Top 20 Deeply Disturbing Video Games

Top 20 Deeply Disturbing Video Games

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most unsettling games to date!

#20: “The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth” (2014)

What happens when you combine the Abrahamic tale of Isaac and turn it into a roguelike? You get an addictive RNG loop and with some truly gnarly imagery. The fact you have to kill enemies with projectiles made from your tears is one thing, but having the whole thing be framed around a child fleeing his murderous zealot of a mother, only to encounter some truly gruesome monsters along the way…yikes. If the game wasn’t such a hoot to play we’d still be shuddering at some of those endgame bosses.

#19: “Doki Doki Literature Club” (2017)

A phenomenon upon release, what was supposed to be another visual novel about finding love in a fictional high school became something far more sinister. Before we knew it, we were playing a dark satire that took all the tropes of the genre and turned them on their head, with an extra splash of graphic violence for good measure. Try as you might to pursue your dream girl and achieve that doki doki happy ending, it becomes all too clear that you are not in control.

#18: “The Coffin of Andy and Leyley” (2023)

Andrew and Leyley Graves are a pair of siblings caught in dire circumstances, dealing with an outbreak, cultists, being abandoned by their parents, and the threat of starvation. On the other hand…they also have no issue when it comes to killing, cannibalizing, and summoning demons in order to survive. Yeah, these two are beautifully toxic together, struggling to survive in a world that seemingly wants them dead at every turn. Given the game’s episodic structure and multiple endings, there’s a smorgasbord of sin to uncover here. And yes, that does include the now infamous incest route.

#17: “Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly” (2003)

When it comes to games that deal with hauntings, ghosts and evil rituals, you can’t go wrong with this seminal sequel. Even with its aged visuals and lack of gore, the way in which it depicts malevolent spirits in combination with having to defeat them by snapping pictures up close is truly unnerving. The dread you’ll feel knowing that another ghost is waiting in the wings to lunge at you through the lens cannot be understated. It’s the franchise at its peak, and it’s a shame we’ll likely never see its ilk again.

#16: “Little Nightmares” (2017)

Welcome to the uncanny valley, filled with mystery and monsters aplenty that will undoubtedly leave you distressed. As a child with nothing more than a yellow trench coat to her name, you’re forced to navigate through a perilous array of locales filled with misshapen creatures that straddle the line between human and something out of a Tim Burton fever dream. There’s no fighting back, only running and hiding. And while that’s scary enough, it’s the gradual unraveling of the child’s dark purpose that really sets our teeth on edge.

#15: “The Cat Lady” (2012)

On the surface, this point and click adventure paints itself as a supernatural mystery, where a middle-aged woman, following an attempt to take her own life, is tasked with eliminating some truly despicable individuals by an entity that may or may not be death itself. However, underneath it all, the narrative interweaves commentary on painfully real issues such as self-loathing, the hollowness of life, as well as the various complexities of mental health. Both of these aspects come together to hit you like a freight train, and while the gaming experience may be a depressing one, it’s nonetheless engrossing.

#14: “Welcome to the Game” (2016)

As if a game based around the deep web wasn’t going to have unpleasant elements to it, especially one built around the singular goal of finding a way to locate a Red Room – aka an online execution. To do so, players have to navigate websites with deplorable contents, looking for parts of a URL that will gain them access to the Red Room. If that wasn’t bad enough, you also have to perpetually log-out and hide to ensure you aren’t kidnapped and turned into the star attraction of the murder-a-thon.

#13: “My Lovely Daughter” (2018)

Love can drive someone off the deep end. In the case of Faust, he will do anything to bring his daughter back from the dead, even if it means murdering innocents to enrich her fading soul, while also crafting her a brand-new homunculus body. So yeah, this one is a real humdinger. By the creator’s own admittance, this game is intentionally upsetting and made to draw parallels to the evils of child labour and other discomforting topics. There’s no option to act against Faust’s wishes either – you commit heinous acts in the flimsy name of parental responsibility, or you turn the game off.

#12: “The Mortuary Assistant” (2022)

You couldn’t ask for a better profession to serve as the basis of a horror game than one that deals with examining the dead. While it’s partially a walking simulator, the premise alone of having to go through the motions of taking apart and investigating corpses, while trying to avoid demonic possession, ensures that the whole experience is rife with scares. Those with a weak constitution or can’t stomach the idea of messing around with the deceased should certainly think twice before applying for the position.

#11: “Inside” (2016)

So many questions, so few answers and a whole lot of WTF in-between. Why are we, a seemingly innocent child, being hunted down by armed men and attack dogs? What’s with the killer mermaids? And of course, that bonkers ending! It all coalescences together to create a gripping puzzler dipped with dystopian flavor. As to be expected from the talent that brought us Limbo, Inside’s world will doubtlessly creep you out, just as much as it will leave you pondering just what the hell it was trying to say.

