What makes a game scary?

[Silvia Kuroi 1,480]

One thing that a lot of people speculate is what exactly makes things 'scary', and this tends to revolve on some of the greatest media that revolves around that- horror movies and video games.

 

But what makes a game scary? A lot of games use jump scares and a pretty stereotypical atmosphere to give you a couple moments of surprise- but rarely does it ever give one unease or true fear. Of course, people react to frightening things differently. Some people will quit a game almost immediately upon the first jump scare, while others can plow through an entire game without feeling scared at all.

 

For me, I think what a game needs is a very brooding atmosphere, a reason to be uneasy, and being pressured to run. One game that I feel does this well is Amnesia (Again, this is based on my own opinions. I'm sure others will not think the same), as this game not only has a dark atmosphere, but it makes so you can't fight. You're forced to run and hide whenever a monster comes, and it can become uneasy when it draws near. That's what I think leads to fear- you can't fight your enemy, and your enemy can easily kill you, and the only thing you can do is run- run and hope you can live.

 

What are your thoughts? What do you think makes a game scary, and what are some games you find frightening in general?

[advfox 698]

A man with no face in the woods that can teleport anywhere is what makes a game scary. 

[heyitsdeven 131]

Easy, games that f*@! with your mind. The early Silent Hill games successfully pulled this off.

[Silvia Kuroi 1,480]

A man with no face in the woods that can teleport anywhere is what makes a game scary. 

 

A lot of my friends actually don't find Slender scary at all. It baffles me, for that game is way too scary for me. (I don't like horror games all too much...)

[Weiss 8,279]

A great feeling of helplessness.

 

 

A man with no face in the woods that can teleport anywhere is what makes a game scary. 

and this

[Hei 3,233]

Check out the Penumbra series, the game has you on edge a lot of the time and it's intense. One of the scariest game I've ever played

[Silvia Kuroi 1,480]

A great feeling of helplessness.

 

 

and this

 

Yes! That's a really good one. It's not a very scary game if you've got flamethrowers and nukes, right?

 

Check out the Penumbra series, the game has you on edge a lot of the time and it's intense. One of the scariest game I've ever played

 

I've heard of them. They're made by the same people that made Amnesia, right?

[Firaga 5,947]

Anything grotesque enough to make you want to wash its game model clean.

[SoraBlade 832]

To put it simply, either creepy music, the atmosphere, or just both mixed with terrifying **** that ****s with your mind. Can`t forget the faceless man who...is creepy.

[Hei 3,233]

I've heard of them. They're made by the same people that made Amnesia, right?

Yeah, it's what came before Amensia. It's really tense, and I don't think it has random things that pop out to scare you. Really creepy game

[Amon 4,279]

I don't like jumpscares, they startle you and then it's over. I feel the best horror comes from the feelings of being watched, stalked, and hunted. That fear that we all have somewhere in the back of our brains, a fear that our distant ancestors felt when humans were new and afraid, when every living species on earth wanted to test what we were worth. 

 

That's why Amnesia is so horrifying. You can't fight back, you can only run and hide. Few things are as scary as hiding in the wardrobe as a horrifying monster tears up the entire room looking for you, and you can hear his footsteps slowly move towards your hiding place.

[Silvia Kuroi 1,480]

I don't like jumpscares, they startle you and then it's over. I feel the best horror comes from the feelings of being watched, stalked, and hunted. That fear that we all have somewhere in the back of our brains, a fear that our distant ancestors felt when humans were new and afraid, when every living species on earth wanted to test what we were worth. 

 

That's why Amnesia is so horrifying. You can't fight back, you can only run and hide. Few things are as scary as hiding in the wardrobe as a horrifying monster tears up the entire room looking for you, and you can hear his footsteps slowly move towards your hiding place.

 

Precisely. I wish more horror games had this in it- no weapons, few jump scares. Just a single monster that continuously hunts and haunts you, making you fearful of your every step- worried that the next room will contain it. And the only option is to hide, and run for your life.

