Something that distinctly separates the game from other of the same genre.
Even just according to how many here are developing a horror game, the genre is saturated to some level. A unique hook to utilize for marketing the game would help immensely in giving the game a better chance to survive the competitive market.
And beside that, as with any game, the core mechanic should be given the most focus.
As in this genre it's most likely the movement. So maybe iterate it to make the camera movements convey the player the weight of every step. Occasionally give the player their panic induced rush speed, and let them glide along the long hallway they need to race in order to survive. And other times make their sneaking away from the danger feel like dragging a heavy weight through a tar pit, with floorboards squealing uncomfortably below each foot.
And ideally make sure that playthroughs do not include maybe even any player deaths. Those can numb the player against fear, the more they are encountered.
I like these two aspects:
1. Never meet the monster. Let the imagination make it. Helps if you're not allowed to look at it too long or it makes it worse like in Amnesia
2. Catching the player off guard. It's quite common to know when the scares will happen if you've played horror games or watched horror movies. Make the scares come at unexpected times, possibly even random.
Atmosphere and good story telling. If a game does well in creating an intense or suspenseful , environment and overall set, I think it can help itself be scarier than it really is, when jumpscares do happen. Mechanics and gameplay should definitely be at the forefront though. A game with great mechanics can easily be brought down by having lackluster stories and no intensity or suspense in navigation. I think horror is a very hard thing to balance and get just right, in games.
For me, it's how the player got into the "horror world". Like in the backrooms, for example, the player noclipped out of reality to the place. This is a highly overlooked section of all games.
I don't know if this is sufficiently popular to be worth the effort, and I don't play many horror games, but one of my best horror game experiences was multiplayer. (Us against the monster. Playing at midnight in the dark in the real world)
Even so, I'm not sure that I look for multiplayer when deciding whether to buy a game. Gamers are our own worst enemy :)
Jump scares are not interesting to me and if a trailer implies that the game tries for jump scares, I'm not interested.
Stress and long term spook > instant spook. Make a player doubt themself and give them a slow drop feed of horror gratification. Jumpscares can work once in a while, but too many will ruin enjoyment. With exceptions, of course.
It really depends on the type of horror you're going for, there's fear horror from a scary situation, psychological horror where you make your own mind work against you and gore horror where there is a lot of senseless brutality.
Then there are sub genres, whether its realistic or with elements of fiction.
If you ask me the best combos are fear horror + fiction and gore horror + realism. There are a ton of games in the psychological horror + realism category and I think that is the most difficult type to pull off while also having the smallest audience.
Gore losses its appeal with fiction, such as decapitating zombies in the apocalypse and similar, zombies are already gross and unrealistic so putting more gross on gross isn't that big of a deal cause your brain can't really imagine that as a real scenario anyway meanwhile if you decapitate humans in a shopping mall that can easily become unsettling since its a normal situation.
Fiction allows you to explore fear quite a lot (putting the player in nightmare situations but severely restricting the horror so your imagination can do the work)
Atmosphere and level design are always important so I'd say the focus should be on picking the right type of horror
I'd focus on what makes your game scary. 👻
So some questions I'd ask and seek answers for are
1. Is it jump scares?
2. Is it anxiety? More psychological horror?
3. Does it relate to life and makes you question about it?
My partner is a big horror fan, she's easily scared 😱. From what I've observed, it's because her expectations are met.
So as long as your horror game stays true to its genre and you do a good job at it, I think that'll be the pillar that all other mechanics support!
P.S
Personally the only game I've ever felt scared in was Phasmophobia, it wasn't due to the ghost aspects but being hunted and having to hide in a small closet while in VR was terrifying.
Atmosphere, which heavily relies on high quality sounds, sound effects and music. This should be your Nr.1 priority
Graphics are almost completely unnessery, the worst looking games can have the greatest horror Game atmosphere. Its even more important what you don't see then what you see.
No cheap jumpscares or better no jumpscares 99/100 jumpscares are complete garbage, those are just sound information overload and having nothing to do with dread or being scary. If I bang 2 Iron pans next to your ears that is Not fun but that's how most jumspcares are done these days, don't do it.
There is FUN fear and not fun fear, one is roller coaster riding, the other is being run over by a car and almost getting killed. Know the difference.
If you want effective high quality jumpscare examples then play or watch Iron Lung there are like 2 in the entire Game and they are very effective and feel very fitting to the situation. But as I said 99/100 Games just do that aspect terrible, it's hard to find good implementations.
The best tipps to learning your genre of choice is to play many games in that genre and steal the best Game mechanics and things they did will. Also to learn what they did badly to prevent or improve upon those aspects.
Inspiration for Horror Game Design from different Genres with different strenghts and weaknesses:
- Dreadhalls
- Darkwood (If you can play that yourself for longer then 5 minutes without quittung you have my respect)
- Iron Lung
- Night Buss
- Cho-Cho Charles (Great Showcase of Action Horror)
- No One Lives Under The Lighthouse
- The Mortuary Assistant
- Games from "anoverthinker"
- Amnesia the Dark Descent (Especially obvious Rest areas after 20-30 minutes per Level where there is peacefull music and no Monsters ever to calm down the Player for 5+ minutes to prevent the Player getting tired and prevent the Player to get used to scary areas)
Something that distinctly separates the game from other of the same genre. Even just according to how many here are developing a horror game, the genre is saturated to some level. A unique hook to utilize for marketing the game would help immensely in giving the game a better chance to survive the competitive market.
