Horror games are great because they can be played in many ways, which makes them rather immersive than most other types of games. They can be challenging, and in turn, they become rewarding which has allowed these types of games to become popular among all types of players. However, as horror games can more and more extreme, developers are always looking for ways to make life hard for players, which is a huge factor in these games. One element that has been introduced in recent years for horror games, is that the killers can't die, but can only be pacified, so players will always try to evade the killers.
However, many horror games make players stay on the path of going forward, because if they go the other way, things will get worse for them, horror wise. What some developers do, is that they make players progress by forcing them to move on. Because if they run away, they will get punished, which makes everything go up in difficulty. These games do just, if players lose their cool, and run away, bad things will happen. This list will help break down which games do just that.
5 Visage
A game that is based on the player staying in the light, and most importantly, staying calm. Visage is a psychological horror game, that plays with the player's mind throughout the entire ordeal. Most of the game is spent walking through a house, filled with complex puzzles. However, Visage forces players to face the horrors, but by taking sanity pills, which may not or may help them by the end, but they can deal with these issues better. If players don't take the pills, they will go crazy, and scary things start to open which will make them want to look or run away, if they do, they will get hunted, and it'll be an auto-death.
Visage pits everything against the player, the darkness is not their friend, if they stay in it too long they will lose their mind, giving them a reason to start fleeing from the scene, but it'll be too late. Even the developers state many times during the game, is to both stay in the light and remain calm while stocking up on those pills. Because once players do that, everything gets manageable but also stays at the same level of scary.
4 Outlast
These types of games are great to play during times like Halloween, mainly because players are so underpowered that they have to sneak around and not get into any conflict. Outlast does this really, really well. All players have on them is a camera, and one with a night mode to see in the dark, which makes gameplay super immersive. With over-the-top characters who have over-the-top deaths, Outlast is a game that most players should try at least once.
However, the game really punishes players who hurry away, since the main core gameplay of Outlast is sneaking around and not getting caught. While they can run away and can escape, this is much harder to do when players are not armed with anything but a camera, so being patient and waiting for a space to escape is always a good idea. Because if players run away, they will make noise, making it easier for many enemies on the level to find them and chase them. This part may appeal to some horror fans, but for most players, running away makes everything even tenser.
3 Amnesia: Rebirth
The Amnesia games are excellent for playing with players' heads, which may cause them to make errors like running, and in turn, makes monsters chase them. But, the third game in the series, Amnesia: Rebirth does things differently than its predecessors but still keeps the core mechanics relevant. Unlike most other games on this list, Amnesia: Rebirth takes place in the desert, occasionally going to a dark world, and it's during the daytime. What makes this game really challenging is that, when players are in the sun for a long period of time, they will lose their minds, and things start to happen, much like Visage.
Wanting to run away will always be on the player's mind, and since there's little to no shade, running away will cost them a lot more than most other games on this list. Because it's set in the desert during the daytime, staying in the shade is essential for players' survival. While some players may see running into the sun as a good idea, it never is, being the opposite of most horror games within the genre, staying in darker areas like caves will benefit players more.
2 Dead By Daylight
Running away in horror games is usually a bad idea since the enemies can hear the player, but since it's a pre-determined path, they can time when and where they run which can make things a little easier. However, once multiplayer is added to the mix, it becomes a nightmare situation for the player. Dead By Daylight does this, by making one player the killer and four other players the ones who have to escape. Because each killer has abilities unique to them, players only have items they have equipped on them, some of those items can make the chase easier or can make running away more fluid.
But, since they are rare and hard to come by, running away is always a last-ditch plan. Since a player is a killer, being chased can happen for a long time, making it harder for the rest of the escapees to get things to open the gates, to get out of the level. That's why, Dead By Daylight makes players work together, and that hiding is usually a go-to before running out of dodge. Dead By Daylight works better when players are smart with their objectives because if they run away, the match gets so much easier for the killer.
1 Alien Isolation
Probably one of the cooler horror games, based on the iconic Alien franchise, this first-person game has something for both fans and others. Players can run away, but only in certain situations, meaning if the alien isn't present. Thankfully, Alien Isolation gives them tons of tools to defend themselves, but early on, they will be tested on their patience and just waiting for the danger to pass. When players start to move or run away while the alien is near, it will catch them and will kill them, because players are not supposed to run away from it but rather hide.
As mentioned before, they can run away from the alien provided they have things to defend themselves with, like a flamethrower, but hiding is always the best route. One of the best things about Alien Isolation is the sound design, players can anticipate the alien better that way giving them no reason to run away. Plus, the other enemy types like the Working Joes or the other humans can easily take down the player if they flee, which makes things harder. Alien Isolation is great for replayability, because it allows players to experiment with how they fend off threats. But if they run away and die by the alien's hands, it's A.I. learns what the player did before, making it harder and harder to escape it.