Steam is one of the key reasons that gamers like owning a PC. It is chiefly due to PC gamers’ exposure to an enormously diverse range of games on Steam, such as God of War or the horrific game Outlast, which will cause many people to have difficulty sleeping. Today, we focus our attention on the latter.
Horror video games have found a way to keep the genre fresh and fascinating, whether paranormal, psychological, or blatant gore. The genre has received a much-needed breath of fresh air with the present-day releases of indie horror titles like Phasmophobia and MADiSON.
Gaming marketplaces like Steam are frequently flooded with games to play, ranging from independent creators to triple-A titles. Yet, finding a good horror game to play might be difficult at times. Fortunately, this list will help shed light on some of the top Steam horror games that deserve more attention.
So gather your pals, turn off the lights, and get ready to be terrified. We will explore some of the best free horror games on Steam, and you will like to experience the eerie fun!
Horror Subgenres on Steam
Horror video games can be among the most intense gaming experiences available. However, what type of horror game you’re playing or what you will enjoy playing sometimes needs to be clarified.
What kind of horror is for you? Let’s dive into each horror subgenre Steam offers and see how they induce fear in players.
➡️ Survival Horror Games
Survival horror is arguably what powered horror games into the mainstream. It is where video games like Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil, and Clock Tower fit in, and it is still the hottest subgenre in horror games.
These games incorporate elements from all of the others on this list. There is combat, albeit you are almost outmatched in power, resources, ability, or sheer numbers. Puzzle elements are frequently present, though not necessarily.
Survival horror games, when well-designed, will keep players constantly fearful about running out of supplies. Fear in survival horror bleeds into the actual world without breaching the fourth wall by entering the player’s thoughts whenever they need to pick what item to take, an adversary to kill, or a healing item to use!
➡️ Stealth Horror Games
It is a horror subgenre you might not have heard of before, with Outlast and Amnesia being the best examples. There are games where your primary mechanic is stealth—you can’t fight back.
The gameplay loop in stealth horror games is simple: sneak past adversaries from point A to point B. There may be a few puzzles, extra mechanisms (such as sanity in Amnesia), or items that flesh out—even tell—the plot, but you’ll largely be sneaking past foes.
Even if all you can do is survive, stealth horror games are not survival horror games because there aren’t enough gameplay components to keep track of your survival. As a result, stealth horror-based games often feature jump scares or similar aspects to make the players hooked, fearful, and stay invested.
These games are either a hit or a miss. On the one hand, gamers can enjoy the frantic hide-and-seek gameplay and overall look of these games. Or, they can feel extremely monotonous, ultimately bored instead of scared!
➡️ Action Horror Games
True horror fans often ditch action horror, and for a good reason. These are action games but set in a horror theme. Think about Resident Evil 6, the Dead Space series, or F.E.A.R. They’re more like touring a haunted house with an assault weapon – you can jump here and there, but you have the power to fight off anything that comes your way quickly.
Action-based horror games tend to move quicker than survival horror games. Also, they’re intense and more gripping. Yet this could backfire for certain players, particularly those who prefer slow-burn terror.
➡️ Psychological Horror Games
Psychological horror games are horror games that scare the player primarily by including—you guessed it—elements of psychological horror. In this case, gameplay takes a back seat to the narrative, which seeks to create a compelling and unsettling experience.
Take titles like Doki Literature Club, Layers of Fear, and SOMA. The enduring, lingering impression left by a horror game is what distinguishes it as a true psychological experience. The game must sow seeds of doubt and leave a lot of uncertainty for them to become entrenched in the player’s memory. A true, fantastic psychological horror game will drive you to ponder or question aspects of yourself unrelated to any monster’s terror.
➡️ Reaction Horror Games
These horror games rely on building tension and unleashing them as an in-your-face scare, with a jump scare to be terrifying. There needs to be more in terms of characters, horror topic exploration, in-depth gameplay mechanics, creature design, or residual fear.
