AerielThe season for all things spooky and scary is here! In order to give readers the best possible list of games to play and reach those of you looking for a severely spine-chilling experience, I set aside my fears and played a few games that I found genuinely terrifying, but intriguing enough that I had to keep playing. These games below are not for the faint of heart.
Imposter
Platforms: Windows (itch.io)
Price: Free
Imposter is a horror mystery about a seemingly ordinary couple faced with very out-of-the-ordinary circumstances that threaten to tear apart their marriage.
The game starts off as your average slice-of-life story does, but things quickly take a turn and your husband—or wife, depending on which version you choose—becomes increasingly suspicious of you. As a result, their yandere side comes out to play, but their motive for this behavior might actually surprise you.
I don’t think I’ve ever come across a yandere type of character that I could sympathize with, but these ones seem to have a solid reason for losing their sanity. Atmosphere-wise, there’s an unnerving sound that plays as the story progresses further into tension, and it amplifies the chilling theme of the story. I do wish the game was longer and I felt that the story could have certain scenes filled out more, but overall it was a pretty good mystery. I was very absorbed in trying to unearth what was actually going on between the couple.
Who Is the Red Queen?
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux (Steam)
Price: Free
Who Is the Red Queen? is an Alice in Wonderland retelling, and while the original story has—in my opinion—a dark underlying eeriness to it, this visual novel turns the story into full-blown horror. Things aren’t quite as they should be in this Wonderland, and it’s clear that something sinister is boiling beneath the surface by the way all of the characters are acting.
The queen is dead, and this fact is revealed early on and in a very frightening way as you encounter the Mad Hatter, a very twisted version of the original Hatter. You can expect a truly spine-chilling experience that involves gore and disturbing descriptions. Rich with intrigue and breadcrumbs of mystery, Who Is the Red Queen? will leave you wondering what is really going on in Wonderland. The spine-crawling level for this one is 10/10, so please make sure to read the content warnings before giving this one a read.
Kill or Love
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux (itch.io) (Steam)
Price: Free
Kill or Love is a mystery thriller about a woman that’s obsessed with the MC, Jack. The game starts off in the hospital where Jack is being nursed by the woman who is dangerously infatuated with him.
Jack is an interesting character because even though he’s just recovered from an accident, he’s still aware of serious circumstances revolving around Anna. Right off the bat, he decides that he’s going to kill her, but first on his agenda is finding out where Grace, his girlfriend, has been held prisoner. We learn a lot about the situation from Jack’s journal entries as well as a series of flashbacks retelling the events that led to the start of the game. This allows you to take a peek inside the lives of Jack and Grace, two characters you can easily grow fond of, hoping the outcome is in their favor. You’ll find yourself hoping that Grace is found alive and well. Altogether, this game tells a very gripping story that can end in more ways than one.
Anna Mirabella
