Skip to content
FiltersEvery game, every platform 37 gamesChoose
Where you play
Kind of horror
19 more
Price
Players
Time to finish
Released
Content

Your choice stays on as you move around the site, until you clear it. One place to play opens that part of the site; within a group any option will do, except Content, where every one you pick holds. Content goes by each game's content notes.

Boat and ship horror games

Horror games set on the water: abandoned cargo ships, cruise liners searched deck by deck, small fishing boats steered through fog at night. A ship is a closed space with narrow corridors and nowhere to run, and a small boat leaves you alone on dark water with whatever lies beneath.

The top 30 of 37 boat and ship horror games, ranked by player and critic scores

The 30 best, 2026

  1. OFF key art: a swarm of pale lilac ghosts with varied faces streaming over dark purple buildings under a green and yellow sky PsychologicalOFFSwan boats carry the Batter between parts of the world. 96% on Steam (3,515 reviews)about 5 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux, Switch
  2. JOLLY 2 key art: the grinning face of the bee animatronic Jolly, with hollow black eyes and white pupils, beside a red number 2 on a glitch-streaked black ground FNAFJOLLY 2You work the night shift on a cargo ship carrying the animatronics to a new location 96% on Game Jolt (1,907 ratings)FreePC, Android
  3. Dagon key art: an engraved medallion of an island under the moon, ringed by tentacles, sea creatures and a great eye, on a starry black field PsychologicalDagon: by H. P. LovecraftThe narrator escapes a captured ship in a small lifeboat and drifts for days before he runs aground. 95% on Steam (12,410 reviews)about 30 minFreePC, VR, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  4. Shipwrecked 64 key art: Bucky Beaver and a smiling otter in low-poly cartoon style against a pink and purple swirl Multiple endingsShipwrecked 64Bucky collects boat parts to fix his boat and get home. 95% on Steam (2,758 reviews)about 1 hPaidPC
  5. Zero Escape: The Nonary Games key art: two anime-style young men, one startled and one with arms crossed, beside a giant hooded figure in a goggled gas mask AnimeZero Escape: The Nonary GamesIn 999 one group is trapped on a sinking ship with nine hours to escape; a screenshot shows a cabin flooding through a porthole. 94% on Steam (4,035 reviews)34 h or morePaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  6. Six in a yellow raincoat holds up a lighter on a tabletop crowded with stacked cups and pots, while a large grey hand grips the table edge in the foreground PsychologicalLittle NightmaresThe Maw is a huge iron vessel at sea, and Six climbs from its bottom, the Hull, up toward the top. 95% on Steam (116,798 reviews)about 3.5 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iPhone, Android
  7. LIMBO key art: the silhouetted boy with glowing eyes stands in a bright clearing as the long legs of a giant spider reach down beside him PsychologicalLIMBOAt one point the boy crosses still grey water in a small boat with a mast. 92% on Steam (62,333 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iPhone, Android
  8. Monstrum key art: a hulking monster with a glowing orange face fills a dark ship corridor SurvivalMonstrumSet aboard the Hisa Maru, an abandoned, rusting cargo ship. 91% on Steam (3,793 reviews)about 5 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, VR
  9. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice key art: Senua in silhouette stands among wildflowers before a great tree lit by golden sunlight and falling leaves PsychologicalHellblade: Senua's SacrificeThe game opens with Senua paddling a small boat up a misty river past sharpened stakes. 90% on Steam (76,810 reviews)about 7.5 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  10. Night At the Gates of Hell key art: painted zombies shamble through a night graveyard under a purple sky, one huge close-up with worms in its eye socket SurvivalNight At the Gates of HellThe survivors' plan is to reach the coast and escape by boat, which does not go as planned. 90% on Steam (818 reviews)about 4 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  11. The Keeper key art: a dark figure on the gallery of a lighthouse at night under a moonlit cloudy sky, with the title below and a Comp-3 Interactive strip at the side EscapeThe KeeperIt opens as you wake on your fishing boat after a night out at sea, and a rowing boat waits by the island's jetty. 90% on itch.io (394 ratings)about 30 minPay what you wantPC, Mac, Linux
  12. Sinking Iron key art: a huge red eye glaring from the dark end of a blurred metal corridor, above the title in steel-blue and rusted letters FNAFSinking IronThe game begins on the diver's ship, which carries the submarine out to the site of the earthquake. 92% on itch.io (171 ratings)about 45 minPay what you wantPC
  13. The Sinking City 2 key art: a man in a fedora with a shotgun on his back stands waist-deep in floodwater under an Arkham cemetery arch, wrapped by rising tentacles SurvivalThe Sinking City 2You cross the flooded streets by skiff as well as on foot, steering a small motorboat past ruined shops 90% on the PlayStation Store (2,506 ratings)10 h or morePaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  14. CRYO key art: the title across the red-lit glass of a frost-rimmed metal porthole SurvivalCRYOThe second map, the Erebus, is a vessel stranded in the Antarctic Ocean, with its own monsters and escape routes. 87% on Steam (481 reviews)PaidPC
