Horror Games: How the Genre Has Evolved Over the Years

The first horror games released date back to the 70s and 80s, with titles such as Haunted House from 1972, Mystery House from 1980, 3D Monster Maze in 1982, and Sweet Home, released in 1989 by Capcom and considered the precursor to Resident Evil. Mostly first-person adventures, they all featured jump scares, monsters, and horror themes, focusing on direct combat with enemies.

As the genre became more established, and some games stood out more among fans and, consequently, in the market, certain trends began to emerge, shaping what can be called "eras" in the history of horror games, since we’re talking about evolution. Let's look at the biggest and most significant of them:

Survival Horror

In the 90s, one of the landmarks in the history of horror games was released: Alone in the Dark, from 1992 (yes, the same Alone in the Dark that had a remake released last year, in 2024! We'll talk more about that later), is considered the predecessor of all Survival Horror games. It was the first 3D horror game, and it had a strong focus on exploring its pre-rendered environments and, of course, on surviving.

In this "new era," games of the genre have moved away from simply focusing on the jump scare itself, on conveying fear in a more "raw" way, through direct combat and frightening visuals, to touch on an aspect that affects the human mind even more than the "simplest" fear: the survival instinct.

Survival Horror is literally what the name says: trying to survive a certain horror. The most famous examples are names that anyone who likes the genre will surely recognize, the classics Silent Hill and Resident Evil. In these games, more specifically in the first titles of each series, far beyond simply facing the creatures that attack you, you need to survive. Knowing when to fight, and especially when to recognize that the threat is greater than you and the best thing to do is retreat or pass stealthily. And of course: knowing how to manage your resources well.

Melee weapons that break after a predetermined number of uses, scarce ammunition (that is, when firearms are available), even scarcer healing items, and a limited inventory. All these elements can be found in a classic survival horror game, and the tension of having to take all of this into account while exploring an environment, solving puzzles, and carefully planning where to use each resource, coupled with bloodthirsty monsters and creatures chasing you at all times, guarantees a tense, atmospheric, and blood-curdling gameplay experience.

Other games that fit into the Survival Horror genre are Alien: Isolation, a game that pits you against a Xenomorph, meaning escape is your only option, Fear & Hunger, and the classic Fatal Frame, both games where knowing how to manage your resources is extremely important. Recently, Resident Evil has returned to its survival horror roots, with RE7: Biohazard and RE8: Village serving as a rebirth of the saga, once again heavily focused on this style.

Action Horror

If the rule for the games above was to hide, take it slow, think carefully, and run away whenever possible, here it's exactly the opposite. In the early 2000s, another trend began to show up more frequently in the horror game scene, again driven by the absurd reception of one of the giants of the genre: Resident Evil 4.

The new Resident Evil was much more action-oriented, with several intense combat sequences, encouraging you to be more proactive, to confront enemies instead of just hiding and going unnoticed. And so the Action Horror genre was established, with these characteristics appearing more and more in titles of the time.

The horror in these games comes more from the adrenaline rush of constantly being chased or in a fight sequence, attacked from all sides, and less from a carefully constructed tension within the environment. The focus on exploration is much less, and compared to any Survival Horror game, these games practically throw ammunition and resources in your face.

Resident Evil 4, 5, and 6 fall into this subgenre, as do other games like BioShock, which some barely consider horror, The Evil Within, which had an excellent start with the first game and is well worth playing, but unfortunately dropped the ball with the sequel, and classics like Dead Space, the F.E.A.R. and Left 4 Dead.

Psychological Horror

In 2010, another title completely changed the landscape of horror games as we knew them. Perhaps not so much the game itself, since, despite being an excellent game within its genre, it didn't exactly bring anything particularly innovative. But what made Amnesia: The Dark Descent earn its place in the hall of fame of horror games was its impact.

Names that anyone even slightly involved in the world of Let's Plays and gameplays on YouTube has heard, such as PewDiePie, Markiplier, or Jacksepticeye, were responsible for spreading the word about this game in a, if you'll pardon the pun, terrifying way. Each video of one of them playing the game for half an hour, experiencing theatrical scares and making jokes with the objects, reached millions and millions of views in a matter of hours, and had a double effect: in fans, it sparked the desire to play or watch their favorite YouTubers play more games of this style, of "psychological" horror, and, for the developers, it showed that there was a market for simpler and shorter games, made independently, focusing on this type of horror.

The subgenre is called psychological horror because it doesn't necessarily use the most common devices to create fear, such as horrific monsters or constant chases, but rather attempts to evoke this feeling through the players' psychology. Trauma, fears, anxiety, paranoia, and the subconscious are themes frequently explored in the genre, and often the terror present is used as a metaphor for some mental or personal issue of the characters.

