Top 5 Best Horror Games on Steam

Well, it's here: October has come to a close with the celebration of Halloween and it's time to close out my spooky content. I wanted to end on a high note... of sorts... and do something different.

With that in mind, I looked into different horror-themed games, and put together a list of five of the scariest ones that I could find.

Let's get into it.

5: All is Dust (2015)

Developed by Mannequin Studios LLC and released in May of 2015, All is Dust is an indie game that I found when I was looking through the various free-to-play titles on Steam. You might call this one a cheat because, unlike most of the other titles on this list, I haven't played this one yet.

Whoa! Hold up, put down the pitchforks and torches and let me explain. I put this one on the list because of the plot synopsis that I found on Steam. I quote:

"It's the year 1931, and Oklahoma has been brought to its knees by the Dust Bowl. But the suffocating dust is the least of your problems..."

Ooh, spooky! As a side note: I'm not too familiar with American history so I had to look this up, but the Dust Bowl was a time period of bad dust storms that caused all kinds of chaos for the prairies of the USA and Canada in the 1930s. With that bit of trivia out of the way, back to the synopsis!

"Take on the role of Thomas Joad, a proud farmer and father. Over the course of three nights, he tries to unravel the mysterious and horrific events that are plaguing his once beautiful land.

Explore the dried up farm to find clues to what’s going on. Evade and outsmart the dangers of the field. Unravel the events leading up to these horrific nights. Try to come to terms with your fragile existence.

All Is Dust."

What's happening to this man's farm? Why's it happening? I don't know, but I'm definitely going to find out! The game is free to play on Steam, and I think it's languished on my Steam wish list for long enough!

4: Cry of Fear (2013)

Another free-to-play title, Cry of Fear is set in a seemingly deserted Scandinavian town where you play as a young man who is suffering from amnesia, and looking for answers about where he is and what's going on.

Put that way, this one doesn't sound like much—but the music and atmosphere are great, helping to build to a scare that makes you jump. I played this particular game for about an hour or so early last year, and it freaked me out to the point where I had to switch it off and take a few minutes to breathe. Normally, jump scares irritate me, but there were more than jump scares when I played this one. You can laugh at me if you like, but this is definitely a horror thrill-ride that I'm looking at trying again.

Here's a fun fact about Cry of Fear: It started out as a Half-Life 1 mod.

3: Doom II: Hell on Earth (1994)

You're a marine fighting demons in the future, to prevent the extinction of the human race.

The oldest title on this list, I had to put Doom II somewhere. The demons are very intimidating, and the dark shadows and secret doors of each level provide ample place for them to hide! The first-person shooter style of gameplay gives us quite a thrill.

Now, unlike the other entries on this list, I have some history with Doom II. This was one of three games that kind of got me into gaming in the first place as a kid. When I was growing up, I would sit up late on Friday nights and watch my dad play computer games. Every week would be something different, but in general, the games he played were:

1. Age of Empires
2. Doom II: Hell on Earth
3. Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders

I got my start with Age of Empires as it was the tamest of the three both in terms of content and controls—It was also the title least likely to give me nightmares as a kid. I did eventually move onto the other two games as well (much to my mum's horror), but that only came about when I entered my teen years.

Considering that the game is close to 30 years old, it's still an absolute blast to play.

2: Alien: Isolation (2014)

Okay, so this is another game that I haven't played, but you can't fault me for putting it on the list!

You play as Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda, as she joins an expedition to recover a piece of equipment—apparently from the Nostromo—in the hopes of locating her missing mother. Arriving at Sevastopol Station (where this piece of equipment is), she finds the place invested with Xenomorphs, and has to survive long enough to figure out how to get out of the station before her ship leaves orbit.

Alien: Isolation was released in October of 2014, and was very well-received with particular praise being thrown at the alien's artificial intelligence. Yeah, you read that correctly: The alien in this game learns and adapts to capture its prey.

This is one that I saw a partial play-through of on YouTube, and it kinda stuck with me.

1: Doki Doki Literature Club (2017)

Don't be fooled by the bright colors; Doki Doki Literature Club is a horror game like no other. Unlike the other titles on this list, however, the horror is more psychological than physical.

You play as the newest member of the school's literature club after being recruited by Monica, the club's president. Other members include your childhood friends Sayori, Natsuki, and Yuri. You spend your days interacting with these characters, impressing them with poetry (yes, really) and doing things to help out with a school event.

So, where does the horror come in? Well... you become very emotionally attached to these characters and, spoiler alert, they die... badly. It's a punch in the gut every time it happens, and when all's said and done, you're left an emotional train-wreck.

This was my entry into the world of visual novels, and I made the mistake of disregarding the trigger warning that the game's opening screen displays. In a six and a half hour Friday night play-through, I went from "Oh, this is nice," to "NOOOO! Why?"

It hasn't ruined visual novels for me—I've played several since then but, in terms of horror games, this one definitely has to be the best that I've ever played. Yes, I would recommend the game but only to those with a VERY strong stomach! Oh, and don't disregard the trigger warning; it's there for a reason.