10 Horror Games That Don't Rely On Jump Scares

If you were to hide behind a corner, waiting for someone to approach... then chances are there's something wrong with you.

But this is my example, so bear with me.

You stand there motionless, just waiting, knowing that they're approaching. Your heart beats in your chest as you feel them getting closer. Your muscles are coiled, ready to spring. Then your target appears and you leap forward, screaming, while a musical sting explodes with brass behind you.

They jump, physically shaken as their fight or flight instinct is awoken.

And why wouldn't they? That's a primal instinct that we all have, and it's so very easy to provoke for a cheap scare.

There are horror film franchises built on that exact sensation. Hell, there are horror game franchises built exclusively on it, too. What's more difficult is making people scared without relying on this feeling; creating an overwhelming sense of dread that pervades the very soul from beginning to end.

These games manage to do just that. While some of them also use jump scares, they never rely on them, instead creating an atmosphere that leaves you getting more and more scared throughout your time invested, in these terrifying worlds.

In Hellblade, you play Senua who is making the journey through Hell in order to get the soul of her murdered lover back.

If that and the armies of undead monstrous vikings weren't enough, Senua also has to deal with some severe mental health difficulties that have only gotten worse since she lost her anchor to the world.

Those difficulties present themselves all throughout the game in many ways, but mostly through a series of voices in Senua's head that are with the player all the way through. They whisper to Senua, some of them assuring her, others telling her that she can only fail and that she causes all the problems she's encountering, plus the troubles those she loves have gone through.

In an inspired bit of gameplay, the voices are useful in combat, warning when an enemy is about to strike from behind, allowing the player to dodge or counter. Through the course of the game you come to rely on these voices, even missing them when they're temporarily gone.

You find yourself trusting the voices that tell you you're worthless, and everything wrong with the world, and that's genuinely horrifying.