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Games Like Fears to Fathom: Everyday Horror on a Night Shift

Fears to Fathom builds its fear out of an ordinary evening: a teenager home alone, a night drive, a house-sitting job, and a stranger who should not be there. These games keep that idea of everyday horror, mostly short, first-person and grounded in jobs, homes and the people who watch you.

The games

  1. The Convenience Store key art: a lit convenience store alone in a dark parking lot at night, a white light strip along its roof and red signs over yellow windows Psychological[Chilla's Art] The Convenience Store | 夜勤事件A college student takes a well-paid night shift at a Japanese convenience store, and the night slowly turns supernatural: the closest match for Fears to Fathom's ordinary-job dread.
  2. Parasocial key art: a streamer in headphones and a hoodie sits at her glowing monitor by a window over a night city Psychological[Chilla's Art] ParasocialA streamer alone in her small apartment realises a viewer knows where she lives, through texts, a note in the mail slot and a chat that sees too much.
  3. The Closing Shift key art: Chilla's Coffee at night with its glowing sign and patio umbrella, and a barista in a green apron looking back over her shoulder Psychological[Chilla's Art] The Closing Shift | 閉店事件Serve customers and close up a coffee shop after dark, growing sure that someone is watching you.
  4. Kiosk art: the dim tiled kitchen of the kiosk, with a steel table, an open notebook, shelves of bread and cabbages, and the serving window onto the dark PsychologicalKioskWork the night shift alone in a rain-soaked fast food kiosk, cooking for customers who come out of the dark, after the last worker vanished.
  5. [HERROR] Gas Station Case key art: a lit gas station with a parked car at the edge of a dark forest road at night Walking simulators[HERROR] Gas Station CaseA 1999 night shift at a remote Ohio gas station as people vanish in the woods, made in Fears to Fathom's style.
  6. One Halloween Night cover: a dark figure in the doorway of a porch with glowing jack-o'-lanterns and a scarecrow, under the title in orange neon ShortOne Halloween NightFree and about 25 minutes: home alone on Halloween with a bowl of candy, until someone at the door is not there for it.
  7. Alone. Again. title card: the word Alone in white and Again in red on black Walking simulatorsAlone. Again.A man stands still in the street outside your house at night, seen through a grainy camcorder, and he keeps getting closer.
  8. Night Delivery key art: a grey metal door ajar at the top of steps beside a cardboard box, in purple light, with the red title 例外配達 Night Delivery Psychological[Chilla's Art] Night Delivery | 例外配達Deliver boxes to one apartment block at night and meet its residents door by door, with the feeling someone is behind you.
  9. Crimson Snow key art: a pale red-haired woman with blood running from a wide smile, beside a snowbound house at night PsychologicalCrimson SnowChristmas night in a strange house where a woman obsessed with you waits, while what you tell your girlfriend on the phone decides her fate.
  10. Night Bus key art: a rainy night bus shelter under a street lamp, a faint antlered figure in the dark behind the glass, and the pixel title above PsychologicalNight BusYour first night driving a bus through rural 1999 New Zealand, watching the passengers on CCTV.
  11. ORDER 13 key art: a hand shines a purple UV flashlight on an orange cat sitting in a dark warehouse, beside the glowing title PsychologicalORDER 13Fetch orders alone by flashlight in a remote warehouse at night, where something waits between the shelves.
  12. Akai Onna art: a pale woman with long dark hair in a red floral dress stands facing you in a dim apartment, face in shadow, with film grain PsychologicalAkai OnnaA student passes a woman in red on the way home, and from then on feels watched in the quiet night streets and his apartment.
  13. Tales of Fear - Episode Zero key art: the red title beside a dark A-frame station building at the top of concrete steps under a starry night sky Walking simulatorsTales of Fear - Episode ZeroFree: three short evenings of horror from ordinary lives, after each of which you guess whether it really happened.
  14. Photomaly key art: two close-up faces with staring eyes and unnaturally wide grins on either side of the yellow title, framed by camera viewfinder corners PsychologicalPhotomalyRun your late father's photo studio, serving customers while things that are not quite right turn up in the shop and the prints.
  15. Retail Hell key art: a grinning pale monster reaches out from behind the shop window toward a soda can and cash on the counter, beside the title PsychologicalRetail HellThe only clerk of a convenience store between life and death, on a night shift that never ends.
  16. Cleaning Redville key art: the title over a dark, empty night street of low-poly wooden houses, dim streetlights and a red fire hydrant Night shiftCleaning RedvilleA night shift on a small town's garbage truck, where the rumours say your job is not what it seems; about 20 minutes, pay what you want.
  17. Egg Fried Rice key art: a low-poly foil takeaway tray of fried rice on black, with the title in chunky purple letters below Multiple endingsEgg Fried RiceA hungry midnight drive to the takeaway that turns sinister, in 10 to 20 minutes with several endings.
  18. Out of Time: Hotel key art: a pale low-poly grinning theatre mask and an orange pocket clock on a dark tiled floor, under the white and red title ShortOut of Time: HotelYour car breaks down and you check into a strange hotel obsessed with time, in a short first-person jam game.
  19. Closing Doors cover styled as a game case: the yellow title over pixelated grey-green elevator doors and a button panel PsychologicalClosing DoorsFree and four minutes: an elevator that keeps stopping on floors that are not yours.
  20. The Shopping List key art: a blank checklist with empty boxes and a bloody handprint on dark purple-lit bricks PsychologicalThe Shopping ListAn ordinary errand in a new town, rude locals and missing people, in about an hour.
  21. make sure it's closed cover: a dark low-poly garage at night with a parked gray car, a pale strip of light on the ceiling and the title in red pixel letters Psychologicalmake sure it's closedFree and a few minutes long: check the garage door is shut on a dark night, a childhood fear made into a game.