#10: “This War of Mine” (2014)

There’s no creatures to cull, no paranormal problems to overcome, just a bunch of ordinary people trying to survive a desolate warzone. A harrowing strategy game inspired by all too-real events; players are tasked with keeping a group of civilians alive until a ceasefire is declared. This involves keeping those under your charge both alive and their spirits raised, which is far easier said than done. Hunting for resources, dealing with other hostile survivors, making life or death decisions, this thing has stress and sorrow woven into every pixel.

#9: “Fear & Hunger” (2018)

The RPG that lives to make you suffer, with the only thing crueler than the mechanics being the enemies you encounter as you venture into a dungeon anyone in their right mind should stay clear of. Rest assured, it’s not just the difficulty spikes that will leave you shuddering, but also, it’s gruesome death animations. Fear and Hunger doesn’t just give you a game over screen, instead, you can count on watching your adventurer be subjected to an agonizing end depending on what nightmarish creature ended them. Skinning, torture, decapitation…other stuff we can’t discuss. Be warned, you are not in for a fun time!

#8: “Silent Hill 2” (2001)

It’s a classic for a reason. Following a letter that indicates his dead wife might somehow be alive in the town of Silent Hill, James Sunderland follows the trail…and into a waking nightmare. The puzzles, the atmosphere, the misshapen enemies - all tied together in a narrative centered on themes of guilt and punishment. While the franchise has flayed ever since, its second outing remains at the peak of horror gaming, in many ways laying the foundation for the hits that came after. Its scares are both overt and subtle as they come, infecting your psyche in the same way the fog permeates Silent Hill itself.

#7: “Outlast” (2013)

Asylums are common settings in the world of horror games, but arguably the most terrifying among them is one found amidst the blood and carnage of Outlast. As a journalist only armed with a video camera and apparently zero sense of self-preservation, players soon find themselves fleeing from mutated monstrosities with murder on the brain. There is death, dismemberment and darkness everywhere you turn, made all the worse by the fact you cannot fight back whatsoever! We’re still not over our encounters with Chris Walker and Dr Trager.

#6: “Bloodborne” (2015)

FromSoftware are way too good when it comes to conjuring cosmic horror, and nowhere is this more prevalent than in Bloodborne – where beasts of the night and eldritch monitrices run amok. Despite the player being armed with all manner of weaponry, it doesn’t take away from how unnerving the transformed residents of Yharnam truly are. This is especially true of the bosses, many so otherworldly and distorted that no Hunter can stand before them without feeling a little shaken.

#5: “Manhunt 2” (2007)

For the longest time, this game was both lauded and despised for being the most gruesome, unpleasant and violent game in the medium – one that had you playing as a psychotic individual stealthy murdering his way through the game, dispatching his foes in the most intimately violent ways imaginable. Nothing is off the table here, with gore and every other unpleasantness front and center. It’s very much “everything but the kitchen sink” in how it handles its kills, which depending on your tolerance for slashers, might be a bit too much.

#4: “Resident Evil 7: Biohazard” (2017)

In a single, sinister stroke, Resident Evil reclaimed his crown as the king of survival horror, going from the absurdities of later franchise entries and into the insidious household of the Baker family. The limited resources, confined spaces, vexing puzzles and nail-biting narrative captured the spirit of the originals, only now in a first-person perspective to really amp up the psychological terror of being hunted by the Bakers and their mold-like afflictions, who themselves encapsulate a unique style of horror, ensuring you’re kept on your toes all throughout your torturous tenure.

#3: “Omori” (2020)

Beautiful, haunting, painful to behold – this turn-based RPG excels not only as a visual treat, but hits way too hard with how it integrates concepts of trauma, abuse and emotional instability not only into its narrative, but mechanics as well. Standing on the shoulders of Undertale and Earthbound, Omori is profound in its exploration of repression, especially when applied to its endearing and impressionable cast. Omori excels in all it tries to accomplish – and as a result will hit way too close to home for many.

#2: “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” (1995)

There may never be another point and click game that succeeds in conveying menace and hopelessness to such an absurd degree, and it’s all due to its villain – AM. A supercomputer that loathes humanity to such an extent that not only does it annihilate the global population save for five individuals, but then spends an absorbent number of years torturing them out of sheer spite, often by having them confront their own fundamental flaws as human beings veer virtual escapades. There are no happy endings here, only attempting to outthink and outplay the smartest and most ruthless being in existence. Good luck!

#1: “P.T.” (2014)

The playable teaser that demonstrated to the world what Hideo Kojima can do in a handful of minutes compared what countless others fail to do over the course of several hours. What would eventually be revealed as promotional material for the ill-fated Silent Hills, this game is utterly terrifying, between the grotesque imagery, use of sound design, and the looping mechanics, players endeavor to escape the site of a grisly murder, whilst also trying to piece together what happened. It will confound you, confuse you, and most of all, have you cowering. The fact we’ll never see Kojima’s vision realized remains a bitter loss.

Which of these games kept you up at night? Let us know in the comments!