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Old Flash Horror Games You Can Still Play

Flash games were where many players met horror first, and some of the best still run today: Newgrounds plays them in the page with its own Flash player, free and with no plug-in. These are Flash horror games from 2004 to 2012 that still load, rated well by the players who keep coming back to them.

The games

  1. Exmortis title art: a dark two-storey house among bare trees under a pale full moon, in brown and black tones Puzzle horrorExmortisThe 2004 classic most lists call the scariest Flash game: no memory, a house in the woods and ancient beings, rated 4.58 by over 4,000 players.
  2. Gretel and Hansel art: the two children, Gretel in a yellow headscarf and her brother, painted in pale watercolour beside a wooden door 2D horrorGretel and HanselA watercolour Grimm tale where almost every wrong click ends in a gruesome death, played millions of times on Newgrounds.
  3. Exmortis 2 title art: an old stone church with a cross on its tower under a blood-red sky, the title in dripping letters Puzzle horrorExmortis 2The sequel: the last survivor flees the Exmortis through a church, a ranch and stranger places.
  4. Gretel and Hansel 2 title art: the name written in twig letters with a large 2 over a pale watercolour forest of bare trees 2D horrorGretel and Hansel Part 2Longer and deeper into the woods, with an inventory and just as many deaths.
  5. Ghostscape title art: a ruined old house and a stone cross in a graveyard under a stormy night sky, the title in metal letters Puzzle horrorGhostscapeGather evidence of ghosts in an old house and perform a candle ceremony to escape.
  6. Goliath The Soothsayer art: a shadowy man covering his eyes with both hands in a dim, sepia room Puzzle horrorGoliath The SoothsayerFrom the maker of Exmortis with The Mars Volta: locked in a missing brother's attic by a malevolent force.
  7. Ghostscape 2 The Cabin title art: a dark forest track with No Trespassing, Cabin and Keep Out signs, the title in metal and red letters Puzzle horrorGhostscape 2 - The CabinInvestigate a cabin in the woods and its old owner with a camera, a metal detector and his diaries.
  8. Inculcation: a dim, grimy kitchen with a sink, a washing machine and a gas oven under a bricked-up window, seen in first person Puzzle horrorInculcationA first-person point-and-click survival horror from Halloween 2009, made in the spirit of Silent Hill
  9. The Breach: a green-armoured soldier with a rifle stands in a starship corridor lit by a red warning light 2D horrorThe BreachA side-on sci-fi horror shooter aboard a silent starship, rated 4.47 out of 5 by its players
  10. Arrival in Hell II title art: a dark hand-drawn demon face with red eyes and a splash of blood 2D horrorArrival in Hell 2Escape a demonic prison through dozens of puzzles, toward one of three endings
  11. Bars of Black and White title art: the name hand-lettered in black ink over a barcode on white PsychologicalBars of Black and WhiteA quiet room escape in black line art, where a barcode reader shows the world is wrong
  12. Outpost:Haven key art: an armoured space marine with a green visor fires a rifle down a dark station corridor, the Outpost logo in the corner 2D horrorOutpost:HavenA top-down shooter on a space station where aliens come out of the vents
  13. Shadow Tag: a worried cartoon man in a grey hoodie holds a flashlight beside a lit log cabin at night 2D horrorShadow TagA 48-hour jam game: a flashlight, a cabin at night and children playing a cruel game
  14. Deep Sleep Trilogy key art: a skeleton lies on a filthy, moss-stained bed under a dark sky in grainy pixel art Puzzle horrorDeep Sleep Trilogyscriptwelder's Flash dream trilogy, no longer playable in the browser but preserved on Steam

Start with the classics. Exmortis, Ben Leffler's 2004 game, is the one most often named as the scariest of the Flash era: you wake in the woods with no memory, shelter in a house in a clearing, and read your way into its dark past and the ancient beings behind it. Exmortis 2 picks up a year later with you as the last survivor, fleeing through a church, an abandoned ranch and stranger places while a sinister figure follows, and Leffler's Goliath The Soothsayer, made with The Mars Volta, locks you in your missing brother's attic, held by a malevolent force.

Gretel and Hansel, by makopudding, looks like a watercolour storybook and plays like a trap: you walk the children through a Brothers Grimm tale where almost every wrong click ends in an animated, often gruesome death. Gretel and Hansel Part 2 is longer and takes them deep into the woods, and both parts are being remade for Steam. Ghostscape turns the haunted house into a ghost hunt, gathering evidence and diary pages before an occult ceremony with five red candles lets you out, and Ghostscape 2 - The Cabin sends you to investigate a cabin in the woods and its old owner.

The later point-and-click games hold up just as well. Inculcation, from Halloween 2009, is a first-person survival horror adventure its maker says was inspired by Silent Hill and Resident Evil: still, grey scenes of a house and a block of flats, puzzles built from what you find, and the kind of sudden appearances that make players hesitate before every door. Arrival in Hell 2 puts you in a demonic prison with dozens of puzzles across sixteen scenes and three endings, though players warn that a key card can vanish and leave you stuck. Bars of Black and White is the quietest and strangest: you have not left your room in a long time, a barcode reader arrives in the mail, and what it scans shows the world is not what it seems.

If you want a gun in your hand, two sci-fi games answer a distress call. The Breach, by Berzerk Studio, sends a lone head of security aboard a prototype starship that has gone silent, a side-on shooter through red-lit corridors full of creatures and gore. Outpost:Haven is played from above: a station with a radiation leak, aliens that burst out of the vents and the dark, hacking, upgrades and one level seen only through night vision.

Shadow Tag is the shortest, made in 48 hours for a game jam: two children have pulled you into a paranormal game of tag outside a cabin at night, and you have a flashlight and a car to reach.

Some Flash classics no longer run in a browser at all; Newgrounds asks for its desktop player for those. Deep Sleep, Deeper Sleep and The Deepest Sleep, scriptwelder's pixel-art dream trilogy, are the best known, and they live on as the Deep Sleep Trilogy on Steam, preserved as they were.

If you only try one, play Exmortis for where Flash horror began, Gretel and Hansel for the most memorable look, or The Breach if you would rather fight back.

Questions

Can you still play Flash horror games?

Many, yes. Newgrounds runs Flash games in the page with its own player, so the games here play in a normal browser for free. A few need Newgrounds' desktop player instead, and some, like the Deep Sleep trilogy, were moved to Steam.

Do I need to install Flash?

No. Flash itself is gone from browsers; Newgrounds' player runs these games without it.

Are these games free?

The Newgrounds games are free. Deep Sleep Trilogy is paid on Steam.

Which old Flash horror game is the scariest to start with?

Exmortis is the one most lists name first, a slow occult mystery in a house in the woods. Inculcation, whose loading screen asks you to play with the lights off, is another; Bars of Black and White is unsettling rather than violent.

Is Gretel and Hansel still playable?

Yes. Both parts are free on Newgrounds in the browser, and a remake with a new Part 3 is coming to Steam, where a free demo of Part 1 is out.

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