Best Horror Games 2021

If you’re looking for a horror game to scratch that spooky itch, we’ve got you covered with the best horror games of 2020.

Whether you’re a fan of survival horror, text-adventures, or puzzle platformers, these games are sure to make your skin crawl and keep you on the edge of your seat.

We’ve taken the liberty of including gameplay trailers where possible, along with information regarding the developer, publisher, and supported platforms for each entry.

Make sure to check back as we continue to update this list with new games in the future.

Related:Best Upcoming Zombie Games 2021 (And Beyond)Best Survival Horror Games 2021Best Upcoming Horror Games 2021 (And Beyond)

Capcom’s updated version of Resident Evil 2 is nothing short of a survival horror masterpiece. The remake features completely new graphics as well as many improvements that bring the 20-year-game up to modern standards.

In it, you control two playable characters: a rookie cop named Leon Kennedy who’s on his first night of duty, and a college student named Claire Redfield. Both find themselves entangled in a science experiment gone wrong.

As a result, Raccoon City becomes overrun with flesh-eating zombies, forcing Leon and Claire to fight for survival and escape before its too late. While the core experience is similar to the original, parts of the story are reworked to give supporting characters a bigger spotlight.

Apsulov: End of Gods is a Viking-themed horror game that blends Nordic mythology with futuristic technology. The result is an epic, sci-fi first-person adventure game that sees you trying to decipher the secrets of Yggdrasil, a mythical land comprised of nine different realms.

Throughout the game, you acquire various artifacts that give your character new abilities while equipped. Abilities allow you to interact with the world and can be used to solve puzzles or defeat enemies.

The combat system does a good job of keeping you engaged without making you feel too overpowered. Enemies pose a genuine threat and have to be dealt with accordingly. That being said, the main appeal of Apsulov stems from its detailed environments and unique visuals.

A Plague Tale: Innocence is an action-adventure horror game set in France, 1348, and tells the story of a pair of siblings who try to flee their countryside estate after its raided and their parents are killed by the English army.

The game’s historical setting also coincides with the existence of the Black Plague. This means that in addition to dealing with soldier enemies, you’ll have to work your way past hordes of plague-stricken rats.

Most of the story is spent controlling Amicia, the oldest sibling and sister to Hugo, who begins exhibiting mysterious symptoms at the start of the game. If you want a horror game with a well-written story, challenging puzzles, and satisfying combat, give this one a shot.

Lakeview Valley is a 2D murder mystery RPG with multiple endings and branching storylines. In it, you play as a homeowner who’s recently moved to the Valley and starts to notice their neighbors acting strangely.

Before you can even point a finger, the game clues you into the fact that you might be a murderer yourself. Your character frequently exhibits dark desires to commit violent acts that end up forcing you to make tough moral decisions.

Do you fight the urge to kill little Tommy from down the street, or embrace your newfound bloodlust? Depending on what you decide, the story will branch off in different directions. This encourages you to replay the game multiple times in order to see every outcome.

Little Nightmares is a horror puzzle platformer with an emphasis on stealth gameplay. In it, you play as a young girl named Six who finds herself trapped inside a strange vessel traveling by sea.

In order to make it to the surface and figure out how you ended up on the ship, Six must navigate dark and spooky passageways. Along the way, you’ll be confronted by freakish looking giants who must be avoided at all costs.

Additionally, Six experiences intense fits of hunger throughout the game that continue to get worse until a satisfyingly dark twist is revealed. The full game clocks in around three to four hours, making it a great horror game to try and play through in a single spooky session.

Prey is a first-person horror shooter with elements of stealth, survival, and role-playing games. You play as Morgan Yu, a human aboard the Talos 1 space station, which has become overrun by a species of violent aliens known as the Typhon.

The goal of the game is to gather enough resources and weapons to be able to stand a chance against the Typhon. To do so, you’ll have to explore the station’s every nook and cranny while keeping an eye out for any aliens.

Among Prey’s best features is the Typhon themselves, which consist of various sub-species with unique and terrifying abilities. Shapeshifting spider-like aliens called Mimics can easily take on the appearance of everyday objects and attack you when you least expect it.

Inside is another horror puzzle platformer with striking 2.5D visuals. The game was developed by PlayDead, the same studio behind Limbo, with both games featuring similar gameplay. In it, you play as a mysterious unnamed boy tasked with exploring a strange and silent world. 

You encounter numerous obstacles and enemies along the way, ranging from zombie-like humans to chase sequences with rabid dogs. Puzzles present unique challenges that introduce new mechanics throughout the course of the game.

While some solutions are obvious, others require you to experiment with different outcomes. Despite its brief playtime, which will run you about three to four hours, Inside’s story has enough bizarre moments and unanswered questions to warrant multiple playthroughs.

Stories Untold is a horror text-adventure game that’s broken up into four chapters. Each section tells a unique story in a different location and revolves around mysterious accidents, military experiments, and alien conspiracies.

A common theme in each tale is isolation, with the game often going out of its ways to make you feel like you’re all alone as you deal with a host of potential threats. Despite being mostly text-based, Stories Untold manages to things interesting and throw new gameplay mechanics your way.

Visually, it draws inspiration from classic horror movies and features a distinctly 1980s retro aesthetic and soundtrack. At a time when survival horror is all the rage, Stories Untold offers one-of-a-kind horror experience that pays homage to old school horror games.