Skip to content
FiltersEvery game, every platform 34 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.

Painting horror games

In these games the art on the walls is part of the threat. You walk galleries and old houses where portraits watch you, canvases drip or change when you look away, and some paintings can be stepped into. The fear is quiet and close: a face that was not there before, a frame that moved, a picture that knows more than you do.

The top 30 of 34 painting horror games, ranked by player and critic scores

The 30 best, 2026

  1. Ib key art: a brown-haired girl with red eyes, in a white blouse and red skirt, holds a red rose against a dark green wall beside the white Ib logo PsychologicalIbIb is drawn into a world inside the artist Guertena's work, where the paintings have come to life and painted ladies chase her. 99% on Steam (5,357 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC, Switch, PlayStation
  2. Matsuro Palette key art: the winking white-haired girl from the painting, with one red eye and a blue flower, raising a hand to a pale paint stroke on dark blue PsychologicalMatsuro PaletteYou must finish the portrait of a girl in a cursed painting, choosing what to paint and in which colour. 98% on Google Play (277,000 ratings)about 2 hPaidPC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, iPhone, Android
  3. The Past Within key art: the game's title beside a hexagon badge with a dark figure with white eyes, over a blurred dim room PsychologicalThe Past WithinFramed portraits hang in the past's rooms: a stern red-haired woman in gold and a man's picture above a coffin 96% on Google Play (49,400 ratings)about 2 hPaidPC, Mac, Switch, iPhone, Android
  4. One Night at Flumpty's 3 key art: Flumpty Bumpty's huge pale egg face streaked with blood, mouth open in the dark, beside the title in glowing pixel letters FNAFOne Night at Flumpty's 3One camera looks onto a gallery hung with framed paintings of grotesque clowns 98% on Game Jolt (1,919 ratings)about 18 minFreePC, iPhone, Android
  5. Cube Escape Collection key art: a white cube outline and the title on a purple starry background PsychologicalCube Escape CollectionOne chapter, Arles, puts you in a bedroom modelled on Van Gogh's, with The Starry Night in the window. 94% on Google Play (64,100 ratings)about 7 hPaidPC, Mac, iPhone, Android
  6. Time is Solid Here cover: a long-necked figure in black stands on a yellow background casting a scribbled shadow, beside the title and a Goethe Institute Standstill Project selection laurel PsychologicalTime is Solid HereA long yellow hallway hangs with three paintings, and you step into each one to help the person inside move on. 96% on itch.io (1,130 ratings)about 30 minPay what you wantBrowser, PC, Mac
  7. It Paints Me Complete Edition cover: a pale, green-eyed face half hidden among dark red roses under the gothic title PsychologicalIt Paints MeSam wakes each night in his studio to paint his masterpiece, but lifting the brush fills his fingertips with agony 96% on itch.io (577 ratings)about 15 minFreeBrowser, PC, Mac, Linux
  8. Ten Bells key art: a screaming, blood-streaked portrait hangs between two lit wall lamps above a shelf of roses PsychologicalTen BellsA note under a blurred portrait sets the rule, and portraits hang in every room, one screaming and bloodied. 97% on Steam (599 reviews)about 1 hPaidPC, Mac
  9. I'm on Observation Duty key art: the dark silhouette of a man in a suit raising a hand to his face in front of a large frame on a dim wall PsychologicalI'm on Observation DutyReport types include painting anomaly and painting movement; the rooms are hung with large paintings. 95% on Steam (2,262 reviews)about 30 minPaidPC, Mac, Linux
  10. I'm on Observation Duty 4 key art: a blurred black-and-white camera view down onto a wooden sauna bench, a bright window in the corner PsychologicalI'm on Observation Duty 4Painting anomaly is its own report type, and one house has a gallery hung with portraits. 96% on Steam (789 reviews)about 4 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux
  11. 7Days key art: a black silhouette with two glowing white eyes against a dark red background, above the pixelated red 7Days title Psychological7DaysThe house's walls are hung with pixelated paintings, three of them over the dining table. 95% on Game Jolt (1,367 ratings)about 30 minPay what you wantPC
  12. Stillwater key art: a pale, tired man in a dark coat and tie, lit green in the dark, with the wavy title across his face AnimeStillwaterPaintings hang under white sheets in the estate hall, and one achievement is called Beyond the Painting 94% on itch.io (1,037 ratings)about 1 hFreePC, Mac, Linux, Android
  13. Tormentum key art: a pale skeletal figure with outstretched arms bound by cords before a huge skull in a wall of dark biomechanical flesh PsychologicalTormentum - Dark SorrowA blind artist in a cathedral asks you to restore his paintings, and dozens of them hang on its walls. 92% on Google Play (4,110 ratings)about 5 hPaidPC, Mac, iPhone, Android
  14. Ann key art: Security in his blue uniform and Ann in glasses and a pink hoodie stand back to back before the dark school building at night 2D horrorAnnLiving art pieces attack in the art school, and a corridor of eerie portraits lines the rotting halls. 93% on Steam (1,696 reviews)about 3 hFreePC, Browser