  15. CULTIC key art: a man opens the door of a muscle car outside a barbed-wire compound at dusk, framed by hooded cultists with an axe in red light Action horrorCULTICA screenshot shows a cargo ship stacked with containers with cultists on deck. 97% on Steamabout 4.5 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  16. Resident Evil Revelations key art: a pale, bloodied hand pressed against a wet ship's porthole SurvivalResident Evil RevelationsMost of the game is set aboard the Queen Zenobia, a cruise ship Jill searches deck by deck. 81% on Steam (18,708 reviews)about 8.5 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  17. Don't Play This art: a skull-faced, ragged creature stands in a ruined, cobwebbed room lit deep red beside a glowing doorway Walking simulatorsDon't Play ThisA French review mentions a cruise lost in the middle of nowhere, and a screenshot shows a narrow ship corridor with a bulkhead door. 84% on Steam (1,055 reviews)about 1.5 hPaidPC
  18. Sunless Sea key art: a lone lit buoy with a bell leans out of a flat dark sea under a green-black sky 2D horrorSunless SeaYou captain a Victorian steamship, upgrading its engines, cannons and torpedo guns or buying a bigger one 83% on Steam (9,582 reviews)22 h or morePaidPC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iPhone
  19. Granny: Chapter Two key art: Grandpa and Granny, holding a bloody baseball bat, under the game title SurvivalGranny: Chapter TwoOne way out is an old, rusty boat in the sewer, which you start before opening the gate. 95% on SteamFree with adsiPhone, Android, PC
  20. UMIGARI key art: a fish head wearing a sailor school uniform with a red neckerchief, speared by a harpoon, lying on dark stone CosmicUMIGARI | ウミガリYou sail a small fishing boat, upgrading its speed and fuel tank to reach new islands. 83% on Steam (1,060 reviews)about 3 hPaidPC
  21. Dark Hours key art: two masked robbers beside a glowing crown freeze as a tall dark creature appears in a bright doorway of a gloomy mansion room Co-opDark HoursA cruise ship is one of the five places the crew can rob. 82% on Steam (4,279 reviews)PaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  22. Project Unknown key art: four exorcists in silhouette with glowing tools and a corgi face a dark mansion across a foggy field at night Co-opProject UnknownOne map is the ship S.S. Morgana, with leaking steam pipes and a lower deck that can flood. 83% on Steam (925 reviews)about 18 minPaidPC
  23. The Thing Beneath key art: the title in dripping red letters over a foggy dark forest and a roof, framed like a worn VHS tape cover Multiple endingsThe Thing BeneathThe friends reach the island by wooden rowing boat, and players joke about how fast they paddled. 88% on itch.io (109 ratings)about 20 minPay what you wantBrowser, PC
  24. Sunken Engine key art: giant tentacles wrap a glowing, wrecked steamboat at night, with a lighthouse and a lit hut in the fog across green water Night shiftSunken EngineShips of every size dock at your yard, and you scrub, patch and rewire them in first person for their captains. 81% on Steam (940 reviews)PaidPC
  25. DREDGE key art: a small fishing boat with two glowing lamps on a rough green sea beside a red and white lighthouse under a brown stormy sky, with tentacles and a spiny fish under the water PsychologicalDREDGEYou captain a small fishing trawler and upgrade its engine, lights, rods and nets. 96% on Steamabout 9.5 hPaidPC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iPhone, Android
  26. Martha Is Dead key art: the upside-down face of a young woman with a pearl necklace, as if seen through dark water PsychologicalMartha Is DeadYou can explore the countryside on foot, by bicycle or by rowing boat. 79% on Steam (3,986 reviews)about 6 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  27. Cold Fear key art: a blond Coast Guard sailor in a red jacket aims a laser-sighted pistol on a storm-lashed ship deck at night, under the title SurvivalCold FearThe first part of the game is spent aboard an abandoned Russian whaling ship that you search deck by deck. 84% on GOG (237 ratings)about 6 hPaidPC
  28. REANIMAL key art: two children row a small lit boat across dark floodwater past wrecked ships and telephone poles, under a giant sheep-headed creature looming out of the stormy sky PsychologicalREANIMALYou row a small boat between locations, and it lets you reach places off the main path. 75% on Steam (26,213 reviews)about 4 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  29. Man of Medan key art: a man's face blended with a skull and a ship at sea, over an old map of the South Pacific Co-opThe Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of MedanThe five travel on a hired dive boat, the Duke of Milan, captained by Fliss, before they are stranded aboard the freighter 81% on the PlayStation Store (17,189 ratings)about 4.5 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  30. Stay Away From the Lighthouse cover drawn as a PS1 game case: grey tentacles curl round a red and white lighthouse under the title Night shiftSTAY AWAY FROM THE LIGHTHOUSEYou talk a fisherman's boat home through rocks and darkness, using your map 86% on itch.io (79 ratings)about 15 minFreeBrowser

To play with friends

7 games

Short enough for one evening

Done in an hour or so

Free to play

7 games

Every game of the kind

More picks

Scores are those players and critics give on the stores and sites named; each game's page says where.

More kinds of horror

  1. Short horror games621
  2. Psychological horror games530
  3. Horror games with multiple endings417
  4. Horror puzzle games341
  5. Survival horror games259
  6. 2D horror games254
  7. PS1 horror games233
  8. Stealth horror games180
  9. Horror escape games164
  10. Surreal horror games145
  11. Horror visual novels137
  12. Anime horror games132
  13. Haunted house games131
  14. Mystery and detective horror games127
Every genre

Where you play

  1. Steam horror games1009
  2. Epic horror games97
  3. GOG horror games270
  4. itch.io horror games592
  5. PC horror games1337
  6. Mac horror games391
  7. Linux horror games261
  8. PlayStation horror games404
  9. Xbox horror games367
  10. Switch horror games317
  11. Mobile horror games188
  12. VR horror games69
  13. Browser horror games236
  1. Scary games1456
  2. Free horror games561
Every game, A to Z