I'm sure that many of you play video games and at least some of you have played a "horror game" at least once before. Perhaps it was a cult classic like "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" or maybe it was just a scary mod for a popular shooting game. Or maybe you weren't even playing a horror game and yet you were scared by something intentionally put there by the developers. Well, today we'll take a look at how video game developers tend to spook us with their creations.
The most popular (and probably the most hated) way of scaring the player are the so called "jump scares". While playing the game, the player is focused on different aspects of gameplay and the game uses that fact in order to scare the unexpecting gamer with a sudden, loud noise or a flashing image. It immediately causes the player to panic or get disoriented. The most known game series which uses this scaring technique is called "Five Nights at Freddy's" and you can see an exemplary jump scare from that game below.
Warning! Contains loud noises and flashing images!
The other way of getting the spooks from viewers is simply following the rules of a horror genre. The developers create a world in their game which is supposed to frighten, scare, disgust or even induce panic in the player. Many developers often present you a mysterious setting with disgusting monsters hunting you down and they offer the player no means to defend themselves. This tactic was used in the mentioned above "Amnesia: The Dark Descent". The game's protagonist was unable to fight back monsters and could only hide from them. You can see an encounter with a monster from that game below.
Warning! Contains content that may be considered gruesome!
But my personal favourite when it comes to scaring the player is when the developers know how to properly use terror. Terror is not the same as horror, although many people seem to mix up those two terms. Terror - to put it simply - happens when you scare yourself. Terror is a self induced fear of something that we anticipate to happen. For example, when you're starring down into the big unknown of the ocean, knowing that something big is swimming down there and it might swim up any second to have you for it's dinner. Just like in the "Subnautica" game which also happens to be one of my favourite non-horror scary games. "Subnautica" is a survival game which mastered the use of terror - you as the player are put in the middle of an ocean, surrounded by nothing else but water filled with huge carnivore monsters swimming in the depths below you. Don't play this game if you have fear of depths! Or if you have fear of generally big monsters as seen on the video below.
Warning! Contains big spooky fishes!
Of course, there are also many other ways of scaring the player. For example, you can simply do it by using the right soundtrack or ambience. Or you can put in some shock value into your game to make the player feel uncomfortable. You can also build the right setting with unnerving story, dialogues or visuals. There are countless possibilities and they are never ending, especially in the era of VR headsets. And some developers are really digging the thought of having their players shiver in fear when playing their games! But always remember - games are a work of fiction and nothing inside them can hurt you. 😏
Warning! Contains a really good cult classic song!
Now, let's get to some questions which I'd like you to answer!
1. Have you ever played any game that scared you?
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
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When I was younger it was much much easier to scare me but after some time I became a much more immune to that sort of thing. At least i thought so. Reality check came when I decided few weeks ago to check how good is that Resident Evil 2 Remake doing. Turns out I am not so jumpscare-proof as I thought.
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
I think that the hardest thing to achieve while developing a horror game is to create a proper atmosphere. You can always throw something sudden at the player but that doesn't make it scary. It surprises the player but that's not the point. The point is to make the player feel overwhelmed by the unfriendly environment but still keep him curious of what is about to happen.
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
It depends. I like watching horror films but when it comes to playing games I have my limits. As I have earlier mentioned remake of Resident Evil 2 was something hitting the border of my limits. At some point game became not interesting enough to keep up with the stress it gave. I like good horror story which can achieve a proper atomsphere but when it becomes to stressful to stay fun that's when I am willing to give it up.
Amnesia, Subnautica, Soma, Until Dawn, Layers of fear. The last one I recognize as a true masterpiece. Subnautica is wonderful, as it scares not with cheap tactics like jumpscares, loud noises and scary images, no. It excelled at awakening the most primal fear in the human -- an achievement to brag about! But the most interesting part is that it did not intend to scary players in the first place at all.
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
Hide 'n seek sequences. The most cheap and boring element that can be encountered in a horror game. After a while most players will stop being fearful at all and get outright bored or irritated to be forced to hide constantly not to get Game Over.
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
I do, although finding a good piece of art that is not just plain bunch of jumpscares is not that easy.
When I was a child, then every second game scared me. Later in life I just didn't play scary games.
2.
I don't have that much experience, but in my opinion it's all about creating the atmosphere that can be genuinely scary.
3.
I don't like the horror genre that much or any fiction generally. I don't draw pleasure from watching scary stuff and very often the movies are lacking interesting plot. There are some exceptions to the rule like last years "Lighthouse" or mangas of Junji Ito.
2. I think the most important thing is to create the right atmosphere so that the player feels as if the action was taking place in reality.
3. I get to watch a horror once in a while. I like the most movies related to possession or haunting. Sometimes I like to feel the thrill but no movie has scared me enough to be afraid to watch.
