Dang, 2024 was a big year for horror game fans

When it comes to new horror games, there are times of feast and famine, and last year we gorged ourselves until our bellies bulged and our mouths dripped with ghoulish grease. In 2024, we received a rich spread of dark experiences from solo creators, indie teams, AA developers and AAA studios in a wide range of genres and visual styles. There was a fantastic Silent Hill 2 remakes and robust updates to contemporary classics such as Phasmophobia, Alan Wake 2 and The Outlast TrialsAnd there was also a steady stream of brand-new horror franchises expanding the genre in unexpected ways.

First, let’s take a moment to celebrate a fresh horror universe exhibition of the year. In 2024, we have the following new titles:

This is not a complete list of new horror franchises in 2024, but it is an adequate demonstration of how vast and varied the offerings were this year. Indie studios lead the charge when it comes to fresh ideas and original mechanics, of CorsicanBut there are also plenty of references to early 2000s graphics and PS1- or PS2-survival horror in this list. The combination of innovation and nostalgia is particularly powerful in titles like Fear the Spotlight, Crow Country, Mouthwash and Hollowbody. These games infuse blocky 3D worlds with modern sensibilities and fluid animations, resulting in experiences that illuminate static memories of Resident Evil and Silent Hill that stay in our heads. This is how we want those games to feel, fixed camera angles be damned – or, in the case of Hollowbodyembraced with love.

It should also be noted that Fear the Spotlight marks acclaimed horror filmmaker Blumhouse’s debut as a video game publisher. Fear the Spotlight is the first release in Blumhouse’s lineup – which includes future titles from OVEN EYESHalf Mermaid, Perfect Garbage, Playmestudio and Vermila Studios – and it’s an excellent exploration of low-fi teenage drama and fear. The horror game revolution is upon us and Blumhouse absolutely has to take a piece of it.

The least horror-like game in the list above may be Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the GoddessAnd it also happens to be the only title from a AAA studio. I included it because, as a dedicated fan of horror games, I think so Kunitshu-Gami checks a lot of boxes: It features huge, disgusting demons and a lethal force that envelops entire cities in skeletal yet strangely juicy organic material. His monster designs feature colorful displays of lasciviousness and body horror, and there’s comfort to be found in his tense strategy-action gameplay loop. Kunitshu-Gami It wasn’t marketed as a horror experience, and certainly contained as many scenes of stunning beauty as grotesquerie, but I highly recommend it to any horror fan. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

INDICATE is another entry that straddles the genres of horror, camp, and religious satire, but certainly features a few scenes of piercing terror. Plus, the literal devil is your friendly companion throughout the game, and that has to count for something. Between scenes of pain, inhumanity and devastation, INDICATED it’s a laugh, and it’s a prime example of mature themes handled well in video game form. Another genre-bending standout from 2024 is Simogo Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. It contains incredibly satisfying logic puzzles in a hotel made of mysteries – but ghosts haunt the corridors, there’s a corpse in the back garden and every scene oozes with palpable unease. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is one of the best and most disturbing games of the year, period.

Still Wakes the DeepMeanwhile, it offers a familiar and beautiful brand of monster-stalking horror on an oil rig in the middle of the angry North Sea. It’s a must-play game for any horror fan, acting as a vessel for The Chinese Room to demonstrate its skills in building authentic worlds and cultivating relentless tension with a paranormal edge. Plus, it’s one of the best looking games I’ve played on PS5 all year. Slitterhead it’s another for action-horror gamers, featuring a supernatural mystery set in a version of Hong Kong that’s been infested with body-ripping demons, with buckets of blood and frantic close-quarters combat.

The year begins with the release of Home Security Hotlinea 1990s call center simulation where players help diagnose and treat household pests, which include otherworldly threats such as Bed Teeth, Fae Flu, The Horde, Laundry Gnome, Mirror Nymph, Toilet Hobb, Unicorn Fungi and others. Home Security Hotline was truly the amuse bouche of the horror game of 2024 – and Mouthwash it’s dessert.

All children of horror today they play Mouthwasha polygonal first-person romp through a stranded spaceship full of doomed crew members who are still losing their minds, survived by a maimed captain with a maniacal, bandaged grin. Mouthwash it’s weird and claustrophobic, and it’s a fabulous way to end the year in the horror game.

But we haven’t even talked about existing franchises. U Silent Hill 2 remake by Bloober Team, the Polish studio behind Layers of Fear and Blair Witchit was a brilliant success, even in the face of demanding standards from long-time fans of the series. The remake looks and feels like the game that players remember, only spit and smoothed, and Silent Hill 2 it remains as terrifying in 2024 as it originally was in 2001. Maybe even more so. The Bloober team had a lot to show with this one, and they did us Millennial older horror gamers proud.

Alan Wake 2 was one of the best games of 2023, horror or otherwise, and received two significant batches of DLC this year: Night Springs landed in June and The Lake House went live in October. Every bit of content not only keeps the hellish world of Alan Wake alive, but adds depth to the cross-franchise universe that Remedy is building between Control and Alan Wake. Personally, I still want more Alan Wake, and in that regard, 2024 did not disappoint.

Two live-service indie games, The Outlast Trials and Phasmophobiahas also seen major updates in the last 12 months. After entering early access in May 2023, The Outlast Trials studio Red Barrels has been working to establish a solid cadence of new content drops, and this year they really got into the groove. The Outlast Trials launched in March 2024 and has received several updates since then, introducing new enemies, maps, game modes and limited-time events for players trapped in Murkoff Corporation’s secret Sinyala facility. The amount of work that Red Barrels put in The Outlast Trials is infinitely impressive, especially considering that there are only about 65 developers in the studio.

Phasmophobia has an even smaller team than Red Barrels, but they’re making big moves. The crew from the British studio Kinetic Games watched Phasmophobia alive since its launch on Steam in September 2020, and this year, they finally brought the ghost hunting game to consoles. Phasmophobia to blame PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 29, and is also coming to PS VR2. Kinetic Games has big plans to continue to support and expand Phasmophobia in 2025 and beyond, so even if the release of the console happened four years after the launch, this is really only the beginning.

Here it is – our humble ode to horror games in 2024. It’s been a decade of indie innovation and gorgeous gore, with a platter of fabulous refreshes and great updates. Some new horror games push against the boundaries of the genre, expanding our ideas of what is scary and why, while others find fresh ways to dissect classic tropes. It’s a case of modern cuisine versus comfort food, and on my plate, there’s plenty of room for both.