead, it’s one of those titles that is good in places but falls just short of crossing the greatness threshold despite its obvious potential. Even so, anybody looking for a solid Lovecraftian experience should be more than satisfied with what’s on offer here; as, for all of the game’s shortcomings, few others do a better job in this regard.
10 Call Of Cthulhu
Call of Cthulhu is a semi-open world game that is all about the player being immersed in a role-playing scenario while surviving a Lovecraftian world’s horrors and was one of the most sought after and looked forward to games of 2018. This psychological horror, based on Lovecraft’s most famous short story, is a story that requires the player to be crafty in both stealth and investigative abilities while following the character of Edward Pierce.
Edward is led into a world of horror unimaginable to the human mind while investigating a case. The game is based on the player’s choices throughout the story with dialogue, exploration, and events that will shape Edward’s sanity in the end game and the choices the player can choose from.
9 Bloodborne
Bloodborne is dubbed a ‘souls-like’ game and is in the same ranks as Dark Souls and Remnant: From The Ashes when it comes to gameplay. A lot of the lore is on par with Dark Souls in its complexity, and it has been cited as one of the greatest games of all time by critics.
There has been a card game and a comic book series based on the game, and there has been a DLC, The Old Hunters, which was released in 2015. It struggles to differentiate itself from the ‘souls-like’ tag, but, for most purposes, it’s a unique game that players will enjoy.
8 Amnesia: The Dark Descent
In another game based on preserving the sanity of the main character, players step into the shoes of Daniel, a man who is investigating Brennenburg Castle. The entire time not only is Daniel’s health to be monitored, but his sanity needs to be kept in check and is centered around the mechanic of being afraid of the darkness in which the designers meant to have the darkness become an enemy in and of itself.
Throughout the game, Daniel will have chances to avoid monsters, as he has no way of protecting himself, and opportunities to recover with laudanum. Despite being released in 2010, this is still a unique psychological masterpiece that continues to haunt players’ nightmares. The sequel, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, is coming out as an exclusive offer on Epic’s Game Store for free in the coming week.
7 The Sinking City
Released in 2019 and set in the fictional city of Oakmont, Massachusetts in the 1920s, the story follows Charles W. Reed, a private investigator who fights to find out why he’s having terrifying visions haunt him. While doing so, he becomes tangled in the mystery of Oakmont’s problems and the flood that plagues the town.
The flood brings mass hysteria and madness to citizens, and the town is on the verge of collapse when he arrives by invitation. His investigations lead to the finding of several of Cthulhu’s minions’ plots against the town, with the ultimate goal of bringing Cthulhu back to the world, and it’s his task to stop them. Earlier this year, in 2020, Nacon and Frogwares studio disagreed on contracts that temporarily removed the game from shelves until things were resolved. However, players could still get the game through other platforms.
6 Gray Dawn
A psychological thriller released in 2018 that continues to terrify and delight players, this title revolves around a priest, Father Abraham, who is trying to find a missing altar boy and finds himself in the midst of twisted religious practices.
This is a survival horror from the first-person perspective. As players follow Father Abraham while trying to prove his innocence that he wasn’t involved in the altar boy’s disappearance or the murder of several children, they are taken along to investigate, solve puzzles, and progress through the story with impactful dialogue choices.
5 The Secret World
This is an MMORPG based on horror and psychological warfare in the modern world, with Templars, the Illuminati, and an organization known as the Dragon. Each of these groups has its own agenda and helps to push players through the storyline that’s full of quests, puzzles, amazing horror, and role-play while customizing how they play the game with its skill system.
Each player is a supernatural hero working towards a better world while facing the war between good and evil, carrying out quests that will shape the world and their personal story as they progress through the game.
4 Blackout: The Darkest Night
After a few minor delays and setbacks, Blackout: The Darkest Night was finally released in mid-2021. It’s a non-linear fiction game set in a modern world, in which players find themselves following a man who has lost himself in the city streets, not remembering anything.
Flashbacks start to reveal lost memories about the terrible events that occurred and what was seen, and choices are to be made on whether to dig deeper into the mystery or completely ignore it. This is a choice-based game where all choices will affect the outcome of the ending.
3 Sundered: Eldritch Edition
In this Metroidvania game, the player follows Eshe as she navigates a horror-filled world where she is thrust into situations that test her humanity. She acquires the Trapezohedron, a being that grants her the power to defend herself, and technology along the way to help her as she finds Elder Shards and destroys them.
Each time they are destroyed, she has the choice to let them make her more powerful or save her humanity. In the end, there are two choices, remain human and stay trapped forever, or become corrupted and release eldritch darkness upon the world.
2 Eldritch
One can’t mention this Lovecraftian spin-off without also mentioning its expansion Eldritch: Mountains of Madness. In this immersive retro-aesthetic rogue-like about going into the depths of Antarctica in a 10-story dungeon that takes players through adventures in uncovering eldritch horrors and trying to live to tell the tale.
Eldritch was one of the more popular games of its genre and also of its time. It’s really no wonder why either, considering the excellent job that the game does of keeping players on their toes with the ever-present threat of permadeath lurking right around every corner.
1 Stygian: Reign Of The Old Ones
A supernatural event known as Black Day has come to the city of Arkham, Massachusetts, in which Arkham has suddenly become cut off from the rest of the world, and chaos now rules. A cult worshipping the old ones, the mob, and other entities vie for power while ‘recruiting’ new members into their fold.
Players follow the story through several characters’ choices in this RPG, thrown into a detailed world rife with eldritch horror. Each decision shapes the game and the character as they progress through a dynamic world full of atmosphere.
