The 20 WORST Horror Games of All Time

20 Worst Horror Games

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at the 20 worst horror games ever made. There are absolutely fates worse than death.

“Night Trap” (1992)

Some may fault “Night Trap” for being part of the reason why the ESRB exists, but that’s not necessarily the game’s biggest problem. While the game is a big part of video game history as a whole, “Night Trap” really isn’t much else outside of its part in the birth of video game age ratings. On its own, it’s a really schlocky kind of game. Don’t expect a decent plot. Don’t expect believable characters or engaging gameplay. It can only be enjoyed as another corny slasher flick with some audience participation and poor controls integrated into it. Had it not caused such a stir among politicians and parents alongside “Mortal Kombat”, “Night Trap” would have most likely been left behind in the 90’s.

“Dino Crisis 3” (2003)

A common problem AAA publishers have had with horror games is straying too far away from the horror aspect and leaning too heavily into the action. It’s almost like you shouldn’t rely on sequels too heavily and too often. While Capcom hadn’t crossed that rickety bridge with “Resident Evil” yet in 2003, it quickly did with “Dino Crisis”. Ask any fan and they’ll tell you how much “Dino Crisis 3” face-planted for one of three very big reasons. Either they grew frustrated from the awful camera controls, they hated how action-heavy the game was compared to its more puzzle-centric nature in previous games, or they’ll go on a tirade on why Patrick sucks as a protagonist. Whichever rant they go on, you’ll know the negativity is warranted.

“Ju-On: The Grudge” (2009)

In all honesty, “Ju-On: The Grudge” may be the least offensive game on this list as its crimes could only be described as misdemeanors. It’s not that there isn’t anything actually bad about the game, but more so the fact that it makes the same, simple mistakes as so many other regular “bad” games. Even by the Wii’s standards, the visuals are abysmal, and like so many other shovelware Wii titles, the controls barely work half the time. We could forgive the lack of interesting environments if “Ju-On” utilized more of the Wii’s motion controls for things other than moving your flashlight around. Like, maybe more interactions with the environment?

“Michigan: Report From Hell” (2004)

Before they became known for “killer7”, “Lollipop Chainsaw” and “Shadows of the Damned”, Grasshopper Manufacture developed this dumpster fire of a game. Okay, maybe “dumpster fire” isn’t super accurate in describing how bad this game is. It is technically sound after all. The big problem, though, is that “Michigan: Report From Hell” wants to be a campy horror game like the original “Resident Evil”, but deviates from its focus so frequently. There is so much sexual innuendo, much of it aimed at Pamela, that it makes the game kind of uncomfortable to play. We’re not prudish, but if the innuendos were a lot less frequent, it wouldn’t feel like Pamela was being objectified all of the time. Consider this the “Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties” of the horror scene.

“Remothered: Broken Porcelain” (2020)

The funny thing about “Remothered” is that the original game from 2018, “Tormented Fathers”, was actually a good step in the right direction with its narrative and presentation. So, where did “Broken Porcelain” go wrong? Well, cutscenes run about as smoothly as PS1 FMV sequences. Not sure if a 2020 game should be functioning that way, but then again, most modern games also don’t have awful checkpoint systems and make the player endure challenges built on guessing. “Broken Porcelain” just gave no sense of direction here, and when your combat offers nothing interesting either, there isn’t much of a reason for anyone to play your game.

“BlackSoul” (2013)

Look, we can understand what “BlackSoul” was trying to do. At the time of its release, both survival horror games were waffling about with fluff and action game mechanics rather than stay true to the genre. “BlackSoul” wanted to rewind the clock back to a time when things were simple and more focused on scaring the bejeezus out of us. But in its own ambition, it lost the plot of what made older survival horror titles great to begin with. It isn’t enough to look the part with updated graphics and walk the walk with tank controls. You need good music to match your tone. You need your combat to have some kind of oomph behind it. And, most importantly, you need interesting environments that aren’t your run of the mill graveyards and catacombs. “BlackSoul” didn’t understand any of that and wound up looking like generic Steam Greenlight fodder that somehow got enough votes to make it onto the store.

