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Television horror games

In these games the television is never just furniture. Old CRT sets hiss with static, children's show hosts talk back from the screen, and broadcasts carry messages or open onto other places. You watch, change channels and step through screens, and the fear comes from what looks back at you from the glass.

The top 26 of 26 television horror games, ranked by player and critic scores

The 26 best, 2026

  1. Smile For Me key art: a dark figure in a top hat with glowing eyes and a wide glowing grin looms over silhouettes of the Habitat's residents amid swirling vines and flowers PsychologicalSmile For MeAt night Doctor Habit sends you subliminal messages through the TV set, telling you to stop. 98% on Steam (1,887 reviews)about 4 hPaidPC, Mac, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
  2. Hello Charlotte EP2 key art: a black-and-white drawing of a crying girl holding a small dripping figure, at the right edge of a black speckled background PsychologicalHello Charlotte EP2: Requiem Aeternam DeoThe store lists the horrors of a TV world, and the screens keep breaking into static and glitching colour. 97% on Steam (2,479 reviews)about 4 hFreePC
  3. Cube Escape: Paradox key art: the white outline of a cube under the title, on green wallpaper patterned with moths PsychologicalCube Escape: ParadoxAn old television set is tuned to live-action clips, among them Dale's bloodied face, that hold the answers to puzzles 96% on Google Play (180,000 ratings)FreePC, Mac, iPhone, Android
  4. Mind the Gap key art: a stern monochrome face with a red blotch beside a pale drawn curly-haired figure, under the red title and the words Chapter 3 is out PsychologicalMind the GapThe figure who speaks to the trapped passengers has an old CRT television for a head, its screen full of static. 98% on itch.io (440 ratings)about 4 hPay what you wantPC, Mac, Linux, Android
  5. Hello Charlotte EP1 key art: a smiling white-haired girl tied by red strings to yellow claw hands, under a one-eyed dark figure, on grey static PsychologicalHello Charlotte EP1: Junk Food, Gods and Teddy BearsHer new friend goes missing among the static, and the chase leads into a TV world of channels. 96% on itch.io (894 ratings)about 1 hFreePC
  6. Amanda the Adventurer key art: Wooly the Sheep, wide-eyed and frightened, his hands raised, behind purple VHS scanlines Multiple endingsAmanda the AdventurerYou watch each episode on an old TV with a built-in VCR, and the characters on it talk back to you. 94% on Steam (7,337 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  7. Perfect Vermin key art: pixel-art grey hands framing a shadowed face with glowing orange eyes and a lit cigarette, on black PsychologicalPerfect VerminBetween floors a pixel-art FFI News anchor reports on your work from his desk and looks worse each time. 93% on Steam (2,765 reviews)about 15 minFreePC, Linux
  8. Silver Thread : Deux title art: a long-haired figure with a cigarette and a startled companion holding a lantern in a dark red room hung with paintings 2D horrorSilver Thread : DeuxAn old television plays a show of a masked performer before red curtains, with the caption Encore. 96% on itch.io (474 ratings)about 1.5 hPay what you wantBrowser, PC
  9. TELEFORUM key art: a barefoot woman in a robe sits in an armchair in a dim lamp-lit room with damask wallpaper, a bookshelf and a small side table PsychologicalTELEFORUMThe host of a late-night show on local public TV station COMUNITV died during a live broadcast that everyone remembers differently 91% on Steam (995 reviews)about 35 minFreePC, Mac
  10. REPLAY key art: a rotting, skull-faced creature in the dark beside a blurred TV showing a bright platformer, with the title down the right side ShortREPLAYYou play the whole game on a boxy CRT television in a dark room, turning away from it to look around. 92% on itch.io (443 ratings)about 7 minPay what you wantPC
  11. Nightmare Zapping key art: a pile of old TV sets full of white static under a glowing red circle, on a grainy red and black ground Visual novelsNightmare ZappingYou sit in front of a mysterious TV and flip its channels, each one showing a different nightmare 94% on itch.io (91 ratings)about 2 hPaidPC
  12. KARMA: The Dark World key art: monochrome portrait of a wet-haired young man in a padded suit with a thick collar and numbered chest plate, lit from above on black PsychologicalKARMA: The Dark WorldCrowds and figures with old CRT television sets for heads, and an office full of hanging TVs, fill the memory worlds 91% on Steam (4,617 reviews)about 6 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  13. Project Looking Glass key art: a seated woman sends white wisps into a cracked mirror holding a glitching, rainbow-pixelated figure, beside the pixel title PsychologicalProject Looking GlassEvery place is shown through the cathode glow of a Cold War-era CRT monitor. 100% on Steam (99 reviews)about 2.5 hPaidPC, Mac
