10 Video Game Moments So Scary You Stopped Playing

3. The Prison - Amnesia: The Dark Descent

It’s no secret that Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Frictional’s whole back catalogue for that matter have firmly cemented themselves as some of the scariest games ever made. The added horror of being unable to defend yourself with only tinderboxes, an oil lamp, and conveniently placed cupboards at our disposal, makes Amnesia an incredibly tough hang.

There’s some disagreement as to which area is the most terrifying with The Choir, Storage, and The Flooded Cellar all prime selections, but I’m going to go with The Prison because that’s when I put this one down.

By the prison level you’re pretty acquainted with the pattern of running and hiding from ghoulish gatherers and making progress little by little even though you’re horribly frightened, but that’s about to get much more difficult. You see, the prison is dark as heck, confusing, and riddled with enemies. Within the first minute of walking in you hear growling and wailing in the distance. You’re relentlessly pursued as you try to make progress and the whole thing is anxiety-inducing enough to have you crawling into the corner of a cell, staring at the wall, hoping you don’t become gatherer chum.

Or was that just me? Let me know in the comments.

The game is so clever at eliciting this absolutely primal fear that you just about get paralysed and can’t will yourself to push on unless you have the ability to repeat the “It’s just a game” mantra.