Do YOU play Horror Games; if so WHAT is your favourite and WHY?

Hello! I want to develop a Horror Game for PC and Consoles, however, I need to understand WHY people enjoy playing Horror Games. 

Here's a list of Questions:

• What's your favourite Horror Game and Why?
• What environment scares YOU the most?
• What Creature/ Enemy scares YOU the most?
• Do YOU like Maze's/ Labyrinths? 
• Do you enjoy Puzzles/ Riddles?

Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this topic, I appreciate it!

1 hour ago, Swift Katana Studios said:

What's your favourite Horror Game and Why?

Penumbra (predecessor of Amnesia)

I liked this game instantly because it has that realistic physics i always wanted too see. This way the world feels both real and interactive. The game is still the best in this regard. 

After playing for a while, it really managed to frighten me. Other games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill did not work for me, so i found it surprising a video game can be that scary. First person is a must, believable world also helps here. They did not use jump scares.

It is also very good at story telling, mainly by reading notes you can find in the enviroment. The game constructs the story early on and does not throw you into something without background or reason.

1 hour ago, Swift Katana Studios said:

What environment scares YOU the most?

Claustrophobic and dark without much action and room for exploration.

1 hour ago, Swift Katana Studios said:

What Creature/ Enemy scares YOU the most?

Enemies you can't kill.

1 hour ago, Swift Katana Studios said:

Do YOU like Maze's/ Labyrinths? 

Not in 3D. People have very different sense for navigation, mine is bad, so maze could be a show stopper for me.

If you want it, make sure the enviroment does not look the same everywhere so people get lost.

1 hour ago, Swift Katana Studios said:

Do you enjoy Puzzles/ Riddles?

Yes, absolutely. Puzzle / Exploration works better for horror games than shooting monsters i think.

6 minutes ago, JoeJ said:

Penumbra (predecessor of Amnesia)

I liked this game instantly because it has that realistic physics i always wanted too see. This way the world feels both real and interactive. The game is still the best in this regard. 

After playing for a while, it really managed to frighten me. Other games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill did not work for me, so i found it surprising a video game can be that scary. First person is a must, believable world also helps here. They did not use jump scares.

It is also very good at story telling, mainly by reading notes you can find in the enviroment. The game constructs the story early on and does not throw you into something without background or reason.

Claustrophobic and dark without much action and room for exploration.

Enemies you can't kill.

Not in 3D. People have very different sense for navigation, mine is bad, so maze could be a show stopper for me.

If you want it, make sure the enviroment does not look the same everywhere so people get lost.

Yes, absolutely. Puzzle / Exploration works better for horror games than shooting monsters i think.

 

Thanks for the reply! I haven't heard/ played "Penumbra" before, I'll definitely incorporate this into my research. I too, enjoy "Photorealistic" and "Interactive" environments - these will be key elements in my Game.  Additionally, I was deciding on whether to produce the Game in Third Person or First Person, however, most Horror Games use First Person Perspective as the Field of View is limited. 

I do want to use a Maze/ Labyrinth, although I didn't realise that Navigation would be an issue until now. If the Maze was unique enough and included a Map as part of the Game, Would it still be a "Show-Stopper"?  

Lastly, What characteristics of an enemy scare you, apart from not being able to kill them? (for example; Clowns appearance).

27 minutes ago, Swift Katana Studios said:

do want to use a Maze/ Labyrinth, although I didn't realise that Navigation would be an issue until now. If the Maze was unique enough and included a Map as part of the Game, Would it still be a "Show-Stopper"?  

Hard to say without knowing more about your motivation for the maze.

However, i say i like exploration and narrow enviroments, but i also say i don't like mazes... although both can be similar. So i'll point out what i don't like about mazes as i imagine them in a game:

Repetitive, so boring (even if you stress me with monsters, which makes it just worse.).

Not knowing how large the maze is, so not knowing if there is a chance to get through at all.

Missing motivation to get through at all, eventually what comes next is just another maze.

You need to prevent this thoughts to come up. Eventually the story prepares the player to the maze and makes it interesting, so thinking: Ha - finally i am in this mysterious maze there have been so much talk about, now see what happens here...

A map of the maze would be a too trivial solution - if there is a map, then why a maze at all?

A whole game about multiple mazes in 3D... that's no good idea i guess.

43 minutes ago, Swift Katana Studios said:

Lastly, What characteristics of an enemy scare you, apart from not being able to kill them? (for example; Clowns appearance).

Spiders... although such primal fears are not that original. In general i'm hard to scare and to be honest i do not understand well why some movies scare me but others do not... it's black art to me, something psychological... can't give a good answer.

51 minutes ago, JoeJ said:

Hard to say without knowing more about your motivation for the maze.

However, i say i like exploration and narrow enviroments, but i also say i don't like mazes... although both can be similar. So i'll point out what i don't like about mazes as i imagine them in a game:

Repetitive, so boring (even if you stress me with monsters, which makes it just worse.).

Not knowing how large the maze is, so not knowing if there is a chance to get through at all.

Missing motivation to get through at all, eventually what comes next is just another maze.

You need to prevent this thoughts to come up. Eventually the story prepares the player to the maze and makes it interesting, so thinking: Ha - finally i am in this mysterious maze there have been so much talk about, now see what happens here...

