Burnouse Lane is a hidden gem, but it’s also a game that makes you feel a tinge of existential dread coupled with fear from all the mysteries you encounter. With all the strange sights, as well as the explicit cannibalism from certain creatures, this title will make you play through Angie, who faces the horrors of Burnhouse Lane unfazed as somebody with seemingly nothing left to lose.
If you were able to finish Burnhouse Lane without flinching through all the gutted people and horrific creatures, then there are a few other games that give a similarly gory, yet story-driven experience.
Though not as explicitly gore as Burnhouse Lane, Inside gives you a glimpse of a dystopian sci-fi world that will remind you of The Truman Show. It’s also minimalist, but that doesn’t make this game any less unnerving to play.
You won’t be running into supernatural forces here, but you will come to realize that humans can do far more horrific things than hellish looking cats. You will play as an unnamed boy who is escaping from forces that you will come to meet later down the story.
9 Night In The Woods
Night in The Woods is a game that you’ll need to play if you enjoyed Burnhouse Lane. It’s also a story that takes place in a small town told from the perspective of Mae, a college dropout who is fighting her inner demons to regain a sense of normalcy. Possum Springs is a town that is facing economic depression, which makes the perfect backdrop for a gloomy story.
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Although it’s not heavy on puzzles, this game is well-known for its narrative-intensive gameplay, where your decisions will matter as it will affect how you see the story. This definitely gets scarier the deeper you get into the game despite the characters looking like cartoonish animals, and you’ll find yourself empathizing with their struggles the more you get to know about them.
8 Lorelai
Published also by Harvester Games, Lorelai tells the story of the protagonist of the same name, who is trapped in a dysfunctional family setting. Her step-father mistreats her family, her mother is helpless in the situation, and her little sister Beth is neglected. Lorelai’s biological father passed due to cancer, and her life fell apart when her mother chose to settle with John, her current step-father.
Lorelai has nightmares that seem to be induced by her turbulent family life, and she often sees visions of death in them. This is a domestic nightmare, and the horror featured in the game is a classic from the developer. The art-style also doesn’t deviate from Burnhouse Lane, which you might be a fan of.
7 Little Nightmares
Little Nightmares will make you experience going around big rooms as a tiny nine-year-old. Six had a dream of a woman in a kimono, and awakens to escape through The Maw. Throughout the game, you might be reminded of Spirited Away, but darker and much more hostile towards children with the presence of creatures that are bent on capturing kids like Six.
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While playing it, you will feel a sense of helplessness since you’re small compared to many of the creatures that will try to grab at you, and you’ll reawaken the memories of made-up nightmarish creatures from your childhood. Even if it’s a short game to play, it doesn’t really make it any less eerie and fun to figure out.
6 Syberia: The World Before
Not from the horror genre like many of the games in this list, but this title follows two women from two different timelines. You’ll be following Dana from 1930 Osterthal, and Kate from Taiga in 2000, whose lives appear different at first glance.
Through various puzzles that you’ll have to solve, you’re going to uncover how intertwined and connected their lives actually are despite being timelines away. Kate searches for the woman in a painting, who is revealed to be Dana. Through imprisonment, separation, and war, Dana and Kate’s unknown connection is pivotal in the story’s events.
5 Bendy And The Dark Revival
Bendy and The Dark Revival is any artist’s nightmare. Audrey is an animator working overnight, and she takes a break, only to encounter the creepy (zombie-like) janitor Wilson, who joins her for an elevator ride.
All too soon, she realizes that Wilson is up to submerging her into what seems to be ink and killing the both of them. It looks like it’s beyond her pay grade to have to deal with monsters made of ink within 2D halls, but it’s her only way to escape and find her way home.
4 Sally Face – Episode One
Sal Fisher walks around with a prosthetic mask that covers a large scar that was caused by a childhood accident. Sal’s mask is the least scary thing in the game, especially when he’s confronted with nightmares of murder and death.
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This title is almost reminiscent of Burnhouse Lane in how you experience it. You’re left solving murders, encountering the paranormal, all while coping with the trauma of losing your mother and having moved far away from home. Sally Face – Episode One is a must-play for its storytelling and scares.
3 A Plague Tale: Requiem
A Plague Tale: Requiem will initially scare you with the amount of rats you’ll end up dealing with, and there will be mountains of them in your adventure. But beyond that, it’s a game centered around hope for a cure and peace. You follow the story of Hugo, who suffers from being a Carrier, and Amicia, his sister and Protector.
Though there is fun combat in this game, it’s definitely worth going through just for the story of Amicia and Hugo, and the cruel world these two children are subjected to. Much like Burnhouse Lane, it’s a title about fighting for everything you have left. It’s heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once.
2 Amnesia: Rebirth
If you’re not up for a fight, but you’re down for a good fright, Amnesia: Rebirth will give you a good dose of body horror — just to name a few scares. After a plane crash, you’re stranded as Tasi Trianon somewhere in a desert in Algeria. Tasi tries to locate the rest of the crew, along her husband, as she tries to remember what had happened prior to the events of waking up in a bloody airplane.
Not only are you unable to fight compared to Burnhouse Lane, where you’re at least able to shoot a gun, but this game also makes you survive the horrors of monsters by avoiding them and the dark.
1 What Remains Of Edith Finch
Eerie at the onset, Edith Finch narrates how her brother was swallowed up by her ancestral home when she was young, as recounted in her diary. But What Remains of Edith Finch isn’t made for jump scares, even if the story revolves around numerous deaths in the Finch estate, which the player will have to learn about through its story-driven gameplay.
Explore your family’s mysterious history as you roam the halls of the Finch home in Washington, and uncover the stories behind everything that Edith had left for you.
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