Typical horror games arm players with weapons to take on the game's monsters or other antagonists, but there are also plenty of survival horror titles in which players have no means of defending themselves. In these games, all the player can do is run away, hide from, or otherwise avoid enemies.

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Horror games in which the player is defenseless can sometimes be more scary because of the player's lack of agency and power over the scary situation. Gamers looking for a a horror experience that's even more terrifying than other popular survival horror games like Resident Evil should check out these titles

Mirror Layers

The main enemy moving down the mirror world apartment hallway of the game Mirror Layers.

Released in October 2021, Mirror Layers is an asynchronous multiplayer horror game in which every player must work together to solve in-game puzzles. Created as a remake of the original game of the same name, freeware made for the Asylum Game Jam in 2016, the game invites the player to a mysterious apartment that has a mirror that the player can use to enter the mirror world.

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This Silent Hill-esque alternate reality has puzzles to solve and enemies to avoid like many other survival horror games, but the twist of this game is that players will need to use an in-game chatroom to solve the puzzles since each player's individual game only has some of the pieces. Made by both the developer that made IMSCARED and the developer that made 7Days, this game is a perfect example of effective indie horror.

Dead Secret

One of the main rooms of the house in the game Dead Secret

Similarly to other case-solving gamesDead Secret is an immersive murder mystery in which the player must gather evidence and solve puzzles to solve a case. The main protagonist is a rookie reporter who investigates the rural Kansas farmhouse of a recently deceased professor named Harris Bullard because she wants a big scoop and his death is suspicious.

Unlike many other mystery games, this game is a horror experience that forces the player to run and hide from the killer who murdered Harris. This combination of an intriguing story with real danger makes for an experience that was popular enough for the developer to create a sequel: Dead Secret Circle.

Night Shift

The main killer visiting the gas station for the first time in the Puppet Combo game Night Shift

There are plenty of great indie horror games on Itch.io, but the Puppet Combo games are some of the best with their PS1-inspired graphics and VHS filters influencing many other indie developers to create similarly old-looking games. One great example of this is the 2018 short horror experience Night Shift, which is available for download on Patreon and as part of the Scary Tales Vol. 1 collection on Itch.io.

In this game, the player works the night shift at a small gas station, and they spend the night mostly doing boring chores and serving customers. However, the player is soon put on edge when they notice a strange, white van circling the area. This creepy experience led to other, similar titles such as The Convenience Store by Chilla's Art.

White Day: A Labyrinth Named School

A schoolboy gives a note to a schoolgirl in White Day: A Labyrinth Named School.

Released in 2015, White Day: A Labyrinth Named School is a relatively obscure Korean survival horror game and a remake of the 2001 title of the same name. New transfer student Lee Hui-min sneaks into his high school at night to place a White Day gift on the desk of his crush, Han So-young. He immediately gets trapped in the school and discovers that several other students, including So-young herself, are trapped with him.

To overcome the mysteries of the school and escape, the player will need to solve puzzles, talk to the other characters, and avoid enemies such as possessed janitors and various ghosts. With multiple endings, secret ghosts, and hidden items, there is plenty of replay value.

Clock Tower: The First Fear

A young girl finds a bottle of perfume in Clock Tower

It's impossible to talk about these kinds of survival horror games without talking about one of the influential pioneers of this horror gaming sub-genreClock Tower: The First Fear. Originally released on the SNES in 1995 Clock Tower: The First Fear is a slightly updated version of the original game that was ported to the PS1, WonderSwan, and Windows. Although neither version was ever released officially outside of Japan, many fan translations exist, and the sequels were officially translated.

Based on the films by Italian film director Dario Argento, the game follows a young orphan girl named Jennifer who, shortly after getting adopted by a wealthy family, has to survive against a serial killer known as the Scissorman. With many endings and several rooms changing every playthrough, this game still stands out as an innovative title even all these years later.

IMSCARED: A Pixelated Nightmare

One of the ominous areas in the metahorror game IMSCARED: A Pixelated Nightmare

Created by one of the developers who made Mirror Layers, IMSCARED: A Pixelated Nightmare is a 2012 fourth-wall-breaking horror game in which the player slowly discovers that one of the game's glitches has developed sentience. As the player plays through the game, they will frequently have to check the game files, talk with the glitch lifeform, and restart the game to proceed.

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Even if the player downloads the newer 2016 version, IMSCARED is a bit dated, but it is significant for being an early example of a metahorror game. Despite being made by only one person, this game is a unique experience that is hard to forget.

LIMBO

A silhouetted boy faces off against a giant wolf in LIMBO.

One of the most iconic art-focused horror games is the 2010 puzzle-platformer LIMBO. In this game, the player is a nameless boy who is looking for his sister within a large forest. On his quest to find her, the boy will have to traverse many dangerous obstacles which include mechanical traps and violent creatures.

Even though LIMBO uses standard puzzle-platformer gameplay mechanics, the game stands out because of its unique monochromatic art-style. The aesthetics in this particular game would later inspire other games that also have minimalist designs and open-ended storylines.

SOMA

A mysterious monster standing ominously in a murky transport tunnel in SOMA

Developed by Frictional Games, SOMA is a 2015 survival horror that takes place in an underwater research facility called PATHOS-II in the North Atlantic Ocean. The main character, Simon Jarrett, wakes up in the facility one year after a comet destroyed the Earth and left PATHOS-II as the last outpost of humanity.

After an artificial intelligence turned all the surviving humans into bio-mechanical mutants, a woman named Catherine Chun placed the consciousness of every PATHOS-II personnel into a digital black box known as the ARK. To save the last of humanity, Simon and Catherine must work together to successfully launch the ARK into space.

Yomawari: The Long Night Collection

Two characters talking outside a house in Yomawari Night Alone

Released in 2018, Yomawari: The Long Night Collection is a port of both the original game, Yomawari: Night Alone, and its sequel, Yomawari: Midnight Shadows, for the Nintendo Switch. Both games focus on young girls who must explore a town at night with only their flashlight to light the way while avoiding enemies and solving puzzles.

The first game follows a young girl as she goes on a journey to find her sister and her dog, Poro, within a town filled with strange creatures. Meanwhile, the sequel follows two friends, Yui and Haru, as they search for each other after getting separated in a strange town following a summer fireworks festival.

The Crooked Man

A screenshot of a boy in a living room in The Crooked Man game.

Based off the Silent Hill franchise, The Crooked Man is a 2012 RPG Maker horror game that follows a man named David Hoover who has recently moved into a new apartment during a rough patch in his life. While living in the new apartment, David starts noticing strange, supernatural events such as things moving on their own or messages being written on his walls, which eventually leads to him searching for the previous tenant.

As David journeys to discover what's going on, he visits three different locations and meets three different characters. Each of these locations and characters connect to David's own struggles, which leads to him developing as a person while also trying not to get killed by the entity known as the Crooked Man.

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