The epitome of what I’m trying to refer to is the Playdead games (Limbo and Inside). Dark Souls and BioShock both hit on this idea but not quite so directly. The game BADLAND is also a great example of this, too. The mobile game The Silent Age also did this exceptionally well. Never quite knowing what’s going on, and maybe some tension without release, but again not straight up horror. A feeling of uneasiness is what I’m looking for.

When playing through Inside, there’s never any moments where you’re scared, but you’re never sure what’s going on and there’s always a level of unease. What are all the mindless zombie-like people? Why is everyone hunting the player? What happened to this city? What’s the goal of the character the player controls? What exactly is going on here? That’s what I’m looking for. If you know of any other games which do this, I’d greatly appreciate hearing about them. It’s a very specific niche so I’m not sure how many games do this, but the games that I’ve seen do this tend to be some form of post-disaster or dystopia. I’ve seen some great artwork do this too. Zdzisław Beksiński had done some stuff like this. Some great dystopian novels also do this quite well.

  • PAPPP
    link
    31 year ago

    I actually stopped because I realized I’d missed some important early-game stuff that was making it frustrating to continue. Not a softlock, just a pain in the ass and/or long trek back.
    The environment and exploration are amazing and the uh… things left behind by the alien children… are supremely unsettling.

    • codOPM
      link
      fedilink
      41 year ago

      This thread convinced me. I’ve never really played many survival games so this’ll be interesting. Thanks for the recommendation, it seems perfect