Horror games tend to rely heavily on sinister atmospheres and jump scares to convey their most frightening elements. These two features work in tandem to fill a player with fear, but the most effective means of inflicting terror is through the incorporation of a well-built world.
A game's world-building is only considered good when it serves a purpose. For horror games, the shape and design of a world will aim to provoke a sense of terror in those who experience it, but it also needs to spark intrigue. Countless horror games are set in an immersive world, but some utilize their setting better than others.
10 The Forest
When his plane crash lands on a desolate island in the middle of the ocean, Eric LeBlanc must adapt to survive. He awakens after the crash to find that his son, Timmy, is nowhere to be found, driving him to explore the entirety of the island to find clues to his whereabouts.
The world of The Forest harbors little danger at first, but each passing day slowly reveals that a sinister evil is plaguing its surface. Though the game does an exceptional job in shaping its forested terrain, the modern design of the research facility dwelling beneath the island greatly enhances the overall plot.
9 Five Nights At Freddy's: Security Breach
Gregory is a young boy with an adventurous side, but this charming trait sees him becoming a target of the animatronics stationed at Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex. Though these animal-based machines are mostly friendly during the day, they become extremely hostile at night.
The world of Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach is designed to be an inviting one, but progressing through the story showcases the true horrors that it contains. As the narrative advances, the world around Gregory begins to decay, rendering the once welcoming world a grotesque and uninviting one. The method of world-building utilized in Security Breach depicts the Pizzaplex as a living being, rendering its exploration an even more frightening endeavor.
8 Resident Evil: Village
The opening of Resident Evil: Village sees Ethan Winters and his wife Mia attempting to give their daughter, Rosemary, a semblance of a normal life. Unfortunately for them, Chris Redfield shows up with a gang of mercenaries and decides to completely uproot their now peaceful life.
After his daughter goes missing, Ethan takes it upon himself to scavenge an unnamed village in the hope of reuniting with her. The village itself is a cold and dark location that echoes the state of mind of all who dwell there. It is reminiscent of a medieval town from the past, a trait that further alienates all who try to explore it.
7 Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Amnesia: The Dark Descent follows Daniel, an amnesiac, as he attempts to escape the confines of Brennenburg Castle. Throughout his journey, he will be forced to solve a series of puzzles to progress forward, but the presence of the Gatherers makes doing so exceedingly difficult.
As an amnesiac, Daniel has no memory of his time in Brennenburg Castle. It is because of this that the player will harbor little knowledge of it too. Brennenburg Castle is deceptively quiet, promoting a further sense of paranoia and fear. The further Daniel explores, the more threatening his surroundings become, especially due to his underlying condition.
6 Little Nightmares
After awakening from a terrifying nightmare, Six finds herself trapped inside the frightening depths of the Maw, a bafflingly large sea vessel sprawling with terrifying entities. Armed with nothing but a lighter, Six must make an arduous journey to the top of the ship to escape the clutches of those who seek to capture her.
The Maw is a deceptively expansive ship that houses a variety of unsettling locations. The player will have to learn what the Maw is slowly as they progress. The process of doing so gives the world of Little Nightmares a much-needed air of mystery. It is an exceptionally well-built world due to the secrets it harbors and its unusual design.
5 Until Dawn
After the tragic loss of his two sisters a year prior, Josh invites his friends to his cabin on Blackwood Mountain to honor their memory. Upon arriving at the lodge, however, Josh's friends learn that the loss of his siblings has left him feeling depressed and slightly unhinged.
To ensure the survival of these unsuspecting characters, the player must make the correct decisions regarding their well-being. Each character will be given the chance to explore a different location on their journey, but some are far more terrifying than others. They will begin at Josh's cabin, but exploration will lead them to uncover the more daunting areas of the world. Each location is reminiscent of a different horror trope, allowing the player to experience multiple horror subgenres all in one sitting.
4 Blair Witch
Blair Witch is a survival horror game based loosely on the 1999 movie of the same name. It documents the tale of Ellis Lynch, a retired police officer, and his loyal pet German Shephard as they attempt to locate a missing child in the Black Hills Forest.
The further Ellis ventures into these forested hills, the more fractured his mind becomes. The combination of his past trauma and the uncomfortable atmosphere of the Black Hills leads to a collapse in Ellis' reality. Blair Witch manages to transform a once welcoming world into a waking nightmare thanks to its in-depth approach to world-building.
3 Outlast
After getting a tip-off from an unknown informant, Miles Upshur travels to Mount Massive Asylum in the hope of uncovering the sinister inner workings of the facility. He suspects that the patients in the asylum are being treated unfairly so, in the hope of exposing the asylum's cruel methods, he breaks inside.
Lurking inside the asylum is an array of terrifying people and entities, but that doesn't stop Miles from gripping onto his camera and recording every minute detail. The world is poorly lit, so Miles will have to rely on the light from his camera to navigate the asylum's darker areas. The world of Outlast is designed the way it is to isolate the player.
2 Subnautica
Set in the 22nd century, Subnautica reveals that humanity has begun colonizing different planets. Ryley Robinson ventures through space on the Aurora spacecraft while on a mission for the Alterra Corporation, but a failure in the ship's hull leaves him stranded on an alien planet known as Planet 4546B.
Ryley exits his emergency life pod and is greeted with water as far as the eye can see. To survive the harrowing world he finds himself on; he must delve deep into the depths of the sea to uncover the necessary materials to construct a functioning spacecraft. The world of Subnautica is vibrant and full of life, but the horrors lurking in its depths promote a constant feeling of paranoia.
1 Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation takes place fifteen years after the events of Ridley Scott's Alien, released in 1979. It tells the story of Amanda Ripley, Ellen Ripley's daughter, as she explores the deep reaches of space in the hope of discovering a clue regarding the whereabouts of her missing mother.
Amanda journeys to a large space station known as the Sevastopol to retrieve a recording left for her by Ellen, only to discover that the station has become infested with hostile alien life forms. Though the world of Alien: Isolation confines the player to a spacecraft, the clever world-building uses its setting to promote feelings of anxiety and claustrophobia.