The closest relatives are the games of Chilla's Art, a two-person Japanese studio that shares Fears to Fathom's taste for short, everyday nights and grainy VHS filters. The Convenience Store sends a college student to a well-paid night shift at a Japanese convenience store, where the job slowly turns supernatural. The Closing Shift does the same at a coffee shop, as a young woman serving and cleaning after dark grows sure that someone is watching her, and Parasocial follows a streamer in her small apartment who realises one of her viewers knows where she lives. Night Delivery takes you door to door through one apartment block at night with boxes to drop off and the feeling that someone is behind you.

If what you like is the job itself, Kiosk puts you alone in a rain-soaked fast food kiosk, cooking for late-night customers after the last worker vanished, Night Bus has you drive a country bus route through 1999 New Zealand while watching the passengers on CCTV, and ORDER 13 sends you into a dark warehouse to fetch orders with a flashlight while something lurks between the shelves.

[HERROR] Gas Station Case is built in Fears to Fathom's own mould: a 1999 night shift at a remote Ohio gas station, serving customers and answering calls as people vanish in the woods. Photomaly gives you your late father's photo studio and customers who may not be what they seem, and Retail Hell pushes the night-shift idea into the afterlife, at a convenience store between life and death.

For the home-alone fear of Fears to Fathom's first episode, One Halloween Night is a free, 25-minute evening of answering the door to trick-or-treaters until someone comes for more than candy, and Alone. Again. shows a man standing still in the street outside through a grainy camcorder, closer every time you look. Crimson Snow turns the stalker into the story: on Christmas night you are locked in a house with a woman obsessed with you, guiding your girlfriend by phone.

Two more begin with a chore. The Shopping List sends you, new in town, to finish a shopping list before heading home, while the locals are rude, people have gone missing and something seems to be watching, in about an hour. make sure it's closed is a few free minutes of a childhood fear: your parents have left a note, and you have to check the garage door is really shut on a dark night before you go inside.

For something quieter, Akai Onna follows a student who passes a woman in red on his walk home and feels watched ever after, and Tales of Fear: Episode Zero gives you three short, free evenings of horror from ordinary lives, asking after each whether it really happened.

Two free itch.io shorts make the night job the whole story. Cleaning Redville puts you on a small woodland town's garbage truck at night, loading bags while the town's rumours suggest the job is not what it seems, and Egg Fried Rice turns a midnight drive to the takeaway into a tense errand with several endings; each takes about twenty minutes.

Two short jam games keep the idea of an ordinary trip gone wrong. In Out of Time Hotel your car breaks down and you check into a strange hotel obsessed with time, for ten to fifteen minutes. Closing Doors is a free, four-minute browser game in an elevator that keeps stopping on floors that are not yours, where all you can do is close the doors on whatever waits outside.

If you only try one, play The Convenience Store for the closest mix of an ordinary job and a night going wrong, or One Halloween Night if you want something free and short.

Questions

What games are like Fears to Fathom?

Chilla's Art's short games, such as The Convenience Store, The Closing Shift and Parasocial, are the closest: first-person, everyday nights that go wrong. Kiosk, Night Bus and ORDER 13 keep the lonely night job.

Are there free games like Fears to Fathom?

Yes: One Halloween Night, Tales of Fear: Episode Zero, Closing Doors, Cleaning Redville and Egg Fried Rice are free, and Fears to Fathom's own first episode, Home Alone, is free on Steam.

Are these games short?

Most are. The Convenience Store takes about 40 minutes, One Halloween Night about 25, and The Closing Shift and Night Delivery under two hours; Out of Time Hotel and Closing Doors take minutes.

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