10 Indie Horror Games That Changed Everything
9. Slay The Princess (Black Tabby Games)
Perhaps too new to be as influential as others on this list, Slay The Princess nonetheless has presented incredible storytelling and opened up what dialogue-based storytelling can really do.
With its clever writing and protagonists, Slay The Princess presents nigh endless possibilities for choice and outcome, similar to games like The Stanley Parable, but abound with psychological and body horror.
Slay The Princess mixes tongue-in-cheek humour and ghastly horror with questions about the nature of existence, choice, and relationships. The outcome of each unique choice reflects the player in ways that often feel uncomfortable, with every playthrough different from the rest, despite at first seeming to repeat certain beats.
There's a certain simplicity that the game is built on. Give the Princess love and consideration and she returns it. Give the Princess violence and she returns it. But with every "reset", players will see just how branching these paths really are, and gameplay can go from some classic supernatural scares to full scale cosmic horror.
The evocative art by Abby Howard (Black Tabby Games) and compelling performances by Jonathan Sims (The Magnus Archives) and Nichole Goodnight (The NoSleep Podcast) really bring it all together as an unforgettable and affecting experience of a game.