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Horror games about the dark

In these games the dark is the threat. Light is scarce and has to be kept: a flashlight, a flare, a glowstick, a generator or a clap that switches the lamps on for a moment. Things wait or hunt just past its edge, and when the light runs out you are left listening, scanning or running for the next lit room.

The top 30 of 88 horror games about the dark, ranked by player and critic scores

The 30 best, 2026

  1. Deadly Delivery key art: a red horned demon looms over two goggled goblin couriers carrying parcels and a flashlight, beside the title and its grinning box logo Co-opDeadly DeliveryVisibility in the tunnels is limited unless you carry a flashlight or huddle by a fire 98% on the Meta Quest store (4,086 ratings)about 1 hPaidVR
  2. Idols of Ash key art: two pixelated red hands reaching toward each other around the white title on black PS1Idols of AshYou fall thousands of metres down into a dark and ancient place, per the store text. 97% on Steam (3,652 reviews)about 30 minPaidPC, Mac, Linux
  3. JOLLY 3: Chapter 1 key art: a grinning withered animatronic with cracked skin and glowing white eyes in blue darkness, beside an octagonal 3 FNAFJOLLY 3: Chapter 1When a fan breaks your vision fades to black, and Metal Foxy comes only when your view has gone dark 96% on Game Jolt (2,534 ratings)about 1 hFreePC, Android
  4. Clap Clap key art: a two-storey suburban house at night, a lit porch and garage light, a pink-lit upstairs window and a street lamp's beam PS1[Nightmare Files] Clap ClapRooms stay black until you clap twice, so you have to make noise to see. 96% on Steam (5,387 reviews)about 20 minFreePC
  5. ANATOMY title banner: white terminal-style text reading >_ANATOMY on a scanlined blue screen that fades to black PsychologicalANATOMYThe house is so dark that only the walls catch a little light, and the middle of each room is black. 96% on itch.io (996 ratings)about 40 minPaidPC, Mac, Linux
  6. The Joy of Creation: Halloween Edition key art: a decayed green Springtrap with glowing white eyes beside the title TJOC: Halloween Edition in red and white brush letters FNAFThe Joy of Creation: Halloween EditionMost of the building is close to black, lit only by dim blue light, as its screenshots show 95% on Game Jolt (2,808 ratings)about 7 minFreePC
  7. One Night at Flumpty's 2 key art: Flumpty's smiling pink face on a black vinyl record label, with the title in white and a big faded 2 FNAFOne Night at Flumpty's 2If the light is off you are safe; if it is on, the characters come to find you, so you spend the night in the dark. 96% on Game Jolt (3,200 ratings)about 9 minFreePC, iPhone, Android
  8. Which screenshot: in grainy greyscale, a barred window wrapped in chains lets in bright light, with the word EXIT and an arrow scrawled on the wall beside it EscapeWhichThe house is drawn in black, white and grey with sharp contrasts, and some rooms are almost pitch black. 95% on Game Jolt (973 ratings)about 10 minFreePC
  9. EMPTY SHELL: PROLOGUE key art: glitchy title lettering beside an ink-splatter figure in a gas mask, in black and white SurvivalEMPTY SHELL: PROLOGUEA top-down view surrounded by darkness, where only your light shows the rooms 94% on Steam (1,412 reviews)about 3 hFreePC
  10. The Midnight Walk key art: the small flame-headed Potboy stands in the middle of a ring of red-eyed clay monsters StealthThe Midnight WalkThe world is one of endless night, and the threats come from The Dark Itself. 93% on the PlayStation Store (4,046 ratings)about 5 hPaidPC, VR, PlayStation, Switch
  11. VANISH key art: the white title with grey strokes trailing from its letters over a dark brick corridor fading to black SurvivalVANISHThere is no flashlight; you see only by glowsticks that burn out quickly, and the makers added a brightness slider because the tunnels are so dark. 95% on Game Jolt (837 ratings)about 25 minFreePC, Mac, Linux
  12. CAPTURED key art: a black silhouette with small white eyes and a faint grin in a dark room, tentacles curling by a pale doorway, in grainy blue camcorder light PsychologicalCAPTUREDPlunged in complete darkness room after room, the windows and light switches have vanished. 95% on Steam (647 reviews)about 30 minPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  13. Deppart Prototype key art: a bloodied hand aims a pistol down a foggy green-doored corridor at a dark red-eyed figure beneath a lamp Action horrorDeppart PrototypeGamer Journalist describes long stretches of total darkness broken by a single failing light. 94% on itch.io (691 ratings)about 10 minFreePC
  14. Flicker of Hope key art: the little candle Jean Wick, with a face and a bright flame, on a cracked stone slab by a dark stone wall ShortFlicker of HopeYour small flame is the only warm light in black halls, and dimming it is how you hide. 93% on Steam (1,068 reviews)about 35 minFreePC, Mac
  15. 0_abyssalSomewhere key art: a tiny dark figure stands on a slope in a vast grey haze, with the faded serif title at the lower left Short0_abyssalSomewhereMuch of the world is near black, with figures and shapes coming out of the murk only where white light falls. 94% on itch.io (551 ratings)about 30 minPay what you wantPC, Mac
