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Prison horror games

In these games you are locked up. Some put you in a cell on an island, a dungeon or a maximum-security penitentiary; others make you a convict or test subject sent where nobody else will go. The fear starts with the bars: no weapons, no way out you can see, and guards or worse on the other side of the door. Every step is about getting free and staying alive while you do.

The top 30 of 44 prison horror games, ranked by player and critic scores

The 30 best, 2026

  1. SCP: The Endurance key art: four SCP creatures, among them a beaked plague doctor and a skull-faced figure, around the red neon title in the dark FNAFSCP: The EnduranceYou play a Class-D, one of the convicts the Foundation takes off death row, kept at a post through the breach 98% on Game Jolt (2,627 ratings)about 1 hFreePC
  2. Your Turn To Die key art: Sara, an orange-haired girl in a teal blazer, stands before the other captives, all wearing collars, drawn in manga style PsychologicalYour Turn To Die -Death Game By Majority-Eleven people held in an enclosed facility, each wearing a collar, told to vote on who should die 97% on Steam (4,534 reviews)15 h or morePaidPC, Browser
  3. SCP – Containment Breach key art: the game's title in scratched, blood-spattered letters over a dark textured background SurvivalSCP – Containment BreachClass D test subjects in orange jumpsuits are led into the chamber of SCP-173 at the start. 97% on Steam (2,080 reviews)FreePC
  4. 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 Virtue's Last Reward a second group of nine is locked inside a facility and can only leave by playing Zero's game. 94% on Steam (4,035 reviews)34 h or morePaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  5. Fear & Hunger key art: the painted faces of pale adventurers and a dark knight behind the game's title SurvivalFear & HungerThe dungeons are an infamous prison, and all four adventurers go down to find Le'garde, a knight locked inside 94% on Steam (23,065 reviews)11 h or morePaidPC, Mac
  6. DEATH IN UNISON key art: a pixelated pale face with one blue eye and a jagged grin leans out of the dark beside a field of blue static FNAFDEATH IN UNISONYou process incoming prisoners and keep loose inmates, each with its own rule, away from your office. 95% on Steam (790 reviews)about 4 hPaidPC
  7. Butcher's Creek key art: the white splatter-style title over a sepia-orange mass of writhing, eye-studded flesh Action horrorButcher's CreekCaptured by a gang of sadistic killers, you start as their prisoner and must fight your way free 94% on Steam (1,709 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC
  8. 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 nameless man is carried in a cage under an airship to a gloomy castle that becomes his prison. 92% on Google Play (4,110 ratings)about 5 hPaidPC, Mac, iPhone, Android
  9. Iron Lung key art: the title IRON LUNG over a grainy brown and grey image PsychologicalIron LungYou play an unnamed convict sent down in the sub, a mission a note from its last occupant calls a death sentence. 92% on Steam (11,357 reviews)about 1 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Switch, Android
  10. Mistrick key art: a grinning purple-haired man with red eyes and a bloodied knife, beside the hand-lettered blue title on pink 2D horrorMistrickJohn Blanc is a narcissistic convict, and the art shows him and Chase in orange jumpsuits behind cell bars 94% on itch.io (658 ratings)about 50 minPay what you wantBrowser, PC, Android
  11. The Lacerator key art: a bloodied Max with a smoking revolver and a muscular figure raising a pickaxe, beside the dripping red title SurvivalThe LaceratorMax starts as the killer's captive and passes rows of rusty barred cells as he tries to escape 99% on Steam (164 reviews)about 1.5 hPaidPC
  12. SCP: Secret Laboratory key art: two soldiers in gas masks, one with green night-vision goggles and one holding a revolver, in an orange-lit shaft with huge pipes Co-opSCP: Secret LaboratoryClass-D prisoners start unarmed in Light Containment and try to escape the facility alive. 91% on Steam (235,439 reviews)about 30 minFree to playPC
  13. Shrine II key art: the title in pale pink gothic pixel letters over a dark retro 3D forest path between rocky brown walls Action horrorShrine IIThe game opens with Tusk locked in a cell until unseen help frees him with a bone saw 92% on Steam (872 reviews)FreePC, Linux
  14. FLATHEAD key art: a grinning grainy figure in a white collar, its head a tall smear of white static, on a black field ShortFLATHEADYou wake strapped to a machine as a participant, and only enough points pay for your escape. 93% on Steam (389 reviews)about 45 minPaidPC
  15. KLETKA key art: a gas-masked figure holding a wrench and a gas-masked creature in a cone-like hood, either side of a giant open red mouth with teeth Co-opKLETKAYou play one of the most dangerous criminals, sentenced to descend into the depths of the Gigastructure. 90% on Steam (8,033 reviews)about 5 hPaidPC, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  16. Resident Evil Code: Veronica X key art: Claire Redfield with an assault rifle and Chris Redfield in his S.T.A.R.S. vest raising a pistol, back to back on a dark blue background SurvivalResident Evil Code: Veronica XClaire is captured in Paris and held as a prisoner on Rockfort Island, where she teams up with another inmate 90% on the PlayStation Store (10,798 ratings)20 h or morePaidPlayStation, Xbox
