Your Ideas for a Great Horror Game

Hello everyone,

i just wanted to start a discussion/thread on your ideas for a Horror Game....if you could start from scratch and not be bogged down by existing game genres/limitations what would you love to see in a horror game?

by that i don't mean, chopping up characters, blood splatter everywhere...but what would make you jump out of your seat and drop the joystick while you were playing the game or kind of make you feel scare you with anticipation when taking the next step/going into the next room, etc?

no limits, any and all ideas are welcome!

Limited bullets with the player will make him scared every time trying to discover a new place.

I love psycho stuff like Slenderman.

Just yeahh ...sound and things you don´t see

I would really like to see a BRIGHT horror game. Or at least one that has some bright sections, not just being in some dark room all the time. I think Silent Hill understood this well with the fog sections. Although there these were more open and "relaxing" in a way I'm sure it is possible to create tension and fear without using the usual darkness and enclosed space.

For example - have these open areas wherein something can attack you and you are forced to stick to building or such and quickly sprint from one to another. And as you go you hear a voice: "I seeeeee youuuuuu" or something like that. And if you take too long it just instantly kills you (or deals a good chunk of damage). This needs to be well balanced as not to become annoying, but it could be exciting and create actual fear as you dash from spot to spot.

I like to see a creepy game, with creepy art style(or not). Nothing violent/gore/scary about it, but it has a very unsettling feel to it. (something out of the normal way of presenting horror games)

Avoid the cliches of horror games, because they're too many and it gets old.

A good storytelling in a horror game is better than just spooks & jumpscares.

By the way, I love FNAF. Great idea, great presentation!

One of the best indie horror game : LONE SURVIVOR.

Play the demo for free from the owner website, you will learn much about horror from this game.

I love the atmosphere of Dead space a lot!

By the way, i really think that It's easier to make a good Horror game in 3d than in 2d. Or does anyone have an example for a cool 2d Horror?

A game set in an alternate universe where Microsoft controls the world, and the only OS available is...

...Windows Vista.

Beaverlicious

LONE SURVIVOR : 2D horror game.

i wanted to thank you all for sharing your ideas and commenting on this thread. your ideas have helped me, so please keep sharing and commenting

i would first come up with the idea of the layout of your horror game.

• story-telling with great art
• dead space like but isometric
• sidescroller
• etc....

or whatever

something that brings the atmosphere you want to bring over to the point.

depending on the layout you could also create some great jump scares.

Story, and the way its tell. i'am making a psycho game right now, i been working on it for about a year.

What about horror games where it's all quiet and suddenly there's a loud jumpscare? For some strange reason, the silence disturbs me as I wait for a jumpscare.

Have the monsters come form all directions in an unexpected manner. I was playing a vr game in which I was in the middle and the robots attacked me from all sides, it made me really paranoid to make sure I was checking all directions. Got a bit scared once or twice haha:)

Gerardb91

can we explore your idea a little bit more? when the monster's were coming from all direction, in your opinion what was done correctly so that you ended up feeling scared and paranoid...as opposed to feeling annoyed because that was "random"? what did they do correctly to add to your fear as opposed to make you feel irratated that every now and then bunch of stuff attack you from all directions?

do you feel that would also work in a 2d game?