It’s all about getting the player to react, which is ideal for the Let’s Play community. The most well-known games of this type are those in the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise. Sure, there are strategic components and a story, but the main way FNAF aims to scare you is through jump scares.
➡️ Supernatural Horror Games
Did you wish to stay and play a computer game with a theme of supernatural twist to it? While it is a niche subgenre, the truth is that there are a wealth of games that give some otherworldly hijinks for those looking for that. Supernatural horror doesn’t always mean scary. Take Casper or the Boos from the Mario series as examples.
Yet you can find titles like Oxenfree or Castlevania that feel like the epitome of Halloween night. This subgenre is for those who love to enjoy a darker take on their favorite gaming experiences.
Whatever your preference is, there’s always a horror subgenre that is bound to get under your skin if you feel the urge to move a little outside your comfort zone!
Multiplayer Options in Steam Horror Games
Horror games have long been popular among gamers, and in recent years, multiplayer horror games have grown in popularity. Whether it’s an open-world, action, or horror game, tagging along with your buddies is a wonderful sensation enjoyed by gamers all over the world. Steam has many free multiplayer horror games, ideal for individuals who want to share the excitement of a horror game with their pals.
Players like the pure adrenaline and fear that a horror game provides. Some horror games can be downright terrible on their own, but when paired up with a friend, the need to rely on someone in a stressful and unpleasant circumstance can make things much scarier. Or in some cases, this fear can be transformed into a good laugh.
A few horror games are highly competitive, while the rest are cooperative, but they depict that the impact of people doesn’t make it less frightening. They range from cooperative first-person shooters to cutscene-heavy narrative games and everything in between.
So, whatever a group’s preferences, there is a horror game that they can all enjoy together.
Now that we have done with the introduction, let’s get down to the list of the best horror games on Steam. Whether you favor gore, survival horror, text-based shivers, a little action, or even a deck builder, this list has something for horror enthusiasts – even if you can’t bear a jump scare.
Here are the best picks!
Dark Deception
Dark Deception is like Pac-Man, apart from pink-colored shards rather than tiny yellow balls and horrifying monkey bellhops instead of ghosts. The vast maze players are forced to navigate similarly terrifyingly, with no safe havens to shelter to regain their breath.
The last detail makes Dark Deception a terrific free-to-play horror game since players must stay vigilant for the entire gameplay. Understanding that the wicked monkey is masking in the corner is terrifying, as it’s being learned to find the way forward shut off by another.
Developer: Glowstick Entertainment
Publisher: Glowstick Entertainment
Release Date: September 27, 2018
➡️ Check it out on Steam.
Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2 hits the right blend between tense action and humor, making it one of the most rewarding co-op horror games you’ll ever play!
It is a popular cooperative game where four friends attempt to survive a zombie apocalypse. One of the most difficult aspects of L4D2 is its AI, known as The Director. The better you play, the more zombies you get, so you cannot get too comfortable.
With 13 campaigns, including the previous game’s campaigns, Left 4 Dead 2 contains incredible material. There are numerous achievements, and determined gamers can push themselves with difficulty modes and accomplishments.
Developer: Valve
Publisher: Valve
Release Date: November 17, 2009
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard revived the Resident Evil environment and delved deep into its survival horror roots. The earlier versions felt much more action-oriented than some of the prior entries, primarily focused on the survival horror parts. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard reintroduced the thrill of feeling helpless in the face of an attacker.
The game runs beautifully on various PCs and has some dark, twisted moments with an accent of beauty thanks to the realistic environments that they developed. In short, it’s definitely one of the best Resident Evil games you can play today!
Developer: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Publisher: CAPCOM Co., Ltd
Release Date: January 24, 2017
➡️ Check it out on Steam.
The Evil Within 2
Advancing within the path of horror’s traditional tropes and norms is quite challenging, but one that The Evil Within 2 can handle with much ease. Tango Gameworks successfully incorporates old-school horror design inside the limits of a semi-open area, resulting in a fascinating voyage into a world of horrors.