  15. Simulacrum Chapter One key art: a woman's face tilted back in red light before a faint occult circle, with the game's title across it PsychologicalSimulacrum - Chapter OneA painting Abigail does not recognise in her apartment pulls her into a rust-covered nightmare world. 95% on Game Jolt (417 ratings)about 1.5 hFreePC
  16. The Windows Are Gone key art: a dark house with glowing yellow windows among bare teal trees, above a blood-red field under a pale sky PsychologicalThe Windows Are GoneIn the darkened rooms you inspect a framed painting of a stormy landscape hanging on a green wall. 92% on Steam (610 reviews)about 50 minFreePC
  17. The Cabin Factory key art: a log cabin with a glowing porch and open door alone in a vast, dim factory hall PsychologicalThe Cabin FactoryA portrait of a stern woman hangs in the cabin, and one reviewer returned to find her standing in front of it 91% on Steam (3,857 reviews)about 1 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  18. The Designer's Curse key art: a bald, doll-like figure with a bloodied, nail-studded torso in a dark brick corridor, beside the white title Puzzle horrorThe Designer's CurseIts rooms are hung with unsettling portraits and wall paintings made for the game, such as a screaming skull-faced figure 88% on Steam (817 reviews)about 33 minFreePC, Mac
  19. Look Outside key art: a wide-eyed man grips the curtains of a blazing window while toothed, many-eyed monsters crowd around him SurvivalLook OutsideA painter named Frederic tells Sam he looked outside days before and made a painting of what he saw. 98% on Steam11 h or morePaidPC
  20. Funerama key art: a black-and-white dithered banner with the blackletter title, a pine forest on a hill and a blurred pale face, with the words a game by Thibault Rivera PsychologicalFuneramaEvery scene is a collage of classical paintings, by Hubert Robert and Louis Daguerre among others, film stills and photographs. 98% on itch.io (63 ratings)about 30 minFreeBrowser
  21. Forgotten Hill Tales key art: a grey leather book with the FH emblem, skulls and a red crescent on a wooden table among old pages of bone sketches and a portrait of a pale witch Puzzle horrorForgotten Hill TalesPortrait of an Obsession follows a Surgery Clinic founder who finds a strange painting abroad and wants to own it. 84% on Google Play (3,660 ratings)about 2 hPaidPC, Mac, iPhone, Android
  22. Death Frame key art: a hooded skeletal ghost with glowing blue eyes reaches out of a dark picture frame toward the viewer, beside the title PsychologicalDeath FrameHuge paintings in the mansion pull you inside them, each one a memory world of the killer. 97% on Steam (59 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Switch
  23. Asleep in the Deep key art: a dim, grainy room with stained wallpaper, tilted framed portraits and a closed white door, with the title in red letters EscapeAsleep in the DeepFramed portraits hang in every room, and you click on the painted ladies, who speak to you and hide part of the puzzles. 90% on itch.io (119 ratings)about 15 minPay what you wantBrowser
  24. the static speaks my name key art: the title in white glitchy lowercase letters on a pink band, framed by rows of pixel-art palm-tree islands Psychologicalthe static speaks my nameThe man is obsessed with the meaning of a mysterious painting of two palm trees and the artist who painted it 81% on Steam (4,454 reviews)about 10 minFreePC, Mac, Linux
  25. Sportaldislexicartaphobia key art: a painted girl with a dark bob, blank white eyes and a knife in a gilt frame, under the scrawled white title ShortSportaldislexicartaphobiaThe girl lives in a wall of framed portraits; you search the paintings for objects while her painted eyes watch you 92% on itch.io (55 ratings)about 5 minPay what you wantBrowser, PC
  26. Blank Dream key art: the original Japanese title 虚白ノ夢 (Kohaku no Yume) in white on dark blue beside a column of glowing lights, marked 2015 Teriyaki Tomato PsychologicalBlank DreamA painter in the Realm of Beauty wants paint, and Jay is Games warns of paintings that come to life. 90% (50 ratings)about 3 hFreePC
  27. Layers of Fear VR key art: a torn cloth half covers a framed portrait of a woman whose face is smeared with blood, on dark damask wallpaper PsychologicalLayers of Fear VRYou play a painter trying to finish his masterpiece among macabre artwork and portraits that change. 82% on the Meta Quest store (370 ratings)about 2.5 hPaidVR, PC, PlayStation
  28. The Darkest Woods key art: a huge dark figure in a hat with glowing eyes looms over a lit mansion among bare trees, in black and white Puzzle horrorThe Darkest WoodsA framed portrait of a man in a cravat whose face is a rotting, grinning skull 85% on Game Jolt (48 ratings)about 1 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux
  29. The Medium key art: Marianne, white-haired, raises a glowing hand, standing between a grey abandoned building on the left and an orange spirit world of crosses and twisted trees on the right PsychologicalThe MediumThe spirit world is styled after the paintings of Zdzisław Beksiński, with bone, flesh and rust-coloured skies. 89% on Steamabout 8 hPaidPC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  30. Dread X Collection 5 art: the painted neon entrance of the Outpost 3000 party venue at night, with a rocket ship statue and red shrubs beside the door PS1Dread X Collection 5Gallerie fills an art gallery with famous paintings, whispering paint and stalking sculptures 81% on Steam (311 reviews)10 h or morePaidPC

Short enough for one evening

Done in an hour or so

Free to play

16 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