Video games are able to engage audiences in many different ways, and even though they can provide a great sense of escapism or adventure, some people turn to video games because they want toget the life scared out of them. The horror genre is incredibly popular in film, buthorror video gamesbecome intimidating in an entirely new way due to how they deeply immerse the player into the fear.
Five Nights at Freddy’shas become a successful horror franchise that exploits the scares from a creepy amusement park.Itknows how to get under its audience’s skin, but there are plenty of other titles that create a comparable level of fear and channel similar energy.
Updated June 02, 2025, by Alexandra O’Leary:Along with the exponential growth ofFive Nights At Freddy’sas a franchise, including a movie featuring big celebrity names, the horror genre has had some brilliant new video game additions. Although the mechanics and atmosphere forFive Nights At Freddy’sare distinct in their own right, there’s a huge range of games will give players a similar experience. Whether its familiarity in gameplay, themes, or if players just want another lore-heavy world, there’s a whole roster of brilliant games out there forFNAFfans.
18Slender: The Eight Pages
Another Iconic Lets-Play Horror
LikeFive Night’s At Freddy’s, 2012’sSlender: The Eight Pagescan attribute much of its success tostreamers and influencers. In fact,Slender: The Eight Pageswas among the first crop of games that YouTube “Let’s Players” swarmed to, making it a notable title in modern gaming entertainment history.
The game’s premise is simple. Players need to collect eight pages scattered around a forest. This isn’t the sort of happy, friendly orienteering that people are used to, however, as the nightmarish Slender Man is constantly lurking among the trees.
Alien: Isolationis a psychological horror game based on theAlienfilm franchise. The game is set in the year 2137, 15 years after the first film, and puts players in control of Amanda Ripley, who is searching for her mother, Ellen Ripley, the first film’s protagonist.
The game does feature someFPS combatagainst human enemies, though ammunition is limited, making the game’sstealth mechanicscore to the gameplay. This is particularly the case for The Alien (also known as the Xenomorph), which is constantly in pursuit of the player and cannot be killed. Consequently, the player’s only option is to sneak past or outsmart the creature, and it is in these tense moments where the game really shines.
LikeSlender: The Eight Pages,Phasmophobiacan credit much of its success to streamers and influencers, as many notable names streamed the game on Twitch. The game was, at one point,Twitch’s sixth most popular game, which undoubtedly contributed to the gametopping Steam’s sales charts in late 2020.
Phasmophobiais a single and multiplayerinvestigative gamethat tasks players with ascertaining what type of ghost is haunting the map. There are twenty different types of ghosts, including Demon, Wraith, and Phantom.
15Emily Wants To Play
Surviving The Night Hour By Hour
Emily Wants to Playis a 2015 survival horror game that was developed by Shawn Hitchcock, who went on to develop 2019’sPacify.The game puts players in the shoes of a pizza delivery person, who find themselves trapped in a house by a young girl named Emily.
Whereas the levels inFive Night’s at Freddy’sare separated by progressing nights,Emily Wants To Play’s levels are differentiated by progressing hours of the same night. In hopes of surviving, players need to figure out how to interact with and behave around Emily and her various dolls. LikeFNAF, this game requires gamers to adapt to their environment and become familiar with their enemy’s tactics to live.
When comparingSubnauticatoFive Night’s At Freddy’son face value, Unknown Worlds' game may seem like an odd choice, as it’s an open-world, underwater survival game. However,Subnauticaqualifies as, simply put, many people who play it say that it’s one of, if notthemost terrifying game they’ve ever played.
LikeFNAF, this is largely because it taps into subconscious fears that many people share - in this case, the fear of being stranded in an ocean with no idea what lurks beneath. The infamous Reaper Leviathans providethe game’s biggest scares, predominantly because of their horrifying grab attack that provides some veryFNAF-like jumpscares.
13The Park
Missing Children and a Freaky Location
The Parkcenters around a mother’s pursuit for her missing son who’s lost somewhere within an amusement park. As the mother searches through the park she processes memories of her child and the contemplative title definitely owes a lot totheSilent Hillseriesin this respect.
Some may easily reduceThe Parkto a fancy version of a “walking simulator,” but its story and creepy setting are incredibly effective. It’s a draining experience and one that reiterates the importance of humanity in a horror game.
Alice: Madness Returnsis another good horror choice. LikeFNAF, it’s a creative take on a childhood classic. In this iteration, Wonderland is deeply disturbing and full of frightening monsters. It also looks at the mental repercussions of Alice’s experiences and has a lot of lore.
The gameplay isn’t too similar toFive Nights At Freddy’ssince there are weapons and a lot of combat. It’s more akin toFNAF: Security Breachwith its vast world and perspective. It also features a lot of symbolism and exploration of children who’ve been exposed to dark and difficult things, likeFive Nights At Freddy’slore.
11Boogeyman
A Terrifying Take on Childhood Fears
Theadvent of VR gaminghasn’t caught on with everyone, but there’s been exceptional use of it with horror video games.Boogeymanis a VR horror title that’s simple in nature, but it lands the concept so well thanks to its immersive nature.
The player is a young boy who’s afraid of the Boogeyman coming into his room at night. Their only line of defense is their flashlight, which has a limited battery. Players must listen for noises and figure out when they’re under attack, but every attempt of the Boogeyman to attack is a nightmare. Just likeFive Nights At Freddy’s, players must use their senses and limited mechanics to survive.
Among The Sleepis a brilliant choice forFive Night’s At Freddy’slovers thanks to its mechanics. Not only is it set in a childhood home, but players assume the role of a child, giving childhood fears a whole new experience.
Additionally, the main character cannot fight back against monsters. Like inFNAF, players have a limited light source (though at least this one recharges) and can only flee or hide from enemies. Gamers will have to be sensible with their moves and light to survive the terrifying night.
9In Silence
Limited Vision and Clever Perspective
In Silenceis a creative take on a multiplayer horror game. Most of the players control normal humans who want to survive, whereas one person plays as a vicious monster known as a Rake. The Rake is blind, but has hypersensitive hearing.
The game illustrates this by the Rake’s vision being almost completely black, but more of the picture fills in depending on how much sound the other characters make. This limited tunnel vision perspective bringsFive Nights at Freddy’sto mind. It also allows for some scary multiplayer fun to be enjoyed at the same time.