“The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct” (2013)

Sure, we could have put “Destinies” on here, but that game is kind of missing a lot of horror in its action-heavy gameplay, wouldn’t you say? No, “Survival Instinct” is still the worst horror-centric game in the IP’s history. The cheap budget is on full display here, and it’ll either make you laugh or cry depending on how much money you burned grabbing this…or how much you care about Norman Reedus looking good like he does in real life. But what made things worse was just how stupid the AI was as zombies would often run into each other or other objects. Sorry, but you can’t sit there and tell us AMC couldn’t fork over enough money to make a solid “Walking Dead” game, not after all the money the show was printing back in 2013.

“The Letter” (2014)

A title like that could invoke some curiosity in your average customer, even more if said customer was looking for a game on a shoestring budget. Alas, this is one of those “you get what you paid for” scenarios. Two bucks may not seem like a bad deal, but when the assets are about as detailed as Pixar’s “The Adventures of Andre and Wally B.”, “The Letter” looks like it was made within an afternoon. What’s worse is that there’s absolutely nothing interesting about the story whatsoever, and the big plot twist feels like a lazy cop out. Really? It was all just a dream? That’s the big reveal? Come on.

“Stray Souls” (2023)

Dollhouses can be scary, but in the case of “Stray Souls”, it’s the least of your worries. On the surface, this game looks like a successor to “Resident Evil 4”, or at minimum, a game heavily inspired by it. But all that footage you see in its trailers? Well, that’s what the game would look and play like IF IT WORKED! “Stray Souls” suffers from so many audio and visual bugs that it’s virtually impossible to play. Sure, you can try, but after how many times you fall through the map or die because an audio cue didn’t play correctly until you uninstall? What’s even more sketchy is the allegations against developer Jukai Studio and publisher Versus Evil, who were accused by users to be banning and removing negative Steam reviews. That said, what redeeming qualities could possibly be left that would earn our thirty bucks?

“Garten of Banban” (2024)

Ever since “Five Nights at Freddy’s” became a new horror icon in pop culture, so many copycats have come and gone to ride its coattails and get a slice of that “horror for children” pie. Of them all, “Garten of Banban” is the most egregious and suspicious. If the game looks cheap to you with its visuals and audio design, well, we’re willing to bet it was cheap to produce. After all, how else do you manage to belt out SEVEN GAMES within eighteen months!? Plus, when each game holds several empty rooms and not a lot happening between story beats and enemy encounters, well…why do these games cost five to ten bucks a pop?

“Slender: The Arrival” (2013)

The whole fad behind Slenderman was in our rear-view mirrors by the time “Slender: The Arrival” launched. But hey - maybe this could rejuvenate interest? Ha! Not on your life, sport! “Slender: The Arrival” is more technically sound than most of the games on our list, but that’s not a high bar to surpass. Everything here was just “The Eight Pages” game we all played in 2012 but with a bit more budget for better environments and narrative. In other words, you’ve played this game before. The only difference here is that the camera could miraculously break and refuse to move whenever it decided to do so. Yeah, good luck trying to even find Page One!

“Saw II: Flesh & Blood” (2010)

The first “Saw” video game wasn’t super decent. The sequel? Oh, it was way worse! Whereas the first game had some semblance of a combat system and unique environments, “Saw II” said, “Nah, I can make things so much worse!” The puzzles incorporated were about as clever as a Leapfrog tablet while the environments felt way more generic, like they were assets from an unfinished “Silent Hill” game. And just when you thought the story might be decent with its two different endings, well, hope you have a guide nearby! “Saw II” refuses to give any hint whatsoever as to how you even get the other ending. Guess what - your ending is entirely determined by your actions in the very first segment of the game! How is that fair, Jigsaw?? Is that a part of your sick game?!?

“Aliens: Colonial Marines” (2013)

When your game turns out to be a technical disaster all because of one little typo… Dude, that egg is never getting washed from your face. “Aliens: Colonial Marines” turned our once terrifying Xenomorphs into a colossal comedy punching bag. Ever wanted to see a Xenomorph walk around normally? You could do that. Want to see a Xenomorph casually strolling into a wall or crate? Got an attraction for you right here! Or perhaps, if the game figures out how to work properly, you would like to see some of the most awkward combat encounters between an NPC and a Xenomorph? Ladies and gentleman, “Colonial Marines” is the shoddiest Cirque du Soleil you can find on this side of the USS Sulaco! And Gearbox will never live it down!