Silent Hill is an excellent example, since from the first game in the series, mental issues have always been central themes, and even in the most recent game, Silent Hill f, there’s a strong ambiguity about whether all of that really happens in the real world or only in the characters' minds. The short game released just before, Silent Hill: A Short Message, features suicide and depression as the main villains, personified in the monsters and the already classic horror of the series.

Speaking of Silent Hill and psychological horror, we can't fail to mention another cornerstone of this genre, a game so unique and impactful that the mourning over its cancellation is still discussed today, 12 years later. P.T., the Playable Teaser for what would’ve been Silent Hills, a new title in the series that would’ve made a triumphant return, directed by two living legends, Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro. Unfortunately, as a consequence of the divorce between Kojima and Konami, the project was canceled, removed from digital platforms, and consoles with the teaser downloaded and installed are treated as relics.

Since then, partly due to the success P.T. had on YouTube, similar to what happened with Amnesia four years earlier, many games have tried to recreate the "formula" of the psychological horror game with a time loop, with varying degrees of success. It's worth mentioning Layers of Fear, from 2016, which has a very well-constructed atmosphere and impeccable visuals, but unfortunately fails to deliver terror as effectively as its inspiration and falls short in terms of jump scares, and Visage, from 2020, which takes a more directly frightening approach and hits the mark with its atmosphere and enemies similar to P.T., being considered by many the closest we’ll ever get to the dreamed-of Silent Hills.

Other titles that explore this type of horror extremely well are Alan Wake, the relatively recent Still Wakes the Deep, which masterfully blends psychological terror with cosmic horror, Soma, from the same creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and even Doki Doki Literature Club. Another resounding success is Outlast, famous for being a game where you’re completely defenseless, and all you can do is run and hide from the many, many dangers.

Where is the trend going now?

Well, to talk about that, we need to go back to 2014 again, but this time to look at another release from that era, which was part of the "boom" of indie horror games on YouTube, but took the genre in a different direction. If you're a fan of horror games and follow the most popular releases and titles in the genre, you must’ve noticed the absence so far of a name loved by many and equally hated: Five Nights At Freddy's.

Love it or hate it, it's impossible to deny that FNAF has its merits, and there are many. From the story of its creator, who went from being on the verge of giving up on his dream of creating games to becoming one of the most famous names in the indie horror scene, to the fact that the gameplay of the first game, a combination of point-and-click with survival horror, was quite new, the series left its mark on the history of the genre, and, for better or worse, greatly influenced two current horror trends: The Mascot Horror genre, with enemies and characters basically made to become "mascots" of the games, in an attempt to emulate what happened organically with FNAF, and games with hidden stories that encourage replayability and exploration.

Currently, one of the downsides of the popularization of YouTube and gameplay videos is that some developers focus more on making their games appealing to viewers or YouTubers who create "game theories" than on making them truly fun to play. As a result, finding good titles amidst so many others made first to sell plush toys to children and second to be a good game has become increasingly difficult. But they're still out there!

The previously mentioned Still Wakes the Deep from 2024 is an excellent example, as is Mouthwashing, from the same year (just ignore the fanbase, I promise the game itself is very good), which builds an impeccable atmosphere through non-linear storytelling and leaves you truly desperate with the characters.

No, I'm Not a Human, from 2025, is a game that perfectly executes the idea of ​​multiple secret endings, choices, actions that influence the entire gameplay, and the need to replay it again and again, each time experiencing a slightly different story, if you want to discover every little detail to then theorize about it. Crow Country, from 2024, is a game with a charming visual style and a dark atmosphere, bringing a perfect survival horror vibe full of puzzles and mysteries to be unraveled.

But what about the big franchises?

While new games are being released daily in the indie scene, the AAA game scene is a bit different. There are still some new games being announced and released, of course, like REANIMAL, from the same devs as Little Nightmares, the spiritual successor to Soma, from Frictional Games, Ontos, and the highly anticipated OD, by Kojima, but much of what's currently successful and being announced is good old-fashioned nostalgia.

Resident Evil and Silent Hill already have a good number of remakes, and many more are being confirmed. The remake of Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, released recently in March of this year, was one of the most anticipated games by horror fans, and this list also includes well-known titles such as the Hellraiser game, an acclaimed franchise, the new Resident Evil 9: Requiem, and Silent Hill: Townfall. The 2024 remake of Alone in the Dark also fits into this list. And, for the most part, the remakes haven't disappointed, pleasing fans who always dreamed of experiencing the same stories but with current graphics.

And you, what's your favorite type of horror game? Did we miss any? Tell us in the comments!

Thank you for reading, and until next time!