  16. Space Beast Terror Fright key art: a dark, foggy spaceship corridor with a sealed red blast door and blood on the wall, under the glowing blue title Co-opSpace Beast Terror FrightBloody Disgusting notes how claustrophobic it is with a limited view distance; the store calls the ships dark and hostile 92% on Steam (1,797 reviews)about 9 hPaidPC
  17. The Count Lucanor key art: Hans holding a candle beside a fanged blue jester-like kobold, with a castle silhouette against a purple night sky PsychologicalThe Count LucanorThe castle's corridors are pitch black, and you place a limited supply of candles to light your path. 93% on Steam (3,012 reviews)about 3.5 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  18. Aliens vs. Predator key art: a snarling Xenomorph and an armoured Predator with glowing eyes face off in green, smoky jungle light Action horrorAliens vs. PredatorThe store says that as the Marine light is your friend but there is never enough, and the Xenomorphs use the shadows to surround you. 91% on Steam (21,791 reviews)about 9.5 hPaidPC, Xbox
  19. When the Darkness comes key art: a grand piano glowing from inside stands alone in a misty snowfield under falling snow PsychologicalWhen the Darkness comesIts maker's advice is to always follow the light and never look back, through rooms that are mostly black 91% on Steam (5,812 reviews)about 1 hFreePC
  20. Dead Seater key art: a lone figure on the lawn of a dim clapboard house, a huge figure on a chair looming at right, under the yellow title SurvivalDead SeaterYou must keep the lights on, and its maker writes that the game shuts off the lights in the same room again and again. 92% on Steam (850 reviews)about 1 hFreePC
  21. Inversed key art: Sheol, a pale dark-haired woman in a frilled dark dress, writes with a quill by candlelight among golden flowers, handwritten script behind her PsychologicalInversedSheol tells you that in darkness she can hide and need not pretend, and the maker asks you to play with the lights out. 94% on itch.io (327 ratings)about 15 minFreeBrowser, PC, Mac, Linux, Android
  22. Eclipsium key art: a pixel-art hooded figure with one huge black eye in a dark red cave, a distant robed figure holding up a glowing orb PsychologicalEclipsiumThe world has lost its sun and is devouring itself; the store speaks of an endless darkness lit only by a pale guiding light 91% on Steam (3,822 reviews)about 3.5 hPaidPC
  23. POOLS key art: a long rectangular pool of dark water with a metal rail and stairs at the back, in a hall of pale tiles stretching into the distance Walking simulatorsPOOLSIt plays on the fear of the dark, with flooded rooms lit by a single bright doorway. 95% on Steam (6,780 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux, iPhone, PlayStation, Switch, VR
  24. FLATHEAD key art: a grinning grainy figure in a white collar, its head a tall smear of white static, on a black field ShortFLATHEADThe room is dark but for the panel, and a lightbox that soon bursts is all that holds the creature back. 93% on Steam (389 reviews)about 45 minPaidPC
  25. Within Deep Sorrows header art: the word Within in cracked grey stone letters with blood-red stains on black PsychologicalWithin Deep SorrowsPlayers who finished it say how dark it is, and the screenshots are mostly black around a single lamp. 93% on Game Jolt (357 ratings)about 25 minFreePC, Mac
  26. Midnight Scenes: The Highway key art: a lone driver in an old car on a dark night highway between telegraph poles, in black and white pixel art 2D horrorMidnight Scenes: The HighwayThe store asks you to discover what horrors lurk in the darkness of a deserted road. 92% on itch.io (675 ratings)about 30 minPaidPC, Mac
  27. Duskers art: a beam of light picks out a red A1 hatch on the dark, ribbed hull of a derelict spaceship drifting among wreckage SurvivalDuskersThe maker says the game grew from the feeling of being alone in the dark, with tech that only shows part of what is around you. 90% on Steam (2,824 reviews)about 9 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux
  28. 10-103 key art: a green-eyed figure stands between two bodies in a blood-stained pixel-art room under an AEGIS shield emblem, red warning lights and the green title below 2D horror10-103The maker calls the facility the dark hell the place became; the screen is lit only by strips of ceiling light and red alarms 94% on itch.io (242 ratings)about 30 minFreeBrowser, PC
  29. Project Lunky key art: a dark red-lit creature with a long V-shaped head and outstretched arms behind the glowing red title Action horrorProject LunkyPlayers say the lab gets too dark at times, and the screenshots are mostly black around a few lamps 96% on itch.io (170 ratings)about 2 hPay what you wantPC
  30. Handy Harry's Haunted House Services key art: a nearly black hallway with a dim floor lamp and two small white eyes glinting in the dark at the far end Co-opHandy Harry's Haunted House ServicesYou search nearly black rooms for faults before the ghost that lurks in the darkness catches up with you. 91% on Steam (537 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC

To play with friends

7 games

Short enough for one evening

Done in an hour or so

Free to play

48 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