Horror games across the years almost always have some sort of monster to intrigue and terrify their audiences, whether they make a creature on their own or enlist a classic that players will already be familiar with. Among established horror game monsters, werewolves are a popular choice, and for good reason.
However, even with such a familiar monster, horror games often go out of their way to put a unique spin on the werewolves in their games. Whether it’s by subverting the more mainstream interpretations of them, changing the legends around them, or by telling stories that go against the usual narrative werewolves are often a part of, there’s no shortage of horror games with their own spin on werewolves.
8 Resident Evil: Village
The latest installment of the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil: Village follows the familiar protagonist Ethan Winters as he fights to save the life of his daughter through a village full of mutants and abominations. Among the mutants and abominations the players encounter are the lycan, creatures who were once human and have now mutated into beasts that prey on humans.
Despite the name and behavioral resemblance to werewolves, the lycan set themselves apart with unique origins, behaviors, and weaknesses that reflect the world of Resident Evil more than players’ preconceived notions about lycanthropic creatures.
7 The Quarry
An additional horror title with no shortage of traction, The Quarry, is yet another horror game to put its own spin on werewolf mythology. Focusing on a group of summer camp counselors who are forced to stay another night on the campsite after the camp program is over, players are tasked with managing the safety of nine young adults with horrible self-preservation instincts.
Despite the familiarity of the main threat, The Quarry makes a point to set its werewolves apart in both appearance and lore, going so far as to have a cure for lycanthropy where most stories have none.
6 The Wolf Among Us
An older but significant title from the now shut-down Telltale Games, The Wolf Among Us is a popular choice-based visual novel game following a grisly story centered around Fabletown’s sheriff Bigby Wolf as they try to hunt down a killer.
Despite the wolfish nature of the protagonist, The Wolf Among Us puts its own spin on every fabled creature’s origin and behavior within the story. Many of the storylines and scenes deal with the struggles of the community as they adjust and seek safety within their new lives and co-existence with humans.
5 The Order: 1886
Set in an alternate version of 1886 London with far more advanced tech and otherworldly threats, The Order: 1886 is a survival horror game set around a war between humankind and a branch of humanity that split off centuries prior, turning into hybrids between man and monster referred to as half-breeds.
Among the types of half-breeds in the story are the Lycan, who are tall, humanoid creatures with many lupine features and are able to shift into their true forms at will. Like more mainstream werewolves, the bite from a Lycan has the ability to transform a human, but unlike ‘true’ Lycan, they won’t retain their humanity afterward.
4 Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart Of The Forest
Taking a different approach from most, Werewolf the Apocalypse: Heart of the Forest is a primarily text-based visual novel RPG that focuses on the story of a young woman named Maia Boroditch. Maia has been plagued by recurring nightmares of a forest full of wolves that compel her to travel from her home in the United States to Białowieża in Poland to uncover the story of her family history and its connection to the Białowieża Forest.
Players will make choices to aid Maia in her investigation that will shape her personality, stats, and how other characters feel about her as they seek to uncover the mystery behind Maia’s connection to such an old forest.
3 Overcast: Walden And The Werewolf
Taking on a more traditional narrative for werewolf tales, Overcast: Walden and the Werewolf puts players into the shoes of Walden, a lonely hunter who lives on the outskirts of a village and makes his living off the forest with little interaction with society.
After the nearby village is attacked by an unknown creature, killing every resident, Walden sets out for revenge. Rather than focusing on the lore or tales of the monsters at hand, Overcast focuses its narrative entirely on how it feels to be the last man left alive and seeking revenge against terrifying beasts with nothing left to lose.
2 Witch Hunt
Putting a new spin on both horror and hunting genres in the gaming industry, Witch Hunt takes players deep into the wilderness to track their prey through vast maps and non-linear gameplay, with the added challenge of their targets being various monsters rather than mere wildlife.
Focusing primarily on exploration and atmosphere, Witch Hunt focuses less on the threat or lore of the monsters players hunt, and more on the experience of tracking down dangerous quarries in the 18th century and turning the hunters into the hunted.
1 The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery
A classic FMV game from the 90s, The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery lets players take control of two protagonists: Gabriel Knight, an author descended from a family known for fighting supernatural threats, and Grace Nakimura, a student who assists him throughout the case.
The case in question takes them to the city of Munich, where a series of mutilations and murders are believed to be the work of a werewolf. As they pursue the case from two alternating perspectives, players are treated to an immersive mystery full of both original werewolf mythology and local history as seen through the eyes of the characters.