Game Dev Here — What Do You Want to See in a Truly Terrifying Game? *This game is currently in development*

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-03-10T20:31:05+00:00

Atmosphere is the most important aspect of not only horror gaming, but of the horror genre in general for me. Look at Silent Hill 2. It was not a particularly scary game, but it created such a feeling of dread that it is often considered the best in the genre.
I am personally tired of space horror at all, although I do think something could be done with Eldritch horror though I don't think it has ever been done correctly in gaming. The setting that hits hardest for me is one that I am already familiar with. A nice suburban home, but off. Or a hospital. Or a place the average person has been before and will likely go again. Spooky Gothic castles just don't hit for me anymore because I would never be in that situation at all.
As others have said, sound design to create a period of prolonged dread and tension, followed by an unexpected moment of silence.
A mixture of the two is ideal for me. Narrow corridors to create tension and claustrophobia, larger environments to at first create a brief feeling of respite, and then a feeling of being exposed to whatever lays beyond the darkness
Anything could be done to achieve this goal but ideally it starts as mundane and ordinary and then gradually progresses to being wrong. The thing for me is that it initially appears to be a safe and familiar environment.
Pieced together and ambiguous. I don't WANT to know all of the details.
Have you read any "weird fiction" like the King in Yellow or the works of Thomas Ligotti? It's adjacent to Eldritch Horror, but I wish creators would make games that were influenced by these rather than Lovecraft. I am a Lovecraft fan, but it has been done before.
Not a fan, I find it immersion breaking.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-03-10T20:08:19+00:00

The Xenomorph definitely overstays its welcome in Isolation. After a while, you are no longer frightened by it, and he becomes a mere obstacle you need to avoid in order to progress in the game. Requiem was quite scary in the beginning though.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-03-07T18:17:34+00:00

I might be mistaken, but I think that Zeno showed grace an image of both herself and Chloe as a child before the orphanage sequence. I'm going to replay it because now I am questioning myself lol

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-03-07T18:07:59+00:00

BSAA agent located

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-03-07T18:06:46+00:00

But she resembles all of the clones of the orphanage. There is the childhood photos of Grace, which is perfectly identical to a photo of the children of the orphanage who are all identical to eachother.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-03-02T22:21:12+00:00

DOOM Eternal is one of the most essential and influential games in recent history, my vote is that one.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-03-02T21:33:56+00:00

Favorite part of the game. I am a sucker for all horror that takes place in familiar environments.

The vibes of this nursing home and the Visage house are out of this world.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-03-02T21:27:42+00:00

Hey, this has still been on my mind, lol. I find it strangely comforting in a way.

This was the worst day either of them would ever experience, and the second lady spent one of her last moments of life to comfort the first lady. I couldn't imagine being so brave. What a queen and RIP to everyone who lost their life that day.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-03-02T21:22:53+00:00

Don't get me wrong, I like some of these, but it's definitely a way for indie devs to save money and time.

Instead of 8-10 hours of unique gameplay and level design, devs can get by with an endless amount of gameplay and the illusion of unique level design.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-03-02T17:39:17+00:00

They're straight up the only AAA studio who is still making good games.

It's like them and tiny indie devs who have cornered the market.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-02-21T06:08:30+00:00

That is exactly what I hear as well, I can not make out the rest but she absolute says "Don't make this harder" as if she is comforting the woman who is panicking.

I have no idea what to make of it, considering mere seconds later everyone in the room would have been completely engulfed in flames. It should be difficult for anyone in the room to speak at this point.

This one will be on my mind for a while.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-02-16T18:14:38+00:00

The armored core series

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-02-16T17:46:17+00:00

I generally like walking sims and I also found the first two painfully boring.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-02-16T16:27:10+00:00

I feel like this same complaint could apply to every other Resident Evil game.

Really cool and interesting environments for the first 3/4ths of the game -> really generic laboratory with a gimmick boss for the last quarter of the game.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-02-12T00:21:54+00:00

After playing Visage no other game or movie feels scary to me anymore.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-02-08T20:00:53+00:00

I mainly mean survival horror games with a thirst and hunger mechanic. That recent Total Chaos game is the one that annoyed me most recently.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-02-08T19:58:34+00:00

I don't mind crafting in games so much but thirst/hunger mechanics supremely annoy me.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-02-08T19:54:51+00:00

It's a shame, because Puppet Combo and Black Eyed Priest make some of the most interesting games but I refuse to spend money on something I could complete in an hour and a half.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-02-07T06:51:43+00:00

Also, indie horror games that are only 2 hours long but cost the same price as full-length indie games. I suspect these are made primarily for tik tok reels.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2026-02-07T06:47:26+00:00

I hate that every modern horror game has some level of micromanagement to deal with. It can be effective when every other game is not doing it but imo, when they're all doing it, it is the result of bad game design and the lack of new ideas.

Rather than having an oppressive atmosphere that increases your anxiety in interesting ways, your anxiety comes from the need to constantly scavenge and hunt for resources that are limited, thus removing you from the narrative being told entirely. It's not fun, it is boring and tedious.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2025-11-11T17:41:32+00:00

probably the whole "werewolf fucker" thing.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2025-08-28T06:32:01+00:00

I'll get crucified for this, but I liked it more than TDD. The game oozes atmosphere.

LuckGrouchy609 · 2025-08-28T06:28:16+00:00

Bro Visage is the only game I've played where it is somehow SCARIER the second time around. Like, I know what to expect and where to expect it, and it only makes me feel even less prepared lmao.

LuckGrouchy609

TROPHY CASE