“Rise of Nightmares” (2011)

Remember the Kinect? Remember how awful the controls were for so many of the games made for it? Well, “Rise of Nightmares”, despite its promising appearance, was among those games. Granted, there is something terrifying here in how it forces the user to nearly physically interact with its grotesque environments and fight off enemies. You might find some fun here. But here’s the thing: as we said before, this is a Kinect game, and just like most of that library, “Rise of Nightmares” has some abysmal controls. It almost hurts to witness because you can see the ideas SEGA’s staff had here. Alas, a functioning Kinect game is like asking for money to fall from the sky; it ain’t happening.

“Hello Neighbor” (2017)

We’ve all had that one neighbor that looks like they’re always up to some shady behavior. That was the day-to-day conspiracy “Hello Neighbor” wanted to lean into, and it’s what got so many of us invested. Now, imagine a game that took that concept and went absolutely nowhere with it. The design of the neighbors house felt like a hodge-podge of random assets crammed into a single building, removing almost every ounce of realism the game once had. You do need some believability regardless of cartoony visuals, you know? Combine that with the abysmal technical performance, and you’ll discover the true mystery behind “Hello Neighbor” - how has this awful game spawned so many sequels AND an animated TV series!?

“Agony” (2018)

The only good thing you could say about “Agony” was that it was one of the most imaginative depictions of Hell. And that’s where the positives end. As for the negatives, well, there’s a whole laundry list we could go through. Broken stealth, no proper means for the player to defend themselves or avoid danger upon being spotted, scenes that come off like they were only there for shock value and only shock value, messy storytelling - need we say more? It’s a game that had a ton of potential when we first saw it, admittedly. Insert obvious joke about “Agony” being “agonizing” to play.

“Alone in the Dark: Illumination” (2015)

If there is one thing we’ll give 2024’s “Alone in the Dark” credit for is that it isn’t anywhere near as dreadful as 2015’s “Alone in the Dark: Illumination”. What a surprise - a franchise composed entirely of single-player games suddenly pivoting to co-op multiplayer? What could possibly go wrong? Well…everything. While the game borrows “Alan Wake’s” idea of harming enemies with light, the level design and technical performance cause the entire game to implode. The randomly generated environments are too bland to keep track of the layout, enemies are constantly spawning in with no respite between, and there is absolutely no replay value of any kind for such an insanely short game. Honestly, just go play “Left 4 Dead” if you want a co-op multiplayer game. Or just go play that awful 2008 reboot of “Alone in the Dark” if you want a schlocky good time.

“Silent Hill: The Short Message” (2024)

A new single-player “Silent Hill” game? And its free? Something’s up. Sure enough, our suspicions were correct as “The Short Message” was one of the worst games we played in 2024. For starters, nothing about this game was mildly scary in any way, shape, or form. Oh, we’re supposed to be scared of paper notes with mean things written on them? Brilliant. Second, the game desperately wants to talk about mental illness, but says absolutely nothing clever nor meaningful during its time on the mic. It all boils down to, “Wow, guys, isn’t mental illness so awful? Man, it sucks that people go through this.” Yes, “Silent Hill”, it is bad. Is there anything else you’d like to say about it? No? Oh…okay, then.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach” (2021)

This should have been the easiest slam dunk for Steel Wool Studios to make, yet they found every way to fumble it in the worst ways possible. A FNAF game done in the style of first-person survival horror would have made bank! “Security Breach” probably did make bank, but holy crap, did it disappoint. Stealth is broken in how enemies will spot you from miles away or somehow figure out where exactly you’re hiding even if you did manage to lose them in a chase. Button prompts to interact with objects are finicky and require you to sit still and hold a button for several seconds at a time. And good luck making sense of the layouts of each area! Seriously, what went wrong here?

“Amy” (2012)

Despite its age, “Amy” will forever be known as the worst horror game to ever exist. Some games may be forgiven by some players for having a messy story. Had that been “Amy’s” only problem, maybe its ugly mug wouldn’t be on this list. However, the worst crime “Amy” committed was being broken mechanically in every possible way. Picking up items, landing hits on enemies, getting this dumb little girl to heal you - everything you do in this game is practically determined by God as you’ll never know when the game decides it wants to function decently. “Amy” was in such an abysmal state that many reviewers at the time, including Colin Moriarty at IGN, refused to suffer through another minute. It was THAT bad!

Did you suffer through any of these titles yourself? Don’t be ashamed - we’ve all played a bad game before! But let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!