Horror Games

Why horror works in a browser

Horror is the genre least damaged by running in a browser tab. Fear comes from anticipation, from limited information and from sound, and none of those need a powerful machine. A dark room, a noise you cannot place and no way to see behind you will do the job at any resolution.

The games here are all built on restriction. You cannot move, or you cannot fight back, or you can only see through a camera. Taking options away from the player is the whole technique.

Five Nights at Freddy's

The first four games plus FNAF World and a web version are here, and the series is worth playing in order because each entry changes the rules. The first game gives you two doors, a camera feed and a power supply that drains every time you use either. That is the entire game, and the tension comes from rationing power against the need to know where things are.

The second game removes the doors and gives you a mask instead. The third gives you one animatronic and a ventilation system to manage. The fourth removes the office entirely and puts you in a bedroom with a torch. Each one takes away the thing you learned to rely on, which is why the series holds up across four games.

Where to start

Start with the first Five Nights at Freddy's. It is the tightest design in the series and everything after it assumes you understand its rules. If jump scares are not what you want, Backrooms is the better pick: it is built on unease and empty space rather than sudden noise, and nothing chases you for a long time.

Beyond FNAF

Granny is the most conventional horror game here, being a first-person escape game with something hunting you through a house on a timer. Poppy Playtime is closer to a puzzle game with horror staging. Both are more forgiving than the FNAF games, which are unusually punishing about small mistakes.

Play these with sound

More than any other category, these games depend on audio. Footsteps, breathing and the absence of noise are how they tell you where the threat is, and playing on mute removes most of the design. It also removes most of the fear, which is a reasonable option if you want to see what happens without the tension. Intensity varies a lot across the eleven games here, from mild unease to sustained jump scares.