Ten Best Indie Games From Steam Scream Fest 3D 2024

Hey kids! There’s another strange mascot to look out for! Join Amanda and her sheep pal Wooly on their adventures, exploring a wonderful world—but make sure you do exactly what she says…or she might get angry. Amanda the Adventurer is a single player puzzle horror game which follows young protagonist Riley Park. After inheriting her reclusive aunt’s house, she finds a stack of VHS tapes inside the humble abode, each tape being an episode of an early 2000’s children’s cartoon called Amanda the Adventurer. It starts off as your run-of-the-mill, low-budget but charming kids cartoon show…but this harmless-looking show quickly turns into something more strange and eerie. Amanda and Wooly seem to be communicating to whoever’s watching…

Amanda the Adventurer is available for the low price of $5.39 USD, a 40% discount off its usual price. If you’re interested in knowing more about the sequel, check out Indie8’s article on Amanda the Adventurer 2!

Please be advised that this game contains “blood, mild language, and psychological horror.” Exercise caution should these topics cause distress to the player.

While not explicit horror in the conventional sense, this title features a wonderful blend of childish fantasy and dark humor, as well as a sprinkling of horror elements. Little Misfortune is an interactive point-and-click story, featuring eight-year-old Misfortune Ramirez Hernandez, a young and imaginative little girl who only wishes to find Eternal Happiness, hoping to give it as a present to her Mommy. Luckily enough, a certain new friend pops up to help her on her quest—Mr. Voice! Join them on their whimsical adventure that takes them quite far away from home, all for the goal of attaining happiness for a special person.

If you’re looking for something a little dark and spooky but more calm than other games, Little Misfortune is 70% off right now, available for purchase at $5.99 USD.

Despite being almost a decade old, Fran Bow has solidified itself as a cult classic for indie horrors. This creepy psychological horror game follows the story of the titular Fran Bow, a young child who had just witnessed the gruesome death of her parents. In shock, she runs away into the forest with her only friend, a black cat named Mr. Midnight, and passes out. Upon recovering, she finds herself in Oswald Asylum, a rather oppressive mental institution that caters to children…and Mr. Midnight is nowhere to be found. Fueled by a strange dream about her beloved cat, she decides to escape the confines of the asylum and go back home to her only living relative, Aunt Grace. However, there seems to be something off about this whole thing…

Fran Bow is available for purchase at 70% off at $4.49 USD. As a little fun fact, this title shares the same developer and universe as Little Misfortune! Both carry the same eerie and dark storytelling that will keep you on your toes.

Please note that Fran Bow “contains disturbing images and scenes of explicit violence, gore, self-harm, sexual harassment, animal cruelty, body horror, mental illnesses, flashing images, and drug usage.” This content may be distressing to some players, so please exercise caution before attempting to play the game.

Indie favorite Hollow Knight hardly needs an introduction—this classically styled 2D action-adventure platformer Soulslike takes you to the Kingdom of Hallownest, an ancient, desolate realm full of hidden treasures…and mysteries. As the enigmatic warrior known simply as the Knight, traverse through a ruined but beautiful gothic world, exploring dozens of twisting caverns, sparring with tainted creatures, meeting a huge cast of cutely creepy characters, and figuring out your destiny. Bring back riches, glory…or something else all together.

Hollow Knight is available for 50% off its usual price at $7.49 USD. Time to sharpen those platforming skills while waiting for Silksong!

Deckbuilding roguelike elements, escape room-style puzzles and a dash of psychological horror all come together in Inscryption. Embark on a deeply disturbing card-based odyssey full of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. You are pulled into playing a twisted little tabletop game using cards, seemingly in an endless cycle—but there’s something strange about this whole ordeal. Will you get to the bottom of it all? Behind the cards and beyond the cabin lies dark, dark secrets just waiting for you to discover…

Inscryption gets 60% discount off, now available for $7.99 USD.

Time to get into the squeaky rubber boots of a space janitor! Viscera Cleanup Detail is exactly what it says on the tin—an intense battle between humans and aliens just concluded with humanity’s victory, but it left quite a mess in its wake. This is where you, the equally heroic janitor, steps in. Armed with your trusty mop, gloves, plasma laser, dispenser machines, and sniffer tool, it’s time to get this place spick and span! Careful you don’t slip on all the blood, viscera, and worker bodies though…

Viscera Cleanup Detail is now $4.41 USD, at a 66% discount. This purchase also comes bundled with the spin-off titles, Santa’s Rampage and Shadow Warrior, which provide a completely different environment (and bloody aftermath) to clean up.

Please be advised that the game “is intended as a parody of violent video games, but as such includes frequent scenes of gore, albeit cartoonish in intention and sometimes in nature; Dismembered bodies, decapitated heads, blood impacts, loose organs, blood pools, blood graffiti, etc. … Features crude language and cursing, and occasional mild innuendo in written form, as well as occasional reference to dark topics such as death, death threats, threats of violence, etc.” Exercise caution should these topics cause distress to the player.

For a horrific horror co-op experience, try out another indie hit—Phasmophobia! This four-player online co-op psychological horror game tasks you and three other players to work together as paranormal investigators, gathering evidence of strange happenings in certain haunted locations. The evidence you collect for the ghost removal team will be essential in fully eliminating these ghosts from these places. However…will you be able to get enough clues of the supernatural being before you succumb to madness?

Phasmophobia is priced at $14.99 USD, 25% off its usual price. Additionally, the game recently just released a new major update called the Crimson Eye, so what better time to jump into the action and ghost hunting?

Travel along strange waters on your fishing boat in this cosmic horror fishing adventure! DREDGE makes you take to the water to scour the unknown depths, collecting curious trinkets and fishing for interesting fish, then selling them to the locals for some cash to upgrade your trusty fishing trawler to take on more hefty jobs. There are numerous areas and islands to discover, with their own unique opportunities, inhabitants…and hidden secrets. However, as fun as that all is, don’t forget to keep an eye out for the time. Come nightfall, there might be some peculiar horrors beneath the surface that you would not like to meet in the shadow of night. As adventurous as you are, some things are just best left forgotten.

DREDGE is now 40% off for $14.99 USD. Its DLCS such as The Iron Rig, Blackstone Key, and The Pale Reach are also discounted at 10% and 25% as well if you wish to level up your playthrough!

And lastly, for some thought-provoking, psychological horror, OMORI puts players through the eyes of a young teenage hikikomori (Japanese term for modern-day hermits with extreme social isolation) named Sunny, who has an alter-ego in his dream world named Omori. As Sunny-slash-Omori, players will get to see both the real world and the dream world, and tackle many of the problems Sunny is going through in his mind. Explore the strange and colorful world full of both friends and foes and when the time comes…choose wisely.

OMORI is available to purchase for $13.99 USD at a 30% discount.

Please be informed that this “game contains depictions of depression, anxiety, and suicide, and may not be suitable for all audiences. It also contains bright flashing imagery that may cause discomfort and/or seizures for those with photosensitive epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised.”