The Evil Within 2 expands on what makes survival horror games great: the emphasis on disempowerment and hurdles and the joy of surviving a terrifying assault. With a lengthy and unexpectedly packed 15-hour campaign, the sequel does a good job of ramping up the suspense. It scares you when necessary while allowing you to explore and advance as you see fit.
Developer: Tango Gameworks
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Release Date: October 12, 2017
➡️ Check it out on Steam.
Outlast 2
Outlast 2 may not be for everyone as a trial-and-error stealth game, but it is thematically one of the more interesting games on our list. As a writer looking for a missing woman in Arizona, your wife is abducted early on by a deranged cult, the origins of which are revealed through letter fragments throughout the game.
You explore dark regions using your camera’s night vision mode, and it’s terrifying as hell, with a whole village out to kill you and some of the most gruesome visuals ever packed into a game.
Developer: Red Barrels
Publisher: Red Barrels
Release Date: April 25, 2017
➡️ Check it out on Steam.
Dead by Daylight
Dead By Daylight is an asymmetrical multiplayer game, which means that 2 teams must fulfill distinct objectives to win the game. In the game, the killer must eliminate all survivors from each team. The survivors must sneak around the map, avoiding the killer while amassing generators, opening the exit, and fleeing.
It creates a cat-and-mouse game in which players must master distinct killer classes like Michael Myers from Halloween and survivor classes with varying abilities to produce the greatest potential conclusion for them to win. It’s a game that builds tension whether the player is being pursued or searching for survivors.
Developer: Behaviour Interactive Inc
Publisher: Behaviour Interactive Inc
Release Date: June 14, 2016
➡️ Check it out on Steam.
Little Nightmares
Little Nightmares expertly depicts the exciting fear of being pursued by something hunting you. It also recreates the foreign dread of being a child who doesn’t understand what’s happening around them and of apparently familiar surroundings being transformed into a succession of options for protection and danger.
This distinct horror game is smart, nasty, and bizarre; and will leave you wanting more than its limited five hours of gameplay.
Developer: Tarsier Studios
Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
Release Date: April 28, 2017
➡️ Check it out on Steam.
Friday the 13th: The Game
Friday the 13th: The Game is an action horror game with a multiplayer component. The survival-action game pairs one player (who plays Jason) versus seven hopeful survivors (who play as camp counselors) and is firmly rooted in those old slasher flicks’ overall mythology and legacy.
The game depends and focuses on offering a cat-and-mouse, hunt-or-be-hunted dynamic in an online multiplayer game. Thus there needs to be more story or subtlety to the action here.
The game’s superior aspects are brought to life mostly by the spirit of collaboration and communication it indirectly encourages, which should be noticed. However, it is overshadowed by the tremendous quantities of violence and gore witnessed when characters are slain in horrible ways.
Developer: IllFonic
Publisher: Gun Media
Release Date: May 26, 2017
➡️ Check it out on Steam.
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier is an episodic adventure video game produced by Telltale Games based on the comic book series The Walking Dead. It is the third installment in The Walking Dead series and the sequel to The Walking Dead: Season Two.
A New Frontier tells the story of the enigmatic visitor Javier while continuing the quest of young survivor Clementine as they both seek answers in a world ravaged by the undead.
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Skybound Games
Release Date: December 20, 2016
➡️ Check it out on Steam.
Wrapping up
Whether it’s Halloween or not, playing horror games alone or with friends is thrilling. The jump scares, gut-wrenching situations and creepy adventures are exciting. And here is our list of the best horror games on Steam that you can download and enjoy right now.
Whether you play with friends or strangers online, these games will deliver hours of eerie fun and excitement. Each game has its own distinct set of features and challenges. They will keep you on your toes and make you scream with laughter or fear.
So, what are you waiting for? Grab these games from Steam today, and get ready to be surprised!
And, if you’re looking for the overall best picks to play from Steam right now, check out our list of the best Steam games!