  14. Creepy Shift: House For Sale key art: a dark farmhouse with a FOR SALE sign on a black field under a starry green sky Puzzle horrorCreepy Shift: House For SaleOne rule punishes leaving the TV on too long, and distorted faces appear on an old CRT set 92% on Steam (300 reviews)about 2 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox
  15. Paranormal Entities cover: the title over a dark corridor of barred cells, framed by a camera viewfinder Night shiftParanormal EntitiesYou film for Paranormal Entities, the number two ghost investigation show on a cable network. 92% on itch.io (290 ratings)Pay what you wantPC
  16. Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes key art: a small hooded child on rubble looks up at a purple vortex with a glowing door among floating stairs, a train and debris Puzzle horrorLittle Nightmares VR: Altered EchoesThe story starts in a room with a television and runs through TV screens and a glowing set at the end of a dark corridor 92% on the PlayStation Store (293 ratings)about 4 hPaidPC, VR, PlayStation
  17. One Room cover art: a painted girl with green hair holds up a lit match while a huge pale face with a fish's mouth and a human eye looms in the murky brown dark behind her EscapeOne RoomAn old boxy TV stands in the corner, and players puzzle over how to work its controls 94% on itch.io (98 ratings)about 30 minFreeBrowser
  18. Duck Season key art: a boy with a light gun faces a giant glowing TV showing a duck hunt in a dim 1980s living room, a dog lurking in the doorway Multiple endingsDuck SeasonYou play on a big box television, and the cartridge takes you inside the screen to hunt 85% on Steam (1,499 reviews)about 1.5 hPaidVR, PC
  19. Amanda the Adventurer 2 key art: a thin, clawed figure with round ears reaches out beside a toppled, red-lit bookshelf behind purple TV scanlines Puzzle horrorAmanda the Adventurer 2Amanda talks to you from an old CRT TV in the library's children's corner. 83% on Steam (1,582 reviews)about 4 hPaidPC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
  20. They Looked Like Us key art: the title in white capitals over a dark red pixelated human figure against a blurred red background PS1They Looked Like UsThe horror starts when the old television in the living room switches to a red Emergency Broadcast. 88% on itch.io (154 ratings)about 6 minPay what you wantPC
  21. Grotesqueresque cover art: a pixel-art figure whose head is a mass of scribbled lines with one red eye, framed in a dark circle over purple water 2D horrorGrotesqueresqueOne story is about a cursed TV show, and a screenshot shows a grinning host with red eyes on a static-filled screen. 90% on itch.io (80 ratings)about 1 hPay what you wantBrowser, PC, Mac
  22. 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 nameOne corner of the apartment holds a stack of old televisions, every screen hissing with static 81% on Steam (4,454 reviews)about 10 minFreePC, Mac, Linux
  23. Let's Watch Steamboat Willie! key art: two silhouetted men in tall hats at a ship's wheel as long clawed shadow arms reach toward them PsychologicalLet's Watch Steamboat Willie!Two men sit on a sofa in front of a TV playing the 1928 cartoon Steamboat Willie in full. 90% on itch.io (63 ratings)about 8 minFreeBrowser, PC, Mac, Linux
  24. Almost plastic, Not Even Real cover: a dithered black-and-white face with a black bar over its eyes, on a deep blue background PsychologicalAlmost plastic, Not Even RealA dark CRT television in the living room, captioned as if it has been watching the room. 96% on itch.io (33 ratings)about 18 minFreeBrowser
  25. Hello Puppets! key art: a frightened stitched doll in a pink glow surrounded by puppet monsters, among them a top-hatted old man, a woman with a saw and a giant fanged dog EscapeHello Puppets! VRSet in the burnt-out studio where the children's TV show Mortimer's Handeemen was filmed until a 1986 fire 79% on Steam (197 reviews)about 2 hPaidVR, PC
  26. Subliminal key art: a dark blue soft-play tunnel with a static-filled CRT television on the padded floor and a round opening beyond PsychologicalSubliminalTV screens showing static carry you from one memory to the next. 73% on Steam (2,576 reviews)about 3 hPaidPC

Short enough for one evening

Done in an hour or so

Free to play

15 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