A map of the maze would be a too trivial solution - if there is a map, then why a maze at all?

A whole game about multiple mazes in 3D... that's no good idea i guess.

 

Spiders... although such primal fears are not that original. In general i'm hard to scare and to be honest i do not understand well why some movies scare me but others do not... it's black art to me, something psychological... can't give a good answer.

 

• Repetitive
• Not knowing how large the maze is
• Lack of motivation
• If there's a map, then why a maze at all
• Psychological

These are interesting and important points, again, thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it.

I don't play that much horror these days, but the Half Life series left a lasting impression. Specifically Half Life 2.

Ravenholm would be the environment from that game. It's tense and terrifying. There are no friendlies around, it's all dark and quiet until something leaps out at you. There isn't much ammo so you are forced to scavenge and use makeshift environmental weapons.

As for creature, it's the Headcrabs. They aren't individually all that dangerous, but in a game where healing items are few and far between, their ability to sneak up and jump at you from any angle is terrifying. Not to mention their rapid possession of friendly/neutral characters.

Mazes are only interesting in so far as they are preventing you from escaping from something. They don't do much on their own. But given the right pursuing minotaur, they can be effective.

Puzzles are great, but don't typically have much to do with horror?

One of the scariest things I can think of from a video game wasn't a horror game at all, but it is something you should be able to apply to a new design.

The game System Shock 2 takes place on a space ship.  The crew are either dead or have been changed into monsters, and the ship is filled with rogue robots, turrets, and other creatures.

Weapons, ammunition, medical supplies, and... well, everything is in limited supply and can be hard to find.

There's these monkeys... they're small and fast, so they can be hard to hit.  They jump and run, and they're small, so they sometimes come from unexpected directions. And they have a psychic attack where they throw a glowing ball of energy at you, which can be quite damaging.

The horrifying thing isn't encountering them though... it's hearing the sounds of a monkey, somewhere nearby through the game's fantastic surround sound. You don't always know if there are one, or if there are several.  You don't know if they can actually get to you, or if they're somewhere you can't immediately access. You're low on health, and low on supplies, and there's this dangerous unpredictable thing somewhere nearby.

Definitely the most nerve wracking thing I remember from a game, if you can replicate that feeling and build on it you can create a great horror experience.

1 hour ago, jbadams said:

One of the scariest things I can think of from a video game wasn't a horror game at all, but it is something you should be able to apply to a new design.

The game System Shock 2 takes place on a space ship.  The crew are either dead or have been changed into monsters, and the ship is filled with rogue robots, turrets, and other creatures.

Weapons, ammunition, medical supplies, and... well, everything is in limited supply and can be hard to find.

There's these monkeys... they're small and fast, so they can be hard to hit.  They jump and run, and they're small, so they sometimes come from unexpected directions. And they have a psychic attack where they throw a glowing ball of energy at you, which can be quite damaging.

The horrifying thing isn't encountering them though... it's hearing the sounds of a monkey, somewhere nearby through the game's fantastic surround sound. You don't always know if there are one, or if there are several.  You don't know if they can actually get to you, or if they're somewhere you can't immediately access. You're low on health, and low on supplies, and there's this dangerous unpredictable thing somewhere nearby.

Definitely the most nerve wracking thing I remember from a game, if you can replicate that feeling and build on it you can create a great horror experience.

 

5

I've never heard of "System Shock 2" before, I'll definitely add it to my research. 

Quote

The horrifying thing isn't encountering them though... it's hearing the sounds of a monkey, somewhere nearby through the game's fantastic surround sound. You don't always know if there are one, or if there are several.  You don't know if they can actually get to you, or if they're somewhere you can't immediately accessible. You're low on health, and low on supplies, and there's this dangerous unpredictable thing somewhere nearby.

 

I agree Surround Sound in a game is probably the scariest element because it's the "Fear of the Unknown". Also, Sound doesn't describe the distance of the "Unknown" which enhances the overall experience, especially within darkness. 

Should I write the concept for my Game on the Forum so that it's easier to understand the context of my questions?

Thanks for the reply too!

On 2/18/2018 at 11:49 PM, swiftcoder said:

I don't play that much horror these days, but the Half Life series left a lasting impression. Specifically Half Life 2.

Ravenholm would be the environment from that game. It's tense and terrifying. There are no friendlies around, it's all dark and quiet until something leaps out at you. There isn't much ammo so you are forced to scavenge and use makeshift environmental weapons.

As for creature, it's the Headcrabs. They aren't individually all that dangerous, but in a game where healing items are few and far between, their ability to sneak up and jump at you from any angle is terrifying. Not to mention their rapid possession of friendly/neutral characters.

Mazes are only interesting in so far as they are preventing you from escaping from something. They don't do much on their own. But given the right pursuing minotaur, they can be effective.

Puzzles are great, but don't typically have much to do with horror?

I'll add "Half-Life" to my research. I like the idea of scavenging for equipment and creating environmental weapons as this creates more interactivity within the Game. Thanks for the reply!

I dont play any pure kind of 100% horror games like for example Resident Evil or Silent Hill or the games with lots of torturing going on. Also i dont consider Half-Life to be a "Horror" game, but it has some elements of it.

The last games which i played with a few horror elements: "Beyond Two Souls" and the recent "Doom". But thats it.