10 Indie Horror PC Games To Play This Holiday Season
James Winspear
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2023 has been a pretty neat year for horror games. We’ve seen big-name remakes with Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space, as well as new entries into established series with Alan Wake 2 and Amnesia: The Bunker. Better yet, we’ve had a whole slew of creative and creepy games coming from the indie sphere. In this list, we’re looking at ten recent and upcoming indie horror titles fans of the macabre might want to check out.
The Last Faith
The Last Faith is an upcoming indie hack n’ slash developed by Kumi Souls Games. A souls-like metroidvania, the game challenges you to bludgeon, burn, and butcher your way through a deadly world filled with unholy dangers. To aid you in your journey, you’ll have access to a deadly arsenal of weapons, including melee tools, spells, and firearms. The game is also as gothic as all hell. How gothic, you ask? Well Baldrick, it’s so gothic that a pale poet in a silk shirt reading Edgar Allan Poe at midnight in a crumbling graveyard would probably take one look at it and say, “Steady on there, mate.”
The game is now available on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness
Is there anything more tragic than the tears of a clown? Vlad Circus puts you in the oversized shoes of Oliver Mills, a 1920s circus jester haunted by the memories of a tragic event. Eight years ago, the titular Vlad Circus burned to the ground. Now, on a dark and stormy night, the performers meet again to resurrect the ill-fated carnival. But all is not as it seems, and you soon find yourself in a pixelated nightmare of psychological horror.
A point-and-click adventure game with combat and survival horror elements, Vlad Circus just released this October for PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch. You can find the game and its free demo over on GOG, Steam, and the Epic Games Store.
Forgive Me Father 2
A sequel to its 2022 predecessor, Forgive Me Father 2 is a 2.5D boomer shooter developed by Byte Barrel and published by Fulgrum Publishing. Inspired by pulp-era comics and the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Forgive Me Father 2 has got all you need for a good time: powerful guns, slavering monstrosities, and plenty of over-the-top gore. Despite only a year’s difference, Forgive Me Father 2 boasts a significant graphical upgrade to the original, with some great-looking environments, moody lighting, and smoother character and weapon animations.
The game hit Early Access on October 16, and is available on GOG, Steam, and the Epic Games Store.
Holstin
Classic survival horror with a twist, Holstin is an upcoming PC game being developed and published by indie studio Sonka. Set in the 1990s, Holstin takes place in an isolated Polish town overtaken by a sinister, fungus-like growth. With most of the residents either insane or mutated, it’s up to you to try and get to the bottom of the mystery before it’s too late. The game boasts both an isometric perspective for exploration and a third-person, over-the-shoulder camera mode for its Resident Evil-style combat.
While a release date has yet to be announced, you can play its free demo right now over on Steam.
You Will Die Here Tonight
Another dual perspective title, You Will Die Here Tonight is a love letter to classic survival horror. Developed and published by Spiral Bound Interactive, the game puts you in control of the Aries Division, an elite six-man team trapped in the zombie-infested Breckenridge Estate. Channeling the likes of Resident Evil and House of the Dead, You Will Die Here Tonight switches between an isometric perspective for exploration and a frantic first-person arcade mode for combat. Be warned, though: your characters can and will die over the course of your adventure. Death is permanent, so it’s up to you to make sure that their sacrifices aren’t in vain.
You can find the game over on Steam.
Conquistadorio
This macabre little point-and-click is an ideal time sink for those of you who want some unique visuals and old-school adventure game vibes. In it, you play as an undead conquistador, who’s just found out that death isn’t quite the end of the road. Instead, he must navigate his way through a bizarre world by overcoming obstacles and solving an array of fiendish puzzles. The game has four levels in total to explore and boasts a unique, hand-drawn art style.
The game was released in October and can be found alongside its free prologue on Steam.
Chromosome Evil 2
Chromosome Evil is a top-down RTS that combines a tactical, squad-based shooter with a heavy dose of H. P. Lovecraft-inspired horror. Created by indie developer 16 Bit Studios and released in March 2022, the game is now getting a sequel with Chromosome Evil 2. Assemble a strike squad and manage your team as they traverse an infested landscape overrun with all manner of abominations. To survive, you’ll need to optimise your team’s loadouts, upgrade their gear and give them orders in the heat of battle.
You can grab both the first and second game over on Steam.
Crow Country
Get your old-school vibe on and explore an abandoned theme park in this PSX-style horror game. You play as Mara Forest, a mysterious young woman venturing into the derelict Crow Country amusement park in 1990. Offering classic survival horror mechanics and some ultra-retro chunky pixels, Crow Country is a game for those of you who want plenty of nostalgia with your scares. Solve puzzles, manage scarce resources, and face disturbing enemies. If you’ve played the old Resident Evil or Silent Hill games, you’ll know the drill.
Crow Country doesn’t have an official release date yet, but you can download the free demo right now via Steam.
Perennial Order
Perennial Order is a disturbing 2D biopunk boss rush game being developed by Gardenfiend Games. Described by its creators as Hollow Knight meets Titan Souls, the game has you playing as a plant-ridden knight facing off against enormous arboreal abominations. The game uses twin stick melee controls and a punishing one-hit-kill combat system that forces you to always keep on your toes. You can even out the odds by bringing a friend, however, as the game boasts options for local or online co-op.
Perennial Order will be available on Steam at some point in 2024 and has a free demo you can download right now.
Echoes of the Living
Those who can’t get enough of classic, fixed-camera survival horror but want more modern graphics owe it to themselves to check out Echoes of the Living. It’s 1996, and a mysterious fog has enveloped a small town in Europe. It recedes, only to reveal something far worse: the dead have come back to life, and now crave the flesh of the living! Play as one of two survivors of the outbreak as you try to survive the night and get to the bottom of the mystery. Developed by indie duo Moonglint for PC, the game boasts highly detailed environments and some pretty sick lighting.
Echoes of the Living is slated for a Q1 2024 release and has a free playable demo out now on its Steam page.
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