Games With Horror Vibes That Aren’t Super Scary
Enjoy spooky atmospheres and aesthetics without being petrified thanks to these great mildly scary horror games.
Posted 4 days ago
Pumpkins, witching hours, and black cats are cool. But need they always come accompanied with blood-curdling chills? Not according to these great games that let you indulge in horror vibes without jump-scares or overwhelming terror. So if you’re a skeleton lover cursed with a timid disposition, give these mildly scary horror games a go.
Strange Horticulture
In Strange Horticulture, you run a plant shop in a fictional take on England’s Lake District. The bulk of the game is spent identifying the plants stocking your shelves using descriptions and diagrams in your reference book. Locals will stop by each day, asking for specific plants or remedies they relate to. Through conversations with them, you’ll uncover and become ensnared in a tale of folk horror. One in which your prowess with plants and choices over who to aid will affect the outcome for the region and its populace.
Strange Horticulture
Release Date: January 21, 2021
Digital Only
Dredge
©Black Salt Games
Dredge is a horror game about fishing. Each day, you head out on your small trawler to complete fishing mini-games. Fill your hull with a haul to sell or gather upgrade materials to enhance your boat. But there’s something… odd about the local inhabitants, and a darkness to your absent memories. When darkness falls, it’s best to get back to shore, lest supernatural events begin to occur. How scary Dredge proves will really depend on how brave you are when it comes to evening expeditions, but it delivers an excellent horror atmosphere either way while remaining light on direct scares.
Dredge Complete Collector's Edition
Release Date: December 17, 2024
Inscryption
We’re straying a little into the realm of genuine scares with this one, but we reckon plenty of fear-fearing folk will be capable of handling Inscryption’s more unnerving elements. The setup sees you trapped in a log cabin, eternally competing in a roguelike card game against a sinister shadowy figure across the table. Lose and you forfeit your life.
What makes Inscryption so peculiarly engaging is that you can stand up from the table to discover an escape room-style environment of locked cabinets and mystery codes. To progress with many elements, you’ll need the help of cards from the game, some of which will even talk to you. Inscription’s first act is by far its scariest, and there are some unpleasant concepts to deal with like using your own teeth as victory tokens. But if you’re brave enough to handle that, there’s a properly unique puzzle to pull apart here with both heavy and humorous atmosphere.
Strange Horticulture
Release Date: January 21, 2021
Digital Only
The Tartarus Key
©Vertical Reach
We’ve enjoyed a glut of stellar retro-styled horror games recently, but if you’re keen to get in on that nostalgic look without the need to fight/flee from monsters or face masses of jump scares, The Tartarus Key is probably the pick of the bunch. It follows a woman who awakens in a mysterious mansion. One laden with deadly contraptions. As she attempts to escape and uncover why she’s even there, she encounters others held in devious traps. Saving them requires solving tricky puzzles. Mistakes may result in their death. The Tartarus Key is definitely horror, but it’s a head-scratching horror-puzzler primarily. One that wants you to take your time instead of rushing forward in a blind panic.
The Tartarus Key
Release Date: May 31, 2023
Digital Only
Luigi’s Mansion 3 or Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD
The ultimate family-friendly horror game, Luigi’s Mansion 3 sees Mario’s nervous sibling heading into a haunted hotel filled with mischievous spirits. Scares here are about as mild as they come, but you can still enjoy a soundtrack fit for Halloween, cobwebs, lightning, and things that go bump in the night. Luigi’s Mansion 3 is definitely the best of the batch, but if you’ve already completed that, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is also well worth a look – as our review notes!
Cult of the Lamb
©Massive Monster / Restart
Cult of the Lamb puts you in charge of a new and burgeoning cult of animal-folk who worship a dark and mighty ancient deity. One half of the game plays out as a Hades-like hack-and-slash as you progress through dungeon rooms, fight baddies, and aim to defeat a major boss. The other half is a gentle community management game in which you manage your followers, instructing them to build sites of worship, harvest resources, and offer prayers. Cult of the Lamb is very cutesy in its presentation, but also playfully villainous. You can, for example, create a cult which thrives on eating excrement and sacrifices anyone over a certain age to otherworldly tentacle beings. No scares, but plenty of blood-red horror paintwork.
Cult of the Lamb
Release Date: August 11, 2022
Looking for some horror vibes suited to a younger audience? Check out our roundup of family friendly games for Halloween here. Or for more fulsome fears, head over to our list of new horror games for your Halloween game nights.