Video games are the most successful medium in the world, and that is because they evoke a range of emotions and offer a variety of escapist fantasies. From the immersive Wild West in Red Dead Redemption 2 to the grand sense of adventure and wonder in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, video games are versatile and engaging.
However, one feeling video games capture perfectly is dread, with some of the darkest stories coming from this medium. That is why this list will rank the ten darkest video games of all time based on aspects such as mature content, themes, imagery, narrative, originality, fan opinion, and overall quality. A good game is said to change someone, but these games will only do that in a bad way, traumatizing the players forever.
10
‘Inside’ (2016)
Playdead is an iconic game studio, but fans are still waiting for their next entry, especially since their last one, Inside, is one of the best indie games. When players escape a mysterious facility, they must make their way through the dark laboratory that seems to be experimenting on people. But more dangers await players the further they go into the facility.
Indie companies are usually the ones delivering the darkest games since major companies don’t want something so polarizing attached to their name. But Inside doesn’t care. This game is a masterclass in design, using its lighting as a tool to facilitate guidance. However, it proves to be a dark and eerie masterpiece through its eerie vibe and environmental storytelling.
9
‘Spec Ops: The Line’ (2012)
Shooter games are some of the most popular, but in the FPS genre lives Spec Ops: The Line, which doesn’t glorify war unlike many other games. Gamers play as Captain Martin Walker, the leader of a Delta Force trio who makes their way to Dubai to find a missing unit. However, what starts as a standard rescue mission devolves into a hallucinatory battle.
This anti-war video game uses its mechanics against the players, admonishing them for blindly following orders and getting themselves into trouble. Spec Ops: The Line has players committing a handful of war crimes and battle atrocities, bringing it to a profound discussion on PTSD and cognitive dissonance, proving why it is one of the best shooter video games.
8
‘This War of Mine’ (2014)
A lot of games use fictionalized historical events to accentuate the darkness, and one game that did this was This War of Mine. Inspired by the Siege of Sarajevo, players control a group of characters who must navigate the crossfire and scavenge for supplies in order to survive the depressing state of the city.
Sometimes the dark reality of the world is worse than what games can achieve, and This War of Mine played into that by making the real-life atrocities even bleaker. Gamers are forced to make tough survival decisions where they weigh the balance between survival and ethics. This forceful design makes players question themselves about what many people actually had to go through.
7
‘SOMA’ (2015)
Frictional Games is an incredible gaming studio with multiple classics, such as SOMA. After suffering a severe injury in a car crash, the protagonist, Simon Jarrett, decides to undergo an experimental brain scan. However, he wakes up a hundred years later in an underwater facility. Only he and biomechanical monstrosities are left, with him needing to descend deeper to find a digital utopia.
The biomechanical monsters are terrifying, and their tragic concept only adds to the overall sense of gloom. However, the true darkness of SOMA reveals itself through the suffocating sense of dread in the narrative and philosophical themes. This game takes a psychological toll on the players, building into a heavy weight of darkness when the credits roll, proving to be one of the scariest modern video games.
6
‘Pathologic’ (2005)
While there are a couple of sequels, nothing beats the original Pathologic and the darkness that players experienced. When a mysterious airborne plague ravages a small town, players take on the role of a doctor. Within 12 days, players must survive, learn about the town’s mysterious history, and find a cure for the plague; otherwise, everyone dies.
Pathologic is designed to intentionally be frustrating, creating a nearly impossible challenge that highlights the gravity of the situation. Gamers can’t save everyone, and those choices will weigh on their souls as they must decide what and who to prioritize. Pathologic emphasizes its darkness with its rigid rules and bleak world.
5
‘Silent Hill 2’ (2001)
The remake is just as good as the original, but it is hard to beat the classic in terms of darkness since it established the story. Silent Hill 2 follows James Sunderland, who travels to the titular town in order to learn the mystery behind a letter he got from his deceased wife. Desperate for answers, he continuously searches the decaying town while avoiding its monstrous inhabitants, including the horror icon, Pyramid Head.
Silent Hill 2 is arguably the best horror game of all time, focusing on an internal fright that possesses the most brilliant narrative in horror history. The environment and monsters are all manifestations of the protagonist’s subconscious and all his problems, proving the story is just as compelling as the gameplay. Silent Hill 2 is a masterpiece and has a bleak ending to boot. Known for delving into psychological terror and human trauma through its challenging gameplay, emotional worldbuilding, and heavy tone, it is no surprise that this is a dark game.
4
‘Manhunt’ (2003)
Rockstar Games is a prolific game studio best known for its works like Grand Theft Auto, which is violent, but is nothing compared to its darkest and least-known video game, Manhunt. While death row inmate James Earl Cash avoids the death penalty, he suddenly wakes up in a decaying city where he is forced to participate in snuff films by hunting down gang members.
It has mostly been debunked that video games cause violence, but if there was one game where that isn’t true, it might just be Manhunt. This game gets players as close to the gore as possible, creating a disturbingly intimate view of murder that will make anyone feel uneasy. By designing it so players are rewarded for more graphic kills, Manhunt is obscenely unsettling.
3
‘LISA: The Painful’ (2014)
2D games are often very expressive, but LISA: The Painful takes that to a very different place. When an apocalyptic event kills all the women in the world, a drug addict named Brad finds a baby girl. But when she is kidnapped, he fights through a world of desperate lunatics to get her back and save her.
Fans shouldn’t let the innocent 2D aesthetic fool them; this game is bleak beyond belief. LISA: The Painful forces players to make dark decisions that have serious repercussions. Whether they choose to sacrifice a party member or lose their own limbs, players are permanently affected, and that is just the beginning of a long and winding road of misery.
2
‘Fear & Hunger’ (2018)
Most of the games on this list are rather unknown, but one of the biggest cult classics featured is Fear & Hunger, which is critically acclaimed and has a dedicated fanbase. But that doesn’t mean anything for its quality, as players consider it one of the best survival horror RPGs. Players choose one of four characters who travel through an anachronistic dungeon in search of the mercenary leader.
Fear & Hunger doesn’t follow a dedicated story, but that allows players to experience the emergent darkness on their own, not knowing what awaits them in the depths. Each descent into the unknown is a new tale for players to craft as their decisions slowly build a messed-up scenario with worldbuilding implications and twisted discoveries. The eerie art style perfectly fits the vibe and tone of the game, not to mention the character designs and moments are next-level gruesome and dark.
1
‘I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream’ (1995)
Based on Harlan Ellison‘s short story of the same name, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream expands on the story through a point-and-click adventure. Set during the Cold War, a sentient supercomputer wipes out all of humanity, only leaving a handful of survivors alive. He keeps them immortal to torment them out of his own spite for humanity.
It may not be the most influential video game ever, but I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is a cult classic that many fans love for its terrifying villain. This game features pretty much every dark theme fans can think of, combining them to create a game where survival is hopeless. Forced to confront their flaws, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is a dark game that thrives on existential dread and powerlessness.