2. I think the composition of all of the ways you described is the hardest one. The game should be thrilling, but short moments in which the monster jumps on you right after the scary noise was heard are a cherry on top.
3. I like watching horrors, but they have to be good. There are many productions that are not scary and silly. Some productions don't bring any innovations, repeat themselves, and are basically not scary anymore. But there are good ones like for example The Conjuring.
Yes, I have played FNAF, Amnesia and also Slenderman. Though I have played them with my friends mostly as we were doing a sleepover, more then to be scared. My brain does not like horror genre.
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
Breaking the 4th wall, if it could be done properly it could be almost like hacking. Imagine some game where things fly randomly around the room and suddenly your cd/dvd drive opens up all by itself. Maybe not the best shot, but the there are some possibilities.
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
I do not like horror genre, my brain aswell. It not like I fear them or something but if they get to my subconscious to deeply my brain sometimes fool myself with almost like visions on a daily basis for some time. And this thing is uneasy.
2. The hardest part is probably creating the immersion for the player. To create that mood and atmosphere of true fear, horror and anxiety. For someone interested in this type of content it would not be sufficient to only watch some unexpected scene jumps - it's to obsious and meh.. The true art is to implement such a game creation that will involve a players so much that they will remember the feelings for a longer time.
3. As I said in the first answer I completely don't like this type of content. It's just because I don't like to be scared and I don't feel or gain any pleasure from it.
The only game I was scared of was Blair Witch. This game is easy and linear. The created atmosphere is phenomenal, and the feeling of danger quickly grabs us and doesn't let us go, however. The puzzles are very simple.
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
In my opinion, the hardest thing to do is to force a player to make a choice that goes against his first instinct can cause him anxiety, disgust, horror and a general feeling of being threatened from everywhere, which is consistent with the aims and objectives of the horror movie.
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
I don't like horrors. I told my friends about it, they laughed at me, that I'm so scared. I mean, they're scared too, but they watch and live afterwards normally, and once again I saw in the primary school a horror movie about a doll who was murdering and I have an trauma, I couldn't sleep long after that, I watched some more fragments of horrors, but I couldn't watch more. What's interesting is that when I watch some action movies, even the bloody crime stories don't move me, I even like them, but horror movies work this way on me.
I get scared all the time. As I engage quite hard into the games that I’m playing it is quite easy to jump-scare me and make me a bit stressed out about something. When I was playing Witcher I got scared every time I met these spider-like creatures :D
What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
I don’t see myself as a gamer, so it’s hard for me to tell. But I think that more important that scary creatures are things, that create atmosphere like music, surroundings, creepy fog or trees. Something indefinite. Hard to grasp.
Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
I do like reading them as it boosts my imagination and create some kind of tension and trill of emotion, but I don’t like movies. There is something in horror movies that is actually more funny than scary for me, maybe it’s. not as engaging as games and books and my brain is more aware of the fact, that it’s just impossible gibberish?
2. The hardest way of including fear in the player is building proper atmosphere. We need good story, proper music and matching graphics. It's huge drawback for me though. It's only kind of fear I find interesting, whether it comes to games or movies. Most of developers, directors and screen writers use just those boring jump scares, which we'll of course react to, but aren't scary at all. After reading your post, I guess that I just have wrong expectations from 'horror' games, and should look for ones induced in terror.
3. I love whole genre, but I don't find it scary at all. At least in most of cases. I treat them more like comedies. Something you can laugh from. So I think I just find it as a good form of entertainment without any further reason to like it. Moreover while it comes to games, I like survival games, and where to find better survival theme if not in horror-genre.
1. In my childhood I played a lot of different games. Among other things, horror games that scared quite well. But unfortunately, I don't remember the titles. I don't really play now - no time.
2. The right atmosphere and logical plot is the most important in all games and in horror movies. There must be adequate tension so that the player waits for uncertainty and has to guess.
3. I like watching horror movies mainly about paranormal themes, i.e. demon ghosts and these things (e.g. paranormal activity). I don't play games very much because I don't have time.
No, by design I know it's a game, so why should it scare me? Scare like that, usually when a character pops up, all of a sudden.
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
This is a very difficult task. If someone approaches games like me, it's hard to scare him. To do this you need to be really good at building tension. There are fewer and fewer such in the world today.
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
I read a few years ago. Graham Masterton - my favorite horror writer. He was able to build horror scenes and tension. Now I reach for a horror book sporadically.
I have never played games that scared me. I don’t like such games. I love strategic or adventures games. When I was kid I couldn’t play a lot games because my PC was too slow. Today I have less time but my PC is fast enough that I could play modern games in high resolution.
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
I think the hardest way of inducing fear in the player is to create a proper scene including sound and graphics. A good game have to absorb user and scare him when he don’t expect that.
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
I don’t like any horror fiction. I think this is not for me. I can’t explain that but I don't feel pleasure playing, watching or reading horrors.