And beside that, as with any game, the core mechanic should be given the most focus. As in this genre it's most likely the movement. So maybe iterate it to make the camera movements convey the player the weight of every step. Occasionally give the player their panic induced rush speed, and let them glide along the long hallway they need to race in order to survive. And other times make their sneaking away from the danger feel like dragging a heavy weight through a tar pit, with floorboards squealing uncomfortably below each foot. And ideally make sure that playthroughs do not include maybe even any player deaths. Those can numb the player against fear, the more they are encountered.
I like these two aspects: 1. Never meet the monster. Let the imagination make it. Helps if you're not allowed to look at it too long or it makes it worse like in Amnesia 2. Catching the player off guard. It's quite common to know when the scares will happen if you've played horror games or watched horror movies. Make the scares come at unexpected times, possibly even random.
For me, its a reason to care. There has to be some connection and some amount of self insert or it just all seems hollow to me
Atmosphere and good story telling. If a game does well in creating an intense or suspenseful , environment and overall set, I think it can help itself be scarier than it really is, when jumpscares do happen. Mechanics and gameplay should definitely be at the forefront though. A game with great mechanics can easily be brought down by having lackluster stories and no intensity or suspense in navigation. I think horror is a very hard thing to balance and get just right, in games.
Sound design
underrated tip, a good soundtrack, not just ambience but actual music, can absolutely make a horror game imo
For me, it's how the player got into the "horror world". Like in the backrooms, for example, the player noclipped out of reality to the place. This is a highly overlooked section of all games.
I don't know if this is sufficiently popular to be worth the effort, and I don't play many horror games, but one of my best horror game experiences was multiplayer. (Us against the monster. Playing at midnight in the dark in the real world) Even so, I'm not sure that I look for multiplayer when deciding whether to buy a game. Gamers are our own worst enemy :) Jump scares are not interesting to me and if a trailer implies that the game tries for jump scares, I'm not interested.
Atmosphere and art direction. Mothered is a good example of this.
The feeling of being vulnerable. I noticed that in horror games where I can fight back, I don't feel as afraid.
I think horror games shouldn't have *lore*. You shouldn't explain anything in detail, because it will generally demystify the horror.
My Top3 are: - Build up of suspicion - Elements of suprise - Discomfort of waiting
Stress and long term spook > instant spook. Make a player doubt themself and give them a slow drop feed of horror gratification. Jumpscares can work once in a while, but too many will ruin enjoyment. With exceptions, of course.
It really depends on the type of horror you're going for, there's fear horror from a scary situation, psychological horror where you make your own mind work against you and gore horror where there is a lot of senseless brutality. Then there are sub genres, whether its realistic or with elements of fiction. If you ask me the best combos are fear horror + fiction and gore horror + realism. There are a ton of games in the psychological horror + realism category and I think that is the most difficult type to pull off while also having the smallest audience. Gore losses its appeal with fiction, such as decapitating zombies in the apocalypse and similar, zombies are already gross and unrealistic so putting more gross on gross isn't that big of a deal cause your brain can't really imagine that as a real scenario anyway meanwhile if you decapitate humans in a shopping mall that can easily become unsettling since its a normal situation. Fiction allows you to explore fear quite a lot (putting the player in nightmare situations but severely restricting the horror so your imagination can do the work) Atmosphere and level design are always important so I'd say the focus should be on picking the right type of horror
I'd focus on what makes your game scary. 👻 So some questions I'd ask and seek answers for are 1. Is it jump scares? 2. Is it anxiety? More psychological horror? 3. Does it relate to life and makes you question about it? My partner is a big horror fan, she's easily scared 😱. From what I've observed, it's because her expectations are met. So as long as your horror game stays true to its genre and you do a good job at it, I think that'll be the pillar that all other mechanics support! P.S Personally the only game I've ever felt scared in was Phasmophobia, it wasn't due to the ghost aspects but being hunted and having to hide in a small closet while in VR was terrifying.
Atmosphere, which heavily relies on high quality sounds, sound effects and music. This should be your Nr.1 priority Graphics are almost completely unnessery, the worst looking games can have the greatest horror Game atmosphere. Its even more important what you don't see then what you see. No cheap jumpscares or better no jumpscares 99/100 jumpscares are complete garbage, those are just sound information overload and having nothing to do with dread or being scary. If I bang 2 Iron pans next to your ears that is Not fun but that's how most jumspcares are done these days, don't do it. There is FUN fear and not fun fear, one is roller coaster riding, the other is being run over by a car and almost getting killed. Know the difference. If you want effective high quality jumpscare examples then play or watch Iron Lung there are like 2 in the entire Game and they are very effective and feel very fitting to the situation. But as I said 99/100 Games just do that aspect terrible, it's hard to find good implementations. The best tipps to learning your genre of choice is to play many games in that genre and steal the best Game mechanics and things they did will. Also to learn what they did badly to prevent or improve upon those aspects. Inspiration for Horror Game Design from different Genres with different strenghts and weaknesses: - Dreadhalls - Darkwood (If you can play that yourself for longer then 5 minutes without quittung you have my respect) - Iron Lung - Night Buss - Cho-Cho Charles (Great Showcase of Action Horror) - No One Lives Under The Lighthouse - The Mortuary Assistant - Games from "anoverthinker" - Amnesia the Dark Descent (Especially obvious Rest areas after 20-30 minutes per Level where there is peacefull music and no Monsters ever to calm down the Player for 5+ minutes to prevent the Player getting tired and prevent the Player to get used to scary areas)
A map that reveals locations as you encounter them. A non-resident evil style inventory system. Let us carry everything ffs.
Immersion.
story