The survival horror genre is broad and popular, and not just because both survival games and horror are popular. Survival horror is about something more: the perseverance of a mortal spirit against the overwhelming tide of nightmares and danger. And gaming certainly does deliver on that promise, in many different forms.

In most survival horror games you’ll be like a child left unattended – fragile, exposed, defenseless. Your best resort is to hide, run, or risk spending the precious few resources on dealing with the enemy. Even in games with more action, of which there are a few on the list, the immersive environment, the mystery of what’s behind the corner, and the scarcity of ammo, or medkits, can make for a tense survival horror experience, in addition to explosive gameplay.

Below we’ve prepared a list of games which will not only scare you to bits, also create so much tension you might just lose your nerve.

GameReleaseGenreDeveloper
Darkwood 2017-07-17 Adventure Acid Wizard Studio
System Shock 2 1999-08-11 RPG Irrational Games
Chernobylite 2019 Adventure The Farm 51
Project Zomboid 2013-11-08 Indie The Indie Stone
Phasmophobia 2020-09-18 Horror Kinetic Games
Alien Isolation 2014-10-06 Action & Shooter The Creative Assembly
The Forest 2018-04-30 Adventure Endnight Games Ltd
Fear 2005-10-17 Horror Monolith Productions
Dead Space 2008-10-20 Adventure EA Redwood Shores
Amnesia The Dark Descent 2010-09-08 Adventure Frictional Games
Dying Light Key 2015-01-26 Adventure Techland
Alan Wake 2012-02-16 Adventure Remedy Entertainment
The Long Dark 2017-08-01 Adventure Hinterland Studio Inc.
Lone Survivor The Directors Cut 2012-04-23 Adventure Jasper Byrne
Left 4 Dead 2008-11-17 Action Certain Affinity
Outlast 2013-09-04 Adventure Red Barrels
Outlast 2 2017-04-25 Adventure Red Barrels
Silent Hill Homecoming 2009-03-02 Adventure Double Helix Games
Resident Evil 7 2017-01-23 Horror CAPCOM
Dead By Daylight 2016-06-14 Adventure Behaviour Interactive
The Evil Within 2014-10-14 Adventure Tango Gameworks
The Evil Within 2 2017-10-13 Adventure Tango Gameworks
The Medium 2021-01-28 Horror Bloober Team
Little Nightmares 2 2021-02-11 Puzzle platformer Tarsier, Supermassive Games
The Dark Pictures Anthology House Of Ashes 2021-10-22 Adventure Supermassive Games
The Dark Pictures Anthology Man Of Medan 2019-08-30 Adventure Supermassive Games
Little Nightmares Complete Edition 2017-04-27 Adventure Tarsier Studios
Resident Evil 3 2020-04-03 Action M-TWO
Slender The Arrival 2013-10-28 Adventure Blue Isle Studios
Soma 2015-09-21 Adventure Frictional Games

Darkwood

Release date:2017-07-17
Developer:Acid Wizard Studio

Imagine not only living in Eastern European 1980s, but also finding yourself on the border of a mysterious forest which appeared out of nowhere. To make matter worse, the place is populated by mutants, apparitions, and other kinds of highly disturbing and probably extremely dangerous phenomena. And now you are there to solve this puzzle, because otherwise you’ll never escape.

Darkwood is unique among survival horror, because it uses a top-down perspective. Normally you’d think it spoils the scares, but a limited cone of vision and excellent sound design make the game just as tense as an FPP horror would be. Darkwood also features a day/night cycle, which forces you to prep well for the night, since this is where monster come out to hunt.

Key features
  • A survival horror set in the Soviet Bloc, sometime in the 1980s
  • Fantastic use of the top-down perspective
  • Several endings
  • Bizarre events and creature forming the backbone of the plot

System Shock 2

Release date:1999-08-11
Developer:Irrational Games

System Shock 2 might well be one of the most influential games out there, and it also happens to an excellent cyberpunk survival horror game. No wonder it gets a place on the list. Taking place decades after the events of original System Shock, SS2 puts you in the shoes of a freshly unfrozen soldier who has to deal with an infection and other crew either dead or driven mad. Good luck.

System Shock 2 is an immersive first-person game with tight level design, nerve-wracking moments, and an engaging cyberpunk plot set in year 2114. Sure, now it looks dated (it’s from 1999), but if you’d like to see the game which Deus Ex and 2018’s Prey hail as major inspiration, you should give it a shot. You should also give it a shot if you’re starving for a good science-fiction horror.

Key features
  • To some extent: the grandparent of all survival horror video games
  • Tense, claustrophobic atmosphere
  • Set decades after the original game
  • Character progression with three distinct disciplines

Chernobylite

Release date:2019
Developer:The Farm 51

Chernobylite isn’t just a great option to play if you can’t wait to play the next STALKER game. It’s a fantastic Chernobyl-themed science fiction survival horror in its own right, with a gripping complex narrative and a phenomenal world design. You’re playing as Igor, a former employee of the power plant, now coming back to reopen old wounds related to the disappearance of his fiancée.

In the 30 years since the disaster, the Zone started growing weird a weird substance, the Chernobylite, which is of interest to scientists, the military, and weird creatures from another reality. The game creates an amazing, wonderfully immersive setting, and the atmosphere resulting from clashing agendas and the supernatural phenomena makes for a great survival horror experience.

Key features
  • Set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, three decades after the disaster
  • A useful crafting system
  • Branching endings
  • Looks amazing, with outstanding world designs

Project Zomboid

Release date:2013-11-08
Developer:The Indie Stone

Project Zomboid isn’t going to captivate you with it’s tightly-paced plot, or emotionally devastating sequences. No, Project Zomboid’s horror is more mundane: it’s the growing awareness that you’re not well-prepared and your character might not survive the night. It’s hearing the zombies outside your weakly barricaded windows and deciding if you can afford to shoot them.

Project Zomboid is, in its essence, a survival game taking place in a town overrun by shambling zombies. It