Top 5 Scariest Survival Games
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Top 5 Scariest Survival Games
As if trying to survive wasn’t scary enough. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top five scariest survival games. For this list, we’ll be looking at the scariest, darkest, and most unsettling survival games.
The scares don’t necessarily need to come from spooky monsters – a dreadful atmosphere, tense situations, and dangerous enemies are all scary as well. We also won’t be including survival horror games on this list, as we already have a list for that.
“This War of Mine” is a different type of war game, and it’s probably the scariest of them all. This game was inspired by the real-life Siege of Sarajevo, the longest modern siege of a capital city. Rather than running around with guns and being the hero, you play as starved and desperate citizens caught in the middle of the siege and must use your resources to stay alive. It’s not scary in the traditional sense, but the atmosphere is one of the bleakest in modern gaming, and the very real possibility of dying evokes empathy and horror for the real citizens involved in the Siege of Sarajevo.
“The Forest” is a brilliant little indie game by Endnight Games that was inspired by such movies as “The Descent” and “Cannibal Holocaust.” In the game, you play as a plane crash survivor who must find his kidnapped son on a mysterious island. The gameplay follows a nonlinear yet terrifying path as you must survive not only dangerous creatures, but the native cannibals. There’s nothing scarier than standing in the light of a fire as hungry cannibals surround you in the darkness. The final act of the game also goes to some dreadful places, and the ending is sure to stick with you long after you’ve beaten the game.
There are different types of fear. Some people are afraid of the unexplained. Others are afraid of real-world horrors. And yet others are terrified of cold, dark, and relentlessly unforgiving environments. This is the latter. In “The Long Dark,” you must survive the frigid and dangerous Canadian wilderness. The game follows a logical survivalist method, as you not only defend yourself from dangerous creatures, you must find food and hunt animals, monitor your temperature, obtain tools, and start fires. Like “This War of Mine,” “The Long Dark” isn’t traditionally scary, but reminiscent of horrible, realistic situations that could actually prove scarier than anything conjured by the imagination.
In “Don’t Starve” you play as Wilson, a scientist who finds himself in a monstrous world. You are forced to keep Wilson alive and sane, as the monsters inhabiting this world are scary enough to cause him to lose his sanity. It’s very Lovecraftian, and it’s very awesome. However, it’s also very scary. The sanity meter is constantly dwindling and filling you with dread, and the various monsters, like the giants, are enough to send players into a frenzy. Plus, the unknowable threat of “Them” leaves players in a constant state of agitation and wonder. You essentially play the role of a Lovecraft protagonist, and it’s every bit as horrifying as you would imagine.
The ocean is a relatively unknown and undeniably frightening thing. Vast regions of the oceans remain unexplored, and the very idea of creatures living in a dark, cold, miles-deep void can scare the wits out of anyone. And while “Subnautica” takes place on a fictional planet, it’s still rooted in these fears of the deep unknown, especially since you don’t have many weapons and your sight is extremely limited. The sound design is also spectacular, as the unseen creatures make petrifying sounds that will make your blood curdle. The game taps into our natural fears of the unknown to a ridiculously successful degree, and it’s probably one of the scariest non-horror games ever released.
As if trying to survive wasn’t scary enough. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top five scariest survival games. For this list, we’ll be looking at the scariest, darkest, and most unsettling survival games.
The scares don’t necessarily need to come from spooky monsters – a dreadful atmosphere, tense situations, and dangerous enemies are all scary as well. We also won’t be including survival horror games on this list, as we already have a list for that.
#5: “This War of Mine” (2014)
“This War of Mine” is a different type of war game, and it’s probably the scariest of them all. This game was inspired by the real-life Siege of Sarajevo, the longest modern siege of a capital city. Rather than running around with guns and being the hero, you play as starved and desperate citizens caught in the middle of the siege and must use your resources to stay alive. It’s not scary in the traditional sense, but the atmosphere is one of the bleakest in modern gaming, and the very real possibility of dying evokes empathy and horror for the real citizens involved in the Siege of Sarajevo.
#4: “The Forest” (2018)
“The Forest” is a brilliant little indie game by Endnight Games that was inspired by such movies as “The Descent” and “Cannibal Holocaust.” In the game, you play as a plane crash survivor who must find his kidnapped son on a mysterious island. The gameplay follows a nonlinear yet terrifying path as you must survive not only dangerous creatures, but the native cannibals. There’s nothing scarier than standing in the light of a fire as hungry cannibals surround you in the darkness. The final act of the game also goes to some dreadful places, and the ending is sure to stick with you long after you’ve beaten the game.
#3: “The Long Dark” (2017)
There are different types of fear. Some people are afraid of the unexplained. Others are afraid of real-world horrors. And yet others are terrified of cold, dark, and relentlessly unforgiving environments. This is the latter. In “The Long Dark,” you must survive the frigid and dangerous Canadian wilderness. The game follows a logical survivalist method, as you not only defend yourself from dangerous creatures, you must find food and hunt animals, monitor your temperature, obtain tools, and start fires. Like “This War of Mine,” “The Long Dark” isn’t traditionally scary, but reminiscent of horrible, realistic situations that could actually prove scarier than anything conjured by the imagination.
#2: “Don’t Starve” (2013)
In “Don’t Starve” you play as Wilson, a scientist who finds himself in a monstrous world. You are forced to keep Wilson alive and sane, as the monsters inhabiting this world are scary enough to cause him to lose his sanity. It’s very Lovecraftian, and it’s very awesome. However, it’s also very scary. The sanity meter is constantly dwindling and filling you with dread, and the various monsters, like the giants, are enough to send players into a frenzy. Plus, the unknowable threat of “Them” leaves players in a constant state of agitation and wonder. You essentially play the role of a Lovecraft protagonist, and it’s every bit as horrifying as you would imagine.
#1: “Subnautica” (2018)
The ocean is a relatively unknown and undeniably frightening thing. Vast regions of the oceans remain unexplored, and the very idea of creatures living in a dark, cold, miles-deep void can scare the wits out of anyone. And while “Subnautica” takes place on a fictional planet, it’s still rooted in these fears of the deep unknown, especially since you don’t have many weapons and your sight is extremely limited. The sound design is also spectacular, as the unseen creatures make petrifying sounds that will make your blood curdle. The game taps into our natural fears of the unknown to a ridiculously successful degree, and it’s probably one of the scariest non-horror games ever released.
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