 

That is what more horror games need. Not a few jump scares mixed with first/third person combat, but a legitimate reason to be scared.

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

I know what doesn't make a game scary; jump scares. Jump scares aren't "scares", but just you being startled. I hate them, since it's a cheap way of making a horror game.

[RoxSox 3,593]

Quiet. Just quiet. If you're in an area, it doesn't have to be dark... it doesn't have to have things jumping out at you... its just gotta be quiet and empty. Thats what scares me at least. Slender is scary not because it's dark... but because it's just you. Alone. No music. Only the leaves crunching beneath your feet. And then when something breaks the silence, and it comes crashing down on you that YOU ARE NOT ALONE OH GOD thats what makes it frightening.

[Amon 4,279]

Since Slender comes up a lot. I feel that it does a pretty good job at being a horror game, combining the feeling of being hunted with the jumpscares. The music scares the crap out of me too. SCP containment breach is also a good example of an indie horror game. Jumpscares are okay, as long as they are used with a slowly building up horror and not just "EVRY TEIM U OPN DOOR SCRY MAN GO BOOOGA BOOGA BOOOGA!" 

[WhiteCrow 55]

Simple elements. For example, voices, shadows and overall terrifying surroundings.

[Mystics Apprentice 2,397]

Yeah, it's simpler to discern fear from movies than it is video games, since even something as simple as suspense can give people quite a scare.  I really haven't encountered any "scary" games, but the ones that do give me the creeps are the ones with horror-like creatures.  (Think Spirit Camera.)

[dusk 910]

Heavy and dark atmosphere, scary sound effects and music, feeling of being alone and feeling of being helpless, very limited amount of help items. No quicktime events, co-op, super guns.

Amnesia and Penumbra games are great example of this, they are genuinely scary games that just don't give that one second heartattack that some jumpscare would, they actually keep you scared and under pressure all the time.

Good example of bad horror game is Dead Space 3: you have guns that can easily blow away anything, endless stream of healthpacks, human enemies (?), quick time events, boring "Boogie boogie" scares and soundtrack that only hurts your ears and brain, not  scaring you what so ever

[Rob 5,571]

My grandson was scared of heartless in KH1. I'd say Square got that right.

[Tails 6,692]

Precisely. I wish more horror games had this in it- no weapons, few jump scares. Just a single monster that continuously hunts and haunts you, making you fearful of your every step- worried that the next room will contain it. And the only option is to hide, and run for your life.That is what more horror games need. Not a few jump scares mixed with first/third person combat, but a legitimate reason to be scared.

I'd recommend playing RE3: Nemesis if you want to play a game like that.

[kalnet 1,198]

A game where you kill a zombie but gets back up anyway 1 minute later. (Forbidden Siren series)

 

A game where you had to hold up your camera to damage the ghost. (Fatal Frame Series)

 

A game where you run from something but don't know what it was most of the time. (First half of Amnesia)

 

A game where a Bear is trying to kill you everywhere the entire level. (A level in Condemned 2: criminal origins)

 

The Dead Space series is alright to me. I never expect to get scared by the necromorphs all the time since I'm still using the same main character for 3 games instead of other characters who had never seen a necromorph before.

 

I'm sure Isaac as a story-driven character won't be as scared when the third game rolls around so neither do veteran players of the series needs to be scared as well. The tone Isaac had in the third game clearly shows he was just tired of going through them again instead of feeling terrified about it.

[darklunatic 81]

im sorry to say but i laght at the people wo fear slinder man that game makes me laght more then anything but tats cause i grew up on horror blood and gore movies and i read manga that are alot more firetrucked up the only game to ever get me good at one point was "fatal frame"

[Silvia Kuroi 1,480]

im sorry to say but i laght at the people wo fear slinder man that game makes me laght more then anything but tats cause i grew up on horror blood and gore movies and i read manga that are alot more firetrucked up the only game to ever get me good at one point was "fatal frame"

 

Wouldn't expect any less of you. A lot of my friends agree that Slender isn't scary, but I like it on how well it does the atmosphere for the game.