Key Takeaways
- Co-op horror game Phasmophobia delivers intense scares with friends, making it a standout on the list.
- P.T.’s stunning atmosphere and art direction revolutionized horror games, leaving a lasting impact.
- Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly excels in J-horror influence with a rich storyline and vulnerable gameplay.
It’s hard to think of a more dominant subgenre in horror than the supernatural. Primarily defined by horror games that feature ghosts, demons, or a variety of angry spirits, the supernatural is a great eerie device that devs have used to incredible effect to craft loads of great scares.
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This list is ranked to represent some of the best supernatural horror games ever made from a variety of consoles and play-styles that have delighted and terrified gamers for decades past and many more to come.
5 Phasmophobia
Co-op Horror Bonanza
- Released
- September 18, 2020
- Developer(s)
- Kinetic Games
While some supernatural horror games may be scarier, few games have managed to fuse the feeling of ghost-hunting with cooperative play quite as successfully as Phasmophobia, earning a spot on this list. It’s not just hilarious with friends, but it consistently delivers incredible scares that will send your pals screaming in horror at the game’s gallery of ghosts.
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The supernatural is a perfect complement for multiplayer gameplay. Because the ghosts can show up at any time, and in any place, players are constantly on edge and feel like they’re being hunted. Paradoxically, things can get scarier when playing with friends, because when one ghost-hunter gets separated from the pack, who knows what might be lurking in the darkness to give them the fright of their life.
4 P.T.
The Greatest Demo Ever Made
P.T.
Horror games tend to accumulate rabid fanbases, but no demo has ever shaken the world quite like P.T . Released as a surprise by none other than Hideo Kojima in 2014, the game was actually a stealth announcement of the sadly canceled game Silent Hills which would have rebooted the series.
However, despite P.T. being no longer available for download and only being a short demo, its stunning art direction (particularly its photorealistic graphics), masterful creation of atmosphere, and delightfully devilish premise of simply walking down the same corridor a bunch of times deliver some of the most memorable scares in horror game history, more than earning its spot on this list.
3 Amnesia: The Dark Descent
The Game That Changed Horror Forever
Amnesia The Dark Descent
- Released
- September 9, 2010
- Developer
- Frictional Games
Though the reputation of Amnesia: The Dark Descent has waxed and waned over its lifetime, it’s hard to deny that it single-handedly revolutionized the horror space, creating a space for mountains of great indie horror games to release during the 2010s and prompting a boom in the subgenre and a great entry point for beginners.
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That’s to say nothing of the actual game which is an absolutely delightful horror game full of engaging sound design, dripping with atmosphere, and packed with terrifying monsters that the player can only hide from. Amnesia: The Dark Descent‘s influences are all over modern horror gaming, and it still holds up beautifully on its own.
2 Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly
Capture The Perfection
Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterly
- Released
- December 10, 2003
- Developer(s)
- Tecmo
Japanese game devs have a masterful hold over horror games, and one of the best examples of J-horror’s large influence is Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly. The second, and widely regarded to be the best entry, into the Fatal Frame franchise follows twin sisters Mio and Mayu as they explore the unsettling All God’s Village with their camera obscura.
The disturbing story, richly drawn Japanese folklore, and sense of vulnerability that permeates every pixel of the game make it a dread-filled experience to play, but undoubtedly one of the best examples of supernatural horror ever made.
1 Silent Hill 2
The Best There Ever Was
Silent Hill 2
- Released
- September 24, 2001
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
As if there could be any doubt. Silent Hill 2 is one of the most beloved supernatural horror games of all time, as seen in the great reception to the new remake that made some much-needed changes. While the game definitely shows its age in places, its central emotional effect is so astounding that it is well worth seeking out today.
The game follows James Sunderland who arrives in the town of Silent Hill to try and find his wife. What results is a journey through the bleak hellscape of James’s mind, rendered through the town of Silent Hill, resulting in some of the most atmospheric and emotionally powerful scenes in horror gaming. Ghosts become a masterful metaphor for grief and guilt, making this one of the very best supernatural horror games ever made.
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