5 Free Horror Games Worth Checking Out
Having these sessions where I binge-play a bunch of short games has now become a habit of mine. With October being the "spooky season," I tend to do a deep dive into horror games, with this time being no exception. This mustering up of courage has now also transmitted itself into these binge sessions where I find the best-looking free games on Steam, all with low PC hardware requirements, and I'm pretty sure I found the best batch yet.
[Nightmare Files] Clap Clap
Released 4th June 2024
Developed by Raycastly
To start the horror for the night, I decided to play something that could jolt me into the experience, with that being '[Nightmare Files] Clap Clap', promptly known as 'Clap Clap'. This game was great for the 20 minutes it provides; strong atmosphere, nicely paced and built-up scares, and a short'n'sweet premise. Starting as the first in the new 'Nightmare Files' series, this anthology chronicle follows a house sitter finding something sinister happening in the neighbourhood. The PS1-style graphics, the fascinating secret ending, and more make this worth a check out.
If you want to check out this game, click here for its Steam page.
Perfect Vermin
Released 6th November 2020
Developed by Talia bob Mair & Angad Matharoo
To continue this fright night, the next game that captured my attention was 'Perfect Vermin'. The screenshots illustrated this disturbing, uncomfortable gore, alluding to some destructive gameplay given the sledgehammer's presence. And it delivers. 'Perfect Vermin' follows a quite saddening story that is depicted via body horror and the surreal direction it takes as you progress truly does feel like a "work-of-art" type of game despite its 15-minute run time. The camera shifts, the physics-based voxel design, the countdown per level, and the developing grotesqueness help produce a stronger effect for the gameplay and story.
If you want to check out this game, click here for its Steam page.
Teleforum
Released 19th October 2023
Developed by Monumental Collab
Despite how good the previous games were, I really needed a strict horror experience and 'Teleforum' seemed to fit that need. Telling its story in a visual novel format, 'Teleforum' follows a cameraman and a journalist investigating their colleague's mysterious death and its cryptic links to a VCR tape. It's just unsettling. Playing this reminded me of that unnerving moment before a jumpscare that 'Silent Hill' would drag along to an astonishingly effective degree. The eeriness builds and builds and the bizarre narrative sprinkled with clues and hints was greatly engaging throughout. I wanted to explore all of its crevices with just how unexplained things got (in a good way) and for that, I commend it and its enigma.
If you want to check out this game, click here for its Steam page.
Psychopomp
Released 30th January 2024
Developed by Fading Club
With how much I like psychological horror, and I just barely scratched that itch tonight, I wanted to satisfy it with 'Psychopomp' fully, instead, I got yet another creatively odd yet puzzling story. From what I understood of the narrative; you follow a schizophrenic girl travelling to tunnels underneath government buildings to deal with these vibrant yet disfigured creatures. It's brutally rough, with its visual, audible and narrative design, but is also equally colourful and child-like. This conflict of gnarled textures and serrated colours works wonderfully well and for those with an itch for disorganised stories waiting for the player to piece it together, this game provides a healthy amount. The equally rough control scheme of moving in this dungeon crawler and interacting with the world did damage my 1-hour time with the game, but I'm sure many will be able to look past this in return for its uniqueness. Additionally, a sequel of sorts seems to be coming out soon (25th October to be exact).
If you want to check out this game, click here for its Steam page.
Rental
Released 7th March 2024
Developed by Lonely House
To finish the night, I decided to ease it off with something that had a more simplistic horror style. 'Rental' follows Umi, an 'Animal Crossing' designed girl renting out a cabin in the middle of nowhere with her family only to find out it has some creepy connections. The PS1-style retro filter, graphics and camera positions fuel that inherently creepiness factor that many games from then had and, for what was intended for a 32-bit Game Jam, this 15-minute experience was enjoyable. You collect items around the house with the occasional appearance of a ghostly entity, and while it wasn't scary or as fascinating as the other games in tonight's binge, it was a pretty chill playtime with an equally ominous atmosphere that rounded off the night.
If you want to check out this game, click here for its Steam page.
With all that said, I'm going to keep looking for free games to scratch my itch, who knows what I'll find?
