Games to be spooked by – the best indie horror titles to look out for this Halloween – part 1.

Halloween is right around the corner, and what better way to spend it than with a horror game? With that in mind, we've decided to put together a two-part collection of horror games hand-picked from some of the better indie titles of recent years.

The Witch's House

In the originally Japanese-developed freeware horror-adventure, created via RPG Maker, players take on the role of 13-year-old Viola, a young girl who's lost her way out in the woods, only to find herself in front of a mysterious old mansion. Considering it safer to be inside than outside, she pushes the gates open and makes her way into the house. As we will soon find out during the course of a 2-hour-long adventure, this turned out to be a grave mistake.

The Witch's House, its visual presentation reminiscent of the 16-bit SNES era, was no doubt inspired by classics such as the Clock Tower series, or the more recent Corpse Party franchise: in terms of gameplay, our activities will mostly consists of solving puzzles and avoiding the numerous death traps laid out within the mansion. Hardly surprising is the fact that the game prepares dozens of ways to end our lives, punishing players with the dreaded Game Over screen for the tiniest of careless mistakes – in fact, this could very well be one of its charms. Most gamers will no doubt purposefully fail to solve a puzzle only to explore and experience the myriad of ways the mansion can put a permanent end to Viola's adventures via a well-placed trap or monster. And yet, hardly can we call The Witch's House a challenging title: its save points are generously placed, usually before and after a more intense section or inevitable death trap.

As far as the puzzles are concerned, they are quite easy to figure out in the beginning, and frankly speaking, never become too challenging for the average player: still, by the second half of the tale, they will become noticeably more complex, requiring a touch of creativity as well in the process, with our actions in-game leading to a total of three potential endings. One definite strong point of the title is its ability to put the player on edge: even when the player feels relatively safe, the game itself never lets up, and is ready to come forward with a handful of unexpected events and some mild jump scares to surprise players more susceptible to such things. For an indie game, the storyline deserves moderate praise as well – despite its simplistic beginnings, there is at least one shocking twist waiting to be discovered by players reaching the finale.

All in all, The Witch's House is a short, yet satisfying descent into the rabbit hole that will no doubt appeal to fans of atmospheric adventures. Highly recommended.

Gameplay time: ~2 hours
Download here.
Note: RPG Maker VX Runtime Package is required to run the game: (free download, takes less than a minute to install)

Imscared – A Pixelated Nightmare

Picture a door in front of you, one that “needs aheart” to be opened. The Italian Ivan Zanotti begins his horror-adventure with that bizarre scene – the aptly named “Imscared” will probably win no awards for stunning graphics, yet still manages to be sufficiently disturbing, and its success among indie circles will come as no surprise. It is difficulty to talk of what makes Imscared unique without potentially ruining its twists and surprises. What can be mentioned is that the game manages to reach out into the real world (to use a more technical term: the title has a meta aspect to it), influencing it in a variety of ways. Players aren't merely looking for an exit: instead, one gets the feeling that they're engaged in a vicious battle against the game itself - or the sinister forces lurking in it. As such, it is not us playing the game, but rather the game playing with us, doing its best to hinder the paths of all would-be players.

Those not affected by the rather minimalistic visual presentation will no doubt get a great deal of enjoyment out Zanotti's brief adventure: roaming the poorly-lit corridors of Imscared, players will never feel completely safe.

Gameplay time: ~40 min
Download here.

Stairs

In the seemingly Penumbra-inspired stairs, we travel to an abandoned factory with the intent of investigating and debunking the rumors surrounding its apparently supernatural staircase. However, the building's dreaded stairwell holds secrets that might be better left untouched, and dark corridors where players will never feel alone. Gameplay in Stairs revolves around exploration and puzzle-solving, accompanied by a continuous story presented to the player via echoes heard in the dark, slowly but surely revealing the terrible truth behind the mystery surrounding the complex. Stairs, among other things, is most notable for its masterfully atmospheric use of light and darkness, with a very specific twist awaiting players near the end of the adventure – the short, 30-minute adventure is very much worth playing for that alone.

Gameplay time: ~ 40 min
You can download the game here.

Games to be spooked by – the best indie horror titles to look out for this Halloween – part 2.