Mobile Horror to Hide in the Cupboard With
Feeling frightened should be the last thing on a person’s to-do list but the eternal popularity of the horror genre seems to defy that assumption. Whether it’s a video game like Silent Hill, a movie like Paranormal Activity, or one of Stephen King’s childhood-ruining books about a rabid St Bernard, people love to be scared.
Science tells us that it’s because humans’ response to fear and pleasure are similar (the physiological reactions are nearly identical) but horror has transcended generations as a bonding experience; after all, the ghost story around the campfire is almost a rite of passage for youngsters. There’s no hiding the fact that we’re all just after a cheap thrill though.
With the new Resident Evil game eating up the praise, here are a few more games that you can play under the covers this winter.
The Last Door
A point-and-click game released in 2013, The Last Door deserves praise just for the atmosphere and sense of claustrophobia its heavily pixelated graphics invoke. This award-winning indie title weaves a classic tale of a forgotten childhood and an abandoned mansion while paying homage to the old master of the supernatural, H.P. Lovecraft.
Limbo
Excluding the massive, merciless arachnid and the unspeakable violence, Limbo’s horror is subtle; it’s not so much what’s on the screen as what the game’s plot seems to suggest is happening to the young protagonist. The beautiful graphics and sparse soundtrack paint a compelling but desperately sad story in the vein of surreal classic, Another World.
Lost Vegas
A unique slot machine game, Lost Vegas tasks the player with leading either a group of survivors or an eclectic gang of zombies in a quest to destroy the opposite party. With two minigames, Lost Vegas is one of the more unique slots out there. The game can be found online at casinos like Hippodrome Online Casino and Royal Vegas.
The Walking Dead
The TV series might have run its course but Telltale Games’ Walking Dead series was an instant classic, featuring gameplay that reacts to the player’s decisions and a truly heart-wrenching narrative. The title, originally released in five episodes, garnered more than 90 awards from the gaming press – and is still as good today as it was back in 2012.
The School: White Day
Similar to Amnesia: Dark Descent and the Fatal Frame series, The School: White Day is a game that leans on one of the more unpleasant tropes in the survival horror niche – a limited ability to fight back. A story of a young girl trapped in a haunted school, The School’s biggest draw (apart from the myriad spooks) is the range of different endings available to players.
Zombies, Run!
As stressed by Jesse Eisenberg in the movie Zombieland, the first rule of the apocalypse is physical fitness. Zombies, Run!, a popular training app, takes that advice literally, wrapping a base-building game around a roleplaying experience. The player, as a “runner” for the few remaining survivors, has to outrun the ravenous dead and deliver packages to keep the human race going. This gamification spin of fitness is quite popular, with a 4.5 star rating both on the App Store and Google Play.
There you have it; six games perfect for the long, cold nights. However, if none of them take your fancy, this site here provides a portal to (and reviews of) some of the more popular gaming sites on the internet.