It’s been 11 years since P.T.
Crazy to think that Kojima and Del Toro’s little demo of a game that never was became like jet fuel for the indie horror gaming space, becoming a new high-water mark for horror and a direct source of inspiration for games like Visage, In the Shadows, and more.
As the years tick onward, indie horror, like perhaps all corners of the indie dev space, have thrived on ambition and the pursuit of trying something new. It’s the lifeblood of the space and has become something players seeking new scares expect from indie developers.
Well, the year ahead is looking veritably stacked in terms of new and downright horrific gaming experiences.
Let’s take a look at some games coming out this year that are undoubtedly going to give players some brand-new indie horror video games.
We Harvest Shadows
First-person horror meets farm simulation? That’s what We Harvest Shadows is looking to be. Developed by David Wehle, the game introduces players to a man named Garrett at a crossroads in life.
You see something has happened to Garrett that has motivated him to disappear from the hustle and bustle of his city life. He decides to plunk every bit of savings he has on a run-down farm, perhaps hoping that it will help him hide from his demons. Of course, life on the farm isn’t easy and his demons begin to haunt him at night.
Players can expect a deeply emotional narrative coupled with the complexity and routine of rebuilding a farm from the ground up. We Harvest Shadows will surely get under your skin and offer plenty of surprises when it’s released.
And even better, you don’t have to wait: There’s a demo available on Steam for those interested.
Urban Myth Dissolution Center
From the ever-increasing library of visual novels comes yet another, but one that stands out from its premise alone, Urban Myth Dissolution Center.
A blend of X-Files and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the game plays similar to most visual novels yet incorporates detail-oriented puzzle-solving to match every investigation.
Azami’s been haunted by ghosts and has seen the supernatural side of things so she turns to the eponymously named Urban Myth Dissolution Center for help.
Turns out she has special powers that can be quite helpful on investigations and begins working at the organization. Using her powers, players will take on urban legends and all varieties of creepy mysteries that ought to entice fans of horror.
Though less about outright scares, Urban Myth Dissolution Center is dripping with lore and fun horror ideas that many a player will enjoy.
Code Violet
Dino Crisis fans have been clamoring for a new entry in the series, or at least some sort of remake, for what feels like decades. No, Exoprimal doesn’t count.
Maybe someday Capcom will actually give fans what they want, but in the meantime, developer TeamKill Media is attempting to fill the gap with Code Violet.
Players don the role of one Violet Sinclair as she finds herself investigating a space station overrun with dinosaurs. Of course, the place is set for destruction and the main goal of the game is, perhaps like most survival horror titles, to escape and survive.
Though all we know of the game currently is by way of a single trailer, Code Violet’s summer release date isn’t too far off, and with demand for a dino-horror experience high on many players’ lists, this surely is one to keep an eye out for.
Bye Sweet Carole
From the mind of Chris Darril, creator of the Remothered series, Bye Sweet Carole is an exquisitely animated narratively driven horror title that looks like something straight out of Alice in Wonderland.
It’s the 1900s and Lana Benton is following the trail left behind by her best friend, Carole Simmons, as she digs into the dark past of the Bunny Hall orphanage.
The game promises to be equally mysterious and chilling as it plunges players down the “dark rabbit hole” of a brand-new hand-drawn marvel of supernatural horror.
Directive 8020 (Dark Pictures Anthology)
Supermassive Games is known best for their game, Until Dawn, but have also offered players a wide range of cinematic horror experiences like The Quarry and their ongoing Dark Pictures anthology of one-off horror stories.
Directive 8020, the fifth in the series marks a new “season” in the developer’s expanding anthology of horror. Like all Supermassive experiences, players play as multiple different characters and make choices that send them on multiple different possible story paths, dramatically altering and informing the trajectory of the story.
Directive 8020 is set in deep space on a colony ship called Cassiopeia after it crashes onto an alien planet called Tau Ceti f.
Players can expect all matters of alien horror and a palpable sense of creeping horror when it is out later this year.
Post Trauma
Before Konami finally gave long-time fans a “new” entry in the lauded Silent Hill series, Bloober Team’s remake of fan-favorite Silent Hill 2, many a developer seemed to be looking to create homages and spiritual complements to Silent Hill.
Everything from Hollow Body to Detention, indie developers have tapped into their own love for the series to create their own original creations. Among the most interesting to date has to be Post Trauma.
The game is dripping with that claustrophobic and tension-filled atmosphere so reminiscent of Silent Hill, yet offers a new emotional layer of to survival horror. Players control a man named Roman, who wakes up after a horrific panic attack in an uncanny and decomposing shadow world.
His surroundings seem to be a reaction to his emotional state as he explores, trying to make sense of his situation.
Of course, there’s so much just under the surface, waiting for Roman to discover, or perhaps rediscover, as players guide him through a post-trauma hellscape.
darkwebSTREAMER
Like the title suggests, darkwebSTREAMER is a psychological horror RPG that positions players as a streamer stuck in the never-ending hustle of content creation.
Amid the constant need to feed followers and the algorithm, the game acts as a juncture point for the gamut of culture and aesthetics of the content creator, including parasocial relationships and the dark side of streaming.
Touted as offering the first procedurally generated internet, darkwebSTREAMER is looking to be a harrowing descent into the various dark corners of the internet.
Tormented Souls 2
When Tormented Souls was released in 2021, it quickly became a pleasant surprise for indie horror fans with its throwback fixed camera angles, tank controls, and cryptic puzzles circa version one of survival horror (akin to the original entries of Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark, Silent Hill).
Naturally, the developer Dual Effect responded to the fans with a new sequel. Suffering from an affliction acquired after the first game’s events, Caroline Walker is desperate and has turned to the supernatural world.
Tormented Souls 2 promises to offer multiple new locations to explore, and a new dark story therein waiting to unravel as players search every corner for a cure.
Featured Still from “Tormented Souls 2” via Steam
