Best Indie Horror Games (September 2024)

These games are sure to send shivers down your spine

Six Horror Games For A Spooky Night

Sending Chills Down Your Spine

Boo! The horror genre features a wide spectrum of games, from thrilling slasher gore and jumpscares to psychological horrors that mess with your head. Nevertheless, they are all here to tug on that feeling of vulnerability and fear to give the best horror experience. Here are six recommendations from us here in Indie8 to either get your adrenaline pumping from sheer terror, or get your mind racing in circles from paranoia and mind-boggling twists.

Trigger warning ahead for some screenshots that depict gore and body horror.

SIGNALIS

Psychological horror survival puzzle game SIGNALIS puts you into the shoes of protagonist Elster, a humanoid android known as a Replika, on her journey to search for her lost partner and her lost dreams. Set in a dystopian future where humanity has colonized the entire solar system, Elster wakes up from her deep sleep to find herself stranded on a cold planet, all alone…except for the strange horrors that inhabit the derelict wreck of a spaceship she is stuck on. What exactly happened here in the first place? Follow Elster on her journey to find the answers that she seeks, while fighting all hardships that hinder her from finding out the truth.

SIGNALIS can be purchased for PC on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One for $19.99 USD. However, it’s on sale right now for 30% off at $13.99 on Steam, Nintendo Online, and the PlayStation Store.

Please note that this game comes with a warning from the developers for Mature Content.

“This Game may contain content not appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work: Frequent Violence or Gore, General Mature Content.”

It Steals

For a more adrenaline-pumping experience that capitalizes on the player’s paranoia, It Steals is a maze–roaming survival horror game with five different modes, with each consequential mode an “escalation” of the mode before it. Players will need to stealthily maneuver through the environment, armed with only a certain tool or ability unique to each level, to fulfill a certain goal. Easy, right? However, the evil lurks within the shadows…even disguising themselves so cleverly you won’t be able to tell—and they’re always watching you and your every single move. Be careful out there.

It Steals is available on PC through Steam for $4.99 USD. As an added fun fact, It Steals was created by Zeekerss, the same developer who made the hit co-op horror game Lethal Company.

Please note that this game comes with a warning from the developers for Mature Content. “Exaggerated amounts of blood, and an oppressive atmosphere.”

Darkwood

Atmospheric and isometric survival horror Darkwood tests not only your survival skills but also your sanity. Darkwood makes players scavenge and explore the vast and ever-changing forest to keep themselves alive. Collect materials to craft, avoid or defeat enemies, and do anything to keep yourself sustained. However, you can only do this in daytime, because when the skies begin to turn dark, you would need to retreat to your hideout…else you become the prey of the horrific being that stalks the woods at night. But even your hideout isn’t completely safe. Hide well, stay silent, and hope for the best that this hungry and murderous being doesn’t sniff you out or break in. The morning light is just right around the corner…stay alive.

Darkwood is available on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One for $14.99 USD.

In Sound Mind

Thriller and horror vibes are strong in the game In Sound Mind, a first-person psychological horror full of strange puzzles and unique boss fights. You, the protagonist, find yourself in the corridors of a peculiar building, with no recollection of what led you there in the first place. Things quickly take an unexpected turn as you realize that the environment around you has a life on its own, shifting and transforming. These changes lead you to discover victims, exposed to an experimental chemical that you yourself have been exposed to… bizarre visions then begin to emerge and horrors manifest in the form of unsettling memories. Traverse through these memories as you journey through the inner workings of your own mind.

In Sound Mind is available on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch for $34.99 USD.

Do NOT Take This Cat Home

It’s your day off, with the gloomy and dreary weather adding to your own loneliness and sadness. On your way back home, you’re drawn to soft meows nearby, coming from a dark alley…and at the end, is a poor little cat in a cardboard box. A very cute one, in fact. But there’s something about this particular wide yellow-eyed black cat…will you give into the temptation and its cuteness? Do NOT Take This Cat Home is a short visual novel-type of horror game with over 39 different endings and a secret true ending to unlock. How can a mundane-looking cat be the subject of horror? You be the judge.

Do NOT Take This Cat Home is available for PC, macOS, and Linux through Itch.io. The game is available for any price as dictated by the buyer.

Please note that this game comes with a Trigger Warning for certain dark and sensitive themes. “This game is not suitable for children or the easily disturbed. It includes depictions of horror elements, human/animal violence and death, abuse/abusive relationship(s), disturbing images, loud noises, flashing images/lights and more. Individuals suffering from anxiety, depression or certain fears/phobias may not have a safe experience playing this game. For a full list of content/trigger warnings go to 'About' section in the game's main menu.”

The Outlast Trials

From the same franchise as indie horror classic Outlast, comes The Outlast Trials. Set in the era of the Cold War, human guinea pigs are used by the Murkoff Corporation to test the lengths and capacities of brainwashing and mind control. You, unfortunately, are one of the unlucky volunteers. Will you be able to keep your sanity as you go through all these trials? And will you ever be the same as you once were?

Compared to other titles on this list, this is a multiplayer experience where you can share the horror and mind-numbing terror with your friends. You are all prisoners of Murkoff, all with the goal of making it out of the facility alive. Finishing trials will let you slowly earn the right to be re-released into society as a better human being…or so they say.

The Outlast Trials is available on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One for $39.99 USD.

Please note that this game comes with a warning from the developers for Mature Content.

“This Game may contain content not appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work: Frequent Violence or Gore, General Mature Content, Nudity”