  17. Human Construction Site cover: a dark-haired figure's red eye seen through a red warning triangle behind greenish glass, with the title in red SurvivalHuman Construction SiteYou wake locked in a cell, and the other captives you meet are kept behind bars; one warns you that the man in the next cage almost bit her. 96% on itch.io (180 ratings)about 2.5 hFreeBrowser, PC, Mac
  18. Escape from Wormwood key art: the white hand-lettered title and a small hooded mouse face over dark maroon rain and rooftops Visual novelsEscape from WormwoodYou wake tied up in the dark, and a cultist says she cannot untie you, so she will feed you herself. 96% on itch.io (161 ratings)about 30 minFreeBrowser, PC, Mac, Linux, Android
  19. Alice is Dead - Ep 2 art: a grinning man in a top hat with a bloodied heart card in the band, pointing a cigar, in a grimy blue-green room Puzzle horrorAlice is Dead - Ep 2The episode opens in a cell with a bed and a toilet, and one of its medals is for escaping jail. 94% on Newgrounds (3,552 ratings)about 30 minFreeBrowser
  20. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream key art: a man's face with a red eye and no mouth, merged into a microchip, beside the chrome title on blue circuitry PsychologicalI Have No Mouth, and I Must ScreamYou play five captives held by AM for 109 years, each kept in a cage of their own on a tall pillar 89% on Steam (4,102 reviews)about 6 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iPhone, Android
  21. Tormentum II key art: a pale, dark-haired woman in thorned black armour sitting cross-legged in a red-lit chamber of bone and biomechanical shapes PsychologicalTormentum IIAfter installing the coprocessor, David wakes up in a prison cell on an island and has to get out. 93% on Steam (290 reviews)about 8 hPaidPC, Mac, Linux
  22. The Tartarus Key key art: a blue-lit portrait of Alex in a hood with red X marks over her eyes and red horn strokes, framed by red scribbles on black EscapeThe Tartarus KeyAlex frees fellow captives held in the mansion as she goes, and whether they live or die is up to you. 93% on Steam (315 reviews)about 5.5 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  23. The Walking Dead key art: Lee Everett keeps a hand on Clementine in her cap as walkers close in under a burning orange sky ZombiesThe Walking DeadLee Everett is a convicted murderer riding in a police cruiser on his way to prison when the dead rise and the car crashes. 86% on Google Play (1,270,000 ratings)12 h or morePaidPC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iPhone, Android
  24. Arrival in Hell II key art: a dark drawn demon face with a glowing red eye and blood splatter under the white title 2D horrorArrival in Hell 2You play Ed, a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit who escaped his cell in the first game. 89% on Newgrounds (388 ratings)FreeBrowser
  25. Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi key art: the white scrawled title over a red pentagram and red smoke on black Action horrorNosferatu: The Wrath of MalachiThe doors are locked behind your family and they become the count's prisoners, held in sealed rooms 87% on Steam (3,245 reviews)about 4 hPaidPC
  26. Mansion of the Dead key art: a foggy graveyard of mossy tombstones and a stone cross before a dark red-brick mansion at night SurvivalMansion of the DeadStruck down by an unknown force, Kim wakes in a cold, bare room as the mansion's newest prisoner. 95% on Steam (113 reviews)about 1.5 hPaidPC
  27. Metel - Horror Escape key art: the Santa-hatted maniac drags a bloodied man through the snow past a wooden cabin as a dog snarls by its kennel EscapeMetel - Horror EscapeYou start locked in a metal cage; screenshots show cells with iron bars and a pillory. 86% on Google Play (111,000 ratings)PaidPC, Mac, iPhone, Android
  28. Granny key art: the white-eyed old woman with an open mouth stands in a grey room above the game's title SurvivalGrannyYou wake up locked in a dark room of Granny's house with a headache, and must find a way out. 86% on Google Play (4,370,000 ratings)about 1 hFree with adsiPhone, Android, PC
  29. Resident Evil 0 key art: the empty, blood-stained passenger carriage of a luxury train, light spilling through its far door SurvivalResident Evil 0Your partner Billy Coen is a former Navy lieutenant and death row convict escaped from a prisoner transport 91% on the PlayStation Store (24,000 ratings)10 h or morePaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  30. Get Out key art: a hooded figure in a straitjacket sits cross-legged in a blue-lit prison cell, a silhouette at the barred window behind SurvivalGet Out ! A "Very Bad Dreams" StoryYou start bound in a straitjacket with a hood over your head, among barred cells you have to break out of. 83% on the PlayStation Store (176 ratings)about 2.5 hPaidPC, PlayStation, VR

To play with friends

6 games

Short enough for one evening

Done in an hour or so

Free to play

13 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