2 / The most difficult in my opinion, I think this is the genre of psychological horror. Since it is very easy to scare a person, for example, with some screamers or loud sounds. it’s really difficult to scare a person with the atmosphere or the story of the character or the story of the game itself. in my opinion, the most difficult thing is to pick up the most important fears of a larger audience that can really drive a person into thinking or some deep thoughts that will not let even the strongest people sleep at night.
3 / To begin with, the love of horror seems a little illogical, because fear can hardly be called a positive emotion. People do extreme, sometimes stupid things to get their adrenal glands to throw adrenaline into the blood. A horror game or movie, like many other stressful situations, produces roughly the same result. So, one of the many reasons why we return to the terrible game is a kind of hormonal dependence. The second possible reason is the post-effect. This is when a person for some time experiences strong and exciting experiences. This state of arousal can remain and reinforce subsequent emotions. Both good and bad. it’s just a surge of new and strong emotions.
2. It’s hard for me to say because I’m not a player, but I think that creating the overall scary atmosphere by combining music and right scenery is way harder than just throwing some creepy "jump scares".
3. I’m not a fan of horror fiction, I do watch horrors once in a while and they are mostly about paranormal or exorcism theme, other than that doesn’t bring me any kind of joy in watching them.
No, I can’t recall any. I am not a huge gamer and when I do want to play some game, I treat it as a form of relax, I don’t want to scare myself in any way, I just want to chill out and have a bit of fun.
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
I think that some kind of game where everything happens in the dark and all you have is some kind of weapon and a flashlight with limited-life batteries. The longer you stay in one place, the lesser chance of finishing a level as you can’t see the monsters who can easily beat you in the dark.
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
I like Stephen King’s books. The titles might not be hardcore horror fiction but I really liked the action there and how the world was presented by the author. I can strongly recommend you one of his books called “Christine” about a haunted car. When it comes to typical horror fiction I used to watch some horror movies when I was younger but now it’s not my cup of tea.
I don't play much and I play rarely the horror games, but while playing "The last of us" maybe I didn't get scared, but I felt tension for sure. Great game though.
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
I think the hardest is to get the player to be so invested that he starts to care and he is scared because of that - not because of the surprise element. Getting player curiosity also it's difficult but it plays great with the fear.
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
Not really. I think I simply enjoy more other things. Maybe either I watch or play bad horrors or because I know that it's "just a game" I don't get scared that much. Maybe I will give it a shot someday again.
2.A lot of darkness, scary music, jump scares, weird flashing lights and a good story!
3.I don't really like horror movies or games because they scare me. It is as simple as that :)
When I was younger, somewhere around my early teenage years, I was able to feel thrills on my back when watching a horror movie or playing a horror video game. Unfortunately, I lost this skill at some point and nowadays it's really hard for me to have a suspension of disbelief and immerse into a thrilling narrative. I think I became too-rational and I really miss getting scared on movies like The Ring or Omen
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
Immersion. And that also related to movies. I hope with VR technology (mentioned in this week on our blog!) can kill that 4th wall which, which for people like me, just spoils the whole concept.
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
As I mentioned in my first answer - I don't really read, watch or play anything you can label with the horror genre. I can't immerse myself enough to enjoy/receive any thrills. Without thrills - there is usually nothing else to enjoy. I consider the horror genre to be the weakest in interesting story-line or visuals, so I don't expect anything else from it.
2. The most difficult is keeping the atmosphere tense, the player can get used to moments when something suddenly pops up and game stops being so scary
3. I like to play horror movies and watch them because it makes me afraid, which is addictive to some extent
Quite many computer games have scared me -- I think that every game with camera following the player. Including Minecraft.
2. What is - in your opinion - the hardest way of inducing fear in the player to achieve in games?
The hardest way to induce fear is to do it by convincing the player to take care of action so much he would think of the game character as of himself.
3. Do you like watching, reading or playing horror fiction? Explain why or why not?
I don't enjoy horror movies or horror in any form. It is not-rational for me, therefore not scary.
2. I would say the most impactful way to do it, is to make a player know they can die in a game. In many games, they only use music and jump scares, but when you know your character can be killed any moment, your brain is experiencing much more fear than in other way.
3. Yes, I love doing that, especially reading. My favourite one is "It" by Stephen King, it was building fear inside me gradually through the story, so when I was close to the end, it kept me really invested in the book.
2. It is hard to say. But I think if exclude jumpscares from game, it is enough for developer to not meet requirements sometimes. Next step which in my opinion is not possible to pass is, getting scary players without sound. There are few others aspect which could be excluded, but in fact agile tools handling creates memorable titles.
3. I keen on it. Most exciting is adrenaline while playing scary games over night with turned off light. And of course good earphone are mandatory. Many games are bad evaluated because players really often don't allow themself to immerse into gameplay. How running from guys with saws could be scary if playing with low sound or